New Data Shows Mysterious Force In Unive
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PoiSoNeD_CaNdY replied on Fri Feb 20, 2004 @ 3:35pm |
 Coolness: 92380 | New Data Shows Mysterious Force in Universe, as Einstein Said
By JAMES GLANZ ARINA DEL REY, Calif., Feb. 20 — A dark, unseen energy permeating space is pushing the universe apart just as Einstein predicted it could in 1917, according to striking new measurements of distant exploding stars by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The energy, whose source remains unknown, was named the cosmological constant by Einstein. In a prediction he later called "my greatest blunder," but which received its most stringent test ever with the new measurements, Einstein posited a kind of antigravity force pushing galaxies apart with a strength that did not change over billions of years of cosmic history. Theorists seeking to explain the mysterious force have suggested that it could, in fact, become stronger or weaker over time — either finally tearing the universe apart in a violent event called "the big rip" or shutting down in the distant future. If the force somehow shut down, gravity would again predominate in the cosmos and the universe would collapse on itself. That version of oblivion is sometimes called "the big crunch." The new observations, which were led by Dr. Adam Riess at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, made the tightest measurements ever on the strength of the antigravity force over time. The observations relied on Hubble observations of the exploding stars, or supernovas, which are swept up in the dark energy's cosmic push. But rather than seeing the changes in the push that many theorists had predicted, Einstein's steady, unchanging cosmological constant fits the data better than any of the alternatives. "What we've found is that it looks like a semi-permanent kind of dark energy," Dr. Riess said. "It appears like it's been with us for a long time; if it is changing it's doing so slowly." "Einstein's theory," Dr. Riess added, "is looking a lot better than before this data." While the new results favor Einstein's nearly century-old prediction, they do not yet entirely rule out the stranger and more changeable forms of energy that some theorists have put forth. In particular, scientific proponents of the big rip, in which the energy would eventually become so powerful that it tears apart planets, stars and even atoms, have been left with some hope. But the data suggest, Dr. Riess said, that any ultimate cataclysm could not occur until well into the distant future, perhaps 30 billion years from now. The measurements raise new questions about NASA's decision, which is now being reviewed, to let the Hubble Space Telescope die a slow death in space over the next several years rather than attempt another servicing mission with the space shuttle. NASA's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, has said that a servicing mission would be too risky in the wake of the disaster involving the Space Shuttle Columbia. Dr. Riess said he disagreed with the decision to shut down the Hubble. "The Hubble is an invaluable tool in the studies," he said. "Nothing else can contribute this kind of data. I think to stop doing this science with Hubble would be a very unfortunate choice." |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Fri Feb 20, 2004 @ 4:41pm |
 Coolness: 340355 | this must mean god really does exist.
i mean, we can't positively answer whats happening, so it's gotta be god. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Purple_Lee replied on Sat Feb 21, 2004 @ 6:26pm |
 Coolness: 239310 | see you always learn something new every day
Lee |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» michaeldino replied on Sat Feb 21, 2004 @ 10:26pm |
 Coolness: 69665 | cool
ps... Ian why do you hate God so much? or rather... how did God fit anywhere into that? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 1:28am |
| Coolness: 340355 | how do you think people thought up the idea of god? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 4:45am |
 Coolness: 686280 | Originally posted by DJNEOFORM...
how do you think people thought up the idea of god? Wasn't it magic mushrooms? When moses and the egyptians escaped, they lived off of flat pieces of bread that would apear on a hill every day, in a region of the worl that is now known as being the best non-controlled climate for shrooms growing naturaly. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 10:23am |
| Coolness: 340355 | hey ya, me too i can survive in a desert for 40 years eating nothing but 'bread' i find lying around.. yuuup. and me too i can't find my way out of the desert for 40 years cause it's too hard to walk in one direction for any period of time. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» michaeldino replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 12:14pm |
| Coolness: 69665 | Originally posted by DJNEOFORM...
how do you think people thought up the idea of god? uh.... i sincerely doubt that space exploration was on ANYONE's mind when they thought up God. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 12:34pm |
| Coolness: 340355 | it's the priciple of the idea. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» little_sarah replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 1:15pm |
 Coolness: 122130 | i sure hope the universe doesn't collapse onto itself. that would be terrible. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 4:39pm |
| Coolness: 686280 | Don't worry, you'll be long dead by the time that happens! :D |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 5:32pm |
| Coolness: 340355 | ... espcially since the force of the crunch is more than enough to kill you. which is gonna happen very soon.. relative to the age of the universe that is. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» little_sarah replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 5:34pm |
| Coolness: 122130 | what about my freakin grandkids? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 5:40pm |
| Coolness: 686280 | I don't think you quite understand how long away 30 billion years is.... The way things are going there are probably not going to be ANY humans left alive anyways, or they'll be way more evolved than we are now and not even be "humans" anymore. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Sun Feb 22, 2004 @ 11:34pm |
| Coolness: 340355 | heh, this part of the universe will prolly have been destroyed by weapons future humans invent in a few centuries way before the universe crunches itself. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» eLDee replied on Mon Feb 23, 2004 @ 10:32am |
 Coolness: 121605 | Bah, the sun will collapse loong before that big crunch happens. 1st the sun will start to expand hence burning all living things on earth and then it will explode and colapse on itself creating a black hole sucking everything in. When you think about it.. our corpses will end up in a black hole and it's a mathematical certainety!!!
wikkkkiiiid! and they say we can't go into a black hole pfffffff |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Mon Feb 23, 2004 @ 10:44am |
| Coolness: 340355 | and when our star dies it'll turn into a red dwarf the size of a marble. noice! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» michaeldino replied on Mon Feb 23, 2004 @ 12:07pm |
| Coolness: 69665 | sexy |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» little_sarah replied on Mon Feb 23, 2004 @ 12:27pm |
| Coolness: 122130 | if it's only in billions of years from now why does it matter at all? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Mon Feb 23, 2004 @ 12:47pm |
| Coolness: 686280 | It doesn't matter at all. Refer to the thread about Bush's dog as to why people think it matters. |
New Data Shows Mysterious Force In Unive
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