Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 67

Aug 1, 2022

This Australian experiment is on the hunt for an elusive particle that could help unlock the mystery of dark matter

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

Australian scientists are making strides towards solving one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: the nature of invisible “dark matter”.

Jul 31, 2022

Physicists Have Simulated The Primordial Quantum Structure of Our Universe

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics, quantum physics

Peer long enough into the heavens, and the Universe starts to resemble a city at night. Galaxies take on characteristics of streetlamps cluttering up neighborhoods of dark matter, linked by highways of gas that run along the shores of intergalactic nothingness.

This map of the Universe was preordained, laid out in the tiniest of shivers of quantum physics moments after the Big Bang launched into an expansion of space and time some 13.8 billion years ago.

Yet exactly what those fluctuations were, and how they set in motion the physics that would see atoms pool into the massive cosmic structures we see today is still far from clear.

Jul 31, 2022

Astronomers have found a VERY sneaky black hole

Posted by in category: cosmology

These black holes are not absorbing matter from a nearby star, making them incredibly hard to find.

Jul 30, 2022

Scientists modeled the complete process of the collision of a black hole with a neutron star

Posted by in category: cosmology

From “i” for “inspiral” to “g” for “gamma-ray burst”.

Jul 30, 2022

On black holes, holography, the Quantum Extended Church-Turing Thesis, fully homomorphic encryption, and brain uploading

Posted by in categories: computing, cosmology, encryption, neuroscience, quantum physics, singularity

I promise you: this post is going to tell a scientifically coherent story that involves all five topics listed in the title. Not one can be omitted.

My story starts with a Zoom talk that the one and only Lenny Susskind delivered for the Simons Institute for Theory of Computing back in May. There followed a panel discussion involving Lenny, Edward Witten, Geoffrey Penington, Umesh Vazirani, and your humble shtetlmaster.

Continue reading “On black holes, holography, the Quantum Extended Church-Turing Thesis, fully homomorphic encryption, and brain uploading” »

Jul 30, 2022

Will time run backward if the Universe collapses?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Ever since the start of the hot Big Bang, time ticks forward as the Universe expands. But could time ever run backwards, instead?

Jul 29, 2022

The other end of a black hole — with James Beacham

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics, quantum physics

What would happen if you fell into a black hole? Join James Beacham, particle physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, as he explores what happens when the fabric of reality – physical or societal – gets twisted beyond recognition.

Watch the Q&A with James here: https://youtu.be/Q37oEB4bNSI
Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe.

Continue reading “The other end of a black hole — with James Beacham” »

Jul 29, 2022

NOTHING: The Science of Emptiness

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics, science

Why is there something rather than nothing? And what does ‘nothing’ really mean? More than a philosophical musing, understanding nothing may be the key to unlocking deep mysteries of the universe, from dark energy to why particles have mass. Journalist John Hockenberry hosts Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek, esteemed cosmologist John Barrow, and leading physicists Paul Davies and George Ellis as they explore physics, philosophy and the nothing they share.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Continue reading “NOTHING: The Science of Emptiness” »

Jul 29, 2022

Dark Matter: Is a Revolution Coming to Physics?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

What is dark matter? Does it even exist, or do we just need an adjustment to our theory of gravity?

What is dark matter? It has never been observed, yet scientists estimate that it makes up 85% of the matter in the universe. The short answer is that no one knows what dark matter is. More than a century ago, Lord Kelvin offered it as an explanation for the velocity of stars in our own galaxy. Decades later, Swedish astronomer Knut Lundmark noted that the universe must contain much more matter than we can observe. Scientists since the 1960s and ’70s have been trying to figure out what this mysterious substance is, using ever-more complicated technology. However, a growing number of physicists suspect that the answer may be that there is no such thing as dark matter at all.

Scientists can observe far-away matter in a number of ways. Equipment such as the famous Hubble telescope measures visible light while other technology, such as radio telescopes, measures non-visible phenomena. Scientists often spend years gathering data and then proceed to analyze it to make the most sense of what they are seeing.

Jul 29, 2022

Success! First Results From World’s Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector

Posted by in categories: cosmology, innovation

Berkeley Lab Researchers Record Successful Startup of LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Detector at Sanford Underground Research Facility

An innovative and uniquely sensitive dark matter detector – the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment – has passed a check-out phase of startup operations and delivered first results. LZ is located deep below the Black Hills of South Dakota in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) and is led by the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The take-home message from this successful startup: “We’re ready and everything’s looking good,” said Berkeley Lab senior physicist and past LZ spokesperson Kevin Lesko. “It’s a complex detector with many parts to it and they are all functioning well within expectations,” he said.

Page 67 of 290First6465666768697071Last