As hinted last week, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory has some new results conclusively showing that dark matter is a real, physical thing. This is big news, because the previous evidence for dark matter was all indirect, and based on inferring the mass distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies from looking at their motion. These… Continue reading In the Dark No More
Category: Astronomy
Keeping Us In the Dark
You might think that, being a sciene blogger and all, I would have sources of science news that aren’t available to the average person on the street. You would be right, though they’re not as useful as you might think… The source for today’s news teaser is actually a thank-you email from a prospective student… Continue reading Keeping Us In the Dark
Physics News
I had a bunch of students over for dinner last night, and while I was busy with that, stuff happened in the world. I hate that. Of course, there’s been a lot of energy expended on trivia like primary elections, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The important news all has to do with… Continue reading Physics News
Astronomy and Literature
Via James Nicoll, there’s a new press release from the Cassini mission talking about new radar maps of a region on the surface of Titan that’s been dubbed “Xanadu.” The topography looks very Earth-like, with rivers and lakes and oceans of methane, providing Dr. Jonathan Lunine an opportunity to show off the benefits of a… Continue reading Astronomy and Literature
Shaw Prize in Astronomy
Via Cosmic Variance, news of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2006: Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess, and Brian Schmidt are awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2006 in recognition of their leadership roles on the two teams that made the remarkable discovery of an acceleration in the rate of the expansion of the universe. Such… Continue reading Shaw Prize in Astronomy
Falling Rock Zone
Large meteorite hits northern Norway: A large meteorite struck in northern Norway this week, landing with an impact an astronomer compared to the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima. The meteorite appeared as a ball of fire just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, visible across several hundred miles in the sunlit summer sky above the Arctic Circle,… Continue reading Falling Rock Zone
Science of the Times
A couple of good science stories in today’s New York Times: First, an article on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The current news hook, weirdly, appears to be a recent calculation of the expected magnitude of the signal resulting from the collision and merger of two black holes. Why this merits a long article,… Continue reading Science of the Times
Most Shafted Physicist: A Biased Response
Over at the Seed editors blog, Maggie Wittlin asks who’s the most overlooked scientist: Which scientist (in your field or beyond) has been most seriously shafted? This could be taken two ways: Who deserves to be more recognized, revered and renowned today than he or she is? Who got passed over, ridiculed, etc. the most… Continue reading Most Shafted Physicist: A Biased Response
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
The Kuiper Belt Controversy continues, with the lastest round showing up in the Times today: Planet Discovered Last Year, Thought to Be Larger Than Pluto, Proves Roughly the Same Size: The object — still unnamed more than a year after its discovery but tagged with the temporary designation 2003 UB313 and nicknamed Xena by the… Continue reading Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
WMAP Data Release
If you’d like some actual science from your ScienceBlogs, here’s the big news in the physical sciences today: The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team has released a bunch of new data on the latest observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This is the relic radiation from the Big Bang whose temperature fluctuations tell… Continue reading WMAP Data Release