cosmology

NASA spacecraft reveals new observations of interstellar matter

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Now this all hit my … “Oh-thats-Cool” … button. You know of course that the earth has a magnetic field around it, right? And that we are protected from the solar wind, a stream of energetic charged particles emanating from the Sun, by this magnetic field because it deflects most of the charged particles. Did … Read more

Where did the Universe come from?

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I like to debate in various forums with many different folks about many different things. Why? Well it helps me to learn, and also I like to have my assumptions and thoughts rigorously challenged. In such contexts, I often come across some who express a thought that goes like this … Gosh, the universe is a truly … Read more

Cosmos is coming back

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Do you remember Cal Sagan on Cosmos? Well, plans are afoot to bring it back in 2013. Sadly Carl is no longer with us, so it will be Neil deGrasse Tyson leading the charge. He is truly a great choice to do this. At one point Sagan himself went out of his way to recruit Tyson. During an interview with writer Daniel Simone (in the November 2, 2007 issue of Dan’s Paper here) Tyson said,

“Interestingly, when I applied to Cornell, my application dripped of my passion for the study and research of the Universe. Somehow the admissions office brought my application to the attention of the late Dr. Sagan, and he actually took the initiative and care to contact me. He was very inspirational and a most powerful influence. Dr. Sagan was as great as the universe, an effective mentor.”

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(BBC) Antimatter Tevatron mystery gains ground

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US particle physicists are inching closer to determining why the Universe exists in its current form, made overwhelmingly of matter.

Physics suggests equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been made in the Big Bang.

In 2010, researchers at the Tevatron accelerator claimed preliminary results showing a small excess of matter over antimatter as particles decayed.

The team has submitted a paper showing those results are on a firmer footing.

Each of the fundamental particles known has an antimatter cousin, with identical properties but opposite electric charge.

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Fermi gamma-ray image updates ‘extreme Universe’ view

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The Fermi space telescope has yielded the most detailed gamma ray map of the sky – representing the Universe’s most violent and extreme processes.

The telescope’s newest results, as well as the map, were described at the Third Fermi Symposium in Rome this week.

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No evidence of time before Big Bang

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Latest research deflates the idea that the Universe cycles for eternity. Our view of the early Universe may be full of mysterious circles — and even triangles — but that doesn’t mean we’re seeing evidence of events that took place before the Big Bang. So says a trio of papers taking aim at a recent … Read more