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Time travel has long been a popular theme in movies, but scientists believe that the concept of time teleportation is unlikely in reality. However, they do not dismiss the possibility of time travel altogether. The laws of physics suggest that time travel may be possible, but the details are complex.
Physicists explain that traveling to the near future is relatively simple, as we are all doing it right now at a rate of one second per second. Additionally, Einsteinâs special theory of relativity states that the speed at which we move affects the flow of time. In other words, the faster we travel, the slower time passes. Furthermore, Einsteinâs general theory of relativity suggests that gravity also impacts the flow of time. The stronger the nearby gravity, the slower time goes.
Within a year, Karl Schwarzschild, who was âa lieutenant in the German army, by conscription, but a theoretical astronomer by profession,â as Mann puts it, heard of Einsteinâs theory. He was the first person to work out a solution to Einsteinâs equations, which showed that a singularity could formâand nothing, once it got too close, could move fast enough to escape a singularityâs pull.
Then, in 1939, physicists Rober Oppenheimer (of Manhattan Project fame, or infamy) and Hartland Snyder tried to find out whether a star could create Schwarzschildâs impossible-sounding object. They reasoned that given a big enough sphere of dust, gravity would cause the mass to collapse and form a singularity, which they showed with their calculations. But once World War II broke out, progress in this field stalled until the late 1950s, when people started trying to test Einsteinâs theories again.
Physicist John Wheeler, thinking about the implications of a black hole, asked one of his grad students, Jacob Bekenstein, a question that stumped scientists in the late 1950s. As Mann paraphrased it: âWhat happens if you pour hot tea into a black hole?â
An unusual semiconductor is making physicists rethink the science of extreme conditions.
Most of the matter and energy in the Universe are in mysterious, invisible forms that cannot be explained by physics as we know it. But it is possible for us to uncover the dark side of the Universe, and CERN physicist John Ellis knows how.
John Ellis is a Maxwell prize-winning theoretical physicist, and is considered one of the worldâs leading physicists. John is currently Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics at Kingâs College London, and since 1978 has held an indefinite contract at CERN.
The Google employee who claimed last June his companyâs A.I. model could already be sentient, and was later fired by the company, is still worried about the dangers of new A.I.-powered chatbots, even if he hasnât tested them himself yet.
Blake Lemoine was let go from Google last summer for violating the companyâs confidentiality policy after he published transcripts of several conversations he had with LaMDA, the companyâs large language model he helped create that forms the artificial intelligence backbone of Googleâs upcoming search engine assistant, the chatbot Bard.
Lemoine told the Washington Post at the time that LaMDA resembled âa 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physicsâ and said he believed the technology was sentient, while urging Google to take care of it as it would a âsweet kid who just wants to help the world be a better place for all of us.â
A topological insulator, Bi2Te3, has been found to have spatially indirect spin-polarized excitonic states, opening the prospect of combining exciton and topological physics.
The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) project team, jointly led by NASA and TechnionâIsrael Institute of Technology, envisions a way to make huge circular self-healing mirrors in-orbit to further the field of astronomy. Larger telescopes collect more light, and they allow astronomers to peer farther into space and see distant objects in greater detail.
These next-generation large space observatories would study the highest priority astrophysics targets, including first generation starsâthe first to shine and flame out after the Big Bangâearly galaxies, and Earth-like exoplanets. These observatories could help address one of humanityâs most important science questions: âAre we alone in the universe?â
Like a carry-on suitcase, payloads launching to space need to stay within allowable size and weight limits to fly. Already pushing size limits, the state-of-the-art 21 foot (6.5 meter) aperture James Webb Space Telescope needed to be folded up origami-styleâincluding the mirror itselfâto fit inside the rocket for its ride to space. The aperture of an optical space observatory refers to the size of the telescopeâs primary mirror, the surface that collects and focuses incoming light.
A new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that focuses on the rapid publication of short, significant letters and papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics. It is one of the journals published by the American Astronomical Society (AAS), and is considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field.