http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/universe/ en-us Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:42:12 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043344/posts Hi folks - I myself often battled innerly with how I stand in things religious. I studied the Bible in its entirety very carefully, and did a lot of other reading (e.g. about the ancient Greek and Roman view on religion). I do have respect for people who take the agnostic stance - if you don't have gone through religious experiences, and your conscience tells you so, then it is absolutely respectable to say: 'I don't know' (the great philosopher Imanuel Kant, himself a devout religious man, wrote this almost literally). My own view on this topic: I have great... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2043344/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:42:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035238/posts Ancient_antarctic_microbes_2_2 The unusual properties of frozen water may have been the ticket that made life possible. Over the decades, several notable scientists have began to suspect that life on Earth did not evolve in a warm primordial soup, but in ice—at temperatures that few living things can now tolerate. The very laws of chemistry may have actually favored ice, says Jeffrey Bada, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. “We’ve been arguing for a long time,” he says, “that cold conditions make much more sense, chemically, than warm conditions.” If Bada and others are correct, it would... Daily Galaxy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035238/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:33:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025947/posts BALTIMORE — Mario Livio tossed his car keys in the air. They rose ever more slowly, paused, shining, at the top of their arc, and then in accordance with everything our Galilean ape brains have ever learned to expect, crashed back down into his hand. That was the whole problem, explained Dr. Livio, a theorist at the Space Telescope Science Institute here on the Johns Hopkins campus. A decade ago, astronomers discovered that what is true for your car keys is not true for the galaxies. Having been impelled apart by the force of the Big Bang, the galaxies, in... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025947/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 18:07:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1997430/posts This is a video of some of earth’s universe grandeur. The song is, God Is So Good, sung by children. The pictures and images were taken by Hubble telescope and the last image is called the Cat’s Eye Nebula. YouTube Video (o7jimmy) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1997430/posts#comment Sun, 6 Apr 2008 02:42:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1991187/posts Images from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a so-called "ring of dark matter" circling a galaxy cluster. Does dark matter exist? Or is electricity a better explanation for the structure of the universe? {Galaxy Cluster CL0024+17 with an overlay showing a supposed dark matter ring. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. J. Jee and H. Ford et al. (Johns Hopkins University)} In a recent announcement, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) reported the discovery of something in deep space that seems to confirm previously inferred observations of "dark matter." Although "dark matter" cannot be seen or detected by instruments, its... Thunderbolts.info http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1991187/posts#comment Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:53:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1989628/posts WASHINGTON - The explosion of a star halfway across the universe was so huge it set a record for the most distant object that could be seen on Earth by the naked eye. The aging star, in a previously unknown galaxy, exploded in a gamma ray burst 7.5 billion light years away, its light finally reaching Earth early Wednesday. The gamma rays were detected by NASA's Swift satellite at 2:12 a.m. "We'd never seen one before so bright and at such a distance," NASA's Neil Gehrels said. It was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. However, NASA... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1989628/posts#comment Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:07:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976091/posts Heads up! Tomorrow night (February 26, 2008 at 9:00 PM), the History Channel will air a new segment of their Universe series that could be very interesting. It will try to address what was before the Big Bang. This is a subject I don't see anyway of discussing without raising religious beliefs. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976091/posts#comment Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:30:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1963508/posts The Beatles are about to become radio stars in a whole new way. NASA on Monday will broadcast the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star. This first-ever beaming of a radio song by the space agency directly into deep space is nostalgia-driven. It celebrates the 40th anniversary of the song, the 45th anniversary of NASA's Deep Space Network, which communicates with its distant probes, and the 50th anniversary of NASA. "Send my love to the aliens," Paul McCartney told NASA through a Beatles historian. "All the best, Paul." The song, written by McCartney... Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1963508/posts#comment Fri, 1 Feb 2008 23:26:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1952378/posts Perfectly Aligned Galaxies Found For the First Time John Roach for National Geographic NewsJanuary 11, 2008 Astronomers have found three galaxies in a never before seen perfect alignment—a discovery that may help scientists better understand the mysterious dark matter and dark energy believed to dominate the universe. The three galaxies are like beads on a string, one directly behind the other, scientists announced yesterday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas. This makes the massive galaxy closest to Earth appear nestled in a pair of circular halos known as Einstein rings. The phenomenon occurs because the... National Geographic News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1952378/posts#comment Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:29:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1951034/posts Mysterious Explosion Detected In The Distant Past, Halfway Back To Big BangNobody knows how the short gamma-ray burst GRB 070714B was triggered, but a leading possibility is the in-spiral and merger of two neutron stars, depicted in this artist rendition. (Credit: NASA/Dana Berry) ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2008) — Using the powerful one-two combo of NASA’s Swift satellite and the Gemini Observatory, astronomers have detected a mysterious type of cosmic explosion farther back in time than ever before. The explosion, known as a short gamma-ray burst (GRB), took place 7.4 billion years ago, more than halfway back to the Big Bang.... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1951034/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jan 2008 21:58:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1931530/posts The void: Imprint of another universe? 24 November 2007 Marcus Chown Magazine issue 2631 IN AUGUST, radio astronomers announced that they had found an enormous hole in the universe. Nearly a billion light years across, the void lies in the constellation Eridanus and has far fewer stars, gas and galaxies than usual. It is bigger than anyone imagined possible and is beyond the present understanding of cosmology. What could cause such a gaping hole? One team of physicists has a breathtaking explanation: "It is the unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own," says Laura Mersini-Houghton of... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1931530/posts#comment Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:06:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930204/posts Mankind 'shortening the universe's life' By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 21/11/2007 Forget about the threat that mankind poses to the Earth: our activities may be shortening the life of the universe too. The startling claim is made by a pair of American cosmologists investigating the consequences for the cosmos of quantum theory, the most successful theory we have. Over the past few years, cosmologists have taken this powerful theory of what happens at the level of subatomic particles and tried to extend it to understand the universe, since it began in the subatomic realm during the... Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930204/posts#comment Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:19:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928969/posts HAVE we hastened the demise of the universe by looking at it? That’s the startling question posed by a pair of physicists, who suggest that we may have accidentally nudged the universe closer to its death by observing dark energy, which is thought to be speeding up cosmic expansion. Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and colleague James Dent suggest that by making this observation in 1998 we may have caused the universe to revert to a state similar to early in its history, when it was more likely to end. “Incredible as it seems, our... EurekAlert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928969/posts#comment Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:55:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900968/posts To the ancients, exploding stars were bad news. To astronomer Adam Riess, poring over data from a telescope in Chile, it looked like supernovas were still cursed. He and his colleagues were measuring the brightness and distance of supernovas in order to figure out the little matter of whether the universe would end in fire or in ice. Would it halt its expansion and collapse back on itself in a gnab gib (that's the reverse of the big bang, and passes for humor among astronomers) or expand forever, its light and warmth fading into eternal cold and darkness? But when... Newsweek http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900968/posts#comment Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:07:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1885713/posts WASHINGTON - Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there. The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing. That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday. Astronomers have known for many years that there are patches in the universe where nobody's home. In fact, one such place is practically a neighbor, a mere 2 million light years... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1885713/posts#comment Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:36:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834725/posts For a long time, Itzhak Bars has been studying time. More than a decade ago, the USC College physicist began pondering the role time plays in the basic laws of physics — the equations describing matter, gravity and the other forces of nature.Those laws are exquisitely accurate. Einstein mastered gravity with his theory of general relativity, and the equations of quantum theory capture every nuance of matter and other forces, from the attractive power of magnets to the subatomic glue that holds an atom’s nucleus together. But the laws can’t be complete. Einstein’s theory of gravity and quantum theory don’t... PhysOrg.com | USC College http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834725/posts#comment Wed, 16 May 2007 20:43:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1831966/posts Long before our solar system formed and even before the Milky Way assumed its final spiral shape, a star slightly smaller than the Sun blazed into life in our galaxy, formed from the newly scattered remains of the first stars in the universe. Employing techniques similar to those used to date archeological remains here on Earth, scientists have learned that a metal-poor star in our Milky Way called HE 1523 is 13.2 billion years old-just slightly younger than 13.7 billion year age of the universe. Our solar system is estimated to be only about 4.6 billion years old. The findings... www.space.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1831966/posts#comment Fri, 11 May 2007 15:09:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1819519/posts MISS Mexico is redesigning her Miss Universe pageant dress - because it is too violent. The floor-length dress, belted by bullets and including sketches of hangings and firing squads from Mexico's 1920s Catholic uprising, during which tens of thousands died, has outraged Mexicans. news.com.au http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1819519/posts#comment Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:49:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1803546/posts Roger Highfield describes a heroic mathematical enterprise that could lay bare the fundamentals of the cosmosMathematicians have successfully scaled their equivalent of Mount Everest. Today they unveil the answer to a problem that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan. At the most basic level, the calculation is an arcane investigation of symmetry – in this case of an object that is 57 dimensional, rather than the usual three dimensional ones that we are familiar with. Although this object was first discovered in the 19th century. there is evidence that it could contain... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1803546/posts#comment Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:34:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1801097/posts Last night, nearly 3,000 people received a mini lesson on the origin of the universe from perhaps the world’s most famous cosmologist, Stephen Hawking. Hawking spoke to a packed audience in Zellerbach Hall about how Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum theory explained the creation of the universe. ... His lecture, which touched upon subjects such as black holes and spacetime, was peppered with quips that drew laughs from the audience. “If one believed that the universe had a beginning, the obvious question was, what happened before the beginning,” Hawking said. “What was God doing before He made... The Daily Californian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1801097/posts#comment Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:15:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1788243/posts Germany's Muslim population is becoming more religious and more conservative. Islamic associations are fostering the trend, particularly through their work with the young -- accelerating the drift towards a parallel Muslim society. A member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Berlin. It's the silence that visitors notice first. No children's laughter, no chatter, no pop music. A Protestant minister familiar with the noise level in children's homes describes the atmosphere as "very spooky." This Friday, at the end of Ramadan, it is especially hushed in the green house on Hochfeldstrasse in Duisburg, a city near Düsseldorf. Quietly, the boys remove... spiegel.de http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1788243/posts#comment Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:38:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1782491/posts Our place in the cosmos has been a source of fascination since the first human looked up at the splendor of the night sky.  Every culture has reacted to the spectacle of the heavens with various sorts of religious awe.  Babylonians watched the stars for omens, as did the Chinese.  Petroglyphs in North America record novas.  Greek gods are bound up with the constellations.  Vanished cultures erected immense monuments like Stonehenge with an eye on the movements of the heavens.  Egypt was rocked by a religious reform movement led by Akhenaten, who worshiped one god: the Sun.The sense of wonder... Catholic Exchange http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1782491/posts#comment Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:16:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765519/posts Astronomers have proposed an improved method of searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life using instruments like one now under construction in Australia. The Low Frequency Demonstrator (LFD) of the Mileura Wide-Field Array (MWA), a facility for radio astronomy, theoretically could detect Earth-like civilizations around any of the 1,000 nearest stars. "Soon, we may be eavesdropping on signals from Galactic civilizations," says theorist Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "This is the first time in history that humans will be capable of finding a civilization like ours among the stars." Loeb will present his findings on Wednesday, January 10,... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765519/posts#comment Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:00:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746101/posts Is this a joke? No, say a bunch of physicists. One day, it may be possible for a person to create a universe! This is not going to happen tomorrow. Not even close. But according to Columbia University physics professor Brian Greene, it is theoretically not impossible (which is his way of saying the possibilities are not zero) that one day, a person could build a universe. The very idea is so startling it's hard to know what this means. Think about it this way: One day (far off, no doubt), it may be possible to go into a laboratory... NPR http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746101/posts#comment Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:19:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1745240/posts This thread is a continuation of the first thread "Questions For Atheists & Non-Atheists" Some points were brought up that I wish to address here. I look forward to the responses. Taken from one of my dictionaries in my personal library: "Occam's Razor. A principle devised by the English philospher William of Occam, which states that entities must not be multiplied beyond what is necessary. In a scientific context, Occam's Razor is the choice of the simplest theory from among the theories which fit what we know. In logic, Occam's Razor is the statement of an argument in its essential... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1745240/posts#comment Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:09:43 GMT