Posted on 06/02/2014 10:34:39 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The astronomers who this spring announced that they had evidence of primordial gravitational waves jumped the gun because they did not take into proper account a confounding effect of galactic dust, two new analyses suggest.
Although further observations may yet find the signal to emerge from the noise, independent experts now say they no longer believe that the original data constituted significant evidence.
Researchers said in March that they had found a faint twisting pattern in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the Big Bang’s afterglow, using a South Pole-based radio telescope called BICEP2. This pattern, they said, was evidence for primordial gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time generated in the early Universe (see 'Telescope captures view of gravitational waves'). The announcement caused a sensation because it seemed to confirm the theory of cosmic inflation, which holds that the cosmos mushroomed in size during the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
However two independent analyses now suggest that those twisting patterns in the CMB polarization could just as easily be accounted for by dust in the Milky Way Galaxy
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
“All we are is dust in the wind”
All we are is dust in the wind.
Seriously though, The main reason for postulating gravitational waves is that Einstein was staunchly against the idea of nonlocal interactions, i.e., “spooky actions at a distance” as he called them. He insisted that nothing can move faster than the speed of light, including gravity and EM waves.
But now we realize that Einstein was wrong about the spookiness of quantum physics.
The Scientific Method once again proves itself.
There is no other area of knowledge that polices itself as rigorously as Science.
This is a null value determination. But a really good catch.
Ahhh yes. The Big bang. When there was nothing and then it blew up.
LOL, that’s great. I haven’t seen that one.
And I thought that this was settled science and that the evidence of primordial gravitational waves was incontrovertible and accepted by 97% of physicists.
Nothing comes from nothing.
We've seen with global warming the political influence on science. And the willingness of too many scientists to get on board and promote global warming without criticallly examining the data.
At least one scientist proposes a modification to Einstein's theory of gravity, whereby the beginning was more of a big "push" than explosion. And he's not the only scientist who supposes the sum total energy (including the energy represented by matter) is exactly zero.
No matter how you decide to look at it, the universe is a vast and intriguing place.
According to the article, within six months there will be much better data for dust and CMB light that could settle the issue. It’s been over 13 billion years. A few more months won’t hurt.
My understanding, which could be wrong, is that a vacuum would have to exist. I don't know about the vacuum back then, but the vacuum we have today is much more than nothing.
Drat.
Something comes from nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
