Category: 7. Science

It’s a commonly held belief: Sperm cells are like runners in an epic race, competing against each other for access to the coveted egg at the finish line. The egg, in turn, waits patiently for the winning sperm to pierce its outer membrane, triggering fertilization. This narrative of racing sperm and waiting eggs has persisted through time — and yet, it simply isn’t accurate. Scientific research has debunked this idea time and time again.

In her new book “The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us about the Power of the Female Body” (Seal Press/Hachette, 2025), science writer Starre Vartan addresses this and other pervasive myths about the female body, highlighting what science actually tells us about differences in biology between the sexes and where gaps in knowledge still exist, in part, due to a historic lack of research focused on females.

Eggs are choosy (but we keep forgetting)

A team of astronomy-loving mountaineers, led by Cyril Dupuy, founder of the French smart telescope company Vaonis, recently hiked the icy slopes of Mount Blanc. There, they captured the highest photograph of the sun ever taken in Europe.

What is it?

From April 29 to May 1 of this year, the team ascended Western Europe’s tallest peak, carrying with them their Vespera Pro smart telescope. Despite being blocked from the true peak of Mount Blanc by a hazardous snow bridge, the team succeeded in their scientific expedition, setting up their telescope to get unprecedented views of the sky.

Where is it?

This photo was taken on Mount Blanc at 14,100 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level, a bit below the 15,780-foot (4,810 m) summit.

Why is it amazing?

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Scientists at the Van Andel Institute have introduced a new method for analyzing DNA methylation in individual cells. The technique, called scDEEP-mC, enables high-resolution mapping of methylation patterns across the genome, enhancing the ability to detect subtle and cell-specific epigenetic features.

DNA methylation is a chemical modification that helps regulate gene expression and cell identity without altering the DNA sequence itself. It plays a critical role in development, cell differentiation and genomic stability. Aberrant methylation patterns have been linked to a range of diseases, including cancer.

Until now, techniques for assessing methylation in single cells have lacked the resolution and efficiency required for broad application. scDEEP-mC addresses these limitations by generating comprehensive methylation maps of of DNA methylation that allow researchers to identify distinct cell types and trace developmental changes at the individual cell level. The method also allows for comparisons between newly replicated and older cells, which could provide insights into aging and disease progression.

Detailed epigenetic profiles in individual cells

The study, published in Nature Communications, describes how scDEEP-mC supports several advanced analyses in single cells. These include the estimating of cellular age using epigenetic clocks, analysis of hemimethylation and creation of whole-chromosome X-inactivation epigenetic profiles.

The improved resolution allows researchers to study methylation dynamics during DNA replication, a process that was previously difficult to observe at the single-cell level. 

“scDEEP-mC allows us to see DNA methylation at varying stages of DNA replication in individual cells — something that has not been possible until now,” said Nathan Spix, Ph.D., co-first author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow. “For example, scDEEP-mC can help us pinpoint early DNA methylation changes in single cells that go on to become cancerous. If we know what goes wrong in the early stages of this process, we can use that information to develop new ways to detect and treat disease.”

Previous single-cell methylation methods relied on pooled data from multiple cells, which obscured cell-specific differences. Such averaging techniques limited the ability to identify rare cell types or detect nuanced epigenetic variations. In contrast, scDEEP-mC generates detailed individual cell profiles, revealing differences that would otherwise remain hidden.

The method’s efficiency and depth of coverage position it as a valuable tool for studying complex tissues, where understanding individual cell behavior is essential for unraveling disease mechanisms.

Reference: Spix NJ, Habib WA, Zhang Z, et al. High-coverage allele-resolved single-cell DNA methylation profiling reveals cell lineage, X-inactivation state, and replication dynamics. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):6273. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61589-1

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A fossilized rhino tooth, buried for over 20 million years, is now helping scientists rewrite the history of early rhino evolution.

Inside the tooth enamel, researchers found something remarkable: preserved proteins that held clues to the animal’s lineage and evolutionary split from other species.

This breakthrough came from scientists at the University of York. By analyzing enamel proteins in the tooth, the experts traced key moments in rhino evolution much further back than previously possible.

Reconstructing the rhino family tree

The team discovered that this particular rhino diverged from other members of the family Rhinocerotidae during a window between 41 and 25 million years ago. This coincides with a time between the Middle Eocene and Oligocene Epochs.

Even more surprising was that the data revealed that the two main subfamilies of rhinos – Elasmotheriinae and Rhinocerotinae – split later than previously thought.

Instead of parting ways in the Eocene, as earlier bone studies suggested, this separation likely occurred during the Oligocene, between 34 and 22 million years ago.

This new timeline helps scientists better understand how different rhino species emerged, adapted, and survived (or didn’t) through changing environments.

Rhino evolution revealed in DNA

Ancient DNA has helped researchers study extinct species, but it rarely survives beyond a million years. This fossil tooth changes that.

The successful recovery of enamel proteins from a sample over 20 million years old extends the timeline for molecular research by a factor of ten.

This is important because it allows scientists to explore evolutionary history through molecular evidence – not just fossil shapes. Well-preserved enamel proteins offer access to valuable genetic information, opening new avenues for discovery.

Enamel is the hardest tissue in the body. Its mineral-rich structure protects proteins for millions of years, especially in cold environments where this tooth was found.

Keeping the fossil tooth data pure

The fossil tooth was found in Canada’s High Arctic – a region where permafrost still dominates. That cold environment played a key role in keeping the proteins intact, but cold alone wasn’t enough.

To make sure the proteins were truly ancient, researchers at the University of York ran tests using a method called chiral amino acid analysis.

This technique helped the team distinguish between original proteins from the rhino’s life and any later contamination.

By comparing the degraded proteins in this tooth with those from previously studied rhino fossils, they confirmed the material was genuine.

Unique environmental history of the site

Professor Enrico Cappellini from the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute emphasized the significance of the fossil site.

“The Haughton Crater may be a truly special place for palaeontology: a biomolecular vault protecting proteins from decay over vast geological timescales,” said Cappellini.

“Its unique environmental history has created a site with exceptional preservation of ancient biomolecules, akin to how certain sites preserve soft tissues. This finding should encourage more paleontological fieldwork in regions around the world.”

Exploring further back in time

Dr. Marc Dickinson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of York’s Department of Chemistry, was one of the co-authors on the study.

“It is phenomenal that these tools are enabling us to explore further and further back in time. Building on our knowledge of ancient proteins, we can now start asking fascinating new questions about the evolution of ancient life on our planet,” said Dickinson.

The team sees this fossil tooth as more than just an isolated find. It’s a signal that there may be more ancient biomolecules waiting to be studied.

New perspective on rhino evolution

“Successful analysis of ancient proteins from such an old sample gives a fresh perspective to scientists around the globe who already have incredible fossils in their collections. This important fossil helps us to understand our ancient past,” said Fazeelah Munir, who analyzed the tooth during her doctoral research at York.

Modern rhinos are threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and climate change. Tracing their evolutionary history reveals how past environmental shifts shaped the species we see today.

The more we understand what helped ancient rhinos survive – or led to their decline – the better equipped we are to protect the few that remain.

The full study was published in the journal Nature.

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A newly discovered parasite has caused quite a stir among microbiologists who were left scrambling to place it on the tree of life – and it seems even the organism itself is confused as to its identity. Sukunaarchaeum, as it’s been provisionally named, is not a virus – but it sure behaves like one – and it could upend what we know about life itself.

The mystery microbe seemingly straddles the line between living and non-living. It’s cellular, and can create its own ribosomes and mRNA, something viruses can’t do, but it relies heavily on its host for many of its biological functions and is devoted to replicating itself, much like a virus.

Curiously, the organism, which was eventually found to belong to the domain Archaea, has an astonishingly small genome of just 238,000 base pairs, less than half the size of the smallest previously known archaeal genome.

“The discovery of Sukunaarchaeum pushes the conventional boundaries of cellular life,” the researchers behind the discovery report in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed preprint study.

“Its genome is profoundly stripped-down, lacking virtually all recognizable metabolic pathways, and primarily encoding the machinery for its replicative core: DNA replication, transcription, and translation,” they write. “This suggests an unprecedented level of metabolic dependence on a host, a condition that challenges the functional distinctions between minimal cellular life and viruses.”

Sukunaarchaeum – named after a deity of small stature in Japanese mythology – was discovered by happy accident as researchers were sequencing the genome of the marine plankton Citharistes regius. In doing so, they identified a strange loop of DNA that kept popping up, which didn’t match any known species. It seemed there was another entity living inside C. regius, an archaeon, but unlike any ever found before.

With its tiny genome and presumed inability to produce its own essential molecules, it’s a miracle Sukunaarchaeum is able to survive. To do so, it depends almost completely on its host’s machinery.

“While clearly cellular, its extreme metabolic dependence and specialization for self-replication are virus-like in nature, suggesting that Sukunaarchaeum may represent the closest cellular entity discovered to date that approaches a viral strategy of existence,” the researchers add.

One way in which the parasite differs from viruses, however, is that it can replicate its own genetic material – almost its entire genome is dedicated to this purpose. 

Next up for the team is to photograph Sukunaarchaeum – easier said than done when the organism is likely less than a micrometer across – and to investigate similar systems in case they too harbor weird and wonderful lifeforms that call into question our understanding of cellular evolution.

The preprint is available at bioRxiv.

This month’s “Insights & Outcomes” digs deep into research about fundamental processes that affect all our lives. We delve into the evolution of pregnancy, new uses for artificial intelligence in chemistry and carbon capture, and a novel device capable of detecting a rare genetic mutation in minutes. 

As always, you can find more science and medicine research news on Yale News’ Science & Technology and Health & Medicine pages.

New device brings benefits of ‘rapid’ genetic tests to clinical setting

Despite advances in genetic testing over the past two decades, use of the technology in clinical settings has been hampered by the notoriously long wait for test results. In most cases, laboratory results aren’t available for days or weeks, by which time the opportunity for improved patient care may have already been missed.

A team of researchers from Yale and Rutgers, however, recently created a portable device capable of detecting a rare genetic mutation in as little as 10 minutes. The advance, which was described in the journal Communications Engineering, holds promise for use in emergency rooms and outpatient settings where test results can help inform patient care — including in cases where doctors may otherwise lose touch with patients after discharge, said Curt Scharfe, a geneticist at YSM and co-author of the study.

Scharfe led the project alongside Mehdi Javanmard, a professor of electrical engineering at the Rutgers School of Engineering.

The device combines a technique called allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, also known as ASPCR, with electrical impedance, which measures how DNA samples affect the flow of electricity in microfluidic chips. These tiny chips handle small liquid volumes and measure electrical signals to distinguish DNA sequences that carry a disease-causing mutation from those that do not.

In this case, the device was validated for testing hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (TTR), a genetic condition that can lead to heart failure, particularly in people of West African ancestry. The condition has been the focus of multiple Yale research programs.

Importantly for an emergency department setting, the device enables providers to receive results while the patient is still on the premises, Scharfe said.

“It enables near-patient testing just like a glucometer enables near-patient testing for diabetes management,” he said. “Our combined technologies — the assay and the device together — enables us to do the same thing for this mutation with specificity and sensitivity, and affordably.”

Tracing the evolution of pregnancy

Yale research is shedding new light on the evolution in fetal and maternal cells that helped make mammalian pregnancy sustainable. 

Successful pregnancies depend, in part, on the molecular communication between fetus and mother where the placenta attaches to the uterus. In a new study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers zeroed in on this critical connection.

Specifically, they traced the evolutionary history of gene activity in placental cells from six animals that represent all the branches of the mammalian family tree. These included humans, mice, guinea pigs, macaques, and two lesser-studied species: the short-tailed opossum, a marsupial, and the tenrec, a relative of elephants.

By illustrating how evolution shaped cooperation between mother and fetus, the findings may bring new understanding to pregnancy problems — such as preeclampsia — that spring from issues in how maternal and fetal cells interact.

“Together, these species offer a rare window into pregnancy’s evolutionary history,” said study lead author Daniel Stadtmauer, a post-doc at the University of Vienna who started the research as a student in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

The researchers used a technique called “single-cell transcriptomics,” which let them examine the genes that individual cells use and map out all the cell types at the placental border. They found that many mammal species share a type of fetal cell called an “invasive trophoblast,” which has likely helped shape the evolution of the placenta. “We uncovered a genetic signature linked to these placental cells that has persisted for over 100 million years,” Stadtmauer said. “And it’s not unique to humans, as was traditionally thought, but part of an ancient heritage shared even with marsupials.”

The findings also revealed that a type of uterine cell — called decidual cells — evolved gradually, shifting their role from immune functions to hormone production, and that the molecular communication system between mother and fetus grew more specialized over time to allow for greater cooperation between the two.

“This cross-species research opens the door to a powerful new framework for understanding how pregnancy evolved, and how cells cooperate to build complex traits,” said senior author Günter Wagner, the Alison Richard Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Other researchers include researcher Jamie Maziarz, who is now in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), and collaborators from the University of Vienna and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

This research was supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, the National Science Foundation, and the Austrian Science Fund.

Yale chemists go ‘retro’ with new AI-based model

Retrosynthesis, a longstanding challenge in organic chemistry, has a complexity that is similar to a game of chess. You have a target molecule you’re aiming for, a set of basic materials to get there, and must pursue a set of steps to accomplish the task.

But in retrosynthesis, the possibilities for each step expand exponentially, making it incredibly difficult and time-consuming to reach a target.

But in a recent study published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, Yale’s Victor Batista and members of his lab describe a novel, artificial intelligence-based approach to direct, multistep retrosynthesis. Batista is the John Gamble Kirkwood Professor of Chemistry in the FAS, a member of the Energy Sciences Institute on West Campus and the Yale Quantum Institute, and director of the Center for Quantum Dynamics on Modular Quantum Devices.

Compared to previous methods, the new approach is three times more likely to suggest a correct route to a target molecule on the first attempt, the researchers say. The research has a public web portal, is open-source, and already has filled more than 800 requests from 100 users.

“Instead of older methods, we re-framed the problem as a sequence prediction task, allowing us to train a transformer model — the same architecture behind large language models like ChatGPT — to predict entire synthesis routes natively,” said Anton Morgunov, a Ph.D. candidate in the GSAS (and a member of Batista’s lab) and co-lead of the project with Ph.D. candidate Yu Shee.

Shee, Morgunov, and Batista are authors of the new study, along with Haote Li, who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Yale earlier this year.

The researchers noted that while they have not completely solved the challenge of retrosynthesis — their model struggles with particularly complex chemical structures — their approach shows promise and can be refined further.

Machine learning and climate change

A Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC) research team has received a $50,000 Phase 1 award from the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge.

The team is led by Elizabeth Yankovsky, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences in FAS, and YCNCC data scientist Luke Gloege, along with geochemist Noah Planavsky, professor of Earth and planetary sciences in FAS.

The Yale project leverages machine learning to conduct modeling at different scales to unlock monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for geochemical carbon dioxide removal. The team is now in an intensive innovative sprint towards the challenge’s Phase II awards, expected later this year. Each Phase II awardee team will receive up to $2 million.

The challenge is a $100 million competition from the Bezos Earth Fund to advance innovation and opportunities for AI to help solve the critical challenges of nature loss and climate change.

Hungry for knowledge

Nearly 4 million college students in the U.S. are known to experience food insecurity, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. But little has been known about the prevalence of food insecurity among medical students.

A new study from a team of Yale researchers addresses this question, finding that nearly 1 in 4 medical students were food insecure. (“Food insecurity” is a measure of whether individuals have enough food to support a healthy, active life, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).) Published in the journal Academic Medicine, the study was led by YSM students with support from John Solomon Francis, YSM’s associate dean for student affairs and co-author of the study.

“Food insecurity among medical students is not just a personal hardship — it’s a systemic failure,” said Mytien Nguyen, an M.D.-Ph.D. candidate at YSM and one of the first authors of the study. “No student should be expected to learn, train, and care for others while struggling to meet their basic needs.” 

Bassel Shanab, an M.D. candidate at YSM and another first author, added: “Food insecurity is often described as a rite of passage, anecdotally, from attendings and residents to medical students, along with excessively long workdays and sleep deprivation, on the pathway to becoming a physician.” 

The team examined variations in food insecurity among medical students at 15 schools, analyzing differences by disability status, race, ethnicity, and financial background. Between March and October 2024, 1,659 students across those medical schools completed an online survey. The research team then assessed rates of food insecurity using the USDA’s Household Food Security Survey Module. 

Low-income students, students with disabilities, and those underrepresented in medicine reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than their peers. These findings suggest a promising yet underutilized path for supporting these students: proactively linking them to nutrition resources and advocating for policies that address their essential needs.

Karen Guzman, Jim Shelton, Kevin Dennehy, and Meg Dalton contributed to this report.

Research Redux:

The cure for cystic fibrosis might start in the womb

Simpler, less costly virus testing in high-risk settings

Yale genome engineers expand the reach and precision of human gene editing

This ‘jellyfish’ has bunny ears — and swims in a galaxy cluster

A glimpse into how monkeys — and machines — see a 3D world

Though you might think that compasses will always point towards the geographic north pole, the magnetic and geographic poles do not always align. As well as a few temporary reversals, the Earth’s magnetic field – just like the Sun – can flip over long timescales. During the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, the magnetic north could have been as far south as the equator.

You probably don’t worry about the Earth’s magnetic fields too much, assuming you don’t have to rely on a compass for navigation. The magnetosphere generally sits up there minding its own business, protecting the Earth’s surface from charged particles from the Sun, and occasionally producing spectacular aurorae. But the Earth’s magnetic fields are not as fixed as you might think.

“We know that over the past 200 years, the magnetic field has weakened about 9 percent on a global average. However, paleomagnetic studies show the field is actually about the strongest it’s been in the past 100,000 years, and is twice as intense as its million-year average,” NASA explains.

“Since it was first precisely located by British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross in 1831, the magnetic north pole’s position has gradually drifted north-northwest by more than 600 miles (1,100 kilometers), and its forward speed has increased, from about 10 miles (16 kilometers) per year to about 34 miles (55 kilometers) per year.”

The poles can flip over the course of hundreds or thousands of years, and this can happen at random, with intervals ranging anywhere from 10,000 years to 50 million years or more. Around 41,000 years ago, the Earth went through a temporary reversal known as the Laschamp event, which was also sonified by the same team. 

By studying the magnetization of sediment cores taken from the time, scientists identified that the magnetic field briefly flipped during this time period.

“The field geometry of reversed polarity, with field lines pointing into the opposite direction when compared to today’s configuration, lasted for only about 440 years, and it was associated with a field strength that was only one quarter of today’s field,” GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences researcher Norbert Nowaczyk, who studied the event, said in a statement in 2012. “The actual polarity changes lasted only 250 years. In terms of geological time scales, that is very fast.”

While there are claims that the event was linked to the extinction of megafauna in Australia and the extinction of the Neanderthals through resulting changes to the Earth’s climate, experts are skeptical, for example pointing out that these events don’t line up well with temperature evidence from ice cores.

The last true sustained reversal of the magnetic poles happened around 780,000 years ago, and is named the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal after the geophysicists who first found evidence for it. While the Laschamp event was short-lived in geological timescales, the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal is believed to have taken place over longer timescales. Exactly how long the reversal lasted is still subject for scientific debate, with higher estimates suggesting a reversal lasting 22,000 years. Evidence for this reversal can be seen across the world, largely by looking at magnetic field lines in the sediment records.

“Based on paleomagnetic data inferred from sediments, taken from drill cores all over the globe, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany have constructed a global model of the magnetic field before, during and after the reversal,” ESA explained in a statement.

“To visualise the complex dynamics, the video follows the evolution of a surface of constant strength during the reversal. Three violins and three cellos form a six-voice musical piece that follows the field evolution as well, leading to a disharmonic cacophony during the reversal.”

The team used three violins and three cellos to sonify the event.

While you may picture ancient human ancestors looking baffled as their anachronistic compasses suddenly flip direction, these reversals are not so simple, and the magnetic field can weaken to as little as 10 percent of the strength we are used to. During them, there can be magnetic poles as far down as the equator, or even multiple north and south poles at different areas of the planet. 

Back in December, the magnetic north got an updated position.

“The current behaviour of magnetic north is something that we have never observed before,” Dr William Brown, global geomagnetic field modeler at BGS, said in a statement. “Magnetic north has been moving slowly around Canada since the 1500s but, in the past 20 years, it accelerated towards Siberia, increasing in speed every year until about five years ago, when it suddenly decelerated from 50 to 35 km per year, which is the biggest deceleration in speed we’ve ever seen.”

The fields move around as a result of the liquid metals sloshing around inside the Earth’s outer core, themselves at the whims of the motion of the planet and its rotation, as well as heat-driven convection. Though it has been some time since the last true reversal and excursion, the poles continue to move around the planet, and it remains difficult to predict when the next such reversal will occur. 

Yale astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and a team of researchers have discovered an object in space they call the “Infinity” galaxy – two recently-collided galaxies that, together, look like the symbol for infinity.

And at the center of “Infinity,” embedded in a cloud of gas, they say, is a supermassive black hole.

The findings are described in a new study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The discovery, the researchers say, is intriguing for several reasons. It suggests a novel way for black holes to form, it provides a possible explanation for the existence of incredibly massive black holes in the early universe – and it may be the first direct evidence of a supermassive black hole just after it formed.

“This is as close to a smoking gun as we’re likely ever going to get,” said van Dokkum, the Sol Goldman Family Professor of Astronomy and professor of physics in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the new study.

Everything about this galaxy, he said, is unusual.

“Not only does it look very strange, but it also has this supermassive black hole that’s accreting a lot of material,” he said. “The biggest surprise of all was that the black hole was not located inside either of the two nuclei of the merging galaxies, but in the middle. We asked ourselves: how can we make sense of this?”

Van Dokkum and astronomer Gabriel Brammer of the University of Copenhagen made the discovery while studying images from the COSMOS-Web survey, which is part of the data archives of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Van Dokkum also led follow-up observations of the Webb data. In addition, the researchers used W.M. Keck Observatory data for the study, and archival data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Finding a black hole that is not located in the nucleus of a massive galaxy is, in itself, unusual, the researchers said. To then discover that the black hole had only just formed was unprecedented.

“In other words, we think we’re witnessing the birth of a supermassive black hole – something that has never been seen before,” van Dokkum said.

The finding also has implications for the ongoing debate about the formation of black holes in the early universe.

One theory – the “light seeds” theory – is that small black holes formed when stars’ cores collapsed and exploded. Eventually, those “light seed” black holes merged into supermassive black holes. This theory, however, would require an extraordinarily long time to reach fruition. And the Webb telescope already has identified supermassive black holes that appeared in the universe too early to be explained by the “light seeds” theory.

That leaves the “heavy seeds” theory, which has been championed by Yale astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan and others. This theory suggests that much larger black holes can form from the collapse of large clouds of gas. The sticking point for the “heavy seeds” theory has been that collapsing gas clouds usually form stars.

The Infinity galaxy, however, may show how extreme conditions – including those in the early universe suggested by the “heavy seeds” theory – could lead to the creation of a black hole, van Dokkum said.

“In this case, two disk galaxies collided, forming the ring structures of stars that we see,” he said. “During the collision, the gas within these two galaxies shocks and compresses. This compression might just be enough to have formed a dense knot, that then collapsed into a black hole.

“While such collisions are rare events, similarly extreme gas densities are thought to have been quite common at early cosmic epochs, when galaxies began forming,” he added.

Van Dokkum and his colleagues stressed that additional research is needed to confirm the findings and what they portend for black hole formation.

Co-authors of the study are Natarajan, Josephine F.W. Baggen, Michael Keim, and Imad Pasha, all from Yale, and Brammer, from the University of Copenhagen.