Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists may have found a new way to unlock the vast secrets of the Big Bang—the cosmic event thought to have kicked off the expansion of the universe billions of years ago. The revelation came in 2023, when scientists found nearly imperceptible ripples within the very fabric of space and time as we know it.

The ripples appear to be associated directly with rapidly spinning neutrons that we call pulsar timing arrays. Researchers believe that studying gravitational waves—more specifically, the low-frequency background hum they emit—may allow us to learn more about the Big Bang and the universe’s very beginning.

For a long time, researchers have believed that the low-frequency background hum of gravitational waves in our universe was part of a “phase transition” that occurred just after the Big Bang. However, a new bit of research could further unlock the secrets of the Big Bang and suggests that this might not be the case at all.

In experiments at the Brookhaven National Lab in the US, an international team of physicists has detected the heaviest “anti-nuclei” ever seen. The tiny, short-lived objects are composed of exotic antimatter particles.

Dark matter remains one of the most enigmatic components of our universe. In this episode of Cosmology 101, we explore the evidence for dark matter and its critical role in shaping the cosmos. From galaxy rotations to cosmic web structures, discover how dark matter’s invisible hand influences the universe’s evolution and our understanding of fundamental physics.

Join Katie Mack, Perimeter Institute’s Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication, on an incredible journey through the cosmos in our new series, Cosmology 101.

Continue reading “Dark Matter Explained | Cosmology 101 Episode 7” »

Special Offer! Use our link https://joinnautilus.com/SABINE to get 15% off your membership!I recently read that you can have gravity without mass. Ha, no way…

Several pulsar timing array collaborations recently reported evidence of a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) at nHz frequencies. While the SGWB could originate from the merger of supermassive black holes, it could be a signature of new physics near the 100 MeV scale. Supercooled first-order phase transitions (FOPTs) that end at the 100 MeV scale are intriguing explanations, because they could connect the nHz signal to new physics at the electroweak scale or beyond. Here, however, we provide a clear demonstration that it is not simple to create a nHz signal from a supercooled phase transition, due to two crucial issues that could rule out many proposed supercooled explanations and should be checked. As an example, we use a model based on nonlinearly realized electroweak symmetry that has been cited as evidence for a supercooled explanation.

Dark energy is not limited to outer space, many solid materials around us also contain electrons hidden in dark states.

Until now scientists believed that dark electrons, electrons associated with the quantum state of matter, simply don’t exist in solid materials.

However, a new study from…

Continue reading “Dark electrons discovered in solids in superconductor breakthrough” »

Modern astrophysics has enabled scientists to observe the universe with unprecedented clarity, from exoplanets to entire galaxies.

Despite our galaxy blocking some views, advanced tools like the James Webb Space Telescope and upcoming projects such as the Square Kilometre Array are pushing the boundaries of our cosmic understanding. Visualization techniques help researchers explore the universe in both space and time, revealing phenomena like fast radio bursts. Looking ahead, scientists hope to capture images of distant exoplanets and unravel mysteries such as dark energy and the expansion of the universe.

Observing the universe: from exoplanets to galaxies.

The Dark Energy Camera has captured an image of the dazzling Coma Cluster, named after the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt. Not only significant in Greek mythology, this collection of galaxies was also fundamental to the discovery of the existence of dark matter.

In this episode of Cosmology 101, we dive into the concept of an expanding universe. From the first moments of the Big Bang, our cosmos has been stretching in every direction. We explore what this expansion means for us, how we know it’s happening, and the fascinating implications of living in an ever-growing universe.

Join Katie Mack, Perimeter Institute’s Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication, on an incredible journey through the cosmos in our new series, Cosmology 101.

Continue reading “Expansion of the Universe Explained | Cosmology 101 Episode 1” »