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Category: cosmology – Page 196

Fine Tuned Universe: the critics strike back

At the end of of 2022, we released a film offering a reply to the fine tuning argument for God from leading physicists and philosophers of physics. This included both those that doubt there is any fine tuning and those that think there is but it can be solved by naturalistic means.
Subsequently astrophysicist Luke Barnes and philosopher Philip Goff offered their criticism of our criticism. Here we have assembled some of our original talking heads to review their criticism and offer a reply, defending the original position that fine tuning argument for God does not work.
Our original film can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ-fj3lqJ6M

Luke Barnes and Philip Goff’s reply is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJYWkqOzUQ0&t=4036s and we also recommend this video on Bayes theorem on the Majesty of Reason Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1MdtyLL3Uw&t=4423s.

Our panel consists of Graham Priest, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, well known for his work in logic especially non classical logic, the philosophy of mathematics and science and Buddhist philosophy.

Barry Loewer, who is the distinguished professor of philosophy at Rutgers University and director of the Rutgers Center for Philosophy and the Sciences. Barry specialises in philosophy of science and philosophical logic and the foundations of quantum mechanics, statical mechanics and probability.

Dan Linford who is one of the rising stars in the intersection of the philosophy of physics and philosophy of religion. He did his Phd in philosophy, under Paul Draper and had well known atheist cosmologist Sean Carroll and theistic fine tuning advocate Rob Collins on his thesis committee. He’s now doing a postdoc at the University of Nebraska and recently authored the book Existential Inertia and Classical Theistic Proofs with Joe Schmidt.

Niayesh Afshordi who is an astrophysicist and cosmologist, he’s Professor at the University fo Waterloo and faculty at the Permitter Institute for Theoretical physics. Niayesh won the silver medal at the world physics Olympiad as a teenager, won 1st prize the The Buchalter Cosmology Prize and works in a variety of fields from early universe cosmology, black holes, dark energy and quantum gravity.

Continue reading “Fine Tuned Universe: the critics strike back” | >

2 Pairs of Gigantic Runaway Black Holes Spotted on Collision Course, And They’re Bringing Four Entire Galaxies With Them

Two pairs of gigantic black holes, each in a different dwarf galaxy, are speeding towards each other, and they’re set for two separate, never-before-seen collisions.

Astronomers used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to spot the four dwarf galaxy black holes racing towards each other, dragging an enormous train of gas and stars in their wake. Some of this material is already being sucked into the black holes, causing them to grow ever larger before their eventual crashes.

Observations investigate long-term behavior of gamma-ray blazar PKS 0402–362

Indian astronomers have analyzed observational data of a gamma-ray blazar known as PKS 0402–362, collected in the timespan of nearly 13 years. The study, published March 7 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, provides crucial information regarding the long-term behavior of this blazar.

Blazars are very compact quasars associated with (SMBHs) at the centers of active, giant elliptical galaxies. They belong to a larger group of active galaxies that host (AGN), and are the most numerous extragalactic gamma-ray sources. Their characteristic features are relativistic jets pointed almost exactly toward the Earth.

Based on their optical emission properties, astronomers divide blazars into two classes: (FSRQs) that feature prominent and broad optical emission lines, and BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), which do not.

‘Counterportation’: Quantum breakthrough paves way for world-first experimental wormhole

One of the first practical applications of the much-hyped but little-used quantum computing technology is now within reach, thanks to a unique approach that sidesteps the major problem of scaling up such prototypes.

The invention, by a University of Bristol physicist, who gave it the name “counterportation,” provides the first-ever practical blueprint for creating in the lab a wormhole that verifiably bridges space, as a probe into the inner workings of the universe.

By deploying a novel computing scheme, revealed in the journal Quantum Science and Technology, which harnesses the basic laws of physics, a small object can be reconstituted across space without any particles crossing. Among other things, it provides a “smoking gun” for the existence of a physical reality underpinning our most accurate description of the world.

“Counterportation” — Landmark Quantum Breakthrough Paves Way for World-First Experimental Wormhole

Quantum computing technology is within reach due to an innovative method that overcomes the significant challenge of scaling up these prototypes.

The invention, by a University of Bristol physicist, who gave it the name ‘counterportation’, provides the first-ever practical blueprint for creating in the lab a wormhole that verifiably bridges space, as a probe into the inner workings of the universe.

JWST captures a rare star 15,000 light-years away nearing its end

Called a Wolf-Rayet, these stars expel most of their outer layers into their surroundings before exploding as supernovae.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has released a phenomenal image of a supernova waiting to happen. Called a Wolf-Rayet, these stars are among the most massive, luminous, and “briefly detectable” stars known. They’re at an advanced stage of stellar evolution and expel most of their outer layers into their surroundings before exploding as supernovae.

Webb had a rare sighting of a Wolf-Rayet star in June 2022. In the latest image, the telescope shows the star, WR 124, in unprecedented detail, thanks to its infrared instruments.

NASA, ESA, CSA, stsci, webb ERO production team.

Not all stars go through a brief Wolf-Rayet phase before evolving into a supernova, which is why astronomers think Webb has captured a rare phase. This particular star is 30 times the mass of the Sun and has shed 10 Suns’ worth of material – so far. According to a release, as the ejected gas moves away from the star and cools, cosmic dust forms and glows in the infrared light detectable by Webb.

Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures

Over the course of its nearly 14-billion-year journey, the light from the CMB has been stretched, squeezed and warped by all the matter in its way. Cosmologists are beginning to look beyond the primary fluctuations in the CMB light to the secondary imprints left by interactions with galaxies and other cosmic structures. From these signals, they’re gaining a crisper view of the distribution of both ordinary matter — everything that’s composed of atomic parts — and the mysterious dark matter. In turn, those insights are helping to settle some long-standing cosmological mysteries and pose some new ones.

“We’re realizing that the CMB does not only tell us about the initial conditions of the universe. It also tells us about the galaxies themselves,” said Emmanuel Schaan, also a cosmologist at SLAC. “And that turns out to be really powerful.”

Sizes of Black Holes: How Big is a Black Hole?

Year 2014 face_with_colon_three If black holes have infinitely small sizes and infinitely density this also means that string theory would also solve the infinitely small problem because now we know that infinitely small sizes exist and if that exists then so does infinite energy from super string essentially filling out the rest of the mystery of the God equation. This means that computers could be infinitely small aswell saving a ton of space aswell.

If you’ve wondered how big is a black hole? then you’ve come to the right place! Learn about the sizes of black holes and the multi-layered answer.