Scientists have observed time dilation in the variability of quasars, an effect predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Continue reading Einstein was right: testing the theory of relativity using quasars
Black holes are super dense objects that hypothetically exist in our universe. They have a gravitational pull so strong that any object that gets close enough falls in and can’t escape, including light. These objects often have a mass tens to millions of times greater than the mass of our sun. While we have predicted their existence for a hundred years, only recently have scientists … Continue reading Photographing the Darkest Objects in Existence: The First Image of a Black Hole
by Sasha Brownsberger figures by Abagail Burrus Everything you have ever touched, seen, or tasted; the air you breathe; the ground on which you stand; and the constituents of your body all consist of a type of matter that is only a fraction of all that is. In light of a series of unexpected discoveries over the past half century, astronomers and physicists have determined … Continue reading Seeing the Invisible: A short history of the scientific evidence of dark matter
Quantum mechanics is so mind-boggling that it has stumped even the greatest minds. In particular, Albert Einstein was so bothered by quantum mechanics that he never gave up in his efforts to discredit the theory. Physicists have spent several decades trying to develop an experiment that would definitively prove him wrong. A few weeks ago, a team from Delft University finally settled the score. Einstein’s … Continue reading Answering Einstein Decades Later; Quantum Entanglement is Real
Figure 1~ Artist’s conception of the electron electric dipole moment (Adam West). Everything and Nothing Ask a physicist “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and you’re likely to provoke consternation. Science, the discipline most concerned with studying nature, may never be able to speak with authority about the reasons behind nature’s very existence, as that question may be forever inaccessible to the scientific method. But … Continue reading Looking Closer: The Search for the Electron Electric Dipole Moment
From “Detection of the Gravitational Lens Magnifying a Type Ia Supernova“ The supernova of PS1-10afx was seen in 2010 and extremely bright for its class and location ~9 billion light years away. New research suggests that a galaxy in front of it, invisible in the bright light, had acted as a giant magnifying lens for the light on its way to Earth. This finding, when … Continue reading A distant galaxy acts as a giant magnifying glass