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Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 301

Dec 3, 2019

We may finally know the answer to the biggest question, what happened before the Big Bang?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution

The current Lambda CDM model may explain a great deal about the evolution and the chronology of the events that occurred in our Universe but it doesn’t paint the complete picture.

We know of the cosmic inflation that happened followed by the Big Bang itself however how these two are coherently connected has so far defied all our attempts to explain.

During the inflationary period, within less than a trillionth of a second, our universe grew from an infinitesimal point to an octillion (that’s 1 followed by 27 zeroes) times in size, which was followed by a more conventional and gradual period of expansion, nevertheless violent by our standards, which we know as the Big Bang.

Dec 3, 2019

Black Hole Singularities Are as Inescapable as Expected

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics, singularity

For the first time, physicists have calculated exactly what kind of singularity lies at the center of a realistic black hole.

Dec 3, 2019

What Is the Universe Made of?

Posted by in category: cosmology

The universe is filled with billions of galaxies and trillions of stars, along with nearly uncountable numbers of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and clouds of dust and gas – all swirling in the vastness of space.

But if we zoom in, what are the building blocks of these celestial bodies, and where did they come from?

Hydrogen is the most common element found in the universe, followed by helium; together, they make up nearly all ordinary matter. But this accounts for only a tiny slice of the universe — about 5%. All the rest is made of stuff that can’t be seen and can only be detected indirectly. [From Big Bang to Present: Snapshots of Our Universe Through Time].

Dec 2, 2019

Where Do Black Holes Lead?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Scientists have theorized about the other side of a black hole for decades. Here’s what they’ve come up with so far.

Dec 2, 2019

Are there multiple universes?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, quantum physics, space travel

What – one vast, ancient and mysterious universe isn’t enough for you? Well, as it happens, there are others. Among physicists, it’s not controversial. Our universe is but one in an unimaginably massive ocean of universes called the multiverse.

If that concept isn’t enough to get your head around, physics describes different kinds of multiverse. The easiest one to comprehend is called the cosmological multiverse. The idea here is that the universe expanded at a mind-boggling speed in the fraction of a second after the big bang. During this period of inflation, there were quantum fluctuations which caused separate bubble universes to pop into existence and themselves start inflating and blowing bubbles. Russian physicist Andrei Linde came up with this concept, which suggests an infinity of universes no longer in any causal connection with one another – so free to develop in different ways.

Cosmic space is big – perhaps infinitely so. Travel far enough and some theories suggest you’d meet your cosmic twin – a copy of you living in a copy of our world, but in a different part of the multiverse. String theory, which is a notoriously theoretical explanation of reality, predicts a frankly meaninglessly large number of universes, maybe 10 to the 500 or more, all with slightly different physical parameters.

Dec 2, 2019

Scientists: Ominous Black Hole Is Way Too Big to Exist

Posted by in category: cosmology

Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our Galaxy.


The black hole dubbed LB-1 is 15,000 light years from Earth.

Dec 1, 2019

SOFIA Reveals What May Be Keeping Milky Way’s Black Hole Quiet

Posted by in categories: cosmology, materials

Supermassive black holes exist at the center of most galaxies, and our Milky Way is no exception. But many other galaxies have highly active black holes, meaning a lot of material is falling into them, emitting high-energy radiation in this “feeding” process. The Milky Way’s central black hole, on the other hand, is relatively quiet. New observations from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, are helping scientists understand the differences between active and quiet black holes.

Nov 30, 2019

Stephen Hawking’s Final Research Paper Predicted the End of the Universe

Posted by in categories: cosmology, space travel

Before his death, Stephen Hawking submitted a research paper that predicts the end of the world.


Just two weeks before his death, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking submitted a research paper that suggests parallel universes and predicts the end of this one.

Hawking and his co-author Thomas Hertog published their research in “A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation,” detailing how scientists may also be able to detect other universes using a spaceship. According to Hertog, Hawking finished writing the paper from his deathbed, leaving behind a final legacy that is worthy of the Nobel Prize.

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Nov 29, 2019

Scientists find ‘monster’ black hole so big they didn’t think it was possible

Posted by in category: cosmology

Before now, scientists did not think it was possible for a stellar black hole to have a mass larger than 20 times that of the sun, an approximation based on their understanding of the way stars evolve and die in the Milky Way.

But that assumption was metaphorically crushed in the gravity of a “monster” black hole that a group of Chinese-led international scientists discovered inside our own galaxy. The hole has a mass 70 times that of the sun, researchers said in their study published in the journal Nature.

Nov 28, 2019

Why Humans Should Be Thankful That Our Universe Has Dark Matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

Without this one ingredient, there wouldn’t be enough ‘glue’ to hold the Universe together.