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In Memoriam

10 Women Scientists Leading the Fight Against the Climate Crisis

scienceSTEAMSTEM

Rose Mutiso speaks at TEDSummit: A Community Beyond Borders. July 2019, Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo: Bret Hartman / TED | Flickr/TED Conference

By Tshiamo Mobe, Global Citizen

Climate change is an issue that affects everyone on the planet but women and girls are the ones suffering its effects the most. Why? Because women and girls have less access to quality education and later, job opportunities. These structural disadvantages keep them in poverty. In fact, women make up 70% of the world’s poor. In a nutshell, climate change impacts the poor the most and the poor are mostly women.

Poverty driven by and made worse by climate change also makes girls more susceptible to child marriage, because it drives hunger and girls getting married often means one less mouth to feed for their parents. Climate change also leads to geopolitical instability which, in turn, results in greater instances of violence — which we know disproportionately impacts women and girls.

Ironically, saving the planet has been made to seem a “women’s job”. This phenomenon, dubbed the “eco gender gap”, sees the burden of climate responsibility placed squarely on women’s shoulders through “green” campaigns and products that are overwhelmingly marketed to women.

There are several hypotheses for why this is. Firstly, women are the more powerful consumers (they drive 70-80% of all purchasing decisions). Secondly, they are disproportionately responsible, still, for the domestic sphere. And finally, going green is seen as a women’s job because women’s personalities are supposedly more nurturing and socially responsible.

Women should be involved in fighting the climate crisis at every level — from the kitchen to the science lab to the boardroom. Ruth Bader Ginsburg explained it best when she said: “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” However, women are underrepresented in the science field (including climate science), with just 30% of research positions held by women and fewer still holding senior positions. The Reuters Hot List of 1,000 scientists features just 122 women.

Having more women climate scientists could allow for an increased emphasis on understanding and providing solutions for some of the most far-reaching implications of climate change. Diversity in background and experiences allows for different perspectives. More perspectives allow for different research questions to arise or even a different approach to the same question.

There are, however, women all over the world in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that have made some incredible strides in the fight against the climate crisis, from fire-resistant coating to protect places prone to wildfires, to a water-storing park for a region usually overwhelmed by floods. Here are just some of the world’s incredible women scientists leading the way on tackling the climate crisis.

Click here to read the full article on Global Citizen.

Application Open: STEM Scholarship for Black Women

EducationSTEM

Young Happy Black Woman Looking at Camera and Smiling. Using Laptop Computer in STEM class

BestColleges is excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our inaugural scholarship opportunity for Black Women in STEM.

This scholarship is part of BestColleges’ ongoing commitment to supporting students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, by providing them with opportunities for success. Black women remain underrepresented in STEM fields, despite the growing demand for talent in these industries.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to participate in the scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

Must be a Black woman who is pursuing a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree at a four-year college or university
Provide one letter of recommendation
Write a 500-word essay that describes their interests and motivations for pursuing a career in STEM

All essay submissions should be sent: https://www.bestcolleges.com/scholarship/

To find out more about our scholarship opportunity, please visit our official scholarship page

Grow a Robot: The Future of Engineering

STEMTechnology

University of Minnesota Twin Cities materials science graduate student Matthew Hausladen works with a soft growing robot in Professor Chris Ellison’s polymer lab.

An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientists and engineers has developed a first-of-its-kind, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth. The new approach will allow researchers to build better soft robots that can navigate hard-to-reach places, complicated terrain and potentially areas within the human body.

The paper is published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” (PNAS), a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, high-impact scientific journal.

“This is the first time these concepts have been fundamentally demonstrated,” said Chris Ellison, a lead author of the paper and professor in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “Developing new ways of manufacturing are paramount for the competitiveness of our country and for bringing new products to people. On the robotic side, robots are being used more and more in dangerous, remote environments and these are the kinds of areas where this work could have an impact.”

Soft robotics is an emerging field where robots are made of soft, pliable materials as opposed to rigid ones. Soft growing robots can create new material and “grow” as they move. These machines could be used for operations in remote areas where humans can’t go, such as inspecting or installing tubes underground or navigating inside the human body for biomedical applications.

Current soft growing robots drag a trail of solid material behind them and can use heat and/or pressure to transform that material into a more permanent structure, much like how a 3D printer is fed solid filament to produce its shaped product. However, the trail of solid material gets more difficult to pull around bends and turns, making it hard for the robots to navigate terrain with obstacles or winding paths.

The University of Minnesota team solved this problem by developing a new means of extrusion, a process where material is pushed through an opening to create a specific shape. Using this new process allows the robot to create its synthetic material from a liquid instead of a solid.

“We were really inspired by how plants and fungi grow,” said Matthew Hausladen, first author of the paper and a PhD student in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “We took the idea that plants and fungi add material at the end of their bodies, either at their root tips or at their new shoots and we translated that to an engineering system.”

Plants use water to transport the building blocks that get transformed into solid roots as the plant grows outward. The researchers were able to mimic this process with synthetic material using a technique called photopolymerization, which uses light to transform liquid monomers into a solid material. Using this technology, the soft robot can more easily navigate obstacles and winding paths without having to drag any solid material behind it.

This new process also has applications in manufacturing. Since the researchers’ technique only uses liquid and light, operations that use heat, pressure and expensive machinery to create and shape materials might not be needed.

“A very important part of this project is that we have material scientists, chemical engineers and robotic engineers all involved,” Ellison said. “By putting all of our different expertise together, we really brought something unique to this project and I’m confident that not one of us could have done this alone. This is a great example of how collaboration enables scientists to address really hard fundamental problems while also having a technological impact.”

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Photo: University of Minnesota Twin Cities materials science graduate student Matthew Hausladen works with a soft growing robot in Professor Chris Ellison’s polymer lab. (Olivia Hultgren, Eureka Alert)

Source: University of Minnesota

Could Future Computers Run on Human Brain Cells?

STEMTechnology

textures and design elements on the subject of virtual reality, science, education and modern technology

By Roberto Molar Candanosa

A “biocomputer” powered by human brain cells could be developed within our lifetime, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who expect such technology to exponentially expand the capabilities of modern computing and create novel fields of study.

The team outlines their plan for “organoid intelligence” in the journal “Frontiers in Science.”

“Computing and artificial intelligence have been driving the technology revolution, but they are reaching a ceiling,” said Thomas Hartung, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Whiting School of Engineering who is spearheading the work. “Biocomputing is an enormous effort of compacting computational power and increasing its efficiency to push past our current technological limits.”

For nearly two decades, scientists have used tiny organoids, lab-grown tissue resembling fully grown organs, to experiment on kidneys, lungs and other organs without resorting to human or animal testing. More recently, Hartung and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have been working with brain organoids, orbs the size of a pen dot with neurons and other features that promise to sustain basic functions like learning and remembering.

“This opens up research on how the human brain works,” Hartung said. “Because you can start manipulating the system, doing things you cannot ethically do with human brains.”

Hartung began to grow and assemble brain cells into functional organoids in 2012 using cells from human skin samples reprogrammed into an embryonic stem cell-like state. Each organoid contains about 50,000 cells, about the size of a fruit fly’s nervous system. He now envisions building a futuristic computer with such brain organoids.

In the next decade, computers that run on this “biological hardware” could begin to alleviate energy-consumption demands of supercomputing that are becoming increasingly unsustainable, Hartung said. Even though computers process calculations involving numbers and data faster than humans, brains are much smarter in making complex logical decisions, like telling a dog from a cat.

“The brain is still unmatched by modern computers,” Hartung said. “Frontier, the latest supercomputer in Kentucky, is a $600 million, 6,800-square-foot installation. Only in June of last year, it exceeded for the first time the computational capacity of a single human brain—but using a million times more energy.”

It might take decades before organoid intelligence can power a system as smart as a mouse, Hartung said. But by scaling up the production of brain organoids and training them with artificial intelligence, he foresees a future where biocomputers support superior computing speed, processing power, data efficiency and storage capabilities.

Thomas Hartung with brain organoids in his lab at the JohnsHopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health — Thomas Hartung with brain organoids in his lab at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“It will take decades before we achieve the goal of something comparable to any type of computer,” Hartung said. “But if we don’t start creating funding programs for this, it will be much more difficult.”

Organoid intelligence could also revolutionize drug testing research for neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration, said Lena Smirnova, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of environmental health and engineering who co-leads the investigations.

“We want to compare brain organoids from typically developed donors versus brain organoids from donors with autism,” Smirnova said. “The tools we are developing toward biological computing are the same tools that will allow us to understand changes in neuronal networks specific for autism, without having to use animals or to access patients. So, we can understand the underlying mechanisms of why patients have these cognition issues and impairments.”

To assess the ethical implications of working with organoid intelligence, a diverse consortium of scientists, bioethicists and members of the public have been embedded within the team.

Source: Johns Hopkins University

You Deserve to Be There: My Top 5 Tips for Women Majoring in STEM

Diversity in STEMSTEM

three diverse young women walking to class

By Katerina Freedman

Entering college as a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) major can be scary. You’re thrown into a new environment where the introductory classes are challenging and where you’re surrounded by tons of unfamiliar people.

Even less discussed, though, are the challenges women in STEM face. Female students make up a small percentage of STEM majors, including computer science — my own major.

As a whole, the STEM culture can be unwelcoming to women. According to a report by the American Association of University Women, women make up just 28% of the STEM workforce.

The gender gap is particularly bad in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs of the future, including many positions in computer science and engineering. This “boy’s club” culture often leaves women feeling like outsiders, leading them to drop out of STEM programs at alarming rates.

As a woman in STEM, I’ve faced impostor syndrome, unwelcoming environments, and blatant sexism — but I’ve learned how to succeed in spite of these barriers. Here are my top five pieces of advice for women majoring in STEM.

Tip 1: Know You Deserve to Be There

My first piece of advice is to understand you belong and that you deserve to be in that STEM class or STEM major just as much as anyone else does. Your peers might talk with incredible confidence, but it’s often puffy-chest hearsay, so don’t let that freak you out.

There can be a lot of pressure going into STEM as a woman. Although I grew up with an engineering background and initially felt confident in becoming a computer scientist, I developed impostor syndrome and attribute most of that feeling to the environment I entered.

In my first computer science class in college, only five out of 50 students were women, including myself. Despite knowing there was a lack of women in my major, I’d expected a ratio of 40 women to 60 men — not 10:90.

Moreover, I had peers, both with and without a computer science background, complaining about our projects and classwork being too easy — and here I was having to spend a lot of time finishing them.

“In my first computer science class in college, only five out of 50 students were women, including myself. … I’d expected a ratio of 40 women to 60 men — not 10:90.”

Another thing that affected my confidence was hearing comments like, “It’s really cool you’re doing computing as a woman.” Hearing this — when I felt my gender identity was not a factor in choosing my major — exacerbated my impostor syndrome even more. Perhaps I wasn’t smart enough or didn’t have the “right” brain for computing. Maybe I didn’t belong in this major.

My professor had told me that women tend to drop out of my school’s computer science program at a rate 150% higher than that for men, despite having equal or higher grades. At the time, I was ranked in the top 20% of my class and was consistently scoring 90-100% on the same projects my peers were averaging just 70-80% on. Despite that impostor feeling, I was doing well.

Women often feel the pressure to excel in order to feel like they belong, but it’s perfectly OK to perform averagely in class. If men can be average and still feel welcomed, you can, too. Most people are average!

It can be scary being in the minority, but you have earned that spot in class and should have the same opportunity to succeed, no matter your background or identity.

Tip 2: Find Allies

My second piece of advice is to get involved and find your people.

By far, the best decision I made at the beginning of college was to sit next to the other four women in my first computing class. Three out of five of us stayed in the computer science track, and our little-but-mighty support group was extremely helpful in those starting days.

I also joined a club called Association for Gender Inclusion in Computing. This group helped me find peers who used she/they pronouns, as well as other students from historically excluded groups who could understand the struggles of trying to survive the boys-club culture of STEM.

Lastly, I made many connections with people who didn’t experience sexism themselves — and who were even part of the problem unknowingly at times — but who were open to learning and changing to make the STEM culture more equitable, open, and welcoming.

Tip 3: Connect With a Faculty Member

Building a relationship with a trustworthy instructor is one of the smartest things you can do as a woman in STEM.

First off, most professors have spent time in the industry and have tons of connections. They can also provide great recommendation letters for work and school and are an excellent source for helping new students get involved in their STEM program.

Furthermore, your STEM professors can create a safe environment that lets you comfortably express concerns about sexism in your program. During my time in college, I had two professors I could tell my problems to. Both took action, whether it was to escalate an issue or make changes to how they were running their classrooms to be more inclusive.

Professors can be intimidating, but the best ones want you to succeed and will take measures to make sure your environment allows for that.

Tip 4: Report Sexism When You See It

If a student is making you feel unsafe or attacked based on your identity, report them. I was so nervous to report people at the beginning of my college career, thinking it was an overreaction or not worth anyone’s time.

But if another student is harassing you due to your identity, they are likely causing problems for others as well. This harassment can affect your grades and well-being, and you owe it to yourself and to others to put an end to it.

I once had a peer tell me I didn’t need to try in school and should stop taking up my professors’ office hours because every company would want me as a diversity hire, while he had to “actually work for that same position.”

This type of statement is invalidating to any student: being told your efforts will have nothing to do with any of your success down the line. Statistically, men are hired at higher rates than women and make up the majority of the STEM workforce.

So not only was what that student said completely sexist, but it was also false information he was helping to spread into the major’s cultural bias against women. Despite him telling me this multiple times a week, I convinced myself it wasn’t big enough to report, once again doing what women often do: making myself feel smaller to fit into men’s space.

“Not only was what that student said completely sexist, but it was also false information he was helping to spread. … I convinced myself it wasn’t big enough to report, once again doing what women often do: making myself feel smaller to fit into men’s space.”

I later learned this student spread a rumor that a friend of mine was sleeping with a professor for good grades. The professor frequently met with my friend during office hours, and she had one of the highest grades in the class.

But instead of simply assuming she was a hardworking student, he labeled her “too stupid” to earn such results. My friend had the same mindset as me at the time, so she didn’t report him. We both still regret that.

Years later, I told a faculty member about these interactions in a discussion about the sexism women have experienced in our computer science program. They, too, regretted that we didn’t report these people.

You might run into men like this student I dealt with, and even if you convince yourself the problem is small and more annoying than hurtful, it’s best to let a professor know. Most faculty members don’t want people like that destroying their STEM program.

And if you have a problem with a professor, you can and should report them as well. Most programs offer anonymous reporting so students can report without unintended consequences. It’s almost always better to report and risk having nothing come of it than to regret letting people get away with such sexist behavior.

If you have a story to tell, learn what the process looks like and how to write it.

Tip 5: Don’t Burn Yourself Out Trying to Educate Everyone

My last piece of advice is to avoid trying to educate everyone on their oppressive behavior. It’s a learned skill to recognize who will be responsive and willing to make changes — and those who will not.

During my first couple of years in college, I’d call out everyone on passive and blatant sexism, especially in the presence of other women. In retrospect, I should have reported or ignored the people saying these things in most situations.

Unfortunately, hearing sexist statements is a daily occurrence in many STEM programs. Disguised as encouraging, many of these statements are rooted in internalized misogyny. This verbiage contributes to much of the impostor syndrome experienced by women.

All this is to say, put your studies first — it’s not your job to educate everyone on how to not be sexist. Taking the time with allies to understand the issues and encouraging them to call others out on their sexist behavior can help bring about a cultural shift. But trying to educate individual students is not any one person’s job and can burn you out fast.

Ultimately, school comes first. Making use of clubs and other organizations for mass education may be more effective in helping to build a better, more inclusive STEM culture for women.

Explore more college resources at BestColleges.com

Billionaire Robert Hale Gave Grads $1,000 Cash In Envelopes At Ceremony

EducationSTEM

Billionaire Robert Hale doled out millions of dollars recently to 2,500 graduates at the University of Massachusetts, Boston — giving each one $1,000 in cash as they accepted their diplomas—the latest billionaire donation for students, as the price of tuition skyrockets.

Hale, the commencement speaker at UMass Boston, gave students two envelopes that each contained $500, the Boston Globe reported.

The billionaire co-founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications told seniors to keep one of the envelopes for themselves, and donate the other to a charity of their choice, calling it a “gift of giving”—though whether they donate the money is up to them.

For Hale, the sudden loss of $2.5 million only represents a drop in the bucket of his $5 billion net worth, according to Forbes’ valuation.

It’s also his second time giving college graduates cash: Hale in 2021 handed $1,000 to all 270 graduating students who attended their commencement address at Quincy College, several miles outside Boston.

$15,535. That’s how much in-state students pay per year in tuition and mandatory fees at UMass Boston, a predominantly commuter school, according to the school’s bursar’s office. For out-of-state students, one year at UMass Boston costs $37,211, just below the average price of tuition at a private college in the U.S. ($37,600, according to the National Center for Education Statistics), and well below the price of Columbia University, the school with the most expensive college tuition in the country ($69,986).

Read the full article posted on Forbes here.

College Majors With the Best Return on Investment

EducationSTEM

female collge grad in cap and gown opening champagne

By Cole Claybourn, U.S. News & World Report

Engineering and health-care majors top the list for ROI.

It’s no secret that college is expensive.

Both private and public institutions ranked by U.S. News saw tuition increases for the 2022-2023 academic year, according to data submitted in an annual survey. Average tuition and fees at ranked private universities was about $40,000, while ranked public universities cost nearly $23,000 for out-of-state students and $10,500 for in-state students.

In turn, the average student loan debt continues to rise, currently clocking in at about $30,000 per borrower, according to U.S. News data.

Though students may encounter difficulties paying for it, college is a worthwhile investment when done wisely, experts say. In 2021, the median weekly wage for full-time workers age 25 and older who had at least a bachelor’s degree was $1,334, compared to $809 for those with only a high school diploma and no college, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What a student studies can further affect the calculation. Certain degrees yield a better return on investment than others, according to data from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known collectively as STEM, the data shows, are among those with the highest ROI.

“STEM careers continue to offer highly competitive salaries in the job market,” Jackson Gruver, a data analyst at online salary database Payscale, wrote in an email. “These ‘hot’ jobs rely on specialized skill sets that are hard to come by. Such talent scarcity drives up the demand for these workers along with their pay. Whether it’s engineering, medical or data sciences – these laborers will see an abundance of opportunities in the job market that compensate well.”

Georgetown’s CEW analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard to determine a list of 34 degrees with the highest ROI. It uses four categories to determine which degrees hold the most economic value: median monthly earnings net of debt, median monthly debt payments, median annualized earnings net of debt, and median debt.

Read the complete article and more STEM news on U.S. News & World Report here.

Post Malone Calls NASA Astronauts in Space for Earth Day

EntertainmentscienceTechnology

post malone speaking remotely with astronauts

In a special Earth Day conversation, artist and music producer Post Malone spoke with NASA astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg, who are currently living and working on the International Space Station.

Malone chatted with the astronauts about their favorite views from the orbiting laboratory, how their unique perspective changed how they see Earth, and what makes our home special.

The space station is an orbiting laboratory traveling at a speed of 17,500 mph (25,000 kph), completing one trip around Earth about every 90 minutes. Crew members carry out research and conduct thousands of experiments that have contributed to medical and social benefits on our home planet, allowing us to find new ways to combat disease and develop technologies to deliver clean water to remote communities in need.

Click to view on YouTube!

Related Articles:

Victor Glover Set To Become The First Black Man NASA Sends To The Moon

Black Artists Encouraged to Apply For Global Musicians Partnership Program

CareersSTEAM

performers on stage raising hands together for fianl bow to audience

Kansas City is the first and only UNESCO Creative City of Music in the United States. Established in 2017, Creative City KC, Inc. is a not-for-profit and the focal point organization for the nation’s membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). On Wednesday, April 12, 2023, Creative City KC will present its annual meeting and give details about the benefits of accessing this worldwide platform.

The prestigious designation was authored by Anita Dixon-Brown, Founder and Executive Director of Creative City KC Inc. She comments, “Kansas City is internationally recognized as one of the four major development cities for the genre of Jazz. This history won us the designation. Charlie Parker, Count Basie, and SWING made us stand out. As the only UNESCO Creative City of Music in the United States, we are opening opportunities for musicians to expand their reach, travel, record, and perform across the world through this vast network.”

With culture at the forefront of these partnerships, Creative City KC Inc., aims to propel musicians into accessing the power of connecting with others globally. “We advocate for the advancement of UNESCO and UCCN core values, 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Peace through Music, International Cooperation through Creativity, and work to advance the African Diaspora in Kansas City and around the world,” said Dr. Jacob Wagner, Professor of Urban Planning & Design at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and co-founder of the designation.

An email of interest to [email protected] is sufficient to begin the process of becoming a Partner with UNESCO Creative City of Music-USA. They will then send you a short, online survey to request additional information about the nature of your project or partnership.

About the founder
Anita Dixon-Brown has been a Cultural Heritage Consultant for over 30 years, developing tours of historic sites for African Americans nationally, consulting on major heritage projects such as preserving the sites of the Underground Railroad in American history, and demonstrating heritage tourism as a major economic tool for urban community sustainability. For more details about her, visit SageWorldView.com

Source: BlackNews.com

STEM Internship Opportunities for Diverse Students

Diversity in STEMSTEAM

A blue piggy bank wearing a graduation cap with stacks of coins next to it.

IOScholarships (IOS), the first of its kind scholarship and financial education platform for minority STEM students has been designed with a streamlined user-friendly interface that offers great functionality to help high school, undergraduate and graduate students find STEM scholarships and internship opportunities. IOScholarships proprietary matching algorithm can match students with life-changing scholarships where their diverse background is valued.

Statistically speaking, minorities tend to be underrepresented in STEM fields. That’s why corporations often create internship opportunities for minorities entering the industry.

“As the job market is becoming more competitive in addition to GPA and personal achievements, employers want to see applicants who have completed one or more internships,” said María Fernanda Trochimezuk, Founder of IOScholarships.

Below we’ve highlighted some of the many internships for minorities in STEM fields

Facebook Software Engineer Internship

The Software Engineer Internship is available to undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing a degree in computer science or a related field. Interns will help build the next generation of systems behind Facebook’s products, create web applications that reach millions of people, build high volume servers, and be a part of a team that’s working to help people connect with each other around the globe.

Microsoft Internship Program

For Women and Minorities this program is specifically designed for undergraduate minority college freshmen and sophomores interested in a paid summer internship in software engineering. Students must major in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related disciplines.

Minority Access Internship

The Minority Access Internship Program has internships on offered in the spring, summer and fall to college sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduates, and professionals. Interns receive pre-employment training and counseling on career choices as well as professional development, with the possibility of full-time employment after graduation.

Google Internships

Google offers rich learning experiences for college students that include pay. As a technical intern, you are excited about tackling the hard problems in technology. With internships across the globe, ranging from Software Engineering to User Experience, Google offers many opportunities to grow with them.

The majority of the scholarships and internships featured on the IOScholarships website come directly from corporations and organizations, rather than solely from competitive national pools – thereby maximizing the number of opportunities students have to earn funding for their education.

The platform also offers a Career Aptitude Quiz designed to help students identify the degrees and professions that best fit their skills.

For more information about IOScholarships visit www.ioscholarships.com.

Astronomers discover largest known spinning structures in the universe

science

An artist's impression of a spinning cosmic filament that astronomers found

By Charles Q. Choi, Space.com

Tendrils of galaxies up to hundreds of millions of light-years long may be the largest spinning objects in the universe, a new study finds. Celestial bodies often spin, from planets to stars to galaxies. However, giant clusters of galaxies often spin very slowly, if at all, and so many researchers thought that is where spinning might end on cosmic scales, study co-author Noam Libeskind, a cosmologist at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany, told Space.com.

But in the new research, Libeskind and his colleagues found that cosmic filaments, or gigantic tubes made of galaxies, apparently spin. “There are structures so vast that entire galaxies are just specks of dust,” Libeskind said. “These huge filaments are much, much bigger than clusters.”

Previous research suggested that after the universe was born in the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago, much of the gas that makes up most of the known matter of the cosmos collapsed to form colossal sheets. These sheets then broke apart to form the filaments of a vast cosmic web.

Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the scientists examined more than 17,000 filaments, analyzing the velocity at which the galaxies making up these giant tubes moved within each tendril. The researchers found that the way in which these galaxies moved suggested they were rotating around the central axis of each filament.

The fastest the researchers saw galaxies whirl around the hollow centers of these tendrils was about 223,700 mph (360,000 kph). The scientists noted they do not suggest that every single filament in the universe spins, but that spinning filaments do seem to exist.

The big question is, “Why do they spin?” Libeskind said. The Big Bang would not have endowed the universe with any primordial spin. As such, whatever caused these filaments to spin must have originated later in history as the structures formed, he said.

Click here to read the full article on Space.com.