HELP! WE ARE TRAPPED IN A GIANT COSMIC BUBBLE!

[Cain]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2008-09-30-cosmic-bubble_N.htm

Earth may be trapped in an abnormal bubble of space-time that is particularly void of matter. Scientists say this condition could account for the apparent acceleration of the universe's expansion, for which dark energy currently is the leading explanation.

Dark energy is the name given to the hypothetical force that could be drawing all the stuff in the universe outward at an ever-increasing rate. Current thinking is that 74% of the universe could be made up of this exotic dark energy, with another 21% being dark matter, and normal matter comprising the remaining 5%.

Until now, there has been no good way to choose between dark energy or the void explanation, but a new study outlines a potential test of the bubble scenario.

If we were in an unusually sparse area of the universe, then things could look farther away than they really are and there would be no need to rely on dark energy as an explanation for certain astronomical observations.

"If we lived in a very large under-density, then the space-time itself wouldn't be accelerating," said researcher Timothy Clifton of Oxford University in England. "It would just be that the observations, if interpreted in the usual way, would look like they were."

[Triple Zero]

well ... that actually makes more sense to me than whatever other "hey this cosmic constant doesnt fit, let's add another dimension to our theory" ideas i've heard so far.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

Exotic Dark Energy?



I dunno, it makes sense to a point, but then it get a bit to far "out there in speculation land" for me to take it too seriously.  I will be interested to see the publications after their "Joint Dark Energy Mission".

[Kai]

Well, if the dark void scenario is testable, its already better as a hypothesis than dark energy.

Even if it sounds completely bizarre.

[LMNO]

So, it's a race between the Higgs Boson and the "Under-Dense Bubble"?

[Cain]

I am more than willing to stick my face in an under dense bubble for science.

[LMNO]

Admit it, you just want superpowers.

[Cain]

Actually, I wanna dip my balls in it.

[Doktor Howl]

Big deal.  I'm trapped in a teeny teeny Southwester bubble, devoid of intelligence.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

If true what can we expect to be hypothesized for the evolution and death of the universe?

[Doktor Howl]

If true what can we expect to be hypothesized for the evolution and death of the universe?

You all die along with the universe, and Tucson stays forever.  And it won't let us die.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Cain did you just find this today? I looked at it real quick on the work comp and it says its from 2008.

[Doktor Howl]

Cain did you just find this today? I looked at it real quick on the work comp and it says its from 2008.

Did I forget to say "bump"?

[Disco Pickle]

Actually, I wanna dip my balls in it.

ahh I miss The State.

[Igor]

Follow-up article says No, It Was Probably Dark Energy All Along:

http://www.physorg.com/news152374990.html

Now a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia has compared new data with the predictions of various void models and standard dark energy models. Post-doctoral fellows Jim Zibin and Adam Moss, along with Professor Douglas Scott, studied supernova, cosmic microwave background, and baryon acoustic data from the early universe, and found that altogether the data fits standard dark energy models much more closely than void models. Their study is published in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.

(This one is from 2009)