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Newsflash: the universe is expanding. We've known that since the pioneering and tireless work of Edwin Hubble about a century ago, and it's kind of a big deal. But before I talk about dark energy and why that's an even bigger deal, I need to clarify what we mean by the word "expanding." The actual observation that you can do in the comfort of your own home (provided you have access to a sufficiently large telescope and a spectrograph) is that galaxies appear to be receding from our own Milky Way. On average, of course: galaxies aren't simple creatures, and...

In “Physics: A cosmos in the lab,” a review of A Big Bang in a Little Room: The Quest to Create New Universes by Zeeya Merali, cosmologist Andreas Albrecht writes at Nature, The question of cosmic origins, and the possibility that humans might create new universes, can connect with religious concerns. These form a substantial thread through A Big Bang in a Little Room that significantly reduced the book’s appeal to me. I am an atheist. I respect that many people are deeply religious (some are very close to me) and that religion can have a positive, even beautiful,...

What scientific argument for the truth of Christianity do you find the most persuasive? As I contemplated this question, my answer was big bang cosmology. Here’s why. All big bang models include three essential features: (1) constant laws of physics throughout the universe; (2) a dynamic universe, one either expanding or contracting; and (3) a beginning to the universe. Remarkably, the biblical description matches these essential features. Constant Laws of Physics The scientific enterprise depends on a universe governed by constant laws of physics. If measurements today have no bearing on what happened yesterday or will happen tomorrow, no scientific...

Betsy DeVoss will be harassed by two questions involving religion and the supposed conflict between religion and science: Question 1: Are you some sort of a knuckle-dragging, illegal alcohol drinking, hick rube who doesn´t believe in evolution? and Question 2: Are you some sort of a knuckle-dragging, illegal alcohol drinking, hick rube who does not believe that our Earth is four billion years old? The following are the two best answers to all of that which I´ve come across; somebody would be doing Ms. DeVoss a favor if they could get this to her. The answer to question 1:: A...

Scientists are ecstatic over the fact that they may have just discovered the fifth fundamental force of nature. The possible discovery of a previously-unknown subatomic particle looks set to finally bring the elusive dark matter into the mix. The discovery centers on a new type of boson that possesses characteristics previously unseen in particles. Furthermore, its existence casts doubt upon whether the known ‘sector’ of matter and particles exists alongside a ‘dark’ sector – both interacting with each other via another, unseen force.“If true, it's revolutionary,” said Jonathan Feng, professor of physics & astronomy at the University of California, Irvine,...

....With the turn of a hand crank, the ancient Greeks could track the positions of the sun and the moon, the lunar phases, and even cycles of Greek athletic competitions. The 82 corroded metal fragments of the Antikythera mechanism contain ancient Greek text, much of which is unreadable to the naked eye. But over the past 10 years, new imaging techniques, such as 3D X-ray scanning, have revealed hidden letters and words in the text...

In this excerpt from his message at our 2012 National Conference, Dr. Stephen Meyer tells the story of how Hubble showed Einstein that the universe was not eternal but must have had a beginning.-vid at link

It’s an interesting summation of the argument. One might accuse Tipler of transmogrifying the dispute away from “Is there a God?” to “Is there a causative agent existing outside of space and time?” But if you’ve ever watched people wrestle with these accusations that the faithful are the ones displaying incompetence, you know that this is exactly what’s being debated. It’s chicken-and-egg, with “things that exist in space and time” being the egg.

ESO's VISTA survey telescope has spied a horde of previously hidden massive galaxies that existed when the Universe was in its infancy. By discovering and studying more of these galaxies than ever before, astronomers have for the first time found out exactly when such monster galaxies first appeared. The newly discovered massive galaxies are marked on this image of the UltraVISTA field. [RED CIRCLES] ================================================================================================================ Astronomers have detected something baffling at the furthest frontiers of our observable universe: massive galaxies -- lots of massive galaxies -- that shouldn't even exist. Depending on the wavelength you observe the universe in,...

22 Articles on Whether Or Not To Search for Extraterrestrial Life. Full Title:Commentaries: Stephen Hawking's Aliens. The Search for Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life. Project Breakthrough Listen Abstract Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner have launched a $100m search for intelligent alien life beyond solar system; a program focused on listening for radio signals coming from advanced civilizations far beyond the solar system, which, presumably, rely on similar technologies as those of the present civilizations of Earth. The search will be 50 times more sensitive, and cover 10 times more sky, than previous hunts for alien life. According to Stephen Hawking the effort...

Are We Living In A Black Hole? // / Here’s an idea, what if the universe and everything we see around us is actually inside a black hole?Whenever I’m asked this question, what folks typically have in mind is that the universe began as an infinitely dense point, just like the singularity of a black hole, and because of cosmic expansion there’s a limit to how far we can observe, so maybe that’s like the event horizon. While it’s an interesting idea, things aren’t quite so simple.To begin with, the universe did not begin with an explosion from a...

For the past several centuries everyone believed that Mars was the most likely body in our solar system to support life beyond Earth. But, after centuries of telescope observation, decades of spacecraft exploration and several robots exploring its surface the promise of discovering life on Mars remains elusive. Now, scientific attention is being focused on Europa, the fourth largest of Jupiter's 67 confirmed moons. It may be an even better candidate for finding life than Mars. For life to be present the three basic requirements are: 1) liquid water; 2) chemical building blocks; and, 3) a source of energy. Europa...

Physicists have gained new insights into dark energy and the theory of gravitation by analyzing data from the "Planck" satellite mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Their results demonstrate that the standard model of cosmology remains an excellent description of the universe. Yet when the Planck data is combined with other astronomical observations, several deviations emerge. Further studies must determine whether these anomalies are due to measurement uncertainties or undiscovered physical correlations, which would also challenge Einstein's theory of gravitation. Thus, the analysis of the Planck data gives major impetus for research during future space missions.

Some simple observations about the universe seem to contradict basic physics. Solving these paradoxes could change the way we think about the cosmos Revolutions in science often come from the study of seemingly unresolvable paradoxes. An intense focus on these paradoxes, and their eventual resolution, is a process that has leads to many important breakthroughs. So an interesting exercise is to list the paradoxes associated with current ideas in science. It’s just possible that these paradoxes will lead to the next generation of ideas about the universe. Today, Yurij Baryshev at St Petersburg State University in Russia does just this...

Stardust got in their eyes. In the spring a group of astronomers who go by the name of BICEP announced they had detected ripples in the sky, gravitational waves that were the opening notes of the Big Bang. The finding was heralded as potentially the greatest discovery of the admittedly young century, but some outside astronomers said the group had underestimated the extent to which interstellar dust could have contaminated the results - a possibility that the group conceded in its official report in June. Now a long-awaited report by astronomers using data from the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite...

It is, if you except the powers of human memory, the closest thing we have to a time machine. Scientists have created the first realistic model of the universe, capable of recreating 13 billion years of cosmic evolution. The simulation is called “Illustris,” and it renders the universe as a cube (350 million light-years on each side) with, its creators say, unprecedented resolution: The virtual universe uses 12 billion 3-D “pixels,” or resolution elements, to create its rendering. And that rendering includes both normal matter and dark matter. The rendering, importantly, also includes elliptical and spiral galaxies—bodies that, because of...

'Smoking Gun' Evidence of Inflation? by Jake Hebert, Ph.D. * On March 17, a team of radio astronomers announced they discovered purportedly direct evidence for cosmic inflation—a critical component of the modern Big Bang model. To make this discovery, the researchers used a specialized telescope called BICEPS2 located on the Antarctic plateau.1 Radiation that has its strongest intensity in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum comes to us from all directions in space. Secular researchers interpret this cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) as "relic radiation" from a time about 400,000 years after the alleged cosmic explosion. Now, a team...

As if by magic, the stage morphed into a massive cathedral with imposing stained-glass windows and a marriage archway. High Priestesses “Material Girl” Madonna and pure “royalty,” Queen Latifah, then appeared on stage to join in marriage 33 couples of numerous sexual permutations, thereby sealing the new religion’s Oneist creed: all religions and all sexualities are One—to the thunderous applause of the thousands present, and to the approbation of millions of television viewers. The vacuous marriage sacrament of the “Grammys religion” and its further trivialization as an entertainment stunt, only underlines the spiritually empty gospel that Tinsel Town and its...

ID theorists say that information is the foundation of the universe. Others say matter is. Our choice of who to believe will shape our future. First, suppose the materialists are right. If materialism (naturalism) is simply true, because everything comes down to matter in the end, what future might we expect? Stephen Hawking insists in a recent interview that "Science will win." If we take his current non-realist views seriously, science as we have known it is finished and there is nothing to win. That doesn't mean, of course, that everything shuts down. Some projects will continue as if immortal...

Thanks and gratitude for creating this list of Universe Atlases, Planetary Exploration tools goes to fellow FReeper, lefty-lie-spy, for being the inspiration for me to create this list. Listed below are some of the best sites for viewing the Universe, exploring the Moon, Mars #1 Click Here:WikiSky.org:Best Views of The Universe Make Sure To Explore All The Various Tabs #2 Asterank:Asteroid Database Asterank:Asteroid Database Plus Lots More Asternak does a lot more than offer scientific an economic database of asteroids. Make sure to click through all the available links for all sorts of space-related information About Asterank Asterank is a...