Oct 26, 2023 05:51 AM
The golden age of astrobiology will change everything
https://bigthink.com/13-8/little-book-al...robiology/
EXCERPTS: As you read these words, the human species is poised at the edge of its greatest and most important journey. Over the past three decades, the scientific search for life in the Universe — a field called astrobiology — has exploded. We’ve discovered planets everywhere in the galaxy, and we’ve figured out how and where to look for signs of alien life in the atmospheres of these new worlds.
[...] All these new discoveries, from exoplanets to Earth’s deep history, are transforming what we think of as SETI. A new research field is rising that scientists are calling technosignatures, which embraces the “classic” efforts of SETI while taking the search for intelligent life into new forms and directions. Knowing that the galaxy is awash in planets means we now know exactly where and how to look for alien civilizations.
[...] So now, finally, we are on the road to finding those aliens I was so obsessed with as a kid. Or we’re on the road to finding out we really are alone in the cosmos. Either answer would be stunning. It’s a pretty damn exciting moment... (MORE - missing details)
Largest-ever computer simulation of the universe escalates cosmology dilemma
https://www.space.com/largest-computer-s...-s8-debate
EXCERPT: . . . The reason it's a big deal that the team's new simulation doesn't offer an answer to S8 tension is, unlike previous simulations that only considered the effects of dark matter on an evolving universe, the latest work takes into account the effects of ordinary matter too. In contrast to dark matter, ordinary matter is governed by gravity as well as pressure from gas across the universe. For example, galactic winds driven by supernova explosions and actively accreting supermassive black holes are crucial processes that redistribute ordinary matter by blowing its particles out into intergalactic space.
However, even the new work's consideration of ordinary matter as well as some of the most extreme galactic winds was not sufficient to explain the weak clumping of matter observed in the present-day universe.
"Here I am at a loss," Schaye told Space.com. "An exciting possibility is that the tension is pointing to shortcomings in the standard model of cosmology, or even the standard model of physics."
So, where did this S8 tension originate?
"We don't know, which is what makes this so exciting," Ian McCarthy, a theoretical astrophysicist at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. and the co-author of three new studies, told Space.com.
Computer simulations, however, like those carried out by FLAMINGO could be bringing us a step closer. They may help reveal the cause of S8 tension because a grand, virtual map of the cosmos might assist with identifying possible errors in our current measurements... (MORE - missing details)
https://bigthink.com/13-8/little-book-al...robiology/
EXCERPTS: As you read these words, the human species is poised at the edge of its greatest and most important journey. Over the past three decades, the scientific search for life in the Universe — a field called astrobiology — has exploded. We’ve discovered planets everywhere in the galaxy, and we’ve figured out how and where to look for signs of alien life in the atmospheres of these new worlds.
[...] All these new discoveries, from exoplanets to Earth’s deep history, are transforming what we think of as SETI. A new research field is rising that scientists are calling technosignatures, which embraces the “classic” efforts of SETI while taking the search for intelligent life into new forms and directions. Knowing that the galaxy is awash in planets means we now know exactly where and how to look for alien civilizations.
[...] So now, finally, we are on the road to finding those aliens I was so obsessed with as a kid. Or we’re on the road to finding out we really are alone in the cosmos. Either answer would be stunning. It’s a pretty damn exciting moment... (MORE - missing details)
Largest-ever computer simulation of the universe escalates cosmology dilemma
https://www.space.com/largest-computer-s...-s8-debate
EXCERPT: . . . The reason it's a big deal that the team's new simulation doesn't offer an answer to S8 tension is, unlike previous simulations that only considered the effects of dark matter on an evolving universe, the latest work takes into account the effects of ordinary matter too. In contrast to dark matter, ordinary matter is governed by gravity as well as pressure from gas across the universe. For example, galactic winds driven by supernova explosions and actively accreting supermassive black holes are crucial processes that redistribute ordinary matter by blowing its particles out into intergalactic space.
However, even the new work's consideration of ordinary matter as well as some of the most extreme galactic winds was not sufficient to explain the weak clumping of matter observed in the present-day universe.
"Here I am at a loss," Schaye told Space.com. "An exciting possibility is that the tension is pointing to shortcomings in the standard model of cosmology, or even the standard model of physics."
So, where did this S8 tension originate?
"We don't know, which is what makes this so exciting," Ian McCarthy, a theoretical astrophysicist at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. and the co-author of three new studies, told Space.com.
Computer simulations, however, like those carried out by FLAMINGO could be bringing us a step closer. They may help reveal the cause of S8 tension because a grand, virtual map of the cosmos might assist with identifying possible errors in our current measurements... (MORE - missing details)