What will be the ultimate fate of the universe? It may end in bitter cold, if we believe this year's Nobel laureates in physics
The Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics to three researchers. Half of the prize amount will be awarded to Sol Perlmutter of the Cosmological Supernova Project, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and the University of California, Berkeley, and the other half will be divided between Brian Schmidt, the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University in Boston Creek and Prof. ' Adam Rees, High-z Supernova team leader at Jones University Hopkins in Baltimore for his discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.
"Some will say that the world will end in fire, others in ice" - *
What will be the ultimate fate of the universe? It may end in bitter cold, if we believe this year's Nobel laureates in physics. They studied several dozen exploding stars, known as supernovae, and discovered that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate. The revelation came as a complete surprise even to the winners themselves.
In 1998, the world of cosmology was shaken to its core when two research teams presented their findings. The team, led by Saul Perlmutter, began work in 2009. Brian Schmidt led another team that began operating in 1994 while Adam Rice played an important role in it.
The researchers joined the race to map the universe using the quality of most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as powerful walking computers as well as digital image sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics 2009) opened up the possibility in the XNUMXs to connect more pieces of information to the cosmological puzzle.
The team used a particular type of supernova known as Ia. These are the explosions of an old compact star that has a mass similar to that of the Sun but the size of the Earth. A single supernova of this type can emit as much light as an entire galaxy.
In conclusion, the two research teams discovered 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected - which was a sign that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The chance of error was great, but the scientists found confirmation of this in the fact that both teams reached the same amazing find.
For nearly a century it was known that the universe was expanding as a result of the big bang 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that the spread is accelerating is amazing. If the expansion continues at the current rate, the universe will become cold.
The acceleration is due to the existence of dark energy, but its essence remains a mystery - perhaps the biggest mystery in physics today. What is known about it is that it contains about three-quarters of the universe, so the findings of the 2011 Nobel laureates will help reveal the universe in the finest detail known to science, and anything is possible again.
* Robert Frost, Ice and Fire, 1920
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Elisaf,
At least statistically, about 23% of the Nobel Prize winners for their generations are Jews. If you focus only on the exact sciences, then you pass the 35%. It's crazy!
There is no choice but to conclude that this means that the Jews really are, on average, smarter than everyone else.
If anyone has another explanation, apart from an international Jewish conspiracy (which also requires intelligence...) I would love to hear it
Adam Adom is right. And this discovery can have a tremendous impact on many fields of physics, and change or expand existing theories, in the variety of important theories in physics. In addition, from the early days of the development of science, the universe was the main subject that man explored. It's really amazing to see responses like that chemistry student who is looking for "useful research". If the research was only looking for benefit and practicality, we would still be at the beginning, what's more, the benefit is often only understood in retrospect.
Perhaps we will repeat my father's response:
"Reese too, and in total five out of the six Nobel laureates in the last two days - all three from yesterday and two out of the three from today. It's just a shame that there aren't many Israelis in the pool, and with the way the Israeli education system has looked in the last 20 years, the pool will be greatly depleted."
1. At least we got to see that there is an Israeli in the pool...
2. Five out of six, or six out of seven when we count the chemistry, what is the explanation for this statistic?
For a chemistry student: this is such a sensational discovery that it overshadows the discoveries of most of the recipients of the Nobel Prize for Physics in recent years (with all due respect) and perhaps more than that. The discovery opens the door to new directions in physics that they did not even know existed and did not foresee.
I wonder what an ant sees when it is stepped on, a shrinking universe.
To conclude from what you can see about the whole universe is not serious, especially if you don't see and don't know how big the universe is.
It looks like a science fiction Nobel Prize,
Next year they will also give out awards for astrology and coffee reading, how do I know that, I infer that.
The expansion of the universe seems to me very deserving of a Nobel Prize mainly because it went against the consensus, forcing scientists to decide on dark energy.
Good Day
Sabdarmish Yehuda
The universe has been cooling since its birth until today and it is likely that it will continue this process.
As we know, the universe began with the big bang in which enormous energy was concentrated in a small point, and since then the universe has been expanding until today, and will continue to expand, they say, until the rest of all energy dies out.
What is it like?
In my imagination, I see that it is similar to a charged battery that has a concentration of energy on one side and when it is connected to electric circuits, processes are created until the battery is depleted and equalized.
another example:
A lake of water trapped in a high place that flows water to a low place, a situation that describes a concentration of energy in the high place. During the flow of water from the higher place to the lower one, processes are created, such as: the water moves a wheel, the wheel moves a mill and this one grinds wheat and more... All this can continue as long as there is water in the higher place and will stop when the water is emptied and equal.
In the cases mentioned I see that there is a movement of energy from a state of concentration (inequality) to a state of equality.
So is our universe, passing from a state of concentration (the big bang) to equilibrium (a cold universe).
I wonder what will happen to the black holes in the process, will the energy inside them remain trapped forever or will they explode at some point.
Nobel Prize for discovering the expansion of the universe?!
Are there no physicists left, who made somewhat more useful discoveries, to whom the prize can be given?
The discovery of the expansion of the universe is a spicy discovery, but in my opinion not worthy of a Nobel Prize.
Meet, you were right, I have now interviewed three who know them.
Shaul Perlmutter and Adam Guy Rice are probably Jewish. I don't know about Schmidt, but it definitely sounds like a Jewish name. Yesterday in biology everyone was Jewish. It's pretty amazing.
This is actually a certificate of poverty for the State of Israel and not pride because if the Jewish head is so successful but when he is in the State of Israel then he is unable to achieve such achievements - this says something about the "supportive" environment.
Someone once said that the Nobel Prize and Jews is a titutia prize (prostitution). All in all, it's good to know that there are people who go out of their way to provide quality, ground-breaking science to everyone else.
On behalf of everyone else - thank you.
Rees too, and a total of five out of the six Nobel winners in the last two days - all three from yesterday and two out of the three from today. It's just a shame that there aren't many Israelis in the pool, and with the way the Israeli education system has looked in the last 20 years, the pool will be greatly depleted.
No physicist or astrophysicist predicted that the universe was accelerating. It was a big surprise to everyone. Black Swan.
Does anyone know if there are Jews among this year's Nobel winners?
(Sol Perlmutter sounds like a Jewish name)