Saturday, May 11

A Glitch in Einstein's Theory


This James Webb Space Telescope deep-field image shows some of the earliest and most distant galaxies ever seen. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI)






There is no denying the awesome predictive power of Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity — yet, the theory still has inconsistencies when it comes to calculating its effect on vast distances. And new research suggests these inconsistencies could be the result of a "cosmic glitch" in gravity itself.


In the 109 years since it was first formulated, general relativity has remained our finest description of gravity on a galactic scale; time and again, experiments have confirmed its accuracy. This theory has also been used to predict aspects of the universe that would later be observationally confirmed. This includes the Big Bang, the existence of black holes, the gravitational lensing of light and tiny ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves.


Yet, like the Newtonian theory of gravity that it surpassed, general relativity may not offer us the full picture of this enigmatic force.  READ MORE...

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