an artist’s illustration of gravitational waves, showing spiral ripples on a gridded surface emerging from two merging spheres Gravitational waves emitted when distant black holes collide and merge, ringing the very fabric of space-time like bells, could be used to help measure how fast the universe is expanding, according to a new study. Since the … Read more
Time is relative, as they say, especially for mid-day meals. As special relativity shows, the measurement of any two clocks depends on their motion relative to each other. The higher their relative speeds, the slower each clock is relative to each other. So, since we see distant galaxies moving away from us, we should also … Read more
In a groundbreaking study, scientists used quasars as cosmic clocks to observe the early universe moving in extreme slow motion, further validating Einstein’s theory of general relativity. By examining data from nearly 200 quasars, hyperactive supermassive black holes at the centers of the first galaxies, the team found that time seemed to flow five times … Read more
Saturday 1 July (Canada Day!), the ESA Euclid space telescope lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. This next-generation astrophysics mission will spend the next few weeks flying to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, where it will spend the next six years observing a third of the sky. During that time, Euclid will observe billions … Read more
According to Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation, gravity is an action at a distance, where one object feels the influence of another regardless of distance. This became a central feature of classical Newtonian physics which remained the accepted canon for over two hundred years. In the 20th century, Einstein began reconceptualizing gravity with … Read more
