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All Disk Galaxies Rotate Once Every Billion Years (astronomy.com)
According to a new study published in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers discovered that all disk galaxies rotate about once every billion years, no matter their size or mass. Astronomy Magazine reports: To carry out the study, the researchers measured the radial velocities of neutral hydrogen in the outer disks of a plethora of galaxies -- ranging from small dwarf irregulars to massive spirals. These galaxies differed in both size and rotational velocity by up to a factor of 30. With these radial velocity measurements, the researchers were able to calculate the rotational period of their sample galaxies, which led them to conclude that the outer rims of all disk galaxies take roughly a billion years to complete one rotation. However, the researchers note that further research is required to confirm the clock-like spin rate is a universal trait of disk galaxies and not just a result of selection bias. Based on theoretical models, the researchers also expected to find only sparse populations of young stars and interstellar gas on the outskirts of these galaxies. But instead, they discovered a significant population of much older stars mingling with the young stars and gas.
Think about what they are saying for a moment ...
No matter how big the black hole is, no matter how much matter is in the galaxy, no matter how much dark matter might exist, no matter when the black hole formed, and regardless of the unique histories we observe each of these galaxies to have had ...
... they all rotate at the same rate.
Here's the thought you did not have, but should have:
If each of these galaxies is connected with one another through the jets we sometimes see coming out of them, then one reasonable way to explain this very strange observation is if it is the jets that are driving all of the galaxies, rather than the reverse.
Like many others, this observation can be called a vindication for the idea that electricity in space -- the jets -- actually does things of importance at the cosmological scales.
But, also notice that you did not recognize this on your own. It took somebody else tracking the controversy to see it and inform you. When the world convinces itself that it does not need to track "settled science" claims, there is no doubt that things are going to fall through the cracks.