The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many.
Super fact 71 : Based on the fossil record today’s extinction rate is hundreds, or even thousands, of times higher than the natural baseline rate.
Collection of watercolor prehistoric and now extinct animals isolated on a white background. Hand painted illustration of Ice Age. Asset id: 2169205593 by Ekaterina Glazkova
Estimating the extinction rate is a complicated task that requires some assumptions and estimations. This article from the National Library of Medicine use what it claims to be conservative estimates, which would tend to minimize evidence of an emerging mass extinction. Despite that fact the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the extinction rate without/before humans (background rate). Other sources claim an extinction rate that is 1,000 or even 10,000 the background rate.
To put some specific numbers on what a high extinction rate means, scientists count 881 animal species are known to have gone extinct since around 1500. If we include animal species that scientists suspect might be extinct, that number shoots up to 1,473. You can read more on the issue here or here or here.
Two Tasmanian Tigers. The Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine was hunted to extinction. Benjamin, the last Tasmanian Tiger, died in 1936 in the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania. Baker; E.J. Keller., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What is clear is that the current extinction rate is much higher than what is typical and we humans are the cause. This came as a shock to me the first time I found out about it, and it is certainly an important topic, and therefore a super fact. It is true, surprising to many, and important.
Those who want to minimize the problem with the ongoing extinctions often point out that extinctions are a natural part of evolution and that throughout Earth’s history up to around 98% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct. In my opinion, that argument fails to consider the enormity of Earth’s four billion year natural history. A lot of evolution happened during that time.
Modern humans have only been around 300,000 years, or 0.0075% of that time, a tiny blip in time. Human civilization has only been around for 12,000 years, or 0.0003% of that time, an even tinier blip in time. Like comparing an ant head to a mile. Us having a large negative impact on the natural world in such an extremely short time is quite notable.
By considering the extinction rate you get a better idea of the scope of the problem. The fact that the extinction rate today is significantly higher than the expected natural rate and that the primary cause of modern extinctions is human impact as opposed to natural phenomena, makes it a case for concern. To read about a related issue, “The Wild Mammal Biomass Has Substantially Declined”, click here.
Over the last 440 million years life on Earth has experienced five so called mass extinctions. A mass extinction event is when at least 75% of the world’s species are lost during a short period of time – geologically speaking. This period is not clearly defined but often defined to be two million years. Two million years may seem like a long time, but geologically speaking, it is a short time.
Extinction of the dinosaurs when a large asteroid hits earth 66 million years ago. It was the last mass extinction event. Asset id: 2196200279 by funstarts33
End Cretaceous (65 mya) – the event that killed off the dinosaurs.
Below is an overview of the five big mass extinctions in Earth’s history. The graph is from Our World in Data.
The Big Five Mass Extinctions in Earth’s History. A mass extinction is defined by the loss of at least 75% of species within a short period of time (geologically, this is around 2 million years). Extinctions are a natural part of evolution, but background rates are typically less than 5 families extinct per million years. Sources Barnosky et al (2011). Howard Hughes Medical Institute: McCallum (2015). Vertebrate biodiversity losses point to a sixth mass extinction. From Our World in Data.Are We in the Middle of a Sixth Mass Extinction ?3D illustration of a Glyptodon, also extinct, Asset id: 495169627
Biodiversity experts have estimated that about 30% (uncertainty range: 16–50%) of species have been globally threatened or driven to extinction since the year 1500. 30% globally threatened or extinct is not 75% that are actually extinct, but in just 500 years that looks like a quick start on a mass extinction. It should be noted that 500 years is just 0.025% of two million years. Issues such as deforestation, chiefly the result of replacing forests with agriculture, overexploitation, and global warming / climate change are driving extinctions and represent big biodiversity threats in the near future.
The Northern white rhino subspecies, the second-largest land mammal after elephants, has no hope of recovery after the last male died in 2018. Only a female and her daughter are left. The photo is of Angalifu, a male northern white rhinoceros at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Angalifu died of natural causes at the age of 44 on 14 December 2014. Sheep81, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Posting this on Thanksgiving Day may seem awkward. However, whether there will be a human caused sixth mass extinction or not depends on us, and it looks like more people want to protect our natural world. Many animals, such as the giant panda, bald eagle, the sea otter, black footed ferret, the Peregrine falcon, the blue whale, Rodrigues fruit bat, the Island night lizard, and the California condor, have been saved from extinction through conservation efforts like habitat restoration, anti-poaching laws, captive breeding programs, and reintroduction to the wild. Perhaps we are turning things around. We should give thanks to all who care.
Super fact 70 : Wild mammals have declined by 85% since the rise of humans even as the total mammal biomass has nearly tripled. The result is that only 4-5% of the total biomass of mammals are wild animals. The rest are humans and livestock.
Livestock, mostly cattle and pigs, corresponds to 60% of the mammal biomass, humans are 36%, and wild mammals are 4%. The data is taken from this article.
Humans and our livestock dominate global mammal biomass. Biomass is the total weight of each animal group. It’s calculated by multiplying an estimate of the total number of individuals by their average mass. Shown is each group’s share of global mammal biomass. This graph is taken from Our World In Data.
I think this is a super fact because we know it is true, and this huge and extremely rapid change of Earth’s fauna (from a geological timescale) is certainly important, and yet I think it comes as a surprise to many people. I often see the argument that humans have been great for animals because there are many more of them and the mammal biomass has tripled. That argument leaves out the part about the increase in mammal biomass coming from domesticated animals while wild animals have been disappearing. One question that comes to mind is whether life at the cramped factory farm is better than the life as a wild animal.
Wild Mammal Biomass Data
Below are a couple of graphs displaying some additional information on wild mammal biomass.
The distribution of the world’s wild land mammal biomass. The graph is taken from Our World in Data.
Another thing to note is that the wild animal biomass is very concentrated to just a few species. Considering that there are between 6,500 and 6,800 recognized mammal species in the world, it is quite remarkable that only 10 species make up 40% of the mammal biomass.
Just 10 species make up around 40% of wild mammal biomass on land. The graph is taken from Our World in Data.
Reasons for Decline of Wild Animal Biomass
This decline of wild mammal biomass is primarily caused by human activity, including hunting, habitat loss and degradation from agriculture and urbanization, climate change, and pollution. This human-driven extinction event is the result of a rapidly growing human population and its increased consumption of natural resources, leading to widespread disruption of ecosystems and dramatic declines in wild mammal populations. It should be mentioned that the extinction of large mammals such as mammoths, American mastodon, giant ground sloths and glyptodonts was likely aided by human hunting in prehistoric times. The largest mammals have always been at the greatest risk for extinction and that is still true today.
Woolly mammoth, now extinct, Asset id: 2571557381 by Wirestock Creators.3D illustration of a Glyptodon, also extinct, Asset id: 495169627
This is not a super fact but a collection of interesting facts about Fish. They are not very important facts but amazing facts.
Minnows Asset id: 1182854671 by Rostislav Stefanek
Most Fresh Water Fish would die from dehydration if put in Sea Water
Most freshwater fish would die from dehydration if placed in seawater due to a process called osmosis. The same is true for saltwater fish placed in freshwater. There are a few exceptions. So called euryhaline species are able to more or less handle both freshwater and seawater, an example is salmon. It is also why freshwater fish native to oceanic islands like Hawaii are euryhaline species. Freshwater fish that are not euryhaline species cannot travel to oceanic islands.
What is a Fish?
A fish is a vertebra (has a backbone and a brain protected by a braincase) that is aquatic, lives in water, has gills, fins, scales and is cold blooded. Dolphins, whales, jellyfish, and starfish are not fish.
Some fish have both gills and lungs
Lungfish have both gills and lungs. Their unique respiratory system allows them to breathe underwater with their gills and also breathe air from the surface with their lungs. Some species of lung fish can survive on land for several months.
Fish raining from the sky. Picture generated with the help of ChatGPT
Mudskippers the land dwelling fish
Mudskippers are fish that spend most of their time on land. It can walk on land, jump, and climb trees, by using their strong pectoral fins like legs and their tails as a lever. They breathe air through their skin and gill chambers. Below is a four minute video featuring mudskippers.
Fish the First Vertebra on Earth
Fish appeared more than 500 million years ago during the Cambrian period. They are believed to be the first vertebrates on Earth. They lay the foundation for the diverse array of vertebrate life that has since populated the planet’s ecosystems.
Some Fish can make Light
Anglerfish are deep sea fish that produce their own light using bacteria. The dangling glowing light attracts prey. Some species of angler fish live only 200 meters down in the sea while other species live as far down as 3,300 meters (11,000 feet).
Angler fish on background realistic illustration isolate. Scary deep-sea fish predator. Deep sea fish monster. Asset id: 2134226987 by Konstantin G
Some Fish know how to use Tools
Wrasse are fish that use rocks as anvils to crack shells. They grab hard-shelled prey like crabs and mollusks, swim to a rock or coral, and repeatedly strike the prey against the hard surface to break it open. This is a form of tool use.
The largest fish that has ever lived is likely the extinct shark Megalodon, estimated to have reached lengths of up to 70 feet and weighing 50-70 tons. The Megalodon was a giant shark believed to have gone extinct 2.6 million years ago, just in time for the appearance of our ancestors Australopithecus and Homo Habilis. They made a horror movie about a Megalodon that survived until modern times. It is called “The Meg”.
Surströmming (Fermented Baltic Herring) a North Swedish Delicatessen
In 1987 I was selected by my University, Uppsala University in Sweden, to be part of a university level exchange student program. The exchange program was between Uppsala University and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In total we were six Swedes (two from Uppsala). I was studying Engineering Physics in Sweden. In the US, I would continue studying Electrical Engineering because the Swedish Engineering Physics program was very similar to the Electrical Engineering program at CWRU. One day we invited the other students to a Surströmming party. When we opened the cans, the American students headed for the windows and opened them. I should say there were other things to eat.
The fermented herring Surströmming from Sweden is often considered as one of the most unappetizing foods in the world. Just ask Google AI or ChatGPT this question, “what is the most unappetizing food in the world”, and you’ll see. The three top unappetizing food according to ChatGPT are Hákarl (Fermented Greenland Shark) – Iceland, Surströmming (Fermented Baltic Herring) – Sweden, and Casu Marzu (Maggot Cheese) – Sardinia.
I grew up with this food, and I don’t think it is unappetizing. It might not be beef bourguignon or trout almondine, but it isn’t bad. The problem is that the smell of Surströmming is not very pleasant and it is strong. However, it tastes quite different from the smell. It tastes like pickled herring with the addition of something sour like lemon. The taste is much better than the smell, which is why you should open the cans outside and then bring them in once the smell has settled. We did not do that because our party was partially a prank. Well, if you don’t like pickled herring, then you won’t like this either.
Four Swedes inviting Americans to a fermented herring party. Fermented herring is a north Swedish specialty. Unfortunately, all the Americans experienced a culture shock from the fermented herring. I am the guy smelling the fermented herring can.
Since it is Halloween I thought I’d make a fun post (not a super fact) about Scandinavian Mythology or folklore. I live in Texas, but I am originally from Sweden so the various beings I’ll describe or mention below are beings that I grew up hearing about. When I was a kid, we kids used to scare each other with stories about these beings.
I should also point out that it is not ancient Viking mythology but more recent folklore that some people still believe in. I am focusing on Swedish folklore and Norwegian folklore since it is similar to Swedish folklore. Danish folklore is a little bit different, but it has many similarities to Swedish and Norwegian folklore. Denmark is a Scandinavian country, but the post would be too long if I included folklore that is specifically Danish.
I am providing one or more pictures for each being. These pictures are either in the public domain, for example via Wikipedia, or shutter-stock pictures (I have a subscription), or pictures I generated with the help of ChatGPT with varying success. The beings covered are Tomte, Vittra (Vitter folk), Elf, Skogsrå/ /Tallemaja/Huldra, Näcken/Fossegrim, Troll, Myling, Storsjö odjuret (the north Swedish equivalent of the Loch Ness monster), Kraken, and Skvader. Finally, Blodstämmare is not a being but a north Swedish magical practice that you use to remotely stop the blood flow in a person.
Tomte
Tomtar (plural of Tomte) or Nisse in Norwegian is a type of small magical people, or gnomes, related to Vitter folk (described below). They are friendly and is the inspiration behind the Swedish version of Santa Claus, which is therefore a bit different from the Disney version of Santa Claus that has become so popular.
For one thing, the Disney version of Santa Claus works alone while delivering presents and therefore needs to move faster than the speed of light to cover all the good children. A Tomte may help you with your projects and duties if you are nice to them. They may help you with your farm and your animals, warn you of danger, and bring you gifts for Christmas if you in return put out food for them, such as porridge. As mentioned, there are many Tomtar, often one Tomte per house.
An illustration of a Tomte. Shutterstock ID: 2060057882 by PLIMPLUM.A Tomte or a Nisse, about as big as a cat, Erik Werenskiold, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsTomte generated by ChatGPT
Vittra
Vittra or Vitterfolk are supernatural spirits or small invisible people who have a lot in common with people as well as Tomtar. They own cattle and they sometimes interact with people. Usually, they stay out of your way, but if you hurt them, for example by throwing hot water out the window without warning them first, they may take revenge on you and burn down your house. Vittra are not evil but not friendly either.
The belief in Vittra is especially prevalent in northern Sweden. On the Swedish island of Gotland, they are often referred to as “Di små undar jordi” in the Got/Goth dialect, or “De små under jorden” in proper Swedish, or “the small ones below ground” in English. They are sometimes depicted as looking similar to Tomtar, gnomes or elves, and sometimes as invisible, or near invisible little spirits. Below are some depictions of Vitter folk.
A Vitter and his mini calf. Generated with the help of ChatGPT
Elf
An elf, or elves in plural, is a type of human like supernatural being in Germanic folklore and especially Nordic/Scandinavian folklore. Since elves have been popularized around the world it is a well known being. In Scandinavian mythology they were initially often considered bad news but because of popular culture, such as Tolkien’s books, they have been redeemed into something positive. The first picture below is from a Swedish children’s book written in 1910. I read this book when I was a child. The wispy creatures are elves and the small kids with mushroom hats are Tomte children. In this book the elves are depicted in a Nordic pre-modern fashion, but they are nice.
Little älvor, playing with Tomtebobarnen. From Children of the Forest (1910) by Swedish author and illustrator Elsa Beskow. Elsa Beskow, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsÄngsälvor (Swedish “Meadow Elves”) by Nils Blommér (1850). Nils Blommér, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.A female elf that I generated with the help of ChatGPTFour elves (one male, three females) standing in a forest glade. I generated this picture with the help of ChatGPT.
Skogsrå, Tallemaja, Huldra
Skogsrå or Tallemaja in Swedish folklore is a seductive female creature who lures men with her beauty or beautiful singing and then kills the men. The Skogsrå / Tallemaja typically has a tail and a hollowed out back, which you can’t see if you are facing each other. In Norwegian this creature is called Huldra (Hulder in plural).
It should be noted that I read that if you meet a Huldra in the forest and you treat her with respect she will not kill you. She would just enjoy your company for a while, talk to you, sing to you, show you the beauty of the forest, and then she would let you go. It is only the rude and selfish men who don’t respect her boundaries whom she kills.
Imagining how a Huldra would look like. Stock AI-generated image ID: 2400845203 by Shutterstock AI Generator.Huldra’s Nymphs (1909) by Bernard Evans Ward, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsA Skogsrå, Tallemaja or Huldra that I generated with the help of ChatGPTAnother picture of a Skogsrå, Tallemaja or Huldra that I generated with the help of ChatGPT.A Tallemaja that I generated with the help of ChatGPT.
Last summer (a bit more than one year ago) we visited Sweden and Norway. One day we took a tour into the Norwegian mountains and fjords. We took a two-hour cruise on Sognefjord and after the cruise we took a train to the top of the surrounding mountains. Along the way we encountered a Huldra by a waterfall. She sang to us in her beautiful voice, and she seduced us all, both men and women, to take photos of her with our phones and posting them on social media. It was a tourist ploy of course. You can read more about our trip here .
My photo of the Huldra (in red) by the waterfall in the Norwegian mountains. She seduced us all into taking photos of her for Facebook. Her seductiveness was feared in medieval times, but in modern times we refer to the seductiveness of the Huldra as a “tourist trap”.A close up of the Huldra we encountered. Sorry, my phone camera is the best and it was at a distance.
Näcken, Fossegrim
Näcken, Strömkarlen, or Fossegrim in Norwegian is a male creature who lives by the water, creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. He plays a harp or a violin He lures children and others to their death. In southern Sweden (Scania) he seduces people by skillfully playing a violin thus creating irresistible music.
Troll, or Trolls in plural, are large ugly creatures with magical powers. They typically live in caves and sunlight is dangerous to them. They are typically hostile to humans and may kidnap people, including children, to work in their mines. Trolls are called Trolls in both Swedish and Norwegian.
Look at them, troll mother said to the elf girl. Look at my sons! You won’t find more beautiful trolls on this side of the moon. (1915) by John Bauer. John Albert Bauer (4 June 1882 – 20 November 1918) was a Swedish painter and illustrator. wikipedia public domain.A picture of a troll that I generated with the help of ChatGPTAnother picture of a troll that I generated with the help of ChatGPTA picture of a troll, a slightly different style, that I generated with the help of ChatGPT
Myling
Before modern contraception, infanticide was one way for parents to limit the number of children they had. Unwanted and out of wedlock children were often killed. It is part of our human dark history. These babies were not baptized and in old Scandinavian mythology they became restless spirits seeking revenge on the mother or both parents. Alternatively, they caused mischief until they could convince someone to at least bury them properly. These restless baby spirits are referred to as myling or mylingar in plural.
A picture of a myling that I generated with the help of ChatGPT
Storsjö odjuret
Storsjöodjuret is a large sea serpent like Swedish lake monster like the Loch Ness monster. It resides in a lake in northern Sweden. The English translation of Storsjö odjuret is the monster of the Great Lake. Storsjö / Great Lake is not far from where I grew up. I should say this monster has been hundreds of times since 1635 and seems to have been depicted on a rune stone from the 11th century.
The Frösö Runestone from the mid-11th century. Frösö is an island located in the middle of Storsjö. In the legend from 1635 Storsjöodjuret is said to be the serpent depicted on the stone. Andreaze, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsA picture of storsjoodjuret that I generated with the help of ChatGPT
Kraken
Kraken is a gigantic octopus that can bring down entire ships. It is more of a Norwegian creature but also Swedish.
Pierre Denys de Montfort (1766–1820) / Étienne Claude Voysard (1746–1812.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Skvader
The skvader is a Swedish fictional creature that looks like a mix of a wood grouse and a hare. It started with a taxidermist creating a mixture of the two animals, taking a photo, and a rumor spread that it was real. I am remember watching debates on Swedish TV on whether the creature was real or not. People love to believe strange things. Yet another reason we scientifically valid evidence.
Unknown photographer, Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons
Blodstämmare
This is not a creature but a very common superstition in northern Sweden. There are people, blodstämmare, who can stop the flow of blood by uttering magical phrases while focusing their minds on the person in question. This power is usually used for helping people who are bleeding. It can also be used for evil, like black magic, to stop the blood flow in someone’s heart. This superstition is based on Sami (indigenous north Scandinavian people) Shamanism and north Swedish Christian fundamentalism (Laestadians). It is respected enough that some north Swedish hospitals have used blodstämmare in emergency situations.
The father of a close friend of mine called a blodstämmare when he had a bad nosebleed, and it worked. I know anecdotes are not valid scientific evidence. It is just a good story.
Super fact 67 : The Edge of the Observable Universe is 46.5 billion light years away despite the age of the Universe being 13.8 billion years. We can see 3.4 times further than light can travel in 13.8 billion years.
That sounds impossible at first. The age of the universe is 13.8 billion years. How can we see something that is farther away than 13.8 billion light-years if that’s how long the light had to travel. The reason it works is that space itself has been expanding the entire time that the light has been traveling toward us. The light we see today from the most distant regions of the universe was emitted 13.8 billion years ago, but the space between us and the origin of that light has stretched enormously. You can say that the light hitched a ride on the expanding space.
An overview of the last 13.8 billion years. This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. From Wikimedia commons.
As mentioned, the edge of the observable universe is now about 46.5 billion light-years away in every direction, which means that the observable universe is about 93 billion light-years across (46.5 billion light years times 2) vastly larger than what you’d expect if you just multiplied the age of the universe by the speed of light. Beyond that observable edge there may be much more—possibly an infinite Universe, but it is forever hidden from us because light hasn’t had time to reach us yet and will never reach us.
The speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant and nothing can travel faster then the speed of light. However, space itself can expand faster than the speed of light if measured across large enough distances. The distance between two points in space can expand faster than the speed of light if that distance is large enough. This is possible because there is nothing material that is traveling faster than light. It is just the space of the Universe itself expanding because of dark energy.
Space is expanding right where you are standing too. Can you feel space expanding around you? Well, probably not but it is. I consider this a super fact because it is an important aspect of our view of the universe, it is surprising to those who did not know it before, and it is true.
Galaxies are Moving Beyond the Observable Universe
In the future the far away galaxies will continue to move away from us faster and faster, and beyond a certain distance their light will no longer ever reach us again. Therefore, more and more galaxies will disappear from our view. They won’t vanish physically; they’ll just slip beyond our observable horizon. In about 100 billion years, observers in the Milky Way (or what is left of it) may only see the Local Group of galaxies (Milky Way, Andromeda, etc.). Everything else will have faded out of visibility.
Our Local Group of galaxies consists of 80 galaxies compared to the estimated two trillion galaxies in the current observable universe. That means that the observable universe at that point will have 25 billion times fewer galaxies than now, or in other words only 0.000000004% of the galaxies in the observable universe will remain observable.
Large-scale structure of Multiple Galaxies in Deep Universe. When will all these galaxies forever disappear beyond the edge of the observable universe. Asset id: 389006449 by vchal
The Cosmological Event Horizon Another Edge of the Universe
Beyond roughly 16 billion light-years, galaxies recede faster than light due to the expansion of space. Again, that’s allowed in relativity because it’s space expanding, not them moving through space faster than light. Eventually, most of them will cross a boundary called the cosmic event horizon. Once they do, their light will never be able to reach us, not even given infinite time. We can still see these galaxies because of the light they emitted in the past, but the light they emit now will never reach us.
The cosmological event horizon, not to be confused with the event horizon for a black hole, is 16 billion light years away. That is another limit, or edge of the universe. Below is a 10 minute video explaining both the horizon / edge of the observable universe and the cosmological event horizon for those who are interested.
Black Holes Edges of the Universe
3D illustration of giant Black hole in deep space. High quality digital space art in 5K – realistic visualization. Stock Illustration ID: 2476711459 by Vadim Sadovski.
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light, can escape it. The boundary of no escape is called the event horizon. If you pass the event horizon you cannot come back out no matter how much energy you use. Nothing can escape, no matter, no radiation, not light, or other electromagnetic radiation, and no information. Nothing at all can escape. The curvature of time and space itself forbids it.
I should add that right at the event horizon, there is so called Hawking radiation, but without complicating things it is not the same thing as escaping a black hole. You can guess from physical laws what might be inside, but you can never observe and report what is inside to planet Earth. In a sense, the event horizon of a black hole is another edge of the Universe. You can read about different types of black holes here. You can read more about black holes here, or here.
Black hole devouring a planet. Black Hole Stock Photo ID: 2024419973 by Elena11Realistic spaceship approaching a black hole. This content was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system. Stock AI-generated image ID: 2448481683 AI-generated image Contributor Shutterstock AI Generator.AI-generated image Description : This image depicts what a black hole is doing to space around it. Gravity bends space time depicted as a grid. Stock AI-generated image ID: 2457551367 by AI-generated image Contributor Shutterstock.AIThe photo of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 taken by the event horizon telescope in 2017. CC BY 4.0, Event Horizon Telescope, uploader cropped and converted TIF to JPG, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.Quasar in deep space (a huge black hole emitting an energy beam). Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Asset id: 1758938918. by NASA images.
Super Facts 