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Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 161

Oct 24, 2022

In a world first, researchers combine two of the ‘spookiest’ features of quantum mechanics

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics, quantum physics

Just in time for Halloween’s spooky season, a quantum sensor now has double the spookiness by combining entanglement between atoms and delocalization of atoms.

Future quantum sensors will be able to provide more precise navigation, explore for needed natural resources, more precisely determine fundamental constants, look more precisely for dark matter, or maybe someday discover gravitational waves thanks to a team of researchers led by Fellow James K. Thompson from the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Thompson and his team have for the first time successfully combined two of the “spookiest” features of quantum mechanics: entanglement between atoms and delocalization of atoms. By doubling down on these “spooky” features, better quantum sensors can be made.

Continue reading “In a world first, researchers combine two of the ‘spookiest’ features of quantum mechanics” »

Oct 24, 2022

Scientists Have Captured the First-Ever “Image” of Dark Matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario say they’ve captured the first composite image of something that – although astronomers have talked about it for decades – has been hitherto unseen, and in fact undetected. They say it’s an image of dark matter, a connection point in the great cosmic web in which our universe’s billions of galaxies are thought to be embedded. The Royal Astronomical Society, which published the new work in its peer-reviewed Monthly Notices, said in a statement:

Oct 23, 2022

Will a Black Hole Ever Hit Earth?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Science_Hightech — operanewsapp.

Oct 21, 2022

What is the multiverse—and is there any evidence it really exists?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Scientists can only see so far before they run into the edge of the universe. Will we ever know if anything lies beyond?

Oct 19, 2022

The most precise accounting yet of dark energy and dark matter

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution, physics

Astrophysicists have performed a powerful new analysis that places the most precise limits yet on the composition and evolution of the universe. With this analysis, dubbed Pantheon+, cosmologists find themselves at a crossroads.

Pantheon+ convincingly finds that the cosmos is composed of about two-thirds dark energy and one-third matter—mostly in the form of dark matter—and is expanding at an accelerating pace over the last several billion years. However, Pantheon+ also cements a major disagreement over the pace of that expansion that has yet to be solved.

By putting prevailing modern cosmological theories, known as the Standard Model of Cosmology, on even firmer evidentiary and statistical footing, Pantheon+ further closes the door on alternative frameworks accounting for dark energy and dark matter. Both are bedrocks of the Standard Model of Cosmology but have yet to be directly detected and rank among the model’s biggest mysteries. Following through on the results of Pantheon+, researchers can now pursue more precise observational tests and hone explanations for the ostensible cosmos.

Oct 19, 2022

Why modifying gravity doesn’t add up

Posted by in category: cosmology

The Universe gravitates so that normal matter and General Relativity alone can’t explain it. Here’s why dark matter beats modified gravity.

Oct 19, 2022

Record-Breaking Gamma Ray Burst May Indicate Birth of a Black Hole

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics, robotics/AI

On Oct. 9, an unimaginably powerful influx of X-rays and gamma rays infiltrated our solar system. It was likely the result of a massive explosion that happened 2.4 billion light-years away from Earth, and it has left the science community stunned.

In the wake of the explosion, astrophysicists worldwide turned their telescopes toward the spectacular show, watching it unfold from a variety of cosmic vantage points — and as they vigilantly studied the event’s glimmering afterglow over the following week, they grew shocked by how utterly bright this gamma-ray burst seems to have been.

Eventually, the spectacle’s sheer intensity earned it a fitting (very millennial) name to accompany its robotic title of GRB221009A: B.O.A.T. — the “brightest of all time.”

Oct 19, 2022

Look! Fresh NASA image shows a chaotic blue blob supernova remnant

Posted by in category: cosmology

This chaotic scene is where life’s ingredients are cast off into space. Cassiopeia A exploded in the 17th century, making it a fairly recent one.

Oct 18, 2022

Shortly Before They Collided, two Black Holes Tangled Spacetime up Into Knots

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

In February 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first-ever detection of gravitational waves (GWs). Originally predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, these waves are ripples in spacetime that occur whenever massive objects (like black holes and neutron stars) merge. Since then, countless GW events have been detected by observatories across the globe – to the point where they have become an almost daily occurrence. This has allowed astronomers to gain insight into some of the most extreme objects in the Universe.

In a recent study, an international team of researchers led by Cardiff University observed a binary black hole system originally detected in 2020 by the Advanced LIGO, Virgo, and Kamioki Gravitational Wave Observatory (KAGRA). In the process, the team noticed a peculiar twisting motion (aka. a precession) in the orbits of the two colliding black holes that was 10 billion times faster than what was noted with other precessing objects. This is the first time a precession has been observed with binary black holes, which confirms yet another phenomenon predicted by General Relativity (GR).

Continue reading “Shortly Before They Collided, two Black Holes Tangled Spacetime up Into Knots” »

Oct 18, 2022

Astronomers decipher a few early warning signs for stars about to go supernova

Posted by in category: cosmology

Keep an eye on the sky.


New models show that stars about to blow up in a supernovae begin exhibiting strange behaviors a few months in advance.