NASA
recently released a stunning photo of an unexpectedly turquoise sand
dune on Mars, shot in January. Alfred McEwen, Ph.D., one of the
scientists who ...
Science
News: WASHINGTON: The last reservoir of ordinary matter that had so far
evaded detection has been located in the space between galaxies
existing as ...
Spectrum: NASA/CXC/Univ. of California Irvine/T. Fang. Illustration: CXC/M. Weiss
The warm-hot
intergalactic medium (WHIM) has been seen before, along incredibly
overdense regions, like the Sculptor wall, illustrated above. But it's
conceivable that there are still surprises out there in the Universe,
and our current understanding will once again be subject to a
revolution.
For over 40 years, scientists have argued over dark matter's existence.
Wikimedia Commons user Stefania.deluca
The extended
rotation curve of M33, the Triangulum galaxy. These rotation curves of
spiral galaxies ushered in the modern astrophysics concept of dark
matter to the general field. The dashed curve would correspond to a
galaxy without dark matter, which represents less than 1% of galaxies.
Big questions arose from the motions inside galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and along the cosmic web.
Ralf Kaehler, Oliver Hahn and Tom Abel (KIPAC)
The cosmic web is
driven by dark matter, with the largest-scale structure set by the
expansion rate and dark energy. The small structures along the filaments
form by the collapse of normal, electromagnetically-interacting matter.
From their gravity, we can infer the total mass in the Universe.
NASA, modified by Wikimedia Commons user 老陳, modified further by E. Siegel
The matter and
energy content in the Universe at the present time (left) and at earlier
times (right). Multiple lines of evidence indicate that normal (atomic)
matter can only compose 1/6th of the total matter in the Universe; the
remainder must be dark matter.
Yet multiple sources indicate that only 15% of that mass can be baryonic: made of normal matter.
Chris Blake and Sam Moorfield
The density
fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background provide the seeds for
modern cosmic structure to form, including stars, galaxies, clusters of
galaxies, filaments, and large-scale cosmic voids.
If there were more, the:
temperature imperfections in the cosmic microwave background,
galaxy correlations in large-scale structure,
and abundances of the light elements,
Recommended by Forbes
would be different.
NASA / WMAP Science Team
The predicted
abundances of helium-4, deuterium, helium-3 and lithium-7 as predicted
by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, with observations shown in the red circles.
This indicates that 5% of the total energy density, and ~15% of the
total matter, is in normal matter, and no more.
Many nevertheless wondered: could normal matter be hiding — and gravitating — entirely without dark matter?
NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)
An illustration of a
slice of the cosmic web, as viewed by Hubble. The missing matter we can
detect through electromagnetic signals is the normal matter alone; the
dark matter is unaffected.
Scientists set out to measure all the normal matter in the Universe, including stars, planets, gas, dust, and more.
A 3D, reconstructed
map of the total mass distribution in the cosmos. There wasn't enough
normal matter to account for this, so new search techniques needed to be
devised to discover where, and how much, normal matter is truly,
totally out there.
Only ~20% was within galaxies and clusters; about another 35% was found along filaments and in cosmic voids.
Illustris Collaboration / Illustris Simulation
The formation of
cosmic structure, on both large scales and small scales, is highly
dependent on how dark matter and normal matter interact. Despite the
indirect evidence for dark matter, it's vitally important to count up
all the normal matter and make sure it cannot account for what's assumed
to be missing.
Still, nearly half the normal matter remained missing, assumed hiding in heated, intergalactic plasmas.
Vid Iršič
A depiction of hydrogen gas within the intergalactic medium, or IGM, with bright areas indicating high gas density.
Missing normal matter was theorized: the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).
Illustrations and composition: ESA
/ ATG medialab; data: ESA / XMM-Newton / F. Nicastro et al. 2018;
cosmological simulation: Princeton University/Renyue Cen
Astronomers have
used ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory (lower right) to detect the
WHIM. The white box encloses the filamentary structure of the hot gas
that represents part of the WHIM. It is based on a cosmological
simulation extending over more than 200 million light years. The red and
orange regions have the highest densities & the green regions have
lower densities. The oxygen detection is how the baryon abundance was
reconstructed.
The light from
ultra-distant quasars provide cosmic laboratories for measuring not only
the gas clouds they encounter along the way, but for the intergalactic
medium that contains warm-and-hot plasmas outside of clusters, galaxies,
and filaments. The X-ray emission from quasars enabled this newest
detection by XMM-Newton.
If the results are universal, the mystery is solved: the missing normal matter has been found.
ESA
By examining stars,
dust, and gas in galaxies and clusters, scientists had found only 18%
of the normal matter. But by surveying intergalactic space, including
along filaments and in cosmic voids, scientists found not only gas, but
ionized plasmas of all temperatures, that lead us to 100% of what's
expected. There is no more; and therefore, dark matter is still
absolutely necessary.
The conclusion? Dark matter is absolutely necessary. Mostly Mute Monday tells the astronomical story of an object,
phenomenon, or process in images, visuals, and no more than 200 words.
Talk less, smile more.
Astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel is the founder and primary writer of Starts With A Bang! His books, Treknology and Beyond The Galaxy, are available wherever books are sold.
nano microchipped lovense can be made to broadcast actual sensations back to viewers for online mutual enjoyment called teledildonics .sorry i am already beaten to this discovery by CAMSODA
Jan 24, 2018 - The latest example comes from adult webcam site CamSoda, which from today is using VR headsets and internet-connected sex toys to offer ...
Adult cam site CamSoda will offer ‘virtual with real people’ using dolls and VR
Sex and technology make for strange, if frequent,
bedfellows. The latest example comes from adult webcam site CamSoda,
which from today is using VR headsets and internet-connected sex toys to
offer what it calls “virtual intercourse with real people” (or VIRP for short).
It works like this. Performers on the site will use
Wi-Fi-enabled vibrators that connect to “male masturbators” owned by
paying viewers. Whatever happens to the vibrator sensation-wise is sent
to the masturbator as “pressure data,” supposedly mimicking the feel of
intercourse. This is established technology (it’s called teledildonics)
and not a new offering for CamSoda. But the company is also adding the option of putting these masturbators inside life-size sex dolls and
strapping themselves into virtual reality headsets. It’s the
combination of all these elements, claims CamSoda VP Daryn Parker in a
press statement, that leads to the “ultimate sensory experience, one
that mimics real-life interaction.”
Well, perhaps. It’s doubtful for a start how many people
will actually go for the full VIRP experience, considering that the sex
doll-maker CamSoda has partnered with, RealDoll, sells its wares for
thousands of dollars. Users will also need to own the only supported
male masturbator (the $99 LoveSense Max) and a VR headset (although even a cheap device like Google Cardboard will do the trick).
The “ultimate sensory sex experience,” according to CamSoda.
Image: CamSoda
Speaking to The Verge over email, Parker admits
that the sex dolls and VR are optional and that only “approximately” 30
percent of the company’s 300-odd webcam models have the required Wi-Fi
enabled vibrator. But, he says, CamSoda users definitely want to try
this sort of experience, and it can be as cheap as just the price of the
male masturbator. “We know there is an audience because we hear it from
our users and models. They are seeking ways to get closer and have more
physical interaction,” says Parker. “We’ve had a number of employees,
beta users, and models try out the experience. All of them were blown
away by the interactive capabilities.”
Judging by some of the press shots CamSoda provided, the
experience might be a little more stilted than Parker makes out. But we
assume users’ mileage will differ based on how comfortable and
interested they are in using these sorts of props in the first place.
CamSoda says it’s also working on a version for female users.
As for the charge of whether this technology might just
strike most people as weird and unnecessary, Parker is bullish about its
future prospects. “Fifteen years ago people thought cell phones were
weird and unnecessary. Look at them today,” he says. “While there may be
some initial hesitation, I anticipate people acquiescing and seeing
this for what it is — an awesome product that fulfills people’s deepest
desires.”
So there you have it. Teledildonic-powered VR sex with life-size dolls: soon to be as popular and ubiquitous as the smartphone.
Ethan Siegel
,
Contributor
Spectrum: NASA/CXC/Univ. of California Irvine/T. Fang. Illustration: CXC/M. Weiss
Wikimedia Commons user Stefania.deluca
Big questions arose from the motions inside galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and along the cosmic web.
Ralf Kaehler, Oliver Hahn and Tom Abel (KIPAC)
From their gravity, we can infer the total mass in the Universe.
NASA, modified by Wikimedia Commons user 老陳, modified further by E. Siegel
Chris Blake and Sam Moorfield
If there were more, the:
NASA / WMAP Science Team
Many nevertheless wondered: could normal matter be hiding — and gravitating — entirely without dark matter?
NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)
Scientists set out to measure all the normal matter in the Universe, including stars, planets, gas, dust, and more.
Only ~20% was within galaxies and clusters; about another 35% was found along filaments and in cosmic voids.
Illustris Collaboration / Illustris Simulation
Still, nearly half the normal matter remained missing, assumed hiding in heated, intergalactic plasmas.
Vid Iršič
Missing normal matter was theorized: the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).
Illustrations and composition: ESA
/ ATG medialab; data: ESA / XMM-Newton / F. Nicastro et al. 2018;
cosmological simulation: Princeton University/Renyue Cen
X-ray scientists finally announced evidence for the hot part of the WHIM in precisely the predicted amounts.
Ed Janssen, ESO
If the results are universal, the mystery is solved: the missing normal matter has been found.
ESA
The conclusion? Dark matter is absolutely necessary./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58438003/VR16_BackTopViewNoCover.0.1516808232.jpg)
