Regina Barber

A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes. Because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story. But right now, you probably need more. On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes. Because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

And then it moves you through time. Music is architecture in time. If you engage in the moment with what you're listening to, you do lose a sense of the time around you.

And then it moves you through time. Music is architecture in time. If you engage in the moment with what you're listening to, you do lose a sense of the time around you.

And then it moves you through time. Music is architecture in time. If you engage in the moment with what you're listening to, you do lose a sense of the time around you.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. In pop culture, black holes have developed this reputation for gobbling things up. Being these points in the universe where all matter, even light, is inescapably sucked up into this extraordinarily dense black void.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. In pop culture, black holes have developed this reputation for gobbling things up. Being these points in the universe where all matter, even light, is inescapably sucked up into this extraordinarily dense black void.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. In pop culture, black holes have developed this reputation for gobbling things up. Being these points in the universe where all matter, even light, is inescapably sucked up into this extraordinarily dense black void.

That's Priyambada Natarajan, an astrophysicist at Yale University who focuses on black holes, specifically how extremely large ones came to be. And Priya says these supermassive black holes, like the one in the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, are more than just cosmic vacuum cleaners.

That's Priyambada Natarajan, an astrophysicist at Yale University who focuses on black holes, specifically how extremely large ones came to be. And Priya says these supermassive black holes, like the one in the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, are more than just cosmic vacuum cleaners.

That's Priyambada Natarajan, an astrophysicist at Yale University who focuses on black holes, specifically how extremely large ones came to be. And Priya says these supermassive black holes, like the one in the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, are more than just cosmic vacuum cleaners.

Because when black holes eat material immediately around them, they create this bright disk, like a glowing donut.

Because when black holes eat material immediately around them, they create this bright disk, like a glowing donut.

Because when black holes eat material immediately around them, they create this bright disk, like a glowing donut.

Basically, black holes are really messy eaters, so not all the dust and gas they eat make it down the hatch. And for a supermassive black hole, this can look like beams of white-hot plasma and radiation shooting out of that glowing donut just outside the event horizon that makes up the edge of the black hole. Sometimes these beams are millions of light-years long.

Basically, black holes are really messy eaters, so not all the dust and gas they eat make it down the hatch. And for a supermassive black hole, this can look like beams of white-hot plasma and radiation shooting out of that glowing donut just outside the event horizon that makes up the edge of the black hole. Sometimes these beams are millions of light-years long.

Basically, black holes are really messy eaters, so not all the dust and gas they eat make it down the hatch. And for a supermassive black hole, this can look like beams of white-hot plasma and radiation shooting out of that glowing donut just outside the event horizon that makes up the edge of the black hole. Sometimes these beams are millions of light-years long.

Roger Blanford says you can think of these black hole jets carrying this massive amount of energy, kind of like nuclear power.

Roger Blanford says you can think of these black hole jets carrying this massive amount of energy, kind of like nuclear power.

Roger Blanford says you can think of these black hole jets carrying this massive amount of energy, kind of like nuclear power.