Dark matter just got even more puzzling. This unidentified stuff, which makes up most of the mass in the cosmos, is invisible but detectable by the way it gravitationally tugs…
Category: Cosmology
Scientists can’t agree on how clumpy the universe is
The universe is surprisingly smooth. A new measurement reveals that the universe is less clumpy than predicted, physicists report in a series of papers posted July 30 at arXiv.org. The…
‘The End of Everything’ explores the ways the universe could perish
The End of EverythingKatie MackScribner, $26 Eventually, the universe will end. And it won’t be pretty. The universe is expanding at an accelerating clip, and that evolution, physicists expect, will…
Despite a new measurement, the debate over the universe’s expansion rages on
When it comes to the expansion rate of the universe, physicists have apparently agreed to disagree. Two types of measurements clash over how fast the cosmos is expanding (SN: 7/30/19).…
This is the most comprehensive X-ray map of the sky ever made
A new map of the entire sky, as seen in X-rays, looks deeper into space than any other of its kind. The map, released June 19, is based on data…
Half the universe’s ordinary matter was missing — and may have been found
At long last, all of the universe’s ordinary matter seems to be present and accounted for. Astronomers have taken a new census of matter in the universe by examining how…
Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly
When giant stars eat giant planets, their starlight may shine a bit less brightly. That dimming could affect how astronomers measure distances across the universe — and possibly even put…
How slime mold helped scientists map out the cosmic web
Creeping tendrils of slime seem to mirror the structure of the universe’s enormous filaments. That superficial similarity, in an organism called a slime mold, helped scientists map out the cosmic…
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Two sets of cosmic discoveries have garnered the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics. Half of the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000) goes to James Peebles of Princeton…
A new book explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved
The Number of the HeavensTom SiegfriedHarvard Univ., $29.95 There is no bigger question than whether the universe is all there is. Scientists are juggling several ideas for what a multiverse,…
