Lifeboat Foundation

For the first time, physicists have been able to directly measure one of the ways exploding stars forge the heaviest elements in the Universe.

By probing an accelerated beam of radioactive ions, a team led by physicist Gavin Lotay of the University of Surrey in the UK observed the proton-capture process thought to occur in core-collapse supernovae.

Not only have scientists now seen how this happens in detail, the measurements are allowing us to better understand the production and abundances of mysterious isotopes called p-nuclei.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) sparked worldwide excitement in March as particle physicists reported tantalising evidence for new physics — potentially a new force of nature. Now, our new result, yet to be peer reviewed, from Cern’s gargantuan particle collider seems to be adding further support to the idea.

Our current best theory of particles and forces is known as the standard model, which describes everything we know about the physical stuff that makes up the world around us with unerring accuracy. The standard model is without doubt the most successful scientific theory ever written down and yet at the same time we know it must be incomplete.

Famously, it describes only three of the four fundamental forces – the electromagnetic force and strong and weak forces, leaving out gravity. It has no explanation for the dark matter that astronomy tells us dominates the universe, and cannot explain how matter survived during the big bang. Most physicists are therefore confident that there must be more cosmic ingredients yet to be discovered, and studying a variety of fundamental particles known as beauty quarks is a particularly promising way to get hints of what else might be out there.

Is there anything out there?

The concept of primordial black holes has waxed and waned in scientific circles over the decades. At first, it was a fascinating possibility. After all, the first few seconds of the big bang were pretty heady times, and there may have been large enough differences in density to generate black holes of all sorts of sizes, from microscopic to gigantic. But repeated observations have continually been unable to come up with any conclusive evidence for their existence.

Continue reading “Ancient black holes: New research reveals a surprising truth” »

Low-frequency gravitational waves could unlock the secrets of the ancient universe.

But scientists still can’t detect these waves at low frequencies that are often the result of even more massive objects colliding with one another or events that took place shortly after the Big Bang.

A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham suggests combining different methods to detect ultra low-frequency gravitational waves that hold the mystery of ancient black holes and the early universe.

Two new studies examine ways we could engineer human wormhole travel.

The supernova remanent is located about 19,600 light years away from Earth.

A new image by Chandra reveals a rare supernova remanent created by a white dwarf accumulating material from another star until it explodes.

“idea here is not to go, ‘Yeah, look at me. I’m in space.’” Instead, he said that “the prince is missing the point. The point is these are the baby steps to show people [that] it’s very practical. You can send somebody like me up into space.” — William Shatner

William Shatner may be famous for his fictional otherworldly travels thanks to his role in the “Star Trek” universe, however, on October 13 he took a real-life trip that took him to space.

Along with three other passengers, the actor nabbed a spot on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space capsule, which headed out for a flight that lasted for 11 minutes, according to CNN. While it was obviously an incredible experience for the star, not everyone was impressed.

Continue reading “William Shatner Says Duke of Cambridge Has ‘Got the Wrong Idea’ About his Space Flight” »

We used to think the Big Bang meant the universe began from a singularity. Nearly 100 years later, we’re not so sure.

For example, the end could come as “heat death” (a reverse of the Big Bang known as the Big Crunch) or The Big Rip (when dark energy becomes so powerful it tears everything we know to pieces). But another possibility that has gained traction is the Cosmic Death Bubble.

The details of this death by bubble are pretty complicated, but it’s based on the idea that the universe is metastable, which means it’s not in its lowest or most stable energy state. While we’re okay for now, there’s the (remote) possibility that the universe could drop into a lower energy state, which would set off a giant light-speed bubble that destroys everything it touches.

Now, as Erik Vance at LiveScience reports, researchers have calculated how long before this Cosmic Death Bubble comes for us, if it happens at all.