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Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 370

May 30, 2017

Do stars fall quietly into black holes, or crash into something utterly unknown?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University have put a basic principle of black holes to the test, showing that matter completely vanishes when pulled in. Their results constitute another successful test for Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

Most scientists agree that black holes, cosmic entities of such great gravity that nothing can escape their grip, are surrounded by a so-called . Once matter or energy gets close enough to the black hole, it cannot escape—it will be pulled in. Though widely believed, the existence of event horizons has not been proved.

“Our whole point here is to turn this idea of an event horizon into an experimental science, and find out if event horizons really do exist or not,” said Pawan Kumar, a professor of astrophysics at The University of Texas at Austin.

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May 30, 2017

Dark Energy May Lurk in the Nothingness of Space

Posted by in categories: cosmology, quantum physics

The new work addresses not only what dark energy is but why the rate of universal expansion has the value it does.

“Everybody wants to know what dark energy is,” Wang told Live Science. “I reconsidered this question more carefully,” from the perspective of the universe’s energy density.

Wang and his colleagues assumed that modern quantum field theory was correct about the energy density being very large, but that the vacuum fluctuations, or the movements of empty space, were very large on tiny scales, near what is called the Planck length, or 1.62 × 10 ^ minus 35 meters. That’s so small that a proton is 100 million trillion times bigger.

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May 26, 2017

Astronomers witness star’s death, birth of new black hole

Posted by in category: cosmology

May 25 (UPI) — In 2015, a star tracked by astronomers since 2009, suddenly disappeared. New research suggests the star collapsed and became a black hole, but avoided the explosive violence of a supernova.

The discovery, detailed in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could explain why many of the universe’s most massive stars die without a parting explosion.

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May 25, 2017

If Time Freezes At The Edge Of A Black Hole, Could Someone Theoretically Live Forever?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Answer by Viktor T. Toth, IT pro, part-time physicist, on Quora:

Whenever you think about time dilation in relativity theory, keep in mind that the theory is not about you. It is about what others see. As far as you are concerned, no matter where you are or how you move, time will always appear to pass as it always does.

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May 22, 2017

How Do You Code for a Quantum Computer?

Posted by in categories: computing, cosmology, quantum physics

The coders of tomorrow may be bug-checking the multiverse.

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May 21, 2017

Gravitational Waves Are Permanently Warping The Fabric of Space-Time

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Researchers have proposed a method for detecting exotic events in physics by looking for the scars they leave behind on the fabric of space.

By identifying how objects like cosmic strings or evaporating black holes leave behind memories of their existence on the Universe, it might be possible to move some rather strange phenomena from theoretical to empirical science.

It all comes down to an effect of general relativity called gravitational-wave memory, which is the distortion left behind as space is stretched and relaxed by a massive object.

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May 17, 2017

Is our universe merely one of an infinite number?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Experts suggest that the cooler area could be caused by our universe colliding with another.

If true, this could provide evidence for the multiverse theory.

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May 12, 2017

Comet 67P Found to Be Producing Its Own Oxygen in Deep Space

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution

RELATED: Building Blocks for Life Found in Rosetta’s Comet

“Understanding the origin of molecular oxygen in space is important for the evolution of the Universe and the origin of life on Earth,” the researchers wrote.

The finding muddies the waters in how detecting oxygen in the atmospheres of exoplanets might not necessarily point to life, as this abiotic process means that oxygen can be produced in space without the need for life. The researchers say this finding might influence how researchers search for signs of life on exoplanets in the future.

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May 12, 2017

How Close Would a Supernova Have to Be to Kill Us All?

Posted by in category: cosmology

New research suggests that exploding stars may still be deadly twice as far away as previously thought.

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May 12, 2017

Antiproton count hints at dark matter annihilation

Posted by in category: cosmology

Antimatter in cosmic rays could be a sign of dark matter.

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