OT - "major" space science discovery to be announced Monday
A big-name US astrophysics research center has a "major discovery" to be announced Monday afternoon:
http://www.space.com/25066-major-astrophysics-discovery-announcement-monday.html
I scanned some blogs and, aside from jokes (like, "the aliens who stole the Malasian airplane"), there's no consensus of what the announcement will be. Some of the possibilities:
-- An Earth-like planet -- something around Earth's mass, in the "habitable zone" of a star
-- Confirmation of the "multiverse" theory, which would hugely change our perception of just what "is" the universe
-- The nature of dark matter and/or dark energy, which if true would be like instant-Nobel prize for whomever figured it out. Although, this particular center isn't likely to be home to that kind of discovery; that's more theoretical than observational.
OR THE HOLY GRAIL:
-- Confirmation of alien life detected via signals.
That last one would be so ridiculously huge, there's a suspicion no one could keep it under wraps. You'd need it confirmed ten and twenty times over, and by then, someone would spill the beans. And it probably wouldn't just be a "major discovery" -- it wuold be something like, "OMG THIS IS SO FRICKIN HUGELY IMPORTANT Y'ALL BETTER GET YOUR BUTTS HERE TO LISTEN ON MONDAY." That's a couple degrees above "major."
Any guesses?
Let me guess. Staee recruting has reached the edge of the universe. I knew it would happen.
that or Obama's finally building that Death Star he was supposed to
"three stars."
Black holes are portals to a tea-and-crumpets house?
The Borealis?
Flippancy aside, I am intrigued. If I had to guess, I'd say it'd be that they discovered an Earth-like planet somewhere. They've been building towards that for a while.
The Kepler telescope has been finding a bunch of candidate planets. It was really only a matter of time until one of them turned out to be both a planet and "Earth-like."
Also, I hate the shit out of the term "habitable zone." It's short-sighted and anthropocentric.
Given the vast amounts of space, don't you think it makes the most sense to focus searches on area the would have a comparable climate to earth? After all, life as we know it is only capable of surviving in a climate similar to ours. Short-sighted yes, but logical to look there first? of course.
It's of course more efficient and rational to look there first. But that doesn't make me like the term "habitable zone" any more.
It assumes life would require liquid water, and the habitable zone is simply the area around a star where liquid water would exist. It might be 180 degrees F, so uninhabitable by our standards, but it would be habitable by some life form. We are actually barely in the habitable zone for the Sun, as a lot of our water is actually frozen, but it works for us.
Maybe for Earth-like life, but it's entirely possible that life in some other form could exist in a radically different environment that would require a different form of sustenance than liquid water. I would not be surprised to find at least some form of primitive organism in our solar system once we properly explore all the moons.
"Barely in the habitable zone"?? C'mon, it's not like this is an ice planet like Hoth. Oceans cover over 70% of earth.
Beat me to it.
will have to tune in tonight, they should have a wild discussion about this.
Thanks for posting
I'm not talking about little green men, just bacteria (or something similarly small).
EDIT: I guess that doens't really fall under the umbrella of astrophysics.
Dan Dakitch told Tom Crean he couldn't find Uranus with both hands???
If it's SO MAJOR, why wait so long for the reveal? It's probably something cool, but not Earth-shattering.
But, maybe it is Earth-shattering. Have you seen Armageddon?
Must not be worried too much about filling out brackets.
(My focus Monday won't be on their discoveries.)
This is exactly what I was thinking. Why wait if it is seemingly so important? I have to imagine this is a big deal to the scientists, but not the general population.
I'm actually undecided if this is NSFW or not.
Mrs Kass approves. It's fine
That cheerleader gif made me LOL.
Wooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No chance of being shutout; I feel the same way on every Wolverine first score in a football game.
The UI dude is Piccolo's brother........ Gigolo.
There be bitches in space?
They are called "Russians"
Insider: Moon Pies aren't really from outer space.
Things have begun to trend towards the dicovery of an earth sized planet in the habitable zone. Really excited to see.
- A planet way out in the Kuiper belt or Oort cloud
- A very dim star much closer to home than the Centauri system
If it's a "major" announcement that most people will care about, it will have to be "OMG aliens" or something close to home.
Don't get me wrong, I like science-y stuff. But the fact that it wasn't "earth" shattering enough to immediately come out and say what the big deal is and are instead waiting until Monday to have a presentation on it, most likely means that to the average person, the news won't necessarily be all that interesting or relevant. In either case, I look forward hearing about what the major discovery is.
I think that was a reference to "Contact," so it might be okay.
aliens cue the meme
Could be a sign of a major ocean below the crust.
ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
This is what the community thinks it is:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/14/gravitational-waves-big-bang-universe-bicep
"Gravitational Waves"
It appears to be confirmation/conclusive proof of the Big Bang Theory. Specifically inflation which is a major component of the Big Bang.
That would be huge, and it would confirm the theories that have been gaining popularity.
With all of the research NASA does and all of the onknown in the universe, something had to come sooner or later.
someone finally successfully convinced NASA that there is gravity in space?