Big Bang News Tomorrow?

[Bob N]

Hey Folks. This just announced from Brian Greene's Facebook site. : (Brian Randolph Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Wikipedia )

Hi Everyone,

A quick heads up regarding some potentially exciting news:

There will be an announcement tomorrow of a "major discovery" and many think it will be the very first evidence pointing toward "primordial gravitational waves" -- loosely speaking, these would be ripples in the fabric of spacetime coming from the big bang.

As of now, this is unconfirmed speculation, but there's strong reason to believe that's what will be announced.

If true, it is a big deal.

Stay tuned.

-BG

 

[tecoyah]

Hey Folks. This just announced from Brian Greene's Facebook site. : (Brian Randolph Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Wikipedia )

Confirmation of that which most already considered reality.....is still a very cool thing.

 

[ecofarm]

There will be an announcement tomorrow of a "major discovery" and many think it will be the very first evidence pointing toward "primordial gravitational waves" -- loosely speaking, these would be ripples in the fabric of spacetime coming from the big bang.

As of now, this is unconfirmed speculation, but there's strong reason to believe that's what will be announced.

We've all had good sex before. He's over-reacting.

 

[Risky Thicket]

We've all had good sex before. He's over-reacting.

The ripples from this big bang are already visible. :shock: Where is the love?

 

[ecofarm]

I'd like that, but the pic is a bit much.

 

[DA60]

Jeez..I thought this was about the television show.

Another bi-decade 'big news' about how the universe was created or how the dinosaurs died or why the Dallas Cowboys suck.

Blah, blah, blah (except the Cowboys part...lol).

Millions of people dying of preventable illnesses, suffering due to wars, persecuted unfairly...misery all over the place.

And these 'brilliant' people beg for more taxpayer/university dollars so they can sit around and decide what they think the beginning of the universe looks like.


When I was a kid I thought it was fascinating and that more money should be spent on this 'stuff'.

Then I grew up.

Let me know when these people do.

 

[Bob N]

Let me know when these people do.

OK. But you will probably come back in the forum and write: "Big deal. Who cares?" :2razz: :lol:

 

[Fallenangel]

First direct evidence of cosmic inflation supports origin theory of the universe

Landmark Discovery: New Results Provide Direct Evidence for Cosmic Inflation




Cheers,
Fallen.

 

[Lethargic Aptitude]

Jeez..I thought this was about the television show.

Another bi-decade 'big news' about how the universe was created or how the dinosaurs died or why the Dallas Cowboys suck.

Blah, blah, blah (except the Cowboys part...lol).

Millions of people dying of preventable illnesses, suffering due to wars, persecuted unfairly...misery all over the place.

And these 'brilliant' people beg for more taxpayer/university dollars so they can sit around and decide what they think the beginning of the universe looks like.


When I was a kid I thought it was fascinating and that more money should be spent on this 'stuff'.

Then I grew up.

Let me know when these people do.

Did you post that from your cave?

 

[Wiseone]

Wow we can finally view the the universe from 6,000 years ago

 

[Binary_Digit]

This is considered "smoking gun" evidence in support of the inflation theory. The inflation theory says the universe expanded at a rate faster than the speed of light for the first fraction of a second after the big bang. So we now have "smoking gun" evidence of matter having exceeded the speed of light - something that many physics theories and formulas assume impossible. There's going to be a lot of busy mathematicians this year.

 

[Bob N]

This from Brian Greene's Facebook Page: (Update)

Hi Everyone,

Exciting news—the rumors have proved to be correct.

Here is a quick summary of what the excitement is all about:

The dominant scientific approach to cosmology, called the 'inflationary theory,' predicts that that just after the birth of the universe, space experienced a tremendous burst of expansion, causing it to swell from far smaller than the size of an atom to perhaps even farther than we can now see with our most powerful telescopes, all within a minuscule fraction of a second.

Tiny variations in the original space would have been stretched out in the expansion—and much as a pulled piece of spandex reveals the pattern of its weave, these stretched “quantum jitters” would be imprinted on the residual heat from the universe's earliest moments, and would be detectable as a pattern of subtle temperature variations in the night sky. We’ve been finding and mapping these variations—a specific pattern of hot and cold spots in the cosmic microwave background radiation -- with ever-greater precision since the early 1990s, a triumph of modern cosmology.

Today, researchers at Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, leading a team of researchers using a facility at the South Pole, say they’ve found, for the first time, a long-predicted second kind of fluctuation: ripples in the fabric of space itself, set down in the universe’s earliest moments. Believed also to be generated by quantum processes, these spatial vibrations are inferred from a delicate twist they impart to the cosmic background radiation.

If the results stand, they are a landmark discovery. They provide our first look into energy scales that are perhaps a million million times larger than that of the Large Hadron Collider, and will greatly sharpen our theoretical understanding of events that happened perhaps a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second after the Big Bang. The results also affirm, once again, the astounding power of mathematical analysis to lead the way into the most remote corners of creation.

--BG

 

[specklebang]

This is exactly what god looks like IMHO.

I doubt it is much influenced by the prayers of bipedal arthropods on a minor planet in a minor solar system in a minor galaxy.

But why take a chance? Be a good person and if God is actually watching you, you will have done all you can to leave a good impression.

 

[marduc]

What the hell? I just went to foxnews.com and the lead story there is about this announcement. The eye catching headline? "The 'Big Bang': Theory no more". At first I misread it and overlooked the colon, but even after with the colon I was dumbfounded. Huh?? Theory no more? do they not understand what a "theory" is in science? Apparently not, reading further in the article brings us to this "gem":

the newfound ripples would be amazing proof of what has long been mere theory about what happened in those first millionths of a second.

Scientists find cosmic ripples from birth of universe | Fox News

seriously?? There is no facepalm hard enough here.

How many people did this gross display of ignorance make it past before it became their headline as well as being incorporated in the article itself?? How about "The 'big bang': Theory gets a huge dose of substantiation"?

This is really cool news though.. it is going to be even more exciting to see what gets built upon this paper looking forward - this is one of those discoveries that will likely open many doors which will drastically increase our understanding of the nature of our universe.

 

[Verax]

This is considered "smoking gun" evidence in support of the inflation theory. The inflation theory says the universe expanded at a rate faster than the speed of light for the first fraction of a second after the big bang. So we now have "smoking gun" evidence of matter having exceeded the speed of light - something that many physics theories and formulas assume impossible. There's going to be a lot of busy mathematicians this year.

Doesn't work like that. The expansion of the universe is different than the velocity of an object moving through the universe, special relativity does not apply.

 

[Verax]

What the hell? I just went to foxnews.com and the lead story there is about this announcement. The eye catching headline? "The 'Big Bang': Theory no more". At first I misread it and overlooked the colon, but even after with the colon I was dumbfounded. Huh?? Theory no more? do they not understand what a "theory" is in science? Apparently not, reading further in the article brings us to this "gem":

Scientists find cosmic ripples from birth of universe | Fox News

seriously?? There is no facepalm hard enough here.

How many people did this gross display of ignorance make it past before it became their headline as well as being incorporated in the article itself?? How about "The 'big bang': Theory gets a huge dose of substantiation"?

This is really cool news though.. it is going to be even more exciting to see what gets built upon this paper looking forward - this is one of those discoveries that will likely open many doors which will drastically increase our understanding of the nature of our universe.

Never go to Fox news unless you're there to study the latest bs they're peddling. If you think this is bad, look at their climate change articles.

 

[Buck Ewer]

 

[marduc]

Never go to Fox news unless you're there to study the latest bs they're peddling. If you think this is bad, look at their climate change articles.

I know this already just because I wander there on occasion to see what they are saying it does not mean that I am going to lose my sense of objectivity.. unfortunately that cannot be said for far too many people.

 

[Threegoofs]

One of the experimenters surprised the theoretician Andrei Linde- the guy who basically is the 'founding father' of the expansion theory with the news at his home.

This is like someone finding out their life's work has actually all been worthwhile..... great video.



Enjoy your Nobel!

 

[DA60]

Did you post that from your cave?

LOLOLOL...this is your intellectual response?

Instead of explaining how this research will help people in myriad ways that cannot be seen (mostly nonsense IMO, btw) or how these scientists also devote much of their time to helping the sick/poor/destitute (which I guarantee you, most of them don't).

You come back with teenaged response?

Figures.

I have a brother with a degree in Physics from Cal Berkeley...so I know these types (though he is pretty cool by their standards). They sit around talking theory after theory, thinking they are amazing because they are at the cutting edge of thought (their words?), contemplating the big picture....the truly important issues (in their opinion).
Meanwhile, they have not a clue what is going on in the real word...nor do they much care because they arrogantly believe that whatever they are working on MUST be INCREDIBLY special.


I got news for them and you...helping sick and starving children, stopping women from being raped and helping end political persecutions IS important.

This theoretical stuff is fascinating...but it usually is NOT important.

Though I realize you disagree..which speaks volumes about you ('forget the sick, raped and persecuted...let's just talk about how the universe began').


We are done here. I try not to waste my time on people that think like them...and you.

Good day.

 

[Verax]

LOLOLOL...this is your intellectual response?

Instead of explaining how this research will help people in myriad ways that cannot be seen (mostly nonsense IMO, btw) or how these scientists also devote much of their time to helping the sick/poor/destitute (which I guarantee you, most of them don't).

You come back with teenaged response?

Figures.

I have a brother with a degree in Physics from Cal Berkeley...so I know these types (though he is pretty cool by their standards). They sit around talking theory after theory, thinking they are amazing because they are at the cutting edge of thought (their words?), contemplating the big picture....the truly important issues (in their opinion).
Meanwhile, they have not a clue what is going on in the real word...nor do they much care because they arrogantly believe that whatever they are working on MUST be INCREDIBLY special.


I got news for them and you...helping sick and starving children, stopping women from being raped and helping end political persecutions IS important.

This theoretical stuff is fascinating...but it usually is NOT important.

Though I realize you disagree..which speaks volumes about you ('forget the sick, raped and persecuted...let's just talk about how the universe began').


We are done here. I try not to waste my time on people that think like them...and you.

Good day.

What a bizarre rant. You seem to harbor a hatred or resentment of eggheads and or science, why? Are scientists not allowed to explore what interests them as they see fit?

You seem to have missed the ball with the cave remark. I think the point is that discoveries enable technology, like the computer you're posting from.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you're religious and this caused you to blow a sprocket?

 

[DA60]

What a bizarre rant. You seem to harbor a hatred or resentment of eggheads and or science, why? Are scientists not allowed to explore what interests them as they see fit?

You seem to have missed the ball with the cave remark. I think the point is that discoveries enable technology, like the computer you're posting from.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you're religious and this caused you to blow a sprocket?

One - I am not religious in the slightest. I am a university educated, financial investor.

Two - I did not 'blow a gasket'...I am simply used to this old argument from years of dealing with my brother's friends/colleagues (again, my brother is much cooler then the lot he usually associates with).

Three - explain to me how discovering this is remotely as important as helping children who are dying of prevntable illnesses?

And please explain to me the direct AND TANGIBLE benefit to the 'common man' within his/her lifetime the potential discovery of the true beginning of the universe will bring?

BTW - you cannot because it does not.


I have no problem with people exploring this stuff...I find it fascinating.

But the minute they start demanding tax dollars (which taking money from universities indirectly does) so they can sit around and study this...that is when I start to object to it.

You love this stuff? Great...do it on your own time and dime...not taxpayer's.

 

[Threegoofs]

This reminds me of the story of how some Dutch authorities looked down upon Anton van Louwenhouk. Wasting time and money grinding lenses while people around him were sick and dying from disease.

A few hundred years later, I bet you're glad he invested the time and energy into that worthless knowledge pursuit.

 

[Verax]

One - I am not religious in the slightest. I am a university educated, financial investor.

Two - I did not 'blow a gasket'...I am simply used to this old argument from years of dealing with my brother's friends/colleagues (again, my brother is much cooler then the lot he usually associates with).

Three - explain to me how discovering this is remotely as important as helping children who are dying of prevntable illnesses?

And please explain to me the direct AND TANGIBLE benefit to the 'common man' within his/her lifetime the potential discovery of the true beginning of the universe will bring?

BTW - you cannot because it does not.


I have no problem with people exploring this stuff...I find it fascinating.

But the minute they start demanding tax dollars (which taking money from universities indirectly does) so they can sit around and study this...that is when I start to object to it.

You love this stuff? Great...do it on your own time and dime...not taxpayer's.

3) You seem to think anything funded by tax dollars that does not directly benefit those in peril is wrong, or a waste? Think of all the things humans do and use tax money for, and you draw a line in the sand over this?

I don't know enough to draw a direct benefit from this to helping people, but I am sure there are plenty of uses in a roundabout way. When Darwin outlined evolution, was there a direct benefit then? What about the discovery of DNA, at the time what did that change? Now look at everything we've done with biology to improve people's lives. Would any of that have happened if not starting with the discoveries of Darwin and Crick and countless other contribution that at the time were "worthless" toil?

How much is even being spent exclusively on this? I doubt its some mind numbing amount like the 700B+ we spend on defense. Quality of life has dramatically improved since the scientific revolution. I find it hard to believe these discoveries are a net money sink.

 

[DA60]

3) You seem to think anything funded by tax dollars that does not directly benefit those in peril is wrong, or a waste? Think of all the things humans do and use tax money for, and you draw a line in the sand over this?

I don't know enough to draw a direct benefit from this to helping people, but I am sure there are plenty of uses in a roundabout way. When Darwin outlined evolution, was there a direct benefit then? What about the discovery of DNA, at the time what did that change? Now look at everything we've done with biology to improve people's lives. Would any of that have happened if not starting with the discoveries of Darwin and Crick and countless other contribution that at the time were "worthless" toil?

How much is even being spent exclusively on this? I doubt its some mind numbing amount like the 700B+ we spend on defense. Quality of life has dramatically improved since the scientific revolution. I find it hard to believe these discoveries are a net money sink.

I believe ANY scientific research that is not a direct, life-and-death benefit to society should not be funded by tax dollars...leave it to the private sector.

Like I said, I have zero against this fascinating thread subject...just make sure that tax dollars do not go towards it.


Anyway, I have already spent way more time on this then I want to...I have already stated my position.

I appreciate your rational response (as opposed to the ones from others).

Good day.