Discoveries from Planck may mean rethinking how the universe began
This spring, humanity was shown its most detailed map of the early universe ever created. Generated by observations from the Planck spacecraft, the map revealed fluctuations in temperature in the relic...
View ArticleNew map of Universe may reconcile conflicting cosmological observations
(Phys.org) —In Jonathan Swift's 1726 book "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts," the miniature Lilliputians experience the world very differently from the giant...
View ArticleEinstein's conversion from a static to an expanding universe
Albert Einstein accepted the modern cosmological view that the universe is expanding long after his contemporaries, new study shows.
View ArticleAn analysis of Einstein's 1931 paper featuring a dynamic model of the universe
A paper published in the European Physical Journal H provides the first English translation and an analysis of one of Albert Einstein's little-known papers, "On the cosmological problem of the general...
View ArticleStar-quakes reveal content of stars which are hotter and more massive than...
To determine the mass and size of planets found around other stars or to date stellar populations in order to limit the number of cosmological models, among other things, it is essential know what goes...
View ArticleAstronomers challenge Cosmological Model
(Phys.org) —Astronomers Professor Chris Collins and Dr Ian McCarthy from LJMU's Astrophysics Research Institute are challenging the view that the currently preferred cosmological model of the Universe...
View ArticleWhen science and philosophy collide in a 'fine-tuned' universe
When renowned scientists now talk seriously about millions of multiverses, the old question "are we alone?" gets a whole new meaning.
View Article'Cosmic own goal' another clue in hunt for dark matter
The hunt for dark matter has taken another step forward thanks to new supercomputer simulations showing the evolution of our "local Universe" from the Big Bang to the present day.
View ArticlePhysicist suggests speed of light might be slower than thought
(Phys.org) —Physicist James Franson of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County has captured the attention of the physics community by posting an article to the peer-reviewed New Journal of Physics...
View ArticleArtificial spacetime experiment could show tantalizing effects of...
(Phys.org) —Although the curves and ripples of spacetime are suspected to be full of intriguing secrets about the history of the universe, they are also extremely difficult to study. For this reason,...
View ArticleMassive neutrinos and new standard cosmological model: No concordance yet
Neutrinos, also known as 'ghost particles' because they barely interact with other particles or their surroundings, are massless particles according to the standard model of particle physics. However,...
View ArticleCosmologists probe beyond the Big Bang
A long tradition of cosmology research in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences has given birth to a vigorous effort by a new generation of cosmologists to understand the Cosmic Microwave Background...
View ArticleInteractive dark matter could explain Milky Way's missing satellite galaxies
Scientists believe they have found a way to explain why there are not as many galaxies orbiting the Milky Way as expected.
View ArticleThe dark side of cosmology
It's a beautiful theory: the standard model of cosmology describes the universe using just six parameters. But it is also strange. The model predicts that dark matter and dark energy – two mysterious...
View ArticleBest of Last Week—Transferring quantum states, wireless energy breakthrough...
It has once again been an interesting week for physics—a team working in China demonstrated a quantum communication scheme that transferred quantum states without transmitting physical particles. They...
View ArticleExtent of Moon's giant volcanic eruption is revealed
Scientists have produced a new map of the Moon's most unusual volcano showing that its explosive eruption spread debris over an area much greater than previously thought.
View ArticleUniverse may be on the brink of collapse (on the cosmological timescale)
(Phys.org)—Physicists have proposed a mechanism for "cosmological collapse" that predicts that the universe will soon stop expanding and collapse in on itself, obliterating all matter as we know it....
View ArticleDo we need a new theory of gravity?
In the late 1990s physicists discovered, to their consternation, that the expansion of the universe is not slowing but accelerating. Nothing in the 'standard model of cosmology' could account for this,...
View ArticleDeath by gamma-ray bursts may place first lower bound on the cosmological...
(Phys.org)—Sometimes when a star collapses into a supernova, it releases an intense, narrow beam of gamma rays. Gamma-ray bursts often last just a few seconds, but during that time they can release as...
View ArticleProbing dark energy with clusters: "Russian doll" galaxy clusters reveal...
These four galaxy clusters were part of a large survey of over 300 clusters used to investigate dark energy, the mysterious energy that is currently driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe,...
View ArticleWhy is space three-dimensional?
(Phys.org)—The question of why space is three-dimensional (3D) and not some other number of dimensions has puzzled philosophers and scientists since ancient Greece. Space-time overall is...
View ArticleSeeds of black holes could be revealed by gravitational waves detected in space
Scientists led by Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology ran the huge cosmological simulations that can be used to predict the rate at which gravitational waves caused by collisions...
View ArticlePhysicists measure the loss of dark matter since the birth of the universe
Russian scientists have discovered that the proportion of unstable particles in the composition of dark matter in the days immediately following the Big Bang was no more than 2 percent to 5 percent....
View ArticleViolations of energy conservation in the early universe may explain dark energy
(Phys.org)—Physicists have proposed that violations of energy conservation in the early universe, as predicted by certain modified theories of quantum mechanics and quantum gravity, may explain the...
View ArticleQuest to settle riddle over Einstein's theory may soon be over
Astronomy experiments could soon test an idea developed by Albert Einstein almost exactly a century ago, scientists say.
View ArticleRumors of inflationary theory's demise premature, researchers say
From the earliest human civilizations, people have looked to the heavens and pondered the origins of the stars and constellations above. Once, those stories involved gods and magical beings. Now,...
View ArticleStandard model of the universe withstands most precise test by Dark Energy...
Astrophysicists have a fairly accurate understanding of how the universe ages: That's the conclusion of new results from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a large international science collaboration,...
View ArticleNew supernova analysis reframes dark energy debate
The accelerating expansion of the Universe may not be real, but could just be an apparent effect, according to new research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society....
View ArticleNewest dark matter map hints at where astrophysics must go for breakthroughs
The unveiling this summer of the most accurate cosmic picture ever taken of the distribution of dark matter has left astrophysicists feeling both delighted and frustrated.
View ArticleStar mergers: A new test of gravity, dark energy theories
When scientists recorded a rippling in space-time, followed within two seconds by an associated burst of light observed by dozens of telescopes around the globe, they had witnessed, for the first time,...
View Article