cosmology – Lifeboat News: The Blog https://lifeboat.com/blog Safeguarding Humanity Sun, 29 Jun 2025 18:06:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 A Scientist Says the Universe May Have a Memory of Its Own https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-scientist-says-the-universe-may-have-a-memory-of-its-own https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-scientist-says-the-universe-may-have-a-memory-of-its-own#respond Sun, 29 Jun 2025 18:06:38 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-scientist-says-the-universe-may-have-a-memory-of-its-own

A new hypothesis called the “quantum memory matrix” could solve long-standing physics questions, including the Black Hole Information Paradox and dark matter.

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Star-Shredding Spectacle: NASA Reveals Brightest Black Hole Blasts Since the Big Bang https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/star-shredding-spectacle-nasa-reveals-brightest-black-hole-blasts-since-the-big-bang https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/star-shredding-spectacle-nasa-reveals-brightest-black-hole-blasts-since-the-big-bang#respond Sat, 28 Jun 2025 15:11:20 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/star-shredding-spectacle-nasa-reveals-brightest-black-hole-blasts-since-the-big-bang

Supermassive black holes usually lurk unseen, but when an unlucky star drifts too close they ignite titanic outbursts brighter than 100 supernovae. By mixing NASA, ESA, and ground-based data, astronomers caught three of these rare “extreme nuclear transients,” including the cheekily named “Barbie

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Supernova remnant SNR J0450.4−7050 investigated in detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/supernova-remnant-snr-j0450-4%e2%88%927050-investigated-in-detail https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/supernova-remnant-snr-j0450-4%e2%88%927050-investigated-in-detail#respond Fri, 27 Jun 2025 11:28:04 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/supernova-remnant-snr-j0450-4%e2%88%927050-investigated-in-detail

An international team of astronomers has employed various satellites and ground-based telescopes to perform multiwavelength observations of a supernova remnant known as SNR J0450.4−7050. Results of the observational campaign, published June 18 on the pre-print server arXiv, yield new insights into the properties of this remnant, finding that it is much larger than previously thought.

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are diffuse, expanding structures resulting from a supernova explosion, which usually last several hundred thousand years before dispersing into the (ISM). Observations show that SNRs contain ejected material expanding from the explosion and other interstellar material that has been swept up by the passage of the shockwave from the exploded star.

Studies of SNRs beyond the Milky Way are crucial for understanding their feedback in different evolutionary phases and gaining insights into their local ISM. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is one of the galaxies that has its SNR population explored in detail.

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A magnetically levitated particle enables researchers to search for ultralight dark matter https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-magnetically-levitated-particle-enables-researchers-to-search-for-ultralight-dark-matter https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-magnetically-levitated-particle-enables-researchers-to-search-for-ultralight-dark-matter#respond Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:21:05 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/a-magnetically-levitated-particle-enables-researchers-to-search-for-ultralight-dark-matter

Dark matter, although not visible, is believed to make up most of the total mass of the universe. One theory suggests that ultralight dark matter behaves like a continuous wave, which could exert rhythmic forces that are detectable only with ultra-sensitive quantum instrumentation.

New research published in Physical Review Letters and led by Rice University physicist Christopher Tunnell and postdoctoral researcher Dorian Amaral, the study’s first author and lead analyst, sees the first direct search for ultralight using a magnetically levitated particle.

In collaboration with physicists from Leiden University, the team suspended a microscopic neodymium magnet inside a superconducting enclosure cooled to near absolute zero. The setup was designed to detect subtle oscillations believed to be caused by dark matter waves moving through Earth.

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New theoretical framework reveals hidden complexity in black hole ringdown signals https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/new-theoretical-framework-reveals-hidden-complexity-in-black-hole-ringdown-signals https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/new-theoretical-framework-reveals-hidden-complexity-in-black-hole-ringdown-signals#respond Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:20:22 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/new-theoretical-framework-reveals-hidden-complexity-in-black-hole-ringdown-signals

In a recently published paper in Physical Review Letters, scientists propose a comprehensive theoretical framework indicating that gravitational wave signals from black hole mergers are more complex than earlier anticipated.

When two black holes merge in the cosmos, the cataclysmic event doesn’t end with a simple collision. The newly formed black hole continues to vibrate like a struck bell, producing gravitational waves in what scientists call the “ringdown” phase.

Researchers found that the cosmic reverberations involve sophisticated quadratic mode couplings—secondary oscillations that develop when primary modes interact with each other. This nonlinear behavior had been predicted in Einstein’s theory of , but has never been fully characterized until now.

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“We’re Rewiring the Future”: MIT’s Superconducting Chip Breakthrough Could Unlock the True Power of Quantum Computing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/were-rewiring-the-future-mits-superconducting-chip-breakthrough-could-unlock-the-true-power-of-quantum-computing https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/were-rewiring-the-future-mits-superconducting-chip-breakthrough-could-unlock-the-true-power-of-quantum-computing#respond Wed, 25 Jun 2025 22:02:48 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/were-rewiring-the-future-mits-superconducting-chip-breakthrough-could-unlock-the-true-power-of-quantum-computing

IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 MIT researchers have developed a superconducting diode-based rectifier that converts AC to DC on a single chip. 💡 This innovation could streamline power delivery in ultra-cold quantum systems, reducing electromagnetic noise and interference. 🔍 The technology is crucial for enhancing qubit stability and could significantly impact dark matter detection circuits at

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What Happens When a Black Hole Devours a Neutron Star: Star Quakes and Monster Shock Waves https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/what-happens-when-a-black-hole-devours-a-neutron-star-star-quakes-and-monster-shock-waves https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/what-happens-when-a-black-hole-devours-a-neutron-star-star-quakes-and-monster-shock-waves#respond Wed, 25 Jun 2025 07:16:44 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/what-happens-when-a-black-hole-devours-a-neutron-star-star-quakes-and-monster-shock-waves

Caltech simulations reveal what happens when black holes collide with neutron stars—violent cracking, intense shock waves, and short-lived black hole pulsars.

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The Brightest Star Deaths Ever Seen — Outshining Supernovae for Years https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/the-brightest-star-deaths-ever-seen-outshining-supernovae-for-years https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/the-brightest-star-deaths-ever-seen-outshining-supernovae-for-years#respond Wed, 25 Jun 2025 07:16:32 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/the-brightest-star-deaths-ever-seen-outshining-supernovae-for-years

A new kind of stellar explosion, far brighter and longer-lasting than supernovae, may help scientists explore the secrets of ancient black holes. These rare “extreme nuclear transients” are reshaping our understanding of cosmic evolution.

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From the andes to the beginning of time: Telescopes detect 13-billion-year-old signal https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/from-the-andes-to-the-beginning-of-time-telescopes-detect-13-billion-year-old-signal https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/from-the-andes-to-the-beginning-of-time-telescopes-detect-13-billion-year-old-signal#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:06:23 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/from-the-andes-to-the-beginning-of-time-telescopes-detect-13-billion-year-old-signal

Small telescopes in Chile are first on Earth to cut through the cosmic noise. For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to look back over 13 billion years to see how the first stars in the universe affect light emitted from the Big Bang.

Using telescopes high in the Andes mountains of northern Chile, astrophysicists have measured this polarized microwave light to create a clearer picture of one of the least understood epochs in the history of the universe, the Cosmic Dawn.

“People thought this couldn’t be done from the ground. Astronomy is a technology-limited field, and microwave signals from the Cosmic Dawn are famously difficult to measure,” said Tobias Marriage, project leader and a Johns Hopkins professor of physics and astronomy. “Ground-based observations face additional challenges compared to space. Overcoming those obstacles makes this measurement a significant achievement.”

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Study tightens King plot-based constraints on hypothetical fifth force https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/study-tightens-king-plot-based-constraints-on-hypothetical-fifth-force https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/study-tightens-king-plot-based-constraints-on-hypothetical-fifth-force#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 07:22:18 +0000 https://lifeboat.com/blog/2025/06/study-tightens-king-plot-based-constraints-on-hypothetical-fifth-force

While the Standard Model ℠ describes all known fundamental particles and many of the interactions between them, it fails to explain dark matter, dark energy and the apparent asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe. Over the past decades, physicists have thus introduced various frameworks and methods to study physics beyond the SM, one of which is known as the King plot.

The King plot is a graphical technique used to analyze isotope shifts, variations in the energy levels of different isotopes (e.g., atoms of the same element that contain a different number of neutrons). This graphical tool has proved promising for separating effects explained by the SM from signals linked to new physics.

Researchers at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, and ETH Zurich recently collected new measurements that tightened King plot-based constraints on the properties of a hypothetical particle that has not yet been observed, known as a Yukawa-type boson.

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