cosmology

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'The Big Bang Never Happened'
'The Big Bang Never Happened'
scientific theory

'The Big Bang Never Happened'

Science writer Eric Lerner argues against the cosmological theory

(Newser) - Boom! The universe burst into existence about 14 billion years ago. So argue proponents of the Big Bang, a widely accepted theory that the universe expanded from a very hot and dense state into, well, everything. But not everyone agrees: "Saying that the Big Bang theory is a well-confirmed...

'Warm' Spots in Space Might Blow Your Mind
'The Big Bang Was
Not the Beginning'
in case you missed it

'The Big Bang Was Not the Beginning'

Roger Penrose says he's spotted signs from a previous universe

(Newser) - Look carefully into outer space and you might spot the remnants of a previous universe. So argues Roger Penrose, a pioneer in the study of black holes and one of three recipients of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics. "The Big Bang was not the beginning," he...

For Nobel Prize in Physics, a 3-Way Triumph

The work revolves around discovery of an exoplanet, 'discoveries in physical cosmology'

(Newser) - Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the universe and "Earth's place in the cosmos," a day after two Americans and one British scientist were bestowed the award for physiology or medicine . One half...

The Universe May Have Just Lost a Couple of Billion Years

Latest research suggests it may be much younger than previously thought, but there are big caveats

(Newser) - The universe is looking younger every day, it seems. New calculations suggest the universe could be a couple of billion years younger than scientists now estimate, and even younger than suggested by two other calculations published this year that trimmed hundreds of millions of years from the age of the...

How Stephen Hawking Pushed the Limits in Life
How Stephen Hawking
Pushed the Limits in Life
THE RUNDOWN

How Stephen Hawking Pushed the Limits in Life

NASA says he 'unlocked a universe of possibilities'

(Newser) - The world is paying tribute to Stephen Hawking, the beloved cosmologist and theoretical physicist who amazed the world both with his brilliant mind and his survival for more than 50 years after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge says Hawking, who died...

Aliens Are Huge: Expert
 Scientist: 
 Aliens Are 
 Likely Huge 
in case you missed it

Scientist: Aliens Are Likely Huge

Cosmologist Fergus Simpson says they likely weigh 650 lbs

(Newser) - If you're traveling to distant planets anytime soon, you might think twice about raising a ruckus: The inhabitants likely weigh an average of 650 pounds, a cosmologist says. Apparently it all comes down to planet size and the conservation of energy, CNET reports. "Throughout the animal kingdom, species...

Universe 80M Years Older Than We Thought

Scientists get most accurate look yet at Big Bang-era radiation

(Newser) - The universe has been around just a bit longer than we've given it credit for. Scientists today unveiled the most accurate data ever recorded from the radiation left over from the milliseconds after the Big Bang, revealing that the universe is roughly 80 million years older than advertised, Science...

Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe
Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe

Quasar cluster is 4 billion light-years wide

(Newser) - Scientists have found a structure so large that it undermines their understanding of the universe. It's a collection of quasars that measures a difficult-to-imagine 4 billion light-years across, Space.com reports. To put that in perspective, the entire Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years wide. Known as a...

Japanese Team Spots 'Oldest Galaxy'

Astronomers believe galaxy is nearly 13 billion years old

(Newser) - A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, light was apparently emitted that has now been detected by Japanese astronomers using telescopes at the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano. The team says the galaxy is 12.91 billion light years away and is the oldest one...

Experiment Proves Einstein Right About Universe

It's expanding just how he said it should

(Newser) - A new experiment has proven another of Einstein's theories to be right on the money. Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts the speed at which galaxies move toward each other and the rate at which the universe is expanding. A team of cosmologists recently measured a slice of...

Space Telescope Captures Big Bang Radiation

Planck beams back microwave map of entire sky

(Newser) - The European Space Agency’s Planck space telescope has beamed back its first, much-anticipated image: a map of the entire sky, composed of microwave light. That bright line in the center of the image is our own Milky Way galaxy, and the lights surrounding it represent not stars but the...

Massive Gamma Blast Spotted
 Massive Gamma Blast Spotted 

Massive Gamma Blast Spotted

Explosion had force of 9,000 supernovas

(Newser) - The strongest-ever gamma ray blast—a burst more powerful than 9,000 exploding stars—has been detected 12.2 billion light years away in deep space, reports the Telegraph. The blast took place in September in the constellation Carina, and produced energy up to 5 billion times that of light....

Solar System Is Dented: Voyager
Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

Solar System Is Dented: Voyager

Intrepid spacecraft finds strange bulges in the heliosphere

(Newser) - Far out in space, a violent boundary zone marks the point where our solar system ends and outer space begins. NASA's Voyager 2 has now confirmed what its sister ship indicated: that this region is squashed and uneven, Space.com reports. This shock wave "sloshes back and forth like...

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