Posted on May 3, 2022 in Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Black Holes, Cosmology, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial Life, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Milky Way Galaxy, NASA, quantum physics, Science, Science News, Space News, Technology, Universe
Today’s stories range from “Will our remote progeny be the first intelligences to spread through the galaxy? Or will they encounter something already out there, whose origins lie on a planet around an older star where evolution had a head start over us? to Event-Horizon Telescope astronomers set to announce major discovery about the center of Our Milky Way Galaxy, and much more. The Galaxy Report” brings you news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and adds a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.
Could space-going billionaires be the vanguard of a cosmic revolution? For humanity truly to slip the surly bonds of Earth, private funds and intrepid thrill-seekers will be required, reports Martin Rees, astronomer royal, for The Guardian. “Will our remote progeny be the first intelligences to spread through the galaxy? Or will they encounter something already out there, whose origins lie on a planet around an older star where evolution had a head start over us?”
“What Could It Be?” Event-Horizon Telescope Astronomers Set to Announce Major Discovery About the Center of Our Milky Way Galaxy –Astronomers responsible for producing the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019 are about to make an announcement about something at the center of The Milky Way on May 12. Could it be an image of Sagittarius A* our galaxy’s supermassive black hole or the detection of an ancient cosmic string from the dawn of the Cosmos?
The aliens we need to worry about, reports Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, for The Conversation.” In the coming months, two teams of astronomers are going to send messages into space in an attempt to communicate with any intelligent aliens who may be out there listening. These efforts are like building a big bonfire in the woods and hoping someone finds you. But some people question whether it is wise to do this at all.”
Planet-sized telescopes could be possible using quantum technique –Huge networks of interconnected telescopes may run into image-sharpening problems that classical physics can’t handle. Accounting for the quantum properties of starlight could allow astronomers to get past these constraints, reports New Scientist.
A ‘galaxy’ is unmasked as a pulsar — the brightest outside the Milky Way –Astronomers have confirmed that an object they thought was a distant galaxy is actually the brightest extra-galactic pulsar ever seen. The team made the discovery using a technique that blocks a particular type of polarized light, similar to polarized sunglasses, which could be used to spy more ‘hidden’ pulsars, reports Nature.
The Case for Technosignatures: Why They May Be Abundant, Long-lived, Highly Detectable, and Unambiguous The intuition suggested by the Drake equation implies that technology should be less prevalent than biology in the galaxy. However, it has been appreciated for decades in the SETI community that technosignatures could be more abundant, longer-lived, more detectable, and less ambiguous than biosignatures, reports Penn State’s Jason Wright.
Why “distance” is not what it seems in the expanding Universe –Look out at a distant object, and you’re not seeing it as it is today. It’s size, brightness, and actual distance are all different, reports Big Think. “In our actual Universe, however, not only are all three different from one another, none of them match the actual “distance” without corrections. Here’s why.”
Doctor Strange: Could we really be living in a multiverse? Are there universes where the laws of physics do not apply, like in the newest Doctor Strange outing? reports Prof Richard Bower is Professor of Cosmology at Durham University for BBC Science Focus.
Why doesn’t Earth have Trojan asteroids of its own? Large impacts in the early years of the solar system may be to blame, reports Sky & Telescope. “Why doesn’t Earth have Trojan asteroids of its own? Large impacts in the early years of the solar system may be to blame.”
NASA Hubble Links 25 Alien Worlds, Introduces New Dawn of Exoplanet Research –-A bunch of Jupiter-like giants have strikingly similar atmospheric conditions — opening the door to an ultimate, unified theory of planet formation, reports CNet.
NASA Visualization Rounds Up the Best-Known Black Hole Systems –Nearby black holes and their stellar companions form an astrophysical rogues’ gallery in this new NASA visualization. See video below.
The Antarctic Meteorite That Changed Our Perception of Life in the Universe –Controversy over aliens in an ancient rock from Mars helped redefine the search for life on other planets, reports CNet. “The major legacy of that rock is that it basically drives a huge amount of what is happening in planetary science,” says Gretchen Benedix, an astrogeologist at Curtin University in Western Australia.
Large Hadron Collider Seeks New Particles after Major Upgrade –Long-awaited boosts to the world’s most powerful collider could spur breakthroughs in the hunt for physics beyond the Standard Model, reports Scientific American.
Supermassive black hole birth and growth may involve eating lots of stars, reports Phil Plait for SyFy –“One of the most pernicious mysteries in astronomy right now is easy to state but proving ridiculously hard to answer: How do supermassive black holes form?
Simple is beautiful: Why evolution repeatedly selects symmetrical structures –Symmetrical objects are less complex than non-symmetrical ones. Perhaps evolution acts as an algorithm with a bias toward simplicity, reports Big Think.
NASA Sees ‘Otherworldly’ Wreckage on Mars With Ingenuity Helicopter –The debris was part of the equipment that helped the Perseverance mission safely land on the red planet in 2021, reports the New York Times.
Gravitational Wells of Spacetime –Search reveals eight new sources of black hole echoes among the tens of millions of black holes scattered across the Milky Way.— immensely strong gravitational wells of spacetime, from which infalling matter, and even light, can never escape. –The findings will help scientists trace a black hole’s evolution as it feeds on stellar material, reports MIT.
The Galaxy Report newsletter brings you twice-weekly news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and add a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.
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Recent Galaxy Reports:
Unmistakable Signal of Alien Life to What Happens if China Makes First Contact?
Clues to Alien Life to A Galaxy 100 x Size of Milky Way
Cracks in Einstein’s Theory of Gravity to Colossal Shock Wave Bigger than the Milky Way
Monster Comet Arriving from the Oort Cloud to Black Hole Apocalypse
Enigmas of Stephen Hawking’s Blackboard to Why the Universe and Life Exist
Einstein’s Critics to NASA Theologians Prepare for Alien Contact
Mind-Bending New Multiverse Theory to Dark-Matter Asteroids of the Milky Way
Mysterious Expanding Regions of Dark Matter to Are Black Holes Holograms?
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