Cutting-Edge News Online

If travel to distant stars within an individual’s lifetime is going to be possible, a means of faster-than-light propulsion will have to be found. To date, even recent research about superluminal (faster-than-light) transport based on Einstein’s theory of general relativity would require vast amounts of matter with “exotic” physical properties such as negative energy density. This type of matter cannot currently be found or manufactured in viable quantities. In contrast, new research carried out at the University of Göttingen gets around this problem by constructing a new class of hyper-fast ‘warp bubbles’ using sources with only positive energies. This reignites debate about the possibility of faster-than-light travel based on conventional physics.

Breaking the Warp Barrier for Faster-Than-Light Travel

NGC 2336 is the quintessential galaxy — big, beautiful and blue — and it was captured in an image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The barred spiral galaxy stretches an immense 200,000 light-years across and is located approximately 100 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).

Click Here to see Hubble’s image of this huge galaxy.

The Comet That Killed the Dinosaurs: New Theory on Origin of the Chicxulub Impactor
by Harvard University | SciTechDaily

It was tens of miles wide and forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago.

The Chicxulub impactor, as it’s known, left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and goes 12 miles deep. Its devastating impact brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an abrupt and calamitous end by triggering their sudden mass extinction, along with the end of almost three-quarters of the plant and animal species then living on Earth.

Continue reading →

A team of astronomers has confirmed the discovery of a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, which has been nicknamed “Farfarout,” was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant point to around 27 au when it is close to the Sun. (1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun.) Farfarout’s journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the massive planet Neptune’s orbit every time.

Astronomers Confirm Orbit of Most Distant Object Ever Observed in Our Solar System

A man in Scotland hopes to raise enough money to send a proponent of the Flat Earth theory into space so that they can see that the planet is actually round. He has launched a crowdfunding campaign aimed at generating around $340,000 to secure a seat on a Virgin Galactic flight into space when such trips begin later this year. Once enough people have seen the rounded shape of the Earth from orbital altitude during rocket powered tourism flights, perhaps the Flat Earth theory will become a thing of the past.

Man Seeking Funds to Send Flat Earther on Trip to Space

This article serves as an introduction to the topic of planets outside of our Solar System, one of the most important areas of research in astronomy today.

What Are Extrasolar Planets?
by Matt Williams | Universe Today

For countless generations, human beings have looked out at the night sky and wondered if they were alone in the Universe. With the discovery of other planets in our Solar System, the true extent of the Milky Way galaxy, and other galaxies beyond our own, this question has only deepened and become more profound.

And whereas astronomers and scientists have long suspected that other star systems in our galaxy and the Universe had orbiting planets of their own, it has only been within the last few decades that any have been observed. Over time, the methods for detecting these “extrasolar planets” have improved, and the list of those whose existence has been confirmed has grown accordingly (over 4000 and counting!)

Continue reading →

A Very Interesting Radio Signal Was Just Detected Coming from Proxima Centauri
by Matthew Cimone | Universe Today

There’s a powerful scene in the movie “Contact” (one of my favs) where lead character Ellie Arroway is sitting among an array of telescopes and hears the first alien signal – an ominous pulse – received by humanity. She races back to the control center where the array is pointed off target and then back to verify the signal. Contact is made. Shortly after, a message is found in the signal and we’ve confirmed the existence of alien life!

Ellie Arroway was inspired by a real-life pillar of the SETI community, Dr. Jill Tarter. I had the privilege of interviewing Jill Tarter last year and asked about that scene. She laughed saying “There’s not a lot of sitting around with headphones on. It’s not really that simple.” When it comes to analyzing signals from the stars for alien life, distinguishing a potential alien message from the noise of our own planet is quite complicated.

Continue reading →