Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:00 am Posts: 16093 Location: dublin Gender: Male
Rumours abound that the Higgs Boson has finally been found By Adam Mann21 June 12
One of the biggest debuts in the science world could happen in a matter of weeks: The Higgs boson may finally, really have been discovered.
Ever since tantalising hints of the Higgs turned up in December at the Large Hadron Collider, scientists there have been busily analysing the results of their energetic particle collisions to further refine their search.
"The bottom line though is now clear: There's something there which looks like a Higgs is supposed to look," wrote mathematician Peter Woit on his blog, Not Even Wrong. According to Woit, there are rumours of new data that would be the most compelling evidence yet for the long-sought Higgs.
The possible news has a number of physics bloggers speculating that LHC scientists will announce the discovery of the Higgs during the International Conference on High Energy Physics, which takes place in Melbourne, Australia, July 4 to 11.
The new buzz is just the latest in the Higgs search drama. In December, rumours circulated regarding hints of the Higgs around 125 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), roughly 125 times the mass of a proton. While those rumours eventually turned out to be true, the hard data only amounted to what scientists call a 3-sigma signal, meaning that there is a 0.13 percent probability that the events happened by chance. This is the level at which particle physicists will only say they have "evidence" for a particle.
In the rigorous world of high-energy physics, researchers wait to see a 5-sigma signal, which has only a 0.000028 percent probability of happening by chance, before claiming a "discovery."
The latest Higgs rumours suggest nearly-there 4-sigma signals are turning up at both of the two separate LHC experiments that are hunting for the particle. As physicist Philip Gibbs points out on his blog, Vixra log, if each experiment is seeing a 4-sigma signal, then this is almost definitely the long-sought particle. Combining the two 4-sigma results should be enough to clear that 5-sigma hurdle.
Of course, Gibbs reminds us that the rumours come with some caveats, such as the fact that they are vague and not completely reliable. Scientists outside the experiment also don't yet know how much data has been analysed from this year, meaning that the rumoured results could disappear with further scrutiny.
The Higgs boson is the final piece of the Standard Model -- a framework developed in the late 20th century that describes the interactions of all known subatomic particles and forces. The Standard Model contains many other particles -- such as quarks and W bosons -- each of which has been found in the last four decades using enormous particle colliders, but the Higgs remains to be found. The Higgs boson is critical to the Standard Model, because interacting with the Higgs is what gives all the other particles their mass. Not finding it would severely undermine our current understanding of the universe.
While discovery of the Higgs would be a remarkable achievement, many researchers are also eager to hear the details from the experiments, which may indicate that the Higgs boson has slightly different properties than those theoretically predicted. Any deviations from theory could suggest the existence of heretofore-unknown physics beyond the Standard Model, including models such as supersymmetry, which posits a heavier partner to all known particles.
Source: Wired.com
_________________ At the end of the day, it's night.
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:00 am Posts: 16093 Location: dublin Gender: Male
This is gonna be amazing. Or it's gonna hit us and wipe us all out hehe
New comet might blaze brighter than the full Moon BY PETER GREGO ASTRONOMY NOW Posted: 25 September 2012
File photo of Comet Hale-Bopp which wowed observers in 1997. Image: Kazuhiro Seto.
A new comet has been discovered that is predicted to blaze incredibly brilliantly in the skies during late 2013. With a perihelion passage of less than two million kilometres from the Sun on 28 November 2013, current predictions are of an object that will dazzle the eye at up to magnitude —16. That's far brighter than the full Moon. If predictions hold true then C/2012 S1 will certainly be one of the greatest comets in human history, far outshining the memorable Comet Hale-Bopp of 1997 and very likely to outdo the long-awaited Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) which is set to stun in March 2013.
The new comet, named C/2012 S1 (ISON) was found by the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) in Russia on 21 September when astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok captured it on CCD images taken through a 0.4-metre reflector. Its near-parabolic orbit suggests that it has arrived fresh from the Oort Cloud, a vast zone of icy objects orbiting the Sun, pristine remnants of the formation of the Solar System.
C/2012 S1 currently resides in the northwestern corner of Cancer. At magnitude +18 it is too dim to be seen visually but it will be within the reach of experienced amateur astronomers with CCD equipment in the coming months as it brightens. It is expected to reach binocular visibility by late summer 2013 and a naked eye object in early November of that year. Northern hemisphere observers are highly favoured. Following its peak brightness in late November it will remain visible without optical aid until mid-January 2014.
Comet brightness predictions sometimes exceed their performance. Amateur astronomers of a certain age may remember the Comet Kohoutek hype of 1973 – not quite the 'damp squib' it has been portrayed, since it reached naked eye visibility! Even if C/2012 S1 takes on the same light curve as Kohoutek it is certain to be spectacular, quite possibly a once-in-a-civilisation's-lifetime event. http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1209/ ... Q.facebook
_________________ At the end of the day, it's night.
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2006 8:42 pm Posts: 17495 Location: Surfside Beach, SC Gender: Male
What's crazy is that some of those galaxies they mapped no longer exist. So if we ever find a way to travel efficiently through the universe, those galaxies won't even be there, making the 'map' useless.
_________________ I remember thinking, "that's really gay". -- Cameronia
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:37 am Posts: 2465 Location: A dark place
Rebar wrote:
If you want your brain to hurt, go to wikipedia and search 'Ultimate fate of the Universe'.
Ugh.
The way my wife (she's a science teacher) explains it, the Universe will either keep expanding and contracting and the Big Bang will effectively keep happening over and over again. Or it will keep expanding until all the energy dissipates and the universe dies. At least those are the two main theories.
The universe is still in the expansion (redshift) phase. Although there are some things in our "local group" that are in the contraction (blueshift) phase. Some say, if a star or other cosmic body has a red or blue tint, that's an indication of which phase it is in, in relation to us.
_________________ Do you like crappy amateur photography? Check out my photo blog here.
Last edited by turned2black on Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:37 am Posts: 2465 Location: A dark place
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I really hope it's a big crunch though. The idea of a cyclical series of universes repeating through infinity is kind of comforting.
Well, we are still expanding at this point and a "big crunch" would take billions of years after we start to contract. I think we are OK for now. Until the asteroid, that is.
_________________ Do you like crappy amateur photography? Check out my photo blog here.
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I really hope it's a big crunch though. The idea of a cyclical series of universes repeating through infinity is kind of comforting.
Well, we are still expanding at this point and a "big crunch" would take billions of years after we start to contract. I think we are OK for now. Until the asteroid that is.
It's just kind of sad if the universe eventually just freezes off into forever, and this is the only universe that will ever exist.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:37 am Posts: 2465 Location: A dark place
cutuphalfdead wrote:
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I really hope it's a big crunch though. The idea of a cyclical series of universes repeating through infinity is kind of comforting.
Well, we are still expanding at this point and a "big crunch" would take billions of years after we start to contract. I think we are OK for now. Until the asteroid that is.
It's just kind of sad if the universe eventually just freezes off into forever, and this is the only universe that will ever exist.
It is sad, but it's also crazy cool that we live in these times. We are setting the groundwork for serious space travel and basic universal truths that will be taught to our kids for millions of years to come.
I also kinda don't think that it will "freeze off into forever." One big bang happened, why can't it happen again? Or maybe there were a shitload of big bangs and a shitload of other universes.
_________________ Do you like crappy amateur photography? Check out my photo blog here.
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 2:02 am Posts: 91597 Location: Sector 7-G
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I really hope it's a big crunch though. The idea of a cyclical series of universes repeating through infinity is kind of comforting.
Well, we are still expanding at this point and a "big crunch" would take billions of years after we start to contract. I think we are OK for now. Until the asteroid that is.
It's just kind of sad if the universe eventually just freezes off into forever, and this is the only universe that will ever exist.
It is sad, but it's also crazy cool that we live in these times. We are setting the groundwork for serious space travel and basic universal truths that will be taught to our kids for millions of years to come.
I also kinda don't think that it will "freeze off into forever." One big bang happened, why can't it happen again? Or maybe there were a shitload of big bangs and a shitload of other universes.
I just want to know that it'll always happen again.
_________________ It takes a big man to make a threat on the internet.
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:38 pm Posts: 20059 Gender: Male
cutuphalfdead wrote:
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
turned2black wrote:
cutuphalfdead wrote:
I really hope it's a big crunch though. The idea of a cyclical series of universes repeating through infinity is kind of comforting.
Well, we are still expanding at this point and a "big crunch" would take billions of years after we start to contract. I think we are OK for now. Until the asteroid that is.
It's just kind of sad if the universe eventually just freezes off into forever, and this is the only universe that will ever exist.
It is sad, but it's also crazy cool that we live in these times. We are setting the groundwork for serious space travel and basic universal truths that will be taught to our kids for millions of years to come.
I also kinda don't think that it will "freeze off into forever." One big bang happened, why can't it happen again? Or maybe there were a shitload of big bangs and a shitload of other universes.
I just want to know that it'll always happen again.
This reminds me of Memento and Battlestar Galactica.
_________________ stop light plays its part, so I would say you've got a part
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum