Slashdot reader volvox_voxel shares an excerpt from the latest blog post from software engineer Ken Shirriff, who is well known for his work on restoring some of the rarest computing hardware to its working condition: We’ve been restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer1. Now that we have the world’s only working AGC, I decided to write some code for it. Trying to…
Tag: the universe
New method may resolve difficulty in measuring universe’s expansion
Astronomers using National Science Foundation (NSF) radio telescopes have demonstrated how a combination of gravitational-wave and radio observations, along with theoretical modeling, can turn the mergers of pairs of neutron stars into a “cosmic ruler” capable of measuring the expansion of the Universe and resolving an outstanding question over its rate. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-method-difficulty-universe-expansion.html…
Success with a new theory of gravity
Supercomputer simulations of galaxies show that Einstein’s general theory of relativity might not be the only way to explain how gravity works or how galaxies form. The new Chameleon Theory is a possible alternative. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/chameleon-theory-gravity-alternative-general-relativity…
Astrophysicist Tries Machine Learning To Generate a Black Hole Movie
One of the scientists who worked on the black hole picture is now pursuing an even more ambitious visualization, this time for the super-massive black hole at the center of our own galaxy. Long-time Slashdot reader Esther Schindler shares this report from Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Insights blog: Lia Medeiros, a physicist, astrophysicist, and National Science Foundation fellow, is working to put…
Does the Universe Rotate?
If you look around space, you’ll notice a lot of things — the planets, stars, moons, even the galaxy itself — have one thing in common: they’re spinning. So, is the universe spinning, too? Source: https://www.livescience.com/65882-does-the-universe-rotate.html
The Largest Black Holes in the Universe Formed in a Snap — Then Stopped
The biggest, oldest black holes in the universe shouldn’t technically exist. A new study provides fresh evidence for the weird, “direct collapse” process that may have made them. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65857-direct-collapse-black-holes-proved-theoretically.html
Scientists combine light and matter to make particles with new behaviors
Every type of atom in the universe has a unique fingerprint: It only absorbs or emits light at the particular energies that match the allowed orbits of its electrons. That fingerprint enables scientists to identify an atom wherever it is found. A hydrogen atom in outer space absorbs light at the same energies as one on Earth. …
Exotic ‘Early Dark Energy’ Could Be the Missing Link That Explains the Universe’s Expansion
Measures of the universe’s expansion taken from different sources don’t match. An exotic form of dark energy particles could be the reason why. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65853-dark-energy-explains-different-expansion-rates.html
‘What Would You Do If We Found Aliens?’ Survey Asks
If you find out we are not alone in the universe, how would you respond? Source: https://www.livescience.com/65848-alien-contact-seti-survey.html
Cool! Teegarden’s Star has Earth-sized planets in its habitable zone
The habitable zone is where liquid water can exist. Teegarden’s Star’s star is only 12.5 light-years from Earth. Astronomers have discovered 2 new Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting in this nearby habitable zone. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/earth-sized-planets-habitable-zone-teegardens-star…