Today’s stories range from How the Higgs boson destroyed the life of Peter Higgs to rogue states that could be neither “villain” nor “black holes” to The Mysterious Essence of the Fourth Dimension, and much more. Bringing you space and science news that can provide clues to the mystery of our existence, the Galaxy Report adds a much-needed cosmic perspective to our Anthropocene era.
Liquid water may exist for a long time on planets that hardly resemble Earth– long-term liquid water does not necessarily have to occur under conditions comparable to those on Earth. Researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Zurich report in a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy that favorable conditions can even exist for billions of years on planets that hardly resemble our home planet.
There are more galaxies in the universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined –Forget billions and billions. When it comes to the number of galaxies in the Universe, estimates from both theorists and observers are too low, Big Think reports. “A detailed theoretical simulation predicted much fainter, small galaxies than we’ve seen, bringing the expected total to nearly 2 trillion.”
How the Higgs boson destroyed Peter Higgs’ life-A new biography of the physicist and the particle he predicted reveals his disdain for the limelight, Scientific American reports. The particle, predicted 48 years earlier, was the missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics. The machine built in part to find this particle, the 27-kilometer-long circular Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN near Geneva, had delivered on its promise by showing signals of a new fundamental piece of nature that matched expectations for the higgs. †
Villain black holes may not be villains or black holes – Millions of invisible black holes float freely around our galaxy. Now astronomers think they can spot them, Popular Science reports.
This Mysterious Spiral Star Looks Like a Mini-Galaxy Spiral stars appear to be mini galaxies because their protomatter swirls around them, Popular Mechanics reports. “Oddly enough, it appears to be a miniature, galaxy-like spiral in our own spiral galaxy. A star like this has never been seen so close to Earth, just 26,000 light-years away.”
Infinity has long puzzled mathematicians — have we figured it out now? Mathematicians have long known that infinity comes in many sizes, but how do they relate to each other? The key lies in a 150-year-old mystery known as the continuum hypothesis, New Scientist reports.
Quantum birth of the universe – becoming a multiverse, an ever-growing fractal
5 revolutionary cosmic ideas that turned out to be wrong No matter how beautiful, elegant or compelling your idea is, if it doesn’t match observation and experiment, it’s wrong, Big Think reports. “These 5 ideas could have revolutionized our conception of the universe, but as evidence paves the way for reality, we’ve had to abandon them.”
The mystery of gravity may soon be solved using this mind-blowing new theoryreports The Debrief.
The Fourth Copernican Revolution: “Our universe can be a piece of space and time in an infinite archipelagoThe Daily Galaxy reports. “Is our part of the universe a small and atypical fragment of a vast archipelago of universes? “By the end of this century, we should be able to ask ourselves whether or not we live in a multiverse, and how much variation the constituents have” universes” show.”
Mars looks more vibrant than ever in new photos from Perseverance rover – NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover returns stunning images as it explores an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater looking for signs of life, New Scientist reports.
New maps of the Milky Way are the biggest and best yetThe latest data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission sparks a frenzy of exciting new astrophysics research, Scientific American reports. “Between reading press releases and posting photos of telescope-themed cakes on Twitter, scientists began scouring DR3 for the next big discoveries in black holes, asteroids, galactic archaeology, exoplanets and more.”
What is time? The Mysterious Essence of the Fourth Dimension – The true nature of time continues to elude us. But whether it’s a fundamental part of the cosmos or an illusion created in our minds has profound implications for our understanding of the universe, New Scientist reports.
Thinking about the mysteries of the fourth dimension is time well spent –From what it is and why it only goes one way, to how we perceive its passage and whether we could live without it, a journey exploring the many outstanding questions about time is always worthwhile, New Scientist reports.
Ancient microbes could help us find alien life forms, reports Jules Bernstein, University of California – Riverside. “Using light-trapping proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of the earliest organisms on Earth. These efforts could help us spot signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres may be more similar to our pre -oxygen planet.”
“The Exoplanet Paradox” – Low-oxygen worlds may teem with life based on Earth’s early history
Hubble sees sparkling globular cluster in the Milky Way’s bulge, reports SciNews. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacularly detailed image of the globular cluster NGC 6569.
Controversy Grows Over Whether Mars Monsters Endanger EarthPlanetary scientists are eager to bring rocks, soil and even air from the Red Planet to Earth, but critics fear the risk of contaminating our world’s biosphere, Scientific American reports.
NASA’s return to the moon begins with the launch of a 55-pound CubeSat –NASA has big plans to send astronauts back to the moon. They start with a microwave-sized private spacecraft about to take off, reports the New York Times Science.
“Information can escape a black hole, both to the outside and possibly to another universe” (Stephen Hawking’s Paradox), reports The Daily Galaxy. “It has been said that Newton gave us answers; Stephen Hawking gave us questions. A trio of physicists seems one step closer to solving the black hole’s information paradox, one of the most intriguing physics mysteries of our time.”
The mystery of planet nine could be solved sooner than you think. Is it a planet, a black hole or a group of planets? An astronomer has an ambitious idea to find out.,reports Inverse.com.
This new fast radio burst challenges what astronomers know about the powerful astronomical phenomena, reports Space.com. What can astronomers learn from this fast radio burst?
Tiny Mummy’s ‘Alien’ Appearance Finally Explained – Researchers hope their new research will resolve the debate over the origin of Ata, a naturally mummified child found in the Chilean desert, National Geographic reports.
How has consciousness evolved? An illustrated guide. Two leading voices in evolutionary consciousness science are exploring the subject through word and image, MIT reports. “What is consciousness and who (or what) is conscious – humans, non-humans, non-living beings? What types of consciousness do we recognize? In their book “Picturing the Mind” Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka, two leading voices in the evolutionary consciousness science, answers these and other questions through a series of “views”.
Can aliens teach us science?–Daniel and Jorge explain the universe–Listen on Apple Podcasts. Daniel talks to Sam Kimpton-Nye about whether aliens do science the same way we do.
Stumbling through the universes--A new cosmic kung fu film explores the meaning of existence in alternate realities, reports Dennis Overbye for New York Times Science. “A little over a century ago, astronomers could barely grasp the idea of a single universe. That idea is not big enough to fulfill the dreams of theorists. There are as many possible universes as a mind can invent, born of imagination, despair, hope, heroic mathematical extrapolation, and that old what-if mind to answer questions most of us didn’t know we had.
Could Real Planets Look Like Science Fiction? Could some of the strange planets known in science fiction exist in the actual universe, given its laws? How about Tatooine from Star Wars that revolves around “two burning suns”?
NASA pauses Psyche, a mission to a metal-rich asteroid Delays in setting up the spacecraft’s navigation software mean the mission may not reach the asteroid until 2029 or 2030, rather than 2026, the New York Times Science reports.
Compiled by the editors of The Daily Galaxy
The Galaxy Report newsletter brings you twice-weekly space and science news that can provide clues to the mystery of our existence and add a much-needed cosmic perspective to our current Anthropocene era.
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Recent Galaxy Reports:
Unmistakable signal of extraterrestrial life: what happens when China makes first contact?
Evidence of alien life in a galaxy 100 times the size of the Milky Way
Cracks in Einstein’s gravitational theory to colossal shock wave bigger than the Milky Way
Monster Comet Emerges from Oort Cloud to Black Hole Apocalypse
Chalkboard riddles by Stephen Hawking about why the universe and life exist
Einstein’s Critics to NASA Theologians Prepare for Extraterrestrial Contact
Mind-Blowing New Multiverse Theory for Milky Way Dark Matter Asteroids
Mysterious expanding regions of dark matter become black hole holograms
