A bizarre theory could explain dark matter.
Mirror Image
The Big Bang didn’t just result in our familiar universe, according to a mind-bending new theory — it also generated a second “anti-universe” that extended backwards in time, like a mirror image of our own.
A new story in Physics World explores the new theory, which was proposed by a trio of Canadian physicists who say that it could explain the existence of dark matter.
This incredible image shows a pair of “nuclear superbubbles,” one over 4,900 light-years across and the other over 3,500 light-years. They’re emanating from the center of the galaxy NGC 3079, likely the result of a central black hole consuming matter and spewing it back out.
Or, the superbubbles could be from a starburst, a faster-than-usual stellar birth. The bubble-like shape could come from shock waves and compression within the cooler gas. But there’s still an element of mystery here, as the smaller bubble seems to be emanating synchrotron emission, or high-energy x-rays from spiraling electrons, while the larger bubble isn’t.
Forget the past.
However, a study from Berkley University suggests that entering a specific black hole in the universe can actually erase everything that had happened in a person’s past. Not only that, it could also give humans infinite futures!
But, how is that even possible?
According to NASA, “a black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because the matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.” In fact, indy100 mentioned in their article that, physicists have created a theoretical term called “cosmic censorship” to further explain the clash between the rules of the universe and the lawlessness of black holes. While it’s possible to survive a black hole, you should also keep in mind that it has the ability to “spaghettify” you.
In the nearby Whirlpool galaxy and its companion galaxy, M51b, two supermassive black holes heat up and devour surrounding material. These two monsters should be the most luminous X-ray sources in sight, but a new study using observations from NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission shows that a much smaller object is competing with the two behemoths.
The most stunning features of the Whirlpool galaxy – officially known as M51a – are the two long, star-filled “arms” curling around the galactic center like ribbons. The much smaller M51b clings like a barnacle to the edge of the Whirlpool. Collectively known as M51, the two galaxies are merging.
At the center of each galaxy is a supermassive black hole millions of times more massive than the Sun. The galactic merger should push huge amounts of gas and dust into those black holes and into orbit around them. In turn, the intense gravity of the black holes should cause that orbiting material to heat up and radiate, forming bright disks around each that can outshine all the stars in their galaxies.
Fermilab plans to send beams of neutrinos and antimatter neutrinos through the earth from Chicago to South Dakota. The DUNE experiment will study neutrino interactions in great detail, with special attention to: 1) comparing the behaviors of neutrinos vs. antineutrinos, 2) looking for proton decay, and 3) searching for the neutrinos emitted by supernovae. The experiment is being built and should start operations in the mid-to-late 2020s.
A new map of the night sky using the Low Frequency Array @LOFAR telescope charts hundreds of thousands of previously unknown galaxies.
The international team behind the unprecedented space survey said their discovery literally shed new light on some of the Universe’s deepest secrets, including the physics of black holes and how clusters of galaxies evolve.
