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  1. 19674

    While reading in this article that starlings may be capable of discerning grammatical patterns, I recalled the FOXP2 gene. The gene seems to be involved in the development of areas of the brain involved in speech in humans. Variants of FOXP2 were found in a family whose members shared a rare speech disorder. In gene […]

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  2. Astronomy

    Energy-Saving Space Engines: Black holes can be green

    Some seemingly quiet black holes are actually efficient engines that emit jets of high-energy particles.

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  3. 19673

    This article refers repeatedly to black holes “swallowing matter and spitting out [or sending out] energy.” What really “spits out” or “sends out” anything is not the black hole itself, but the disk of gas that’s in the process of being mostly sucked irreversibly into the black hole.