Type Ia supernovae, as cosmological distance indicators, have led to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Nevertheless, the nature of their progenitors and explosion mechanisms remain unsolved mysteries. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-chinese-ia-supernova-template.html…
Tag: expansion
The uncertainties in measuring cosmic expansion
Ninety years after Edwin Hubble discovered the systematic motions of galaxies and George Lemaitre explained them as cosmic expansion from a point using Einstein’s equations of relativity, observational cosmology today is facing a challenge. Values deduced from the two primary methodologies—the properties of galaxies and the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)—disagree with each other at roughly the ten percent level, yet…
Multi-messenger astronomy offers new estimates of neutron star size and universe expansion
A combination of astrophysical measurements has allowed researchers to put new constraints on the radius of a typical neutron star and provide a novel calculation of the Hubble constant that indicates the rate at which the universe is expanding. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-multi-messenger-astronomy-neutron-star-size.html…
LiquidPiston’s ‘Inside-Out’ Rotary X-Engine Wins Army Research Contract
Connecticut-based company LiquidPiston is developing a portable generator for the US Army that uses its X-Engine, a fresh and extremely powerful take on the rotary engine that’ll deliver as much power as the Army’s current-gen-set at one-fifth the size. New Atlas reports: We’ve written a few times before about the fascinating LiquidPiston rotary engine. It’s not a Wankel — indeed, it’s…
Carbon emission from star-forming clouds
The carbon atom can be easily ionized, more easily than hydrogen atoms for example. In star forming regions, where massive young stars emit ultraviolet light capable of ionizing atoms, all the neutral carbon nearby becomes ionized. The singly-ionized carbon atom (abbreviated CII) emits a strong line in the far infrared that is both very intense and consequently a reliable proxy for…
Legendary Science Fiction Author Ben Bova Has Passed At the Age of 88
Ben Bova “was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction,” according to Wikipedia, and was also a six-time winner of the Hugo Award. “He was also president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America.” Tor.com reports Bova has passed “due to complications from COVID-19 and a stroke…” Born in 1932,…
Singapore Becomes First Country To Approve Lab-Grown Meat
Singapore has granted San Francisco start-up Eat Just Inc. regulatory approval to sell its laboratory-grown chicken in the city-state — the world’s first government to allow the sale of cultured meat. CNN reports: The product, created from cultured chicken cells, has been approved as an ingredient in chicken bites following Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approval, Eat Just said Tuesday. Initially, the…
HETDEX project on track to probe dark energy
Three years into its quest to reveal the nature of dark energy, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is on track to complete the largest map of the cosmos ever. The team will create a three-dimensional map of 2.5 million galaxies that will help astronomers understand how and why the expansion of the universe is speeding up over time. Source:…
Schedar shines brightly at the Queen’s heart
Orange-hued Schedar is the brightest star in the distinctive W-shaped northern constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/schedar-short-life-of-burning-bright…
Tasmania Is Now 100% Powered By Renewable Electricity
Tasmania consists of the 26th-largest island in the world and its surrounding 334 islands — an island state of Australia with a population around 540,000 people, according to Wikipedia. Friday the Tasmanian government “declared that it has become the first Australian state, and one of just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide, to be powered entirely by renewable electricity,” according to one…