15 Science and Technology News Bytes From 2013
Supermassive Black Hole Wikimedia CommonsPopSci predicts the top news stories of the next year. Black Hole Chows Down A giant blob of gas headed directly for the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy could begin to drop into the abyss mid-year, blasting x-ray radiation into space in a brilliant display of light. Witnessed for the first time by scientists, the decades-long process will help answer the question of how black holes grow. -Miriam Kramer Ocean X PRIZE Launches As ocean water absorbs carbon dioxide, it becomes more acidic and incompatible with life. But pH sensors that can affordably, accurately, and wirelessly measure that change on a global scale don't yet exist. This year, the X PRIZE Foundation will announce a competition meant to kick-start the invention of those instruments. -Taylor Kubota Mental Disorders Better Defined For the first time in 12 years, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) will update The Diagnostic and...