New research claims to have resolved one of the biggest scientific paradoxes, first identified by Stephen Hawking in the 1970s, pertaining to black holes. Einstein’s general theory of relativity posits that anything that goes into one cannot come out, yet at the same time, the laws of quantum mechanics say that this is impossible. This contradiction raises the possibility that either theory could be flawed, a notion …
Research astronomer Varoujan Gorjian (whose team at NASA is called Structure of the Universe Group) explains Black Holes to five different individuals whose understanding exists at five different levels: a five-year old, a teenager, a grad student studying astronomy, and an expert. In the fascinating video for WIRED, super-personable Gorjian begins by explaining how gravity works and ends up discussing low-luminosity active galactic nuclei. While …
Recent considerations may render everything we think we know about the cosmos untrue. Researchers currently ponder whether or not space, which was once considered constant and guided by the arrow of time, is actually made up of an ever-changing mass of bubbles that contain mini-universes—which they’re referring to as “Spacetime Foam.” This phenomenon could explain plenty of gaps in various research fields—from physics and quantum …
