Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed

[hunter]

Scientists say they have extraordinary new evidence to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe.

Researchers believe they have found the signal left in the sky by the super-rapid expansion of space that must have occurred just fractions of a second after everything came into being.

It takes the form of a distinctive twist in the oldest light detectable with telescopes.




Gravitational waves from inflation put a distinctive twist pattern in the polarisation of the CMB

--more--

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26605974

This is the big news the buzz has been about!

[longship]

1. Gravitational waves, the last unconfirmed prediction of General Relativity.

There's likely a Nobel prize in somebody's future if this holds up.

Einstein really nailed this.

[JayhawkSD]

2. Well, they also have indications which refute the "big bang theory"

There is something to do with an explanation for gamma ray bursts, explained by black holes releasing their "Plank stars," which scientists say would resolve the conflict between Einstein's general relativity theory and modern quantum mechanics. The gist is that it would refute the "big bang" theory and lead to a "bounce theory" where the universe expands and collapses.

More in this article. Point is "we was not there," and we don't freaking know. It's all theories, and from pretty scant evidence at that.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. ' Point is "we was not there," '

True, but we're never going to meet anyone who was.

So educated guesses are the best that we have.

[hunter]

6. We were not there? What's that got to do with anything?

"We were not there" is one of those strange arguments Creationists use.

I avoid huffington post links, the site doesn't like my computer because I don't have flash installed and I reject much of its advertising, so it often times out on me.

Here's Katia Moskvitch's awesome home page:

http://www.katiamoskvitch.com

(My own "theories of everything" are just play and much stranger than "bounce," but that's to be expected because I'm not an astro or quantum physicist.)

[caraher]

7. Few cosmologists would call the evidence "scant"

The cosmic microwave background is pervasive and persuasive.

There are lots of big unknowns out there, including what most of the universe is made of. But the evidence for some version of a "big bang" - and I'd include "big bounce" theories as variants rather than alternatives - is quite strong.

[JayhawkSD]

8. Well, the point I was trying to make,

was that it is truely remarkable that we are able even to make guess from evidence that is light years away and invisible to the naked eye, to be able to even surmise from such tiny clues. I find such theories fascinating and amazing.

I keep forgetting that this is a place filled with people who are eager to interpret remarks in the most negative manner possible, and always assume that people are hostile to their cause.

[hunter]

9. Sorry if I came off as hostile!

(Irked by Huffington Post, not you...)

[TalkingDog]

3. Looks like the path of a balloon deflating.

n/t

[Vashta Nerada]

5. Phil Plait says it best about this:

But what does this meant to you? Well, that’s up to you, of course. Most of us can live our daily lives without worrying overly much about gravitational waves, subatomic particles, or what the Universe was like in the tiniest sliver of the first moment of its existence.

But think about that: We can understand what the Universe was like in the tiniest sliver of the first moment of its existence! These aren’t wild guesses, or just-so stories, or fanciful myths. This work is the result of an intense amount of research, the application of math, science, physics, and technology over hundreds of years, the painstaking acquisition of knowledge that must withstand the fires of scientific scrutiny and skepticism to survive. And so far, they have.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/03/17/evidence_of_inflation_astronomers_detect_gravitational_waves_from_the_early.html

[HillWilliam]

10. Here's another link to Scientific American

[link:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravity-waves-cmb-b-mode-polarization/|

[red dog 1]

11. Thanks for the link

[HillWilliam]

13. You bet!

Here's another from that came across my feed this morning. My notion of cosmology may be extremely thin but I still find these articles to be fascinating.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2014/03/18/bicep2-makes-waves-in-cosmology-now-what/

[red dog 1]

12. K&R...Thanks for posting