Cosmology

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

2007-11-15T17:35:31Z

A 39 year-old surfer from Hawaii says he has discovered the elusive "theory of everything" - a theory which weaves together the electromagnetic force, the strong force, the weak force, and even gravity... without string theory... and does so by using only four dimensions.

Further, the theory might make predictions which can be tested, something string theory does not currently do.

What makes this surfer's unlikely theory interesting is that some theoretical physicists are beginning to take note of it. [article]

homework help!!

2007-09-10T00:55:23Z

If the distance between the Earth and the Moon suddenly was multiplied by 1.6, by what multiplicative factor would the acceleration of the Moon due to the Earth's gravitational pull be changed? Use Newton's 2nd law and his law of gravity. Round your answer to one decimal place.

Happy Cosmonautics Day!

2007-04-12T08:00:26Z

Today, 46 years ago, in April 12th 1961, Yuri Gagarin made first in human history space flight across the Earth on "Vostok" spaceship! I'm proud to be born the same day as him and hope to repeat his great deed one day!

Space Science is in Trouble!

2007-01-06T23:51:12Z

Click here to sign a petition to George Bush to stop cutting space science programs!
Some of the program cuts and delays include:

Europa mission development is cancelled.

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) development is cancelled.

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is
cancelled.

The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) is delayed.

The Juno mission is stretched out and delayed.

NASA’s Mars program was cut 40% in the past year, despite the enormous
success of the Mars Exploration Rovers
Click here to view a pdf fact sheet of all the projects cut or delayed.

The Age: Solar system just got bigger

2006-08-17T15:25:14Z

Sorry, kids. You'll no longer have to memorise the names of just nine planets. Apparently, there will soon be 12.

A committee of the International Astronomical Union, which decides such matters, voted unanimously today to add three worlds to our solar system's planetary population. More planets will be added later, astronomers said.

Little Pluto, which had been in peril of losing its place among the planets, keeps its status, but only in a new category of "plutons," distant oddballs wandering outside Neptune in weirdly shaped orbits.

Full article.

A Question

2006-07-16T22:55:02Z

So, the theory is, that all elements other than Hydrogen and some Helium are created in stars. When a star is young it fuses Hydrogen, creating Helium... then as the star's death nears it begins fusing helium.... creating lithium, beryllium, etc... Then, when the star goes supernova, it scatters the elements it created into enormous clouds which form new solar systems from the atoms it created.

My question is this:

How can that theory explain oxygen? Wouldn't oxygen combust and burn the moment it's created inside of a star? How do oxygen atoms survive the inferno and subsequent explosion?

cosmology @ 2006-05-04T09:15:00

2006-05-04T13:15:41Z

raise your hand if you love science!! WOOHOO!!

okay, so I am just in a good mood because the weather is fine today, and who says every post needs to be a squirming scientist asking a question?
This post is to celebrate the beautiful sun and our love for science!! wooooo!

xoxo emily.

Good review

2006-04-28T13:05:29Z

There's a cracking review from Nature available here.

Black holes are actually 'green'

2006-04-25T17:43:14Z

A new study finds that supermassive black holes, located at the heart of some galaxies, are the most fuel efficient engines in the universe.

"If you could make a car engine that was as efficient as one of these black holes, you could get about a billion miles out of a gallon of gas," said study team leader Steve Allen of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University.

"In anyone's book, that would be pretty green."

( more )

thisQuantumWorld

2006-03-26T06:08:16Z

My website thisQuantumWorld.com has undergone a major overhaul.

Go to THE RULES and proceed to a discussion of two key experiments and their ontological implications (SCATTERING,TWO SLITS).

Or click on STABILITY and learn why the mathematical formalism of the fundamental theoretical framework of physics is a tool for assigning probabilities to measurement outcomes.

Find a SPACE for the quantum world.

Click on FORM to learn about the shapes of things.

Discover the TOP-DOWN structure of the quantum world.

Inform yourself about the measurement CONTROVERSY.

Know the meaning of objective PROBABILITY.

Recognize the PSEUDOPROBLEMS that make it so hard to beat sense into quantum mechanics.

Or be perplexed by BELL's theorem.

And come back soon for more...

Spinning Black Hole Leaves Dent in Space-Time

2006-03-19T08:33:47Z

Using NASA's Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (XRTE), MIT astrophysicists have found a black hole that has chiseled a remarkably stable indentation in the fabric of space and time. The finding may help scientists measure a black hole's mass and how it spins, two long-sought measurements, by virtue of the extent of this indentation. (more)

The Cosmic Dance Of Distant Galaxies

2006-03-19T06:00:51Z

Studying several tens of distant galaxies, an international team of astronomers found that galaxies had the same amount of dark matter relative to stars 6 billion years ago as they have now. If confirmed, this suggests a much closer interplay between dark and normal matter than previously believed. (more)

A voice of reason

2006-03-16T23:25:42Z

Misleading title, that. More like wisdom, I'd say.

No matter how many taunts were hurled on the WMAP team, I am glad that they kept at their job silently, and the result is that the three-year data, that was released at noon EST today, looks even more reasonable than their first-year data, at least at first sight. They successfully avoided astro-ph from being flooded by speculative string theorists by succumbing to demands of timely data release.

I like their diligence, and their imperviousness to taunts. I will allow the real experts to make further comments.

x-posted to my journal

cosmology @ 2006-03-11T21:41:00

2006-03-11T19:41:55Z

Has anyone of you ever heard something about Budda Machine and the way it relax you? What would happen if we combined Budda Machine`s sounds with 3D sacred symbols: flower of life, pyramid, metatron’s cube and etc.? You would get utility for meditation and relaxation - http://68.178.221.107/budda/budda.rsp. This is a simple utility for deep relaxation at home...and maybe for direct connection for cosmo?

Software for viewing from here: http://www.rotor3d.com

cosmology @ 2006-02-28T04:12:00

2006-02-28T04:14:45Z

Hey, take a look at http://www.ThisQuantumWorld.com. (I know it needs updating but...)

Some thoughts of a troubled student

2006-02-07T14:31:34Z

Hiya, I haven't posted here before (as I've only just joined) so I apologise if these have been mentioned in the archive of posts...

While I don't expect this to amount to anything it would be nice to know if anyone is thinking about it : Hit Big Bang cosmology is based on the idea that the universe evolved from a hot dense thermal state, which as the universe expands it cools and the forces decouple, matter forms, inflation, reheating, quintessence, etc and we find ourselves here. Woo! The physical evidence for this is the CMB and its thermal black-body spectrum (let's ignore those structure inducing anisotropies for the mo') which nobody can deny. The mathematics behind the HBB model is rooted in Hawking's singularity theorem which states (loosely) that on a spacetime manifold on which one believes Einstein's equation and the strong energy condition (which states that the energy density seen by a timelike observer is bounded from below) is geodesically incomplete in the past (ie some topological singularity) and you get your 'bang'.

The technical restrictions in the hypothesis of the singularity theorems are physically sensible, some suitable geometry (which physically corresponds to strongly causal spacetimes) and some energy conditions (obeyed by virtually all classical fields). However, my concern enters here : First of all the non-minimally coupled scalar field is a source of negative energy densities, so violated the energy conditions. More concerningly, no quantum field can ever satisfy these pointwise energy conditions and in fact can have arbitrarily negative energy densities at a point. (Results do exist which limit the magnitude but only if the energy density is averaged over some causal surface). So, my question is : Does anyone know if there exist singularity-like theorems which do not assume the classical energy conditions? These would be staggeringly useful, as in the early history of the universe quantum effects would dominate and would give an indication of the initial condition of the universe (from which we have Cauchy evolved).

Here endeth the rant, thanks for listening. Any ideas/references/discussions would be gratefully recieved.

Evidence for the Big Bang

2006-01-26T10:02:37Z

My RSS Reader picked up this, which is a well-written and very readable review of the Big Bang, the evidence for it, and alternative models.

Well worth bookmarking I think.

Problem - Can anyone do it?

2006-01-13T02:05:53Z

Suppose that in Sherwood Forest, the average radius o f atre is R = 1 m and the average number of tress per unit area is .005. If Robin Hood shoots an arrow in a random direction, how far, on average, will it travel before it strikes a tree?

Any help is appreciated!

Whatever Matter Is - It’s Not Made Of Matter

2005-12-15T08:52:42Z

Whatever Matter Is - It’s Not Made Of Matter

Although we may not know the external world directly, we can draw conclusions from our experience as to what it might be like. This, in essence, has been the focus of our scientific endeavours. Scientists have sought to understand the functioning of the world around us, and draw conclusions about its true nature. (read more)

Young stars honored at Amazing Light symposium

2005-12-10T13:39:07Z

Young stars honored at Amazing Light Symposium

Physicists studying "hairy" black holes and distant and dim planets were among the winners.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Exploration, questioning and discovery were the guiding lights behind the 2005 Young Scholars Competition held in conjunction with Amazing Light: Visions for Discovery, a symposium at the University of California, Berkeley, honoring the scientific giant who has personified these principles: Nobel laureate Charles Hard Townes. (read more)

Exploding dark-matter balls predicted

2005-12-10T13:36:43Z

Exploding dark-matter balls predicted

A new type of dark matter made up of collections of atoms that form balls up to 20 centimetres in size has been predicted by two theorists in Scotland and Denmark. The balls, which could weigh about 1011 kilograms each, would be hard to detect but may exist inside heavy stars. The physicists think the balls might eat up the star and release enough energy to make it explode as a supernova. They believe there may be, on average, one dark-matter ball for a volume of space about the size of our solar system (Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 231301). (read more)

Is Gravity Leaking From Our Universe? :-D

2005-12-02T10:56:35Z

It’s tearing the universe apart and causing scientists to tear out their hair. Isn’t it time you got to know dark energy?

A mysterious force is ripping through physics and astronomy departments these days. It has splintered long-cherished theories and has caused otherwise rational scientists to latch onto a weird and ugly notion.

(more)

OMGWTF! Einstein is wrong!

2005-11-11T19:34:54Z

Welcome, ladies and gents, to take 55,423,556 of Einstein Was Wrong!

Today's contenstant, Reg Cahill, says he can prove Albert Einstein and his hundred-year-old theories of relativity are wrong.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17159653-13762,00.html

Funny, I don't see anything resembling experimental results...

cosmology @ 2005-10-25T15:20:00

2005-10-25T22:22:07Z

Why does the accretion disk of a black hole shoot out x-rays? I know it has something to do with compression of matter.