Lifeboat Foundation

Modern astrophysics has enabled scientists to observe the universe with unprecedented clarity, from exoplanets to entire galaxies.

Despite our galaxy blocking some views, advanced tools like the James Webb Space Telescope and upcoming projects such as the Square Kilometre Array are pushing the boundaries of our cosmic understanding. Visualization techniques help researchers explore the universe in both space and time, revealing phenomena like fast radio bursts. Looking ahead, scientists hope to capture images of distant exoplanets and unravel mysteries such as dark energy and the expansion of the universe.

Observing the universe: from exoplanets to galaxies.

In this episode of Cosmology 101, we dive into the concept of an expanding universe. From the first moments of the Big Bang, our cosmos has been stretching in every direction. We explore what this expansion means for us, how we know it’s happening, and the fascinating implications of living in an ever-growing universe.

Join Katie Mack, Perimeter Institute’s Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication, on an incredible journey through the cosmos in our new series, Cosmology 101.

Continue reading “Expansion of the Universe Explained | Cosmology 101 Episode 1” »

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Can biology be explained entirely in terms of chemistry and then physics? If so, that’s “reductionism.” Or are there “emergent” properties at higher levels of the hierarchy of life that cannot be explained by properties at lower or more basic levels?

Continue reading “Michael Ruse — Philosophy of Reductionism & Emergence” »

The Kibble–Zurek (KZ) mechanism is a theoretical framework introduced by physicists Tom Kibble and Wojciech Zurek. This framework essentially describes the formation of topological defects while systems undergo non-equilibrium phase transitions.

The mysterious case of dark energy and the universe’s fate.

Imagine the universe as a vast, ever-expanding balloon.

The largest-ever 3D map of the cosmos hints that the dark energy that’s fueling the universe’s expansion may be weakening. One community of theoretical physicists expected as much.

Continue reading “Waning Dark Energy May Evade ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes” »

Cosmic surveys suggest the force pulling the universe apart might not be constant after all.

By Rebecca Boyle

Imagine sitting in the center of a firework that has just exploded. After the first flash of light and heat, sparks fly off in all directions, with some streaming together into fiery filaments and others fading quickly into cold, ashy oblivion. After a moment more, the smoke is all that remains—the echo, if you will, of the firework’s big bang.

Every clear night for the last three weeks, Bob Stephens has pointed his home telescope at the same two stars in hopes of witnessing one of the most violent events in the universe—a nova explosion a hundred thousand times brighter than the sun.

The eruption, which scientists say could happen any day now, has excited the interest of major observatories worldwide, and it promises to advance our understanding of turbulent binary star systems.

Yet for all the high-tech observational power that NASA and other scientific institutions can muster, astrophysicists are relying on countless amateur astronomers like Stephens to spot the explosion first.

Cities around the globe are experiencing increased flooding due to the compounding effects of stronger storms in a warming climate and urban growth. New research from the University of California, Irvine suggests that urban form, specifically the building density and street network of a neighborhood, is also affecting the intensity of flooding.

For a paper published today in Nature Communications, researchers in UC Irvine’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering turned to statistical mechanics to generate a new formula allowing urban planners to more easily assess flood risks presented by land development changes.

Co-author Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi, UC Irvine associate professor of civil and environmental engineering who holds a joint appointment in UC Irvine’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said that he and his colleagues were inspired by how physicists study intricate systems such as disordered porous solids, glasses and complex fluids to develop universal theories that can explain city-to-city variations in flood hazards.

A possible solution to the dark matter problem.

As the early universe cooled and expanded, phase transitions might have left “bubble walls,” energetic barriers between pockets of space.

Physicists and cosmologists will have a new probe of primordial processes when Europe launches the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) next decade.

Continue reading “Hopes of Big Bang Discoveries Ride on a Future Spacecraft” »