Earth & Space
Though many physicists believe it’s possible that our universe is one of many in a multiverse, they struggle to find concrete evidence to back up that hypothesis. But now, we may find that evidence — if we look for the wreckage left behind by a collision of cosmic proportions.
The Philae lander on the distant comet 67P re-established radio contact with Earth on Friday night, downlinking yet another stream of science data. Everything expected from the little probe was delivered, just before low battery power dropped it into standby mode.
Griffith University (in Australia) academics are challenging the foundations of quantum science with a radical new theory based on interactions between parallel universes. In a paper published in the prestigious journal Physical Review X, Professor Howard Wiseman and Dr Michael Hall from Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, and Dr Dirk-Andre Deckert from the University of California, take interacting parallel worlds out of the realm of science fiction and into that of hard science. The team proposes that parallel universes really exist, and that they interact. That is, rather than evolving independently, nearby worlds influence one another by a subtle force of repulsion. They show that such an interaction could explain everything that is bizarre about quantum mechanics.
Ron Paul: Did the election last week really mean that much? Actually, the change in control of the Senate from Democrat to Republican means very little, despite efforts by politicians and the mainstream media to convince us otherwise. Yes, power shifted. But the philosophy on Capitol Hill changed very little. The warfare/welfare state is still alive and well in Washington.
Dimensions are complicated, and wrapping your mind around how many there are can give you a headache. Trace explains everything you should know about them.
A team led by Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy in the UCLA College, determined that G2 is most likely a pair ofbinary stars that had been orbiting the black hole in tandem and merged together into an extremely large star, cloaked in gas and dust—its movements choreographed by the black hole’s powerful gravitational field. The research is published today in the journalAstrophysical Journal Letters.
What is a neutron star? Astronomers tell us that these tiny yet massively dense objects form by gravitational collapse from the remnants of a massive star that has exploded.
Human beings around the world may be witnessing one of the most significant dramas in the modern history of the space sciences. The ESA’s Rosetta mission to the comet 67P has shattered the theoretical predictions of standard comet science. For many decades, we were told that comets are dirty snowballs, which formed billions of years ago, tracing back to the solar system’s origins. In contrast, the electric universe has stated for decades that comets, meteors and asteroids are materials excavated electrically from planetary surfaces. Wal Thornhill explains that the Rosetta mission has already provided a stunning confirmation of the electric comet theory.
Space agency scientists are developing two separate mission concepts to assess, and learn how to exploit, stores of water ice on the moon and other lunar resources. The projects — called Lunar Flashlight and the Resource Prospector Mission — are notionally targeted to blast off in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and aim to help humanity extend its footprint out into the solar system.
Astronomers have discovered a black hole that is consuming gas from a nearby star 10 times faster than previously thought possible. The black hole — known as P13 — lies on the outskirts of the galaxy NGC7793 about 12 million light years from Earth and is ingesting a weight equivalent to 100 billion billion hot dogs every minute.
On Oct. 8, Interested skywatchers should attempt to see the total eclipse of the moon and the rising sun simultaneously. The little-used name for this effect is called a “selenelion,” a phenomenon that celestial geometry says cannot happen.
Earth and Space News October 4, 2014: Space weather; Earthquake watch; Total Lunar Eclipse on October 8, 2014; Global weather; Super Typhoon Phanfone
Earth and Space News October 3, 2014: Large M7.3 Solar Flare – CME is NOT Earth-directed; Earthquake watch; Iceland’s Bardarbunga Volcano Captured in Spectacular Drone Footage; Rising atmospheric moisture from global warming not to blame for 2013 Colorado flood; Influence of short-term solar disturbances on the fair weather conduction current (PDF);S0’s Climate Change Playlist; Storm alert
Scientists have found the beginnings of life-bearing chemistry at the centre of the galaxy. Iso-propyl cyanide has been detected in a star-forming cloud 27,000 light-years from Earth.
An American physicist claims she has mathematically refuted the existence of black holes in our universe. The new theory combines Steve Hawking’s radiation theory with quantum theory’s fundamental law that no information ever disappears from the universe. Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill maintains she managed to merge two seemingly contradicting theories, Einstein’s theory of gravity and a fundamental law of quantum theory.
