Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest events in the universe. They have been used in the last five years to study the cosmic chemical evolution, from the local universe to the first stars. The sample size is still relatively small when compared t
o field galaxy surveys. However, GRBs show a universe that is surprising. At z > 2, the cold interstellar medium in galaxies is chemically evolved, with a mean metallicity of about 1/10 solar. At lower redshift (z < 1), metallicities of the ionized gas are relatively low, on average 1/6 solar. Not only is there no evidence of redshift evolution in the interval 0 < z < 6.3, but also the dispersion in the ~ 30 objects is large. This suggests that the metallicity of host galaxies is not the physical quantity triggering GRB events. From the investigation of other galaxy parameters, it emerges that active star-formation might be a stronger requirement to produce a GRB. Several recent striking results strongly support the idea that GRB studies open a new view on our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution, back to the very primordial universe at z ~ 8.
K0-K0bar oscillations are extremely sensitive to the K0 and K0bar energy at rest. Even assuming m_K0=m_K0bar, the energy is not granted to be the same if gravitational effects on K0 and K0bar slightly differ. We consider various gravitation fields pr
esent and, in particular, galactic fields, which provide a negligible acceleration, but relatively large gravitational potential energy. A constraint from a possible effect of this potential energy on the kaon oscillations isfound to be |(m_g/m_i)_K0-(m_g/m_i)_K0bar| < 8 x 10^-13 atCL=90%. The derived constraint is competitive with other tests of universality of the free fall. Other applications are also discussed.
We review the most important findings on AGN physics and cosmological evolution as obtained by extragalactic X-ray surveys and associated multiwavelength observations. We briefly discuss the perspectives for future enterprises and in particular the s
cientific case for an extremely deep (2-3 Ms) XMM survey.
