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New data confirms a puzzling rift in the universe's expansion rate.
New observations suggest that the universe’s oldest galaxies are brighter than expected. Here's why this may be a big deal.
Could elusive axions be gathering in dense clouds around neutron stars? Some scientists certainly think so.
Stars near the Milky Way's core may employ an exotic reaction involving dark matter to extended their lifetimes virtually indefinitely.
Scientists thought dark energy was constant. This groundbreaking study suggests otherwise.
Eye candy is just the first step.
Dark energy accounts for as much as 72% of the Universe's matter and energy content and drives the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Yet this cosmic element is a lingering mystery.
The Dark Energy Survey has delivered its first results providing one of the most detailed pictures of the Universe ever created.
84.4% of the matter in the universe is something that we don’t really understand yet.
Small-scale concentrations of dark matter produce lensing effects that are 10 times stronger than expected, a new study found.
Physicists have proposed a number of candidate particles to explain dark matter, but they were all hypothetical -- until now.
New Hubble study takes us one step closer to understanding the mysterious dark matter.
What's shocking is that even when he had a 'bad' idea, Einstein was still brilliant!
Two-thousand processors simulated more than 8 million universes and countless galaxies.
The wealth of newly discovered ancient galaxies suggests that scientists may have to refine their model of the universe.
Clumps of dark matter might be shooting through the Milky Way's stars.
Lone stars that roam through intergalactic space might one-day probe the nature of dark matter.
If proven right, this theory could be one of the most important developments in 21st-century physics.
And this could prove the perfect opportunity to identify the elusive form of matter.
In doing so, they've come up with evidence that might tell us what dark particles and forces might or might not lurk beyond the Standard Model.
Probably the most interesting you're going to read today.
The findings might help piece together the evolution of the universe.
A new take on the whole 'twinkle twinkle' thing.
The elusive dark matter surprises us once again... this time by being absent.
It's an exciting time to be a scientist.
We thought the Milky Way was special. Now, scientists have found a glitch elsewhere which challenges established physics.
This map shows how a dark matter bridge connects galaxies together.
A dark galaxy that a Sith Lord would enjoy.
The findings could reveal the location of the missing matter of our universe.
Invisible dark matter continues to elude scientists
The image above is a timeline with each frame showcasing a stage in our Universe's evolution, from humble beginning to present date (left to right), as simulated by the Argonne National Laboratory. Called the Q Continuum simulation, this is the most complete cosmological simulation to date covering a volume of 1300 Mpc on a side (one Mpc = 3.08567758 × 1022 meters) where half a trillion particles evolved for a mass resolution of ~1.5x108 Msun.
Matter accounts for 31.7% of the mass-energy content of the universe, and 84.5% of the matter is dark matter. In other words, what we can measure today (ordinary matter) accounts for only a tiny fraction of the Universe's mass-energy content. For years, scientists have been on the lookout for the elusive dark matter particles, as well as signs of dark energy. Efforts so far have been to no avail. Despite the setbacks, we know a thing for sure: dark matter exists. If it's there, we'll eventually find a way to detect it, but what if we've gone about this the wrong way? US physicists suggest a different approach: instead of looking for dark matter particles, we should be looking for evidence of their collision - dark radiation.
Astronomers have discovered a whopping 854 new ultra-dark galaxies which might have large quantities of the elusive dark matter, which makes out most of our universe.
This is the first map in a series of maps that will be stitched together to form a grand picture of how dark matter is distributed across the Universe. Dark matter is basically invisible, which is why it's called dark in the first place, so scientists rely on indirect observations like the gravitational effects it poses to locate and map it. What we're seeing now is only 3% of the area of sky that the Dark Energy Survey (DES) will document over its slated five-year-long mission.
At the core of a newly found dwarf galaxy, astronomers discovered a mysterious source of gamma rays that may signal the presence of the mysterious dark matter. If this is confirmed, then it would be the first time we see dark matter through anything else than its gravitational pull.
Climate change is a threat to all life and vegetation here on Earth, but some places are worse off than others. Take Mongolia for instance. Over the past 30 years, a quarter of the country's surface has turned into a desert, while 850 lakes and 2,000 rivers have dried out. This rapid desertification has severely disrupted habitats, making it very difficult for both man and beast to adapt. Even to this day, 25% of Mongolians living in the country are thought to be nomadic, still holding on to ancient traditions from the times when the great Khans swept the world and made it tremble, from Beijing to Rome. In the face of such diversity, the Mongolian people risk losing their heritage and way of life, as they've come to know it for thousands of years.
Based on latest evidence and calculations, our entire galaxy, the Milky Way, might be a a huge wormhole, stable and navigable. Astrophysicists combined the equations from general relativity with a distribution of dark matter to reach this conclusion
A newly published study has revealed that dark matter is being swallowed up by dark energy, offering valuable data not only about the nature and structure of these mysterious entities, but also about the future of the Universe. Dark Matter and Dark Energy In case you’re wondering, dark matter and dark energy are not Star Trek […]
The Illustris project took 5 years of software development and 3 months running on 8000 processors – but it sure was worth it – the result is truly monumental! Now, researchers finally have an accurate model of the development of the universe, which even though is rough around some edges, still blends in well with today’s […]
Scientists have been analyzing high-energy gamma rays originating from the center of our galaxy and they’ve reported that there’s a good chance that at least some of them come from dark matter. This is the best indication of dark matter to ever be found. What is dark matter? Think about our universe for a moment […]
Mysterious and elusive, dark matter has escaped scientists time and time again; yet confirming its existence is quintessential to current efforts of studying the Universe. With this in mind, detecting dark matter has become one of the foremost goals in the physics of the 21st century. An experiment at MIT, called DarkLight, aims to prove […]
Dark energy is the mysterious force that drives the Universe’s expansion at an ever increased pace. Probing and understanding this force is thus imperative for astronomers’ and cosmologists’ efforts of peering through the Universe’s secrets. Recently, a new massive project set on probing the nature of dark energy was launched, called the Dark Energy Survey (DES), […]
Bono of U2 recently let it be known that he was a student of astrophysics (yes, truly!). Upon meeting the 2012 Nobel Prize winner for physics Brian Schmidt, Bono demonstrated a thorough understanding of Schmidt’s work on the evidence for an accelerating universe. More and more over the last 100 years, scientists have been theorising about the […]
An extremely rare and small galaxy has just been reported by astronomers, which by all accounts can be considered the least massive galaxy discovered thus far. The very faint galaxy, consisting of roughly 1,000 stars, supports current theories relating to the formation of the Universe. Located in the constellation Aries, the dwarf galaxy dubbed Segue 2 […]
Most certainly, one of the top goals in physics today is proving the existence of dark matter – the elusive form of matter that makes up 85% of all matter in the Universe. Many theories have been proposed and tested, however to this day we only have glimpses and possible hints of dark matter. A […]
Hubble just never ceases to surprise. The latest astronomical find discovered using the ever resourceful space telescope is a never before encountered double ring pattern known as an Einstein ring. This very rare pattern is the result of a peculiar optical alignment in which three galaxies are perfectly aligned with each other, like beads on […]
Renowned physicist, famous for his study of black holes, galaxies and for authoring a popular book on the origin of the universe, “A Brief History of Time”, recently arrived at Caltech, like every year, where he held a talk in front of 1,000 people who had waited in line for 12 hours to hear him speak. […]
Despite it makes up more than 85% of all matter in the Universe, dark matter, staying true to its name, has eluded scientists for decades ever since they’ve been trying to identify it with high power particle accelerators and detectors. Recent efforts seem to be paying off as various underground labs, as well as those […]
A $1.6 billion cosmic ray experiment on the International Space Station has come across evidence of antimatter in space, a remarkable finding that was recently presented during a seminar at CERN and which might help probe the mysteries of dark matter – one of the major components that make up the Universe. The find was made using […]
A new, probably significant discovery will be published in two weeks, the leader of a space-based particle physics experiment said Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Why this is important Dark matter is every bit as mysterious and cool as it sounds; from what we know so […]
