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Universe Expansion
From a Universe that went no bigger than our Milky Way to the trillions of galaxies in our expanding Universe, our knowledge increased one step at a time. “Gamow was fantastic […]
Why does the Universe have the properties it has? There may be no natural reason at all. “When you listen to a lecture, you should not have any idea of yourself. […]
At just 3 billion years old, this galaxy should be blue and full of new, young stars. Instead, it’s already out of fuel. What gives? “This new insight may force us […]
‘Let there be light’ isn’t just biblical. It’s science. “By its very nature science knows no boundaries. Walling off any group, for any reason, from full participation damages the entire enterprise […]
Brown dwarfs are the ultimate failed stars, but they might not remain as failed forever. “[Brown dwarfs] appear to live a more exciting life than we presumed. They are too big […]
Meet LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Yes, it’s giant LIGO, in space, and it’s happening! “Einstein’s gravitational theory, which is said to be the greatest single achievement of theoretical […]
The Omega Nebula, the Eagle Nebula and Sharpless 2–54 all line up in space. Here’s a never-before-seen view of them all together! “It shows you exactly how a star is […]
A new podcast, to cover an incredible story of why we can exist at all. “Already in my original paper I stressed the circumstance that I was unable to give a […]
How the Universe’s expansion rate continues to baffle us. “In expanding the field of knowledge we but increase the horizon of ignorance.” –Henry Miller It’s the most fundamental law of special […]
Never heard of SKA, the square kilometer array? Once it starts taking data, you’ll never forget it. “Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for […]
Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
Every star must eventually run out of fuel and die… but did you know the galaxy itself will come to an end someday? “Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, […]
Constant? Not-a-constant? Or is there a fundamental flaw in the way we’re doing business? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity […]
There’s a point beyond which we cannot go, there are things beyond that we cannot know. But here’s what we expect. “The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it […]
The oddest star known in the galaxy is dimming again, and this time it might give up some of its secrets! “As far as I can tell, every telescope that can […]
If the LHC can’t produce new fundamental particles, the collisions coming from it still a chance to teach us something incredible. “It was quite the most incredible event that has […]
The aptly named ‘Fireworks galaxy’ just had its tenth supernova in the past century, setting a record. Learn how to see it! “When a massive star explodes at the end of […]
One of inflation’s co-founders lashes out against the community. But is there a scientific leg to stand on? “…an understanding of the infinite tree of universes seems to be needed in […]
The 20th century held some incredible advances across all the science. But astrophysics’ best days are yet to come. “When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up […]
A live-blog event happened a week ago, but you can catch the entire thing anew here, right now! “We have never observed infinity in nature. Whenever you have infinities in […]
We’ve discovered some behemoths, but one outclasses them all. “There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.” –Paul Gauguin […]
You might think that it should be all black, but then how would we see it? “It is conceptually interesting, if not astrophysically very important, to calculate the precise apparent shape […]
Was it really a low-entropy state? And what does that mean for the second law of thermodynamics? “Entropy shakes its angry fist at you for being clever enough to organize […]
You lose whether you use protons or electrons in your collider, for different reasons. Could the unstable muon solve both problems? “It does not matter how slowly you go as […]
Its 18 large, segmented golden mirrors aren’t even the whole story. But how much gold is really in there? “Hey, if our eyes could access the infrared part of the light […]
We’ve never seen an event horizon, nor directly imaged a black hole. Thanks to a worldwide effort, victory may at last be in sight. “Never look down to test the ground […]
What would energy without a particle to attach itself to even look like? “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on […]
The answer lies billions of years in the past. “Dark matter or invisible element?You decide.” –Toba Beta When we look out at the luminous matter in the Universe — stars, galaxies, clusters of […]
What Hubble sees at its best is only a tease for what James Webb will deliver. “With the Hubble telescope and all the other things that are out there, I believe […]
You know how bright the full Moon is. Well, from the Moon, how would the ‘full Earth’ compare? “I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted […]