EIGHT-Billion-Year-Old Space Signal

Recently, astronomers made an astonishing discovery — a mysterious and powerful burst of radio waves reached Earth after traveling through space for 8 billion years. Dubbed FRB 20220610A, it is one of the most distant and energetic radio signals ever observed.


Fast radio bursts (FRBs), including this particular one, are extremely intense flashes of radio waves that last only milliseconds, yet their origins remain a source of great intrigue and perplexity. We still don’t know what, or who, sends these energy bursts.

The nature of these signals challenges our understanding of the universe, as they can originate from regions far beyond our Milky Way galaxy, hinting at processes and events that we are only beginning to comprehend.

Dr. Stuart Ryder, an esteemed astronomer at Macquarie University in Australia, is among the dedicated team of scientists working diligently to unravel the mysteries surrounding this cosmic enigma.

Through advanced technologies and collaborative efforts, they aim to decode the origins and implications of these fast radio bursts, potentially unlocking new insights into the fundamental workings of our universe and the forces that shape it.     READ  MORE...

Dark Matter Does Not Exist

For centuries, scientists have grappled with the fundamental forces that govern our universe, chief among them being gravity, and more recently, dark matter.

Gravity is the invisible force that attracts objects with mass towards each other, playing a crucial role in shaping the cosmos, from the formation of galaxies to the orbits of planets.

However, as our understanding of the universe has expanded, so too have the mysteries surrounding it.

Dark matter dilemma
One of the most perplexing of these mysteries is the concept of dark matter, a hypothetical form of matter that is believed to make up a significant portion of the universe’s total mass.

Unlike ordinary matter, which we can see and interact with directly, dark matter does not emit, absorb, or reflect light, making it invisible to telescopes and other detecting instruments.  READ MORE...

Code for Time Travel

Can you imagine going back in time to visit a lost loved one? This heart wrenching desire is what propelled astrophysicist Professor Ron Mallett on a lifelong quest to build a time machine. After years of research, Professor Mallett claims to have finally developed the revolutionary equation for time travel.

The idea of bending time to our will – revisiting the past, altering history, or glimpsing into the future – has been a staple of science fiction for over a century. But could it move from fantasy to reality?

The inspiration: A father’s love and a classic novel
Professor Mallett’s obsession with time travel and its equation has its roots in a shattering childhood experience. When he was just ten years old, his father, a television repairman who fostered his son’s love of science, tragically passed away from a heart attack.

Devastated, the young Mallett sought solace in books. It was H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine that sparked a lifelong fascination.

Wells’ opening lines became his mantra: “Scientific people know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?”         READ MORE...

Gravitational Wave Mystery

The merger of two black holes embodies a complex interplay of gravitational forces that twist, twirl, and ultimately collide, generating ripples and waves that resonate throughout the cosmos.

These ripples, known as gravitational waves, are subtle distortions so refined that detecting them necessitates extraordinary precision.

Since 2015, we have made significant strides in capturing these faint cosmic echoes, facilitated by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). However, we now stand on the brink of a transformative advancement that promises to bring cosmic phenomena into the confines of a laboratory.

Enter Professor Nic Shannon, the head of the Theory of Quantum Matter Unit at the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology (OIST). He leads an exceptional team that has successfully replicated the behavior of these gravitational waves using cold atoms within a quantum condensate.

This innovative approach opens up a new frontier for exploring these elusive ripples in a controlled experimental environment.       READ MORE...

Uniting Gravity, Spacetime, and Quantum Theory

In a groundbreaking announcement, physicists from University College London (UCL) have presented a radical theory that unifies the realms of gravity and quantum mechanics while preserving the classical concept of spacetime, as outlined by Einstein.

This innovative approach, detailed in two simultaneously published papers, challenges over a century of scientific consensus and proposes a revolutionary perspective on the fundamental nature of our universe.

Dichotomy in modern physics
Modern physics rests on two contradictory pillars: quantum theory, which rules the microscopic world, and Einstein’s theory of general relativity, explaining gravity through spacetime curvature. These theories, despite their individual successes, have remained irreconcilable, creating a significant rift in our understanding of the universe.  READ MORE...

Life on Mars Likely

The mystery of life’s origins on Earth has long puzzled scientists, but a recent discovery on Mars might be shedding new light on this profound question, while also inching closer to finding life on Mars.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has uncovered a patchwork of well-preserved ancient mud cracks, forming a distinctive hexagonal pattern, signaling the presence of wet-dry cycles on early Mars. These cycles could be key to the assembly of complex chemical building blocks necessary for microbial life.

A study published in Nature elaborates on the importance of this discovery. The lead author, William Rapin of France’s Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, expressed his excitement, stating, “These particular mud cracks form when wet-dry conditions occur repeatedly – perhaps seasonally.”

Mud cracks named “Pontours”
Curiosity’s ongoing exploration of Mount Sharp, which stands 5 kilometers high in Gale Crater, has brought about this groundbreaking revelation. 

In 2021, after drilling a sample from a rock target nicknamed “Pontours,” located in a transitional zone between a clay-rich layer and a layer enriched with salty minerals called sulfates, the rover spotted these telling mud cracks.  READ MORE...

Nuclear Powered Spaceships

The space race has been revived, but this time, the goal post has been shifted much further – to Mars. As recent technological advancements promise to open new horizons of exploration, NASA plans to cut the travel time to Mars with a nuclear powered spacecraft.

A trip to Mars currently takes approximately seven months, covering a staggering 300-million-mile journey. NASA, in collaboration with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), now proposes an ambitious plan that hinges on the promise of nuclear thermal propulsion technology to reduce this duration significantly.

DRACO spacecraft is nuclear powered
NASA aims to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft, known as DRACO (Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations), into Earth’s orbit either by late 2025 or early 2026. The spacecraft, under construction by Lockheed Martin, a leading aerospace and defense company, will serve as a testbed for this groundbreaking technology.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said that this technology “would allow humans to travel in deep space at record speed.” However, it remains unclear by how much the nuclear thermal propulsion technology can decrease the travel time.

DRACO is expected to provide a treasure trove of critical data that will usher in a new age of space exploration.

“We’re going to put this together, we’re going to fly this demonstration, gather a bunch of great data and really, we believe, usher in a new age for the United States [and] for humankind, to support our space exploration mission,” said Kirk Shireman, vice president of Lockheed Martin Lunar Exploration Campaigns.
Groundbreaking technology

A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR), the underpinning technology of the DRACO, boasts a thrust-to-weight ratio approximately 10,000 times greater than electric propulsion and two-to-five times more efficiency than in-space chemical propulsion.

The technology utilizes heat from a nuclear powered fission reactor to heat a hydrogen propellant, which then expands through a nozzle to provide thrust, propelling the spacecraft forward.

Increased safety needed to put humans on Mars
Apart from speeding up transit, the NTR propulsion system also promises increased safety for astronauts. Reduced travel duration translates into a decreased risk of exposure to deep-space radiation and a smaller logistical footprint due to the lesser quantity of supplies required for the trip. “If we have swifter trips for humans, they are safer trips,” said NASA deputy administrator and former astronaut Pam Melroy.  READ MORE...