Black holes are finally winning some respect. After long regarding them as agents of destruction or dismissin them as mere by-products of galaxies and stars, scientists are recalibrating their thinking. Now it seems that black holes debuted in a constructive role and appeared unexpectedly soon after the Big Bang. “Several years ago, nobody imagined that there were such monsters in the early universe,” says Penn State astrophysicist Yuexing Li. “Now we see that black holes were essential in creating the universe’s modern structure.” More…

Photo credit: KIPAC/SLAC/M. Alvarez, T. Abel and J. Wise