Tag Archives: Astronomy

The mystery of dark matter just refuses to be solved [Astrophysics]

Dark matter almost certainly exists – otherwise, galaxy clusters wouldn’t have sufficient gravity to hold themselves together. It was hoped dwarf galaxies could confirm the leading dark matter theories. But a new study has drawn a big, frustrating blan… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Did the Earth’s lost moon create the Lunar Highlands?

The Moon’s far side, although not lacking for light, remained dark in the sense of hidden or obscured until the space race between the US and USSR took aim at the Moon. The Soviets’ Luna 3 probe returned the first images… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Massive eruption on the sun yesterday means a solar storm zooming by Earth tomorrow [Video]

This picture was taken by a NASA solar observatory yesterday, and it shows one of the biggest explosions we’ve ever seen on the sun. For perspective, look at the upper left corner. There’s a little circle the size of Earth.
The explosion dwarfs our pl… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Did the early universe have only one dimension? [Mad Science]

Some scientists believe that, as the universe gets older and larger, it adds more dimensions. Cute theory. But how does this help solve pressing questions of of physics? And how can it be tested?
One of the crazier theories of physics is the idea of … Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Pioneer Anomaly is finally solved, thanks to 1970s computer graphics [Physics]

The Pioneer 10 and 11 probes are currently heading out of the solar system, but they’re not quite doing it quickly enough. This physics-defying anomaly has stubbornly defied explanation, but an old computer graphics technique has finally solved the con… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

No one can escape friction, not even in a vacuum. [Physics]

On earth, we’re slowed down by the muck of the everyday world. Matter slows us down, rubbing against us and taking away our speed and power. Gravel, air, even slip-n-slides, exert some friction on us. This frictional force runs counter to our motion, a… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The universe is at least 250 times bigger than it looks [Cosmology]

The universe is so unimaginably large that parts of it are literally impossible to see, because their light is too distant to reach us even after 14 billion years. Now we might know just how big the cosmos really is. Turns out everything we can see is … Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The strange case of a galaxy turned sideways [Space Porn]

This is galaxy NGC 660, located some twenty million light-years away. It’s a very rare type of galaxy known as a polar galaxy, where the vast majority of the galaxy is located at a right angle to its galactic plane.The vast majority of galaxies have mo… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The forgotten genius who discovered black holes over 200 years ago [Secret History]

Centuries before black holes became accepted science, a fat little man in 1780s Yorkshire imagined stars so massive that even light could not escape. He predicted black holes. This is the incredible story of John Michell and his “dark stars.”The Fat Li… Continue reading

Posted in history, syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

10 Amazing Science Books That Reveal The Wonders Of The Universe [Scifigiftguide]

If you’re looking for a perfect holiday gift for science lovers, consider these ten amazing books. They prove science is awesomer than fiction, and are packed with beautiful pictures too.
On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition by Charles Dar… Continue reading

Posted in books, syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

How to Test What Really Happened After the Big Bang

A new test that takes data from several realms of physics could explain what really happened in the first sliver of a second after the Big Bang.
Most cosmologists believe the universe burst from an extremely dense, hot state around 13.7 billion years … Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Saturn’s rings are the remains of an exploded moon [Mad Astronomy]

Saturn’s rings are among the most iconic sights in the solar system, but where did they come from? Long ago, an icy moon was ripped apart by Saturn’s gravity, creating rings once a 100 times bigger than they are now.4.5 billion years ago, as the solar … Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Cosmic strings are super-massive, ultra-thin cracks in the universe [Mad Astrophysics]

Cosmic strings are theoretical fault lines in the universe, defective links between different regions of space created in the moments after the Big Bang. And they might be theoretical no longer – distant quasars show the fingerprints of these strings.C… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes [Mad Science]

Black holes might be infinitely weirder than simply ultra-dense masses from which even light can’t escape – they might actually be the end result of the collapse of five-dimensional objects known as black strings. Yeah…this one’s going to get weird.W… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The clearest photo of a sunspot we’ve seen thus far [Space Porn]

This is the clearest, most detailed image of a sunspot ever taken in visible light. These ultra-magnetic structures are thought to be crucial to potentially Earth-threatening space weather, and it’s photos like these that will help us better understand… Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Sun is changing the rate of radioactive decay, and breaking the rules of chemistry [Mad Science]

The Sun is changing the supposedly constant rates of decay of radioactive elements, and we have absolutely no idea why. But an entirely unknown particle could be behind it. Plus, this discovery could help us predict deadly solar flares.It’s one of the … Continue reading

Posted in syndicated | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off