How unique is the Milky Way?
To find out, a group of researchers led by Stanford University astrophysicist Risa Wechsler compared the Milky Way to similar galaxies and found that just four percent are like the galaxy Earth calls home.
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How the Universe is measured
This diagram (above) illustrates two ways to measure how fast the universe is expanding. In the past, distant supernovae, or exploded stars, have been used as “standard candles” to measure distances in the universe, and to determine that its expansion is actually speeding up.
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NASA confirms Nature of Dark Energy
A five-year survey of 200,000 galaxies, stretching back seven billion years in cosmic time, has led to one of the best independent confirmations that dark energy is driving our universe apart at accelerating speeds. The survey used data from NASA’s space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Anglo-Australian Telescope on Siding Spring Mountain in Australia.
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Life Exists Elsewhere in the Universe
It’s no accident that we see stars in the sky, says famed Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins: they are a vital part of any universe capable of generating us. But, as Dawkins emphasizes, that does not mean that stars exists in order to make us.
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Black Holes from the Dawn of the Universe
The “Dark Ages” of the universe started about 400,000 years after the big bang, after matter cooled down enough for neutral atoms to form.
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Antigravity could replace Dark Energy
Since the late 20th century, astronomers have been aware of data that suggest the universe is not only expanding, but expanding at an accelerating rate. According to the currently accepted model, this accelerated expansion is due to dark energy, a mysterious repulsive force that makes up about 73% of the energy density of the universe.
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Scale of the Universe
Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way! (click the image) Press left or right or drag the scroll bar to zoom in and out. Press down to toggle quality.
Graphene could help unhide the Higgs Boson’s secrets
One of the most promising materials in science could answer some questions about one of the most elusive particles in the universe, according to a new paper. A trio of Spanish physicists believes that graphene, that simple, special Nobel-winning stuff, could provide some key insights into the behavior of the Higgs boson.
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Neutron star may have a core with a strange frictionless fluid
The neutron star (illustration) at the center of the remains of the Cassiopeia A supernova may have a core filled with a strange frictionless fluid, new research suggests.
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First Stars in the Universe Weren’t Lonely
The first stars to form in the universe were not as lonely as previously thought. These are the findings of an international collaboration between researchers at the Center of Astronomy at Heidelberg University, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, and at The University of Texas at Austin.
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