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In a study fit for Valentine’s Day, Northwestern University astrophysicists discovered that binary black holes — when formed in crowded clusters of stars — align their spins before merging together. As the black holes orbit one another, each object has its own spin. Previous research indicated these spins should be chaotic and random. However, in

New 3D computer simulations created by graduate student Fulya Kıroğlu show the eating habits of intermediate-mass black holes, which have yet to be discovered in observations. When a star approaches an intermediate-mass black hole, it initially gets caught in the black hole’s orbit. Every time the star makes a lap, the black hole takes a