At least, according to a couple of astrophysicists: Complex life may be possible in only 10% of all galaxies | Science/AAAS | News. The universe may be a lonelier place than previously thought. Of the estimated 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, only one in 10 can support complex life like that on Earth, a … Continue reading Complex life in the universe may be much rarer than previously thought
Tag: Astronomy
Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel
Gabriel Popkin as an article at Inside Science about a study that looks at the possibility of intercepting communications between other alien civilizations. The idea is that communicating across interstellar distances is best done with lasers. So far, the optical search for extraterrestrial intelligence has focused mainly on the hope of receiving—and recognizing—an intentional, laser-encoded … Continue reading Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel
Dark matter might cause neutron stars to collapse into black holes
ratamacue0 called my attention to this interesting article on the possibility of dark matter "eating" neutron stars: Dark matter: Devourer of stars | Ars Technica. Neutron stars are collapsed stars that have used up all of their fusion fuel. Typically what happens at that point in a star's life is that they collapse, but the extent of … Continue reading Dark matter might cause neutron stars to collapse into black holes
Half the stars in the universe may exist outside of galaxies
Every so often you get a reminder of how little we know about the universe: Rogue stars outside galaxies may be everywhere | Science/AAAS | News. You’ve heard of rogue planets, floating through the universe untethered to any solar system. Now meet rogue stars, which drift through space with no galaxy to call home. A new … Continue reading Half the stars in the universe may exist outside of galaxies
Cosmic inflation appears to have shifted from settled science back to speculation
You can get background on what I'm talking about in this post here and here. Probably the best thing to do is let the experts weigh in on this. https://twitter.com/DavidSpergel/status/513848952513642497 https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll/status/513858867327823873 https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll/status/513869684647530496 https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/514040997139865600 It's interesting to note that the empirical evidence from BICEP2 has never been called into question, only the interpretation of that evidence. … Continue reading Cosmic inflation appears to have shifted from settled science back to speculation
How to find an exoplanet
I suspect many, if not most, of my readers are already familiar with the techniques listed in this video. But if you're not, and wondering how astronomers find planets orbiting other stars, you might find this interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnX7ExBjrHw
Science is about both ideas and data gathering.
Stan asked for my thoughts on this article: Science is becoming a cult of hi-tech instruments – Philip Ball – Aeon. The tools of science are so specialised that we accept them as a kind of occult machinery for producing knowledge. We figure that they must know how it all works. Likewise, histories of science focus on ideas rather than … Continue reading Science is about both ideas and data gathering.
The size of the observable universe is complicated.
The radius of the observable universe is often stated to be 46 billion light years. From a certain point of view, this is true, but I think it's a bit of a misleading statement. Occasionally you also see people say that the observable universe is 13.8 billion light years in radius, which is also true, from … Continue reading The size of the observable universe is complicated.
xkcd: Surface areas in the solar system
My initial reaction to this was, where are the gas giants? Then I woke up and realized this was about definable surfaces. (Click through for full sized version.) Note the tiny size of Pluto in relation to moons like The Moon and Titan. However, note also Mercury's size in relation to many of those moons. … Continue reading xkcd: Surface areas in the solar system
Find alien civilizations by their pollution?
There's been speculation that advanced telescopes may be able to find hallmarks of alien life by looking for oxygen in the spectrum of light reflected off of exoplanets, but this article suggests using the James Web Space Telescope to look for pollution: Pollution on other worlds may show advanced alien life - space - 27 June … Continue reading Find alien civilizations by their pollution?
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