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Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have found a way to better detect all collisions of stellar-mass black holes in the universe.

Stellar-mass black holes are formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. Their collisions are some of the most violent events in the universe, creating gravitational waves or ripples in space-time.

These ripples are miniscule and detected using laser interferometers. Until now, many signals have been drowned out by so-called quantum noise on the laser light pushing the mirrors of the laser interferometer around—making the measurements fuzzy or imprecise.

The hunt for dark energy has gained a new weapon, with the first test of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) being completed recently. DESI is installed atop the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory outside Tucson, Arizona and will search for evidence of the mysterious energy which makes up 68% of the universe and speeds up its expansion.

“After a decade in planning and R&D, installation and assembly, we are delighted that DESI can soon begin its quest to unravel the mystery of dark energy,” DESI Director Michael Levi of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said in a statement. “Most of the universe’s matter and energy are dark and unknown, and next-generation experiments like DESI are our best bet for unraveling these mysteries. I am thrilled to see this new experiment come to life.”

To compile the first image shown above, DESI used its 5,000 spectroscopic “eyes” which peer out into the night sky. Each eye can focus on a single object to take in the light it produces. In this case, the instrument collected data from a small region in the Triangulum galaxy.

THE Big Bang theory has long been accepted as scientific fact as an explanation of the universe came into being – but it has always begged the question ‘what happened before the big bang?’

Knowing the criteria behind the Big Bang explosion will be key for models scientists use to understand the origin of the universe.

The origin of the universe started with the Big Bang, but how the supernova explosion ignited has long been a mystery — until now.

In a new paper appearing today (November 1, 2019) in Science Magazine, researchers detailed the mechanisms that could cause the explosion, which is key for the models that scientists use to understand the origin of the universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNqqOLscOBY

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Caltech and Santa Fe Institute specializing in quantum mechanics, arrow of time, cosmology, and gravitation. He is the author of several popular books including his latest on quantum mechanics (Something Deeply Hidden) and is a host of a great podcast called Mindscape. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.

This is the second time Sean has been on the podcast. You can watch the first time here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NJrvyRo0c

Continue reading “Sean Carroll: Quantum Mechanics and the Many-Worlds Interpretation” »

An Oxford scientist claims a Nobel-Prize-winning conclusion is wrong.

The origin of the universe started with the Big Bang, but how the supernova explosion ignited has long been a mystery—until now.

In a new paper appearing today in Science magazine, researchers detailed the mechanisms that could cause the explosion, which is key for the models that scientists use to understand the origin of the universe.

“We defined the critical criteria where we can drive a flame to self-generate its own turbulence, spontaneously accelerate, and transition into detonation,” says Kareem Ahmed, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and co-author of the study.

Astronomers studying black holes in our galaxy, the Milky Way, have discovered what they believe to be a new type of black hole. This previously unknown class of black holes could be smaller than others that were previously dubbed the smallest black holes.

The researchers were creating a black hole census when they made the discovery. Their finding, in addition to sharing a novel way to search for black holes, published Thursday in the journal Science.

“We’re showing this hint that there is another population out there that we have yet to really probe in the search for black holes,” said Todd Thompson, lead study author and professor of astronomy at The Ohio State University.

Any indication that [dark energy] is not a constant would be revolutionary and spark intense theoretical work.