Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 315
May 20, 2019
Is dark matter made of axions? Black holes may reveal the answer
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cosmology, evolution, particle physics
What is dark matter made of? It’s one of the most perplexing questions of modern astronomy. We know that dark matter is out there, since we can see its obvious gravitational influence on everything from galaxies to the evolution of the entire universe, but we don’t know what it is. Our best guess is that it’s some sort of weird new particle that doesn’t like to talk to normal matter very often (otherwise, we would have seen it by now). One possibility is that it’s an exotic hypothetical kind of particle known as an axion, and a team of astronomers are using none other than black holes to try to get a glimpse into this strange new cosmic critter.
Axion Agenda
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May 18, 2019
The universe may be a billion years younger than we thought. Scientists are scrambling to figure out why
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cosmology
New research suggests that the Big Bang that birthed the cosmos occurred 12.5 billion years ago.
The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, is nearly 200,000 light-years from Earth. ESA / Hubble / Josh Lake / via AFP — Getty Images.
May 18, 2019
Mapping historical changes in dark matter
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cosmology, mapping
Combining Einstein’s theory of relativity with one of the most powerful telescopes in the world has helped an international team of researchers measure where and how dark matter structures grow in the universe. Their analysis suggests cosmic structures might be evolving more slowly than previously predicted.
May 17, 2019
‘The Big Bang Theory’ takes math notes from Carl Pomerance
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, information science, mathematics, quantum physics
A prime number theory equation by mathematics professor emeritus Carl Pomerance turned up on The Big Bang Theory, where it was scrawled on a white board in the background of the hit sitcom about a group of friends and roommates who are scientists, many of them physicists at the California Institute of Technology.
In a recent paper, “Proof of the Sheldon Conjecture,” Pomerance, the John G. Kemeny Parents Professor of Mathematics Emeritus, does the math on a claim by fictional quantum physicist Sheldon Cooper that 73 is “the best number” because of several unique properties. Pomerance’s proof shows that 73 is indeed unique.
The Big Bang Theory is known for dressing the set with “Easter eggs” to delight the self-avowed science nerds in the audience. When UCLA physics professor David Saltzberg, technical consultant for The Big Bang Theory, heard about the Sheldon proof, he contacted Pomerance to ask if they could use it in the show, which was broadcast April 18.
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May 17, 2019
High School Student Uses AI to Detect Gravitational Waves
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, education, physics, robotics/AI, supercomputing
Before he could legally drive, high school student Adam Rebei was already submitting jobs on the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (NCSA) to run complex simulations of black holes.
“My first time using Blue Waters, we did a tour first and got to see the computer, which is a very amazing thing because it’s a very powerful machine,” Rebei told the NCSA, “and I just remember thinking, ‘All of the GPUs!’ It’s an insane amount of GPUs, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
To get there, Rebei first took an astronomy class that led him to his work with the NCSA. Once there, he teamed up with research scientist Eliu Huerta, who leads the group’s Gravity Group.
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May 17, 2019
Did ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Get the Science Right? A Lesson in Supersymmetry and Economy Class
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, economics, physics, science
May 17, 2019
Quantum black hole study opens bridge to another universe
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, quantum physics
Circa 2013
Physicists have long thought that the singularities associated with gravity (like the inside of a black hole) should vanish in a quantum theory of gravity. It now appears that this may indeed be the case. Researchers in Uruguay and Louisiana have just published a description of a quantum black hole using loop quantum gravity in which the predictions of physics-ending singularities vanish, and are replaced by bridges to another universe.
May 17, 2019
Physicists Think You Could Be Rescued from a Black Hole — But Don’t Risk It
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, quantum physics
DENVER — Researchers have developed a new, unspeakably dangerous, and incredibly slow method of crossing the universe. It involves wormholes linking special black holes that probably don’t exist. And it might explain what’s really going on when physicists quantum-teleport information from one point to another — from the perspective of the teleported bit of information.
Daniel Jafferis, a Harvard University physicist, described the proposed method at a talk April 13 here at a meeting of the American Physical Society. This method, he told his assembled colleagues, involves two black holes that are entangled so that they are connected across space and time.
May 17, 2019
Computronium universe – computation limits of computronium and limits to the universe
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cosmology, Ray Kurzweil
Ray Kurzweil discusses having a universe filled with Computronium.
He discusses this happening within 200 years if wormholes or some other means allow faster than light travel.