The research was led by Jan Schmutz, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zurich, and Andrea Cantisani, a psychiatrist and research associate at the University of Bern. Concordia Station is among the most remote places on Earth, with winter temperatures falling as low as minus 80 °C (-112 °F). Its isolation makes it one of the strongest real-world stand-ins for future extended missions to the Moon or Mars.

Tracking Social Changes in Extreme Isolation

The mission included 12 crew members, who completed questionnaires at four points during the ten-month period. They also wore sensors that automatically measured when they were physically close to other team members and how long those encounters lasted.

By combining the questionnaire responses with the sensor data, the researchers were able to follow changes in loneliness, trust, conflict, social relationships, team cohesion, and perceived performance throughout the mission.

More Contact Did Not Always Help

One of the most notable findings was that spending more time near other crew members was not consistently linked to better social outcomes. Participants who had more frequent contact with others were also more likely to report increased conflict, greater mistrust, and lower performance.

The results suggest that constant closeness can become another source of pressure in highly confined environments. Isolation may be difficult, but having little opportunity for privacy can also create strain.

“In small teams under extreme conditions, more contact doesn’t automatically equate to social support, but can actually increase tensions,” says Jan Schmutz.

The researchers caution that the study found correlations and cannot establish cause and effect. For instance, people who felt lonely may have sought out more interaction, even when those encounters did not provide the support they needed.

Crew Members Formed Smaller Social Groups

The wearable sensors also showed that the crew gradually separated into smaller subgroups as the mission continued. People increasingly spent time with colleagues who shared their language or nationality.

These connections may help individuals feel supported and grounded during stressful periods. However, they may also encourage social divisions and weaken unity within culturally diverse teams.

Lessons for Future Moon and Mars Missions

The findings could be especially important for future space missions in which small crews must live and work together for months or years. Astronauts on extended missions may have very little privacy and only limited communication with people outside the spacecraft or habitat.

The results may also apply to other demanding environments, including submarines, offshore oil platforms, and remote research stations.

“The results show how important it is to identify social dynamics early on and provide teams with targeted support,” says Schmutz.

Wearable Sensors Worked in Harsh Conditions

The study also showed that wearable proximity sensors can operate reliably in extreme environments. These devices allowed researchers to monitor changes in everyday social patterns without substantially disrupting the crew’s routines.

Future studies will look more closely at which types of social interaction help relieve stress and which ones may add to it.

Genetic material recovered from internal tissues included bacteria that were part of Ötzi’s original gut flora. The team also made an unexpected discovery: cold-adapted yeast species that likely came from the glacier and have remained on the mummy into the present day. These organisms may eventually prove useful in industrial processes.

The findings were published in the journal Microbiome.

Tracing Ötzi’s Ancient and Modern Microbes

The investigation included a wide range of samples. Researchers studied ice collected from the mummy’s surface, meltwater from inside the body, and material gathered with numerous swabs. They also used previously available data from intestinal tissue and stomach contents.

To identify possible environmental sources, the scientists examined a soil sample taken from the discovery site during Ötzi’s recovery in 1991. The sample had remained frozen since it was collected.

Researchers found genetic evidence of Ötzi’s original gut microbiome in both his intestinal tract and stomach contents. This microbial community was first documented in a 2019 study conducted with Eurac Research.

Ötzi’s gut flora closely resembles the limited number of known microbiomes from early human populations. Many of these bacteria are rarely found in people living in modern industrialized societies. As a result, the mummy provides an unusual window into the microbial communities that once inhabited the human body.

Cold-Adapted Yeasts From the Glacier

The newly identified yeasts came from skin samples, meltwater inside the mummy, and stomach content samples. These highly specialized organisms are adapted to survive in cold environments.

Genetic testing showed that the yeasts are related to strains found in extremely cold places, including Antarctica. This connection supports the idea that they originated in the glacier and may have remained associated with Ötzi for thousands of years.

The scientists detected both heavily degraded (ancient) and well-preserved (modern) DNA. This combination suggests that the microorganisms are not simply biological remains from the distant past. They continue to exist under the mummy’s current storage conditions, which include a temperature of minus six degrees Celsius and high humidity. Some may be surviving in a dormant state.

“We see continuity here,” explains Frank Maixner, director of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research: “These yeasts have accompanied Ötzi on his long journey through the millennia.”

According to Maixner, the results show that the mummy is “not a static relic, but a dynamic biological system.”

Past Conservation May Have Fed Some Yeasts

Earlier preservation treatments may have accidentally created favorable conditions for certain microorganisms. Three of the four yeast species have the genetic ability to break down phenol.

Phenol was used after Ötzi’s recovery to remove fungal growth from the surface of the mummy. The yeasts may have been capable of using the substance as a source of food.

“A mummy’s microbiome is unique because we are dealing with microbes that are over 5,000 years old and, at the same time, with modern microbes that have been introduced since the discovery,” says microbiologist and lead author Mohamed S. Sarhan.

Protecting Ötzi for Future Generations

The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology oversees the preservation of the mummy and continuously monitors its condition.

“The mummy’s conservation conditions are very stable today,” comments Elisabeth Vallazza, director of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology that oversees the mummy’s conservation, “close microbiological monitoring ensures that the mummy suffers no damage. But further research and full conservation efforts are certainly needed to preserve it for many more generations.”

Scientists still do not completely understand how glacial mummies remain preserved over such long periods.

Conservation expert and co-author Marco Samadelli emphasizes: “The conditions under which glacial mummies are preserved are not yet fully understood. This study expands our knowledge in this area.”

Potential Uses in Low Temperature Industry

The research could contribute to improved methods for preserving Ötzi and other ancient remains. It may also lead to practical applications beyond archaeology.

Cold-adapted microorganisms can function at temperatures that would slow or stop many other species. They could therefore support industrial processes that require less energy, including fermentation performed at low temperatures.

Earlier studies had raised concerns that acetaminophen (Tylenol) given during infancy might be connected to eczema, asthma, or other health conditions later in childhood.

“Our study found that paracetamol and ibuprofen are incredibly safe to use in young children,” says lead researcher Professor Stuart Dalziel, Cure Kids Chair of Child Health Research at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and Pediatrician at Starship Children’s Hospital.

Dalziel notes that acetaminophen and ibuprofen are among the medicines most often prescribed or purchased over the counter for babies around the world.

“These results give parents and health professionals high confidence to continue to use these important medications.”

Nearly 4,000 Babies Took Part

The trial followed almost 4,000 babies from birth across New Zealand. Half were randomly assigned to receive acetaminophen when medication was needed for fever or pain during the first year of life. The other half were assigned to receive ibuprofen.

At regular points throughout the study, parents were asked whether their children had experienced eczema, asthma symptoms, or bronchiolitis. The research team also reviewed prescription information and hospital records.

The findings from the first year of follow-up have now been analyzed and published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

No Significant Difference in Eczema or Bronchiolitis

About 16 percent of babies in the acetaminophen group developed eczema, compared with 15 percent in the ibuprofen group. Bronchiolitis affected about five percent of children in each group.

Researchers found that these differences were not statistically significant. Serious side effects were uncommon, and none were attributed to either medication.

Overall, the results showed no association between acetaminophen or ibuprofen and eczema or bronchiolitis. The findings also confirmed that both medicines were safe to use during infancy.

This is the first randomized controlled trial considered the gold standard for research to directly examine this question.

A Long-Term Study of Childhood Health

The findings are part of a larger research project called the ‘Paracetamol and Ibuprofen in the Primary Prevention of Asthma in Tamariki (PIPPA Tamariki)’ study.

PIPPA Tamariki is the largest clinical trial involving children ever carried out in New Zealand. Participants are being monitored from birth until they reach age six.

The research team plans to publish results from the children at age three, followed by additional findings when they reach age six.

The broader goal is to determine whether acetaminophen use during the first year of life is connected to health conditions that cannot be diagnosed reliably until children are older.

“We know that two-thirds of children who are wheezy at age three years don’t develop asthma by age six,” says Dalziel.

“Thus we need to wait until school age to ultimately test if paracetamol in the first year of life causes asthma.”

Developmental conditions such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also tend to be identified more accurately as children grow older.

Lead author Dr. Eunicia Tan, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland and emergency physician at Middlemore Hospital, says, “Ultimately, the study will provide important evidence regarding the link between paracetamol use and asthma, eczema, hay fever, and developmental disorders, such as autism and ADHD.”

The research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and Cure Kids. It was conducted by the University of Auckland and the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington.

Because the black hole was not actively consuming matter, it would ordinarily have remained invisible. Its location was exposed only when it tore apart a passing star, producing a brief but powerful burst of light. The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on July 27, 2026.

“This is a novel result. What’s new is that, until now, we’ve started with the assumption that supermassive black holes reside in the centers of massive galaxies,” said study co-author Suvi Gezari, an associate professor of astronomy at UMD. “This discovery will have a huge impact. It means that we’re going to find many more examples of wandering black holes, and we can understand how galaxies and their black holes merge and build up over time.”

A Long Predicted Wandering Black Hole

Scientists have long predicted that some black holes could be displaced toward the outer regions of galaxies during galactic collisions and mergers. These objects are often described as “wandering” black holes.

Finding them is extremely difficult. Many are quiescent, meaning they are not consuming nearby material or producing detectable light. As a result, they can move through galactic outskirts without being noticed by telescopes on Earth.

Researchers first detected the quiescent black hole using the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which “searches the whole universe,” according to study lead author Robert David Stein. Stein is a Neil Gehrels Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at the Joint Space-Science Institute, a research partnership between UMD’s Departments of Astronomy and Physics and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Artificial Intelligence Finds a Stellar Flare

Using two telescopes at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, ZTF surveys the entire northern sky once every two days. The observatory records hundreds of thousands of changing celestial events each night, making it impractical for researchers to examine every event individually for signs of a black hole.

To handle that enormous volume of data, the team created an artificial intelligence (AI) program trained to recognize the distinctive light pattern produced when a black hole destroys a star. This event, known as a tidal disruption event, occurs when a star passes close enough to be pulled apart by a black hole’s gravity.

Astronomers have documented many tidal disruption events near the centers of galaxies. The new AI system was designed to search for the same types of flares across the entire sky, including locations far from galactic centers.

The UMD researchers began operating the program in August 2025. Only three months later, it identified the event that led them to the wandering black hole.

“I remember the moment we discovered it very clearly. It was a Saturday, and everyone was very excited to be messaging. We dropped everything and started triggering all kinds of other instruments to get more data,” Stein said. “We weren’t really sure we would be successful so quickly, so it’s amazing that we found one so fast.”

A Supermassive Black Hole Far From the Galactic Center

The black hole sits 9.3 kiloparsecs (about 30,000 light-years) from the center of its galaxy. Its mass is comparable to that of the supermassive black hole located at the center of the Milky Way.

What makes the object especially puzzling is the apparent absence of a visible galaxy surrounding it, according to study co-author and UMD Astronomy Professor Sylvain Veilleux.

“To have such a big black hole outside of a galaxy is surprising to me,” he said. “There should be a Milky Way-like object around it — and that’s definitely not the case.”

Researchers believe the black hole’s unusual position is probably connected to a past collision between galaxies.

One explanation is that a large galaxy absorbed a smaller companion. Over time, the larger galaxy may have stripped away nearly all of the smaller galaxy’s stars, leaving only its dense central core and black hole behind.

Another possibility involves a more chaotic encounter among three black holes. A galaxy may already have contained two black holes orbiting closely around one another at its center, a system known as a binary black hole. If a third black hole arrived during another galactic merger, the resulting three-body interaction could have expelled the smallest black hole from the center.

Additional observations of the tidal disruption event may help researchers determine which explanation is more likely.

Dormant Black Holes Could Be Common

Understanding inactive black holes is important because most known black holes are dormant, including the one at the center of the Milky Way.

Scientists do not yet know whether wandering black holes exist in the outer regions of our own galaxy. However, Stein said there is no reason to worry about encountering one.

“We’re very unlikely to meet one, at least in our lifetime.”

The research team is continuing to search the sky for additional wandering black holes. Finding more of them could help scientists “understand how galaxies form and how many black holes are whizzing around,” Stein said.

The discovery also demonstrates that these elusive objects can be identified with conventional sky surveys combined with machine learning, rather than relying exclusively on more expensive observational methods.

“It is super exciting,” Gezari explained. “It’s an example of machine learning opening up a whole new area of research.”

New Observatories Could Find Hundreds More

Stein expects future searches with the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory to identify dozens or possibly hundreds of wandering black holes each year. The Chile-based observatory debuted last June and captures exceptionally detailed views of the sky with the world’s largest digital camera.

Veilleux also pointed to the Lowell Discovery Telescope and its Rapid infrared IMAger-Spectrometer, which debuted in June 2025 as a collaboration between GSFC, the UMD Department of Astronomy and Lowell Observatory. The instrument could enable scientists to detect tidal disruption events at far greater distances from Earth than previously thought possible.

“This is the strongest case of a wandering black hole that we know,” Veilleux said. “This is going to set the standard.”

UMD Astronomy Adjunct Professor Stephen Bradley Cenko and postdoctoral associate Jillian Chin Rastinejad coauthored the study with Stein, Gezari and Veilleux.

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Award Nos. 2407588 and 1106171); the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through the Data-Driven Investigator Program and a dedicated grant to SkyPortal; the W. M. Keck Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; William and Marina Kast; the University of California Observatories; Google; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Germany’s Excellence Strategy, EXC-2094/2, 390783311.939; the Australian Research Council under ARC LIEF grant LE130100104; Astronomy Australia Limited and the Australian Government through the Commonwealth’s Education Investment Fund and National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, particularly the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources and the Australian National Data Service Projects. This content does not necessarily reflect the views of these parties and organizations.