universe

In 2023 we detect an absolutely anomalous explosion at the edge of the Universe. Now we know what happened

by

In 2023, the Zwicky Transient Facility, an astronomical consortium led by Caltech, detected a curious signal on the outskirts of a dwarf galaxy 1.3 billion light years away. At first everything seemed to indicate that it was the result of a type II supernova explosion. It’s always interesting to spot one, but it’s not unusual. However, as soon as they tried to classify it a little better, they realized that it had many qualities that did not fit within the definition of this phenomenon. Investigating, they discovered that, in reality, the signal corresponds to one of the rarest explosions that occur in the Universe: a pairwise instability supernova. A special supernova. Pairwise instability supernovae are supernova explosions that occur when the original star is very massive and is in an environment with low metallicity. Furthermore, there is another big difference. After a typical supernova explosion, either a neutron star or a black hole usually forms. In this case, however, it can be said that the stars completely self-destruct, without leaving any remnants. It is a very rare phenomenon, very difficult to detect. However, the authors of the study that has just been published hope, with what they have learned from this finding, to locate other similar events based on the data obtained with the Vera Rubin Observatory. The brightness curve that didn’t add up. Normally, when a normal supernova explosion occurs, the brightness curve is plateau-shaped. On the other hand, in this event, named SN 2023vbw, after an initial cooling, a constant increase in brightness was observed until reaching a very bright peak around 190 days. Then, until day 230, the brightness began to decrease and finally stabilized on a plateau. Other data that did not add up. The total irradiation energy of this phenomenon was 3× 1050 Ergs, a figure that is more than 10 times higher than that of a type II supernova. Furthermore, during ascent, the explosion stabilized at a nearly constant temperature while its outer shell continued to expand. For this to occur there must be a large and continuous internal heating source, which does not happen with a type II supernova. On the other hand, as the supernova faded, the emissions that were detected had nothing to do with those normal for a conventional supernova. Finally, the kinetic energy was 60 to 130 times greater than the maximum energy that an ordinary supernova can produce. Two very different supernovae. Normally, a very massive star is subject to two very powerful forces. On the one hand, that of gravity, which compresses it inward. On the other hand, that of radiation, which pushes outwards. Both forces remain in balance. However, when the star runs out of fuel to stay “on,” the radiation pressure decreases, so gravity pushes strongly inward. As a result, the star collapses, leading to a supernova explosion. Behind it a black hole or a neutron star can form. If the star is very massive and is also located in an environment with low metallicity, the process is slightly different. To begin with, such high temperatures are reached in its core that enough energy is generated for the photons to transform into an electron-positron pair. This phenomenon eliminates the pressure exerted by radiation much more suddenly, so that the force exerted by gravity, which is immense, causes the collapse of the star and, later, a very violent explosion. So violent that everything is destroyed, there is no remnant left. The location of SN 2023vbw (magenta circle) on the outskirts of its dwarf host galaxy (green circle). The role of metallicity. The low metallicity of the environment helps because metals normally absorb the radiation coming out of the star, favoring the expulsion of matter outward. If there are few metals, less matter will be extracted from the star and the greater its mass. A blue supergiant in an environment with very low metallicity. The light curves that were detected seem to correspond to a blue supergiant as a starting point. This very massive star, which can be caused by the merger of two stars in a binary system, can give rise to a type II supernova. However, we have already seen that the characteristics do not add up. However, the scientists who analyzed the results found the clue they were missing. That the explosion had occurred in an environment with very low metallicity. It corresponded approximately to a tenth of that of the Sun. It is the missing ingredient for a pairwise instability supernova to occur. A very rare phenomenon. This phenomenon is one of the rarest explosions that occur in the Universe. There are many very massive stars, but in general they are in very metal-rich environments, so a pairwise instability supernova cannot occur. Therefore, this discovery is very exciting. Although it may soon become more common. And not only because of the Vera Rubin Observatory that we have already mentioned. It is also expected that the brand new Nancy Grace Roman from NASA can detect more phenomena of this type when you start doing your work. Until then, detecting stars self-destructing in this way will remain even more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Image | Supernova remnant on cover. Credit: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/G.Cassam-Chenaï, J.Hughes et al.; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/GBT/VLA/Dyer, Maddalena & Cornwell; Optical: Middlebury College/F.Winkler, NOAO/AURA/NSF/CTIO Schmidt & DSS | Hiramatsu et al. In Xataka | Caltech has published the “strongest evidence yet” that an unknown planet exists in the solar system

They have asked 1,600 experts how the Universe works. They don’t agree on almost anything

by

We continually read news about new findings that they defy the known physics of the Universe. This may lead us to ask ourselves something: do we know so little about the Universe that absolutely everything challenges it? To answer this question it is important to give a little context. Yes, a lot is known about astrophysics, but when we talk about something as immense as the Universe, even that “a lot” can fall short. Furthermore, much of this information is based on hypotheses that have been accepted as consensus, but not on absolute truths. Therefore, it is not strange that in the largest survey ever conducted It has been proven to astrophysicists and astrophysics fans that there is a lot of disagreement on almost everything related to the cosmos. The largest survey. In 2024, during an astrophysics conference in Copenhagen, a survey was carried out in which 85 experts participated. All of them had to answer a series of questions about some of the best-known theories in astrophysics. With this survey it was seen that there is a lot of disagreement, even in those theories in which there is supposed to be a great consensus. In order to check whether these disagreements were a result of the sample size, a new survey was carried out in 2025, this time with 1,600 people who had to answer 11 questions. Some participants were experts from the American Astrophysical Society. Others were amateur readers of Physics Magazine. With a larger sample, the results were very similar. There is very little consensus. From hypotheses to certainties. Science in general, and astrophysics in particular, is built on hypotheses that evolve as scientific advances are made. For this reason, it is often more full of probabilities than certainties. It is important to differentiate different branches of science. In health sciences, there are certainties. For example, we know that antibiotics attack bacteria and are not useful against viruses, no matter how many people insist on taking them for the flu. We also know that their abuse can be very harmful, since it contributes to the development of resistance in bacteria. Those are certainties, although logically there is also information that evolves over time. In astrophysics, hypotheses accepted by consensus often outnumber certainties. There are very clear certainties, such as that the Earth is not flat or that it revolves around the Sun. But also some hypotheses with which not even experts agree. Cosmic inflation wins. The issue on which there was the greatest consensus in the 2025 survey, the results of which were recently published, was cosmic inflation. That is, the hypothesis that points to an exponential expansion of the Universe which began in its first moments, after the Big Bang. 51% of respondents agreed that this theory explains many problems in cosmology at once and therefore has a high probability of being true. Talking about the Big Bang. The existence of the Big Bang was another of the theories with the greatest consensus in the survey, although the truth is that the figure is nothing to write home about either. 25% of the participants agreed that this event gave rise to the Universe 13.8 billion years ago. On the other hand, there were 68% of people who indicated that the Universe was born at a time when there was a large increase in temperature and density, but they did not indicate when that occurred. Disagreements with dark matter. Gravitational behaviors that do not respond to the observed mass have been observed in the Universe. That is, it seems as if there are massive objects exerting a gravitational attraction on others, but these objects are not detected, not even large accumulations of atoms. There is nothing. 27% of those surveyed consider that this can be explained by the existence of dark matter. However, there are 12% who believe that all this may be due to changes in the behavior of gravity on cosmic scales. That is to say, when we talk about the immensity of the Universe, the gravity exerted by objects is not the same. On the other hand, there are 5% of people who consider that the key is in primordial black holes. Although here we must emphasize that one of the hypotheses about the origin of dark matter is that it is formed in part by primordial black holes, so they would not be denying its existence. String theory to solve incompatibilities. The theory of general relativity was proposed on large, cosmic scales. On the other hand, quantum mechanics talks about the behavior of matter on a subatomic scale. Both questions seem incompatible, but to understand the Universe we need to work at both scales. Therefore, for a long time there has been thought about a theory that helps unify both issues. This, for 19% of those surveyed, is string theory. In it, subatomic particles, instead of being treated as points, are considered vibrational states of a more basic extended object, called a string. Normally, when we try to calculate the energy of a particle by considering it a mathematical point, without extension, we get closer to it eternally. We can do a kind of infinite zoom. On the other hand, when the points are replaced by strings with a minimum length, a result must necessarily be obtained. It does not tend to infinity. On the other hand, in string theory gravity, which not normally considered on a quantum scalearises naturally. Another hypothesis. The point is that, in the survey we are talking about, there are 12% of people who consider that string theory does not solve the problem, but that another theory does: that of loop quantum gravity. This, basically, acts in a completely opposite way. String theory emerges with quantum mechanics as a starting point and tries to find ways to make gravity make sense. On the other hand, the theory of loop quantum gravity starts from the General Theory of Relativity and attempts to quantize it in a way that … Read more

The nuclear explosion that changed the world also created a material that exists nowhere else in the known universe

by

On July 16, 1945, the first detonation of an atomic bomb—known as the trinity test— changed the course of history and left an indelible mark on the New Mexico desert. The explosion of the plutonium device released energy equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT, enough to vaporize the 30-meter test tower, the kilometers of copper cables connecting the recording instruments, and the desert sand itself. All this material, carried by the immense fireball, rained down in the form of molten glassy fragments, creating a unique form of matter known today as trinite. The vast majority of this trinite is a classic green color, but there is a much rarer variant called “red trinite,” whose color is attributed to the presence of copper oxide formed when transmission lines vaporized in the explosion. It is precisely inside this rare variant where scientists have discovered unprecedented crystalline structures. The violent conditions of the detonation subjected the materials to temperatures of around 1,500 °C and extreme pressures of 5 to 8 gigapascals. The matter vaporized, mixed, and cooled so extremely quickly—in a matter of seconds—that the atoms did not have time to organize themselves into stable structures, forging forms of matter that had never existed on our planet. An unprecedented find. Almost 80 years after that first nuclear explosion, an international research team led by Luca Bindi, a geologist at the University of Florence, has managed to identify a new material hidden in these samples. As the research explainsit is a “clathrate”: a cage-shaped chemical network that traps other atoms inside. This new crystal is built with 12- and 14-sided silicon cages that enclose atoms of calcium, copper, and small amounts of iron. It represents the first time that the presence of a clathrate among the solid products of a nuclear explosion has been crystallographically confirmed. That this discovery comes now, in 2026, is no coincidence. Samples of red trinitite are extremely rare and difficult to obtain, and only recent advances in mining techniques x-ray diffraction At a nanoscopic scale, they have made it possible to identify such tiny structures within metallic microdroplets embedded in glass. The technology simply was not up to par with the material before. The quasicrystal that arrived first. The story becomes even more fascinating because this discovery joins another monumental find made by the same team in 2021: the identification of a quasicrystal in the same little red trinity. Unlike ordinary crystals—such as salt or quartz, which have a precisely repeating atomic pattern—quasicrystals break the rules of classical crystallography. Its atoms are ordered, but without periodically repeating themselves, which generates symmetries that are prohibited in a conventional crystal. The one found at Trinity exhibits five-fold icosahedral symmetry and is composed of silicon, copper, calcium and iron. It is not only the quasicrystal created by the oldest known human being: has the incredible property that its exact moment of creation was indelibly recorded in historical records. The decisive role of copper. The most elegant thing about the new study is the mechanism that explains why two such different structures were formed in the same explosion. The key was the concentration of copper available during cooling. In the microzones where copper levels were low —about 10 to 11%— conditions allowed the clathrate cage structure to stabilize. Where there was more copper, that same structure collapsed and the atoms rearranged themselves in the forbidden geometry of the quasicrystal. Two radically different destinies, separated by a microscopic difference in chemical composition, at the same time and in the same place. The power of natural laboratories. Discovering these architectures on a microscopic scale is revolutionary because, as Terry C. Wallace explainsdirector emeritus of Los Alamos National Laboratory and co-author of the quasicrystal research, these structures require extreme environments that rarely exist on Earth: colossal shocks, temperatures and pressures, comparable only to the hypervelocity impacts of meteorites or nuclear detonations themselves. Destructive events that, paradoxically, act as laboratories capable of producing what no conventional laboratory can replicate. A tool for global security. Beyond materials science, this type of research has direct applications in the field of nuclear nonproliferation. Understanding the design of other countries’ nuclear weapons programs is an enormous forensic challenge. Scientists often track radioactive gases and waste in test areas, but those signatures inevitably decay over time. The crystals formed at the site of the explosion, on the other hand, are practically eternal. The red trinitite samples still preserve radioactive isotopes that allow variables such as the exact distance to the hypocenter of the explosion to be calculated with great precision. Wallace sums it up clearly: If science can establish a precise thermodynamic explanation for how these crystals form, a complete picture of the bomb and the materials used could be obtained, giving the world a new tool to monitor illicit nuclear explosions. A timestamp that cannot be falsified or deleted. The paradoxical legacy of Trinity. The study of trinitite demonstrates how matter is capable of reorganizing itself in astonishing ways under unimaginably hostile conditions. It is an almost poetic paradox that an event designed for destruction has left, 80 years later, a hidden legacy of microscopic geometric perfection that is useful today for the human future. This discovery is not only a window into the creation of cutting-edge energy materials and technologies, but it functions as a compass for future research. As the experts conclude in his academic publicationexamine the remains of other extreme and fleeting natural phenomena, such as fulgurites forged by lightning strikes or rocks subjected to meteorite craters, could continue to reveal unusual configurations of matter. Even today, hidden beneath the scars of destruction, structures await that continue to challenge our fundamental understanding of the universe. Image | PNAS and Unsplash Xataka | Europe throws away 16 billion a year in electronic waste. Spain has just turned on the first oven in Europe to recover them

James Webb just broke what we thought was the established order of the Universe

by

Even an instrument as powerful as the James Webb Space Telescope can detect puzzling phenomena at times. It is the case of the multiple red dots that has been found throughout the Universe in recent years. Many of them are a mystery that is difficult to decipher with the technology available. However, thanks to a very propitious physics phenomenon, James Webb himself has managed to enter on one of these little red dots, to find something fascinating. A black hole that goes against known physics, for having formed before the galaxy that houses it. The data. The black hole in question is enormous, with a mass 50 million times that of the Sun. It is located within a tiny galaxy, called Abell 2744-QSO1, with a diameter of 1,300 light years. To give us an idea, our Milky Way has a diameter of more than 100,000 light years. It is estimated that this galaxy formed 700 million years after the Big Bang, making it very old. However, according to the calculations According to a team of scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Florence, the black hole could have formed one second after the explosion that gave rise to the Universe. What came first, the chicken or the egg? If we change the chicken and the egg for the galaxy and the black hole, the answer until now was more or less clear. Not all galaxies have a black hole at their center, but most of them do. Traditionally it has been thought that the black hole was formed when some of the galaxy’s stars ran out of fuel and collapsed. Such a concentration of mass was formed that its gravity began to attract everything that was at a specific distance (the one within its event horizon) and, thus, it fed itself, becoming larger and larger. That is what was believed, but it is a hypothesis that sometimes does not completely add up. A little red dot with a trick. The system formed by a tiny galaxy and an immense black hole inside makes up one of the red dots detected by James Webb. Most of them are very difficult to analyze, but this one has an advantage that makes it easier to observe. And, between the galaxy and James Webb, there is a galaxy cluster called Abell 2744 (Pandora cluster) that acts as a lens. It is so massive that it bends space-time around it and forms a kind of lens which allows us to see the QSO1 galaxy in a larger size. In very simplified terms, it acts like a magnifying glass. Furthermore, thanks to this same effect, a triplicate image is formed that can be analyzed in more detail. Primitive black holes. By being able to see these images with a magnifying glass, a tiny galaxy and a huge black hole have been observed, both very old. Generally, the mass of black holes cannot be measured. The calculations are made using assumptions extrapolated from what we know about black holes in the local Universe. Thus, it was calculated that the QSO1 black hole had a mass equivalent to 40 million times that of the Sun. But it did not add up much for such a small galaxy. How could it have become so large by “feeding” only on material from the galaxy itself? All this has been able to be answered, again, thanks to James Webb. Beyond the magnifying glass. In order to better measure this black hole, the Integral Field Unit (IFU) of the James Webb near-infrared spectrograph. This instrument, instead of focusing on a single point, has the ability to make a 2D map of a region of the sky. Thus, you can track the effects of gravity on the gas that occupies that specific region and even analyze the distribution of different elements in that same gas. With all this, something interesting has been seen. That the gas rotates around a center in a similar way to how the planets do around the Sun. According to Kepler’s laws, the further away from the center an object orbits, the slower it does so. This is true with the planets, but also with gas. Therefore, the black hole must be very very massive. So far so good. We had already assumed that, but what is its mass? The calculations of truth. By knowing how fast a gas orbits at a certain distance, you can know the mass of its center. Since the center was the black hole, these scientists only had to do the calculations to know that its mass is equivalent to 50 million suns. Guesses pointed to 40 million, so they were relatively close in astronomical terms. But it is strange, since its mass is equal to two thirds that of the galaxy. It’s too big for that galaxy. Another interesting fact. Since this James Webb instrument also allows the composition of the gas to be determined, it has been seen that the black hole consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. There is very little oxygen, as would be expected if it had formed solely from the stars of its galaxy. In fact, its metallicity is less than 0.5% that of the Sun. All this data does not fit with a black hole that formed from its galaxy. He had to train before. The hypotheses. All this points to the fact that the black hole was formed by a direct collapse. But when? That is not so clear, although there are two hypotheses. For one thing, it could have been formed by a heavy seed that originated in the first second of the Big Bang. Or perhaps it was formed a little later, by the collapse of a gas cloud. Either way, this is a great find, since it is about of the first direct measurement of the mass of a black hole within the first billion years after the Big Bang. And the good thing is that it agrees with the assumptions that … Read more

the website that calculates the billions of kilometers you have traveled through the universe without leaving the couch

by

At the time of writing this I am 37 years, 28 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes and 18 seconds old. I have traveled around 34,845,000,000 kilometers around the Sun. I have traveled 257,425,000,000 kilometers through the Milky Way. The next time my watch tells me I haven’t taken enough steps, I plan to give it these numbers. Although the truth is that I have not had to take any steps to travel through them, since the credit belongs to the Earth, I have just let myself go. Whatever the case, it’s always good to know. If you also want to know these figures and many curious facts more for your own date of birth, keep an eye on online calculator created by web developer nemo7299. Very easy to use. With this calculator, called Cosmic Odometer, its creator seeks to make us a little more aware of our location in the Universe and everything we have moved through it since the day we were born. To use it, you just have to enter your date and time of birth and the latitude where you are. With that you have enough to read many curious facts. Distances traveled. To begin with, we can see the distance that the Earth has traveled rotating on itself, orbiting around the Sun or accompanying the Sun through the Milky Way. We can also see what has been moved the Milky Way itself through the Universe. You can even see the combined distance of all those movements. Since the day we were born, we have been fellow travelers of the Earth. Therefore, if we calculate the kilometers that the Earth has traveled around the Sun, we will also know how many kilometers we have traveled with it. Age by planets. You can also find out what your age is at different planets of the Solar System. For example, on Mercury I am a centenarian of 153.81 years old, on Mars little more than a teenager who has not yet turned 20 and on Venus I am already close to earning retirement, at 60.29 years old. On the other hand, in Neptune I am a baby of just over 2 months. Logically, if I could travel there I would be the same and I would look the same. However, a year on those planets does not last the same as it does here on Earth. A little physiology. The website also tells us how many times our heart has beaten or we have breathed since we were born. It even calculates how many cells have been renewed in our body in that period of time. Important distances. By viewing this website we can know how far we are from natural or artificial objects as important as probes. Solar Parker, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2the telescope James Webb or Haley’s Comet. If the aliens are looking for us. Another curious fact is that we can calculate how far away an alien would have to be to see our birth if they pointed a telescope at Earth. can be compared. You can also compare your details with a friend’s by entering their date of birth. This way, you will know how far the Sun traveled between your births or how many kilometers you have traveled together since you both existed, for example. It occurs to me that important dates that are not necessarily birthdays could be introduced. For example, the current date and the date you met your partner. What would it be like to tell him that since you met you have traveled a combined 31,679,105 km across the universe together? If it doesn’t look pretty, that’s not it. Your feet are younger than your head. According to the general relativity theory According to Einstein, time moves more slowly in stronger gravitational fields. That is, the closer you are to the massive object that creates that gravitational attraction, the slower time will pass. Our feet are closer to the earth’s surface than our head. Therefore, it can be said that our feet are younger. Time passes more slowly for them. In my case, for example, my feet are 216 nanoseconds younger. A lot more. All this is just a small sample of the many data that can be checked in this calculator. Logically, some are estimates, since more data would be needed to have a more accurate calculation. In any case, with such large distances, these estimates already go pretty well. It’s perfect to hang out and have a laugh. Image | Magnific/Nemo7299 In Xataka | The Earth as it was during its last ice age, illustrated in a wonderful map

AtLAST, the telescope that will uncover the “blurred” galaxies in the Universe without spending a single drop of fossil fuels

by

An international team of scientists, led from Europe, is launching a telescope that will help us see what lies beneath the erased area of ​​the Universe. Ok, no one has erased half of the cosmos, but it is true that a good part of it is covered in a layer of dust so dense that few telescopes can look beneath it. Those who do it, like him Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)can only focus on a very small portion of the sky. On the other hand, the one presented now, called Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST)is capable of looking under dust while acting as a wide angle. All advantages. AtLAST is the result of a project led by Europe, in which Chile, South Africa, Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, Japan and the United States also participate. It consists of a single 50-meter satellite dish and a mirror covered with aluminum panels, as well as a massive steel structure that serves as reinforcement. There is also a 12 meter secondary mirror. It is capable of analyzing very wide regions of the sky and in the process only consumes renewable energy. An attempt has even been made to minimize the carbon footprint in obtaining the aluminum and steel to build the structure. AtLAST vs ALMA. Both AtLAST and ALMA are submillimeter telescopes located in the Atacama desert. This is an ideal place for this type of observations, since it is located at a high altitude, with its telescopes located around 5,000 meters, so that the density of the atmosphere is reduced and does not make observations difficult. In addition, there is no light pollution and it almost never rains, so clouds do not cover the sky either. Until then, everything is fine. The two telescopes are in a privileged location. However, there is something that gives AtLAST many advantages over ALMA. With its 66 antennas, ALMA works as a kind of microscope. It can analyze regions of the sky thousands of times smaller than our Moon. On the other hand, AtLAST, with a single antenna, can see at once the space occupied by 16 moons. Why submillimeter? Submillimeter telescopes are those capable of detecting waves of the electromagnetic spectrum with lengths below a millimeter. This ranges from far infrared to microwave. This makes them the only telescopes capable of clearly seeing what lies beneath the densest layers of dust. Some space telescopes, like James Webbthey can do this to a certain extent. However, this works only from the near-mid infrared. Emissions in the microwave and far infrared range are invisible to him. The secrets of the galaxies. Under those clouds of dust are the stellar nurseries. The gas clouds collapse to give rise to those clusters in which the birth of the star is taking place. Therefore, being able to look clearly down there allows us to analyze the evolution of the Universe in a much more precise way. For example, you can study how it has been expanding and what role dark matter has had in it. You can even investigate how life arises in space. Incredible figures. Other telescopes can detect the light beneath these dust clouds, but they cannot differentiate one galaxy from another. Thanks to AtLAST, however, it is expected to be able to detect up to 50 million galaxies in 1,000 hours of observation. Clean energy. This telescope uses renewable energy, such as solar energy, and stores it in metal hydride batteries. But, in addition, it acts in a similar way to how a hybrid car does. And, after moving to land in different regions of the sky, it loses speed, whose kinetic energy is used to obtain electricity. This way you don’t have to waste fossil fuels. This is just the beginning. It is expected that in the 2040s there will be several such telescopes. This has only just begun. There is still no date for AtLAST to start working, although if everything goes well it is expected to be around the 2030s. Be that as it may, what is clear is that, when it starts working, it will help us reveal the most interesting secrets. Images | Nobeyama Telescope (Lapinov) In Xataka | Chile has a very sweet port for China, Europe and the US. The problem is that it is tiny

The more we calculate the size of the Universe, the less sense it all makes

by

We have known for a long time that the Universe is expanding. However, the speed at which it does so is a headache. Depending on which method is used to measure it, a different result is obtained. Now a much more precise way to measure it has finally been found, but it doesn’t really unravel much of the mess. It messes it up even more. An overlay of techniques. Through a superposition of different techniques, an international team of scientists has made the most precise calculation so far of the expansion speed of the Universe: 73.5 ± 0.81 kilometers per second per megaparsec. The figure coincides quite well with those that have been calculated in the past using data from the nearby Universe. However, it is quite far from what is calculated when data from the dawn of the Universe is used. This indicates that there is something in the physics of that furthest point in the cosmos that we have no idea about. Far from being solved, the mystery has become more complicated. A balloon that inflates. When we talk about the Universe expanding, we refer to the fact that galaxies are increasingly distant from each other. But not because the galaxies themselves move, but because the space between them widens. We can see it as a balloon on which a series of dots are painted. As the balloon inflates, the dots appear farther away, even though they have not moved from their place. Hubble voltage. Traditionally, the expansion rate of the Universe is calculated in two ways. Or by measuring the distances between stars and galaxies in the nearby Universe, or by measuring the cosmic microwave background. This is the electromagnetic radiation that remained as remnant of the Big Bang. That is, the oldest light that we can find in the Universe, since it was formed in the explosion with which it was formed. Therefore, the data is not taken from the nearby Universe, but from the most distant and ancient one, the one approaching the Big Bang. The figure obtained with both types of calculations should be the same. However, with the nearby Universe a speed of 73 kilometers per second per megaparsec is obtained, while with the most distant Universe a speed of 67 kilometers per second per megaparsec is calculated. This incoherence is known as Hubble tension. and indicates that, possibly, the Universe is expanding faster and faster. That’s why the closest one expands the fastest. This graph represents the tension that exists between measurements of the expansion rate of the late and nearby Universe, versus what would be expected based on measurements of the early Universe, specifically the cosmic microwave background. It could be a mistake. One of the hypotheses that seek to explain the Hubble tension is that, in reality, there is some error when measuring the expansion speed in the nearby Universe. There are many methods to calculate the distance between stars and galaxies and there could be an error. Therefore, an international team of scientists has decided to use a superposition of techniques to make a more precise calculation. Different types of stars. This method consists of simultaneously analyzing a large amount of data obtained from ground and space telescopes. These focus primarily on the brightness of Cepheid stars, red giants, supernovae, and galaxies of known brightness. The three types of stars mentioned are characterized by having a characteristic brightness, which is used to map the Universe and, therefore, also to calculate distances. With this superposition of techniques, the figure of 73.5 ± 0.81 kilometers per second per megaparsec was obtained. There is no mistake. When one of the superposition methods was eliminated, the alteration in the expansion rate of the Universe was minimal. The figure was practically the same. This indicates that the number has been measured perfectly. There is no mistake. So if the Hubble strain is not due to error, why does it occur? The mystery continues. After obtaining these results, the Hubble tension remains the prelude to a mystery. However, it is true that there are some hypotheses. For example, it is believed that the different figures in the distant and near Universe They may be due to the intervention of dark matter. There’s a lot we don’t know about her, so maybe it could explain what’s going on. On the other hand, there is the hypothesis that the Earth is in a place with spatial characteristics. It would be an area where there is relatively little matter, comparable to an air bubble in a cake. As explained in 2023 by one of the scientists who support this hypothesis, Indranil Banik“the density of matter is greater around the bubble, so gravitational forces emanate from this surrounding matter, attracting the galaxies in the bubble toward the edges of the cavity.” “That’s why they’re moving away from us faster than you would really expect.” Now we will have to solve that part of the mystery. At least we know that there is no error in the calculations and that the Hubble tension is a reality. Image | CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard In Xataka | Refuting Einstein is one of the great challenges of physics. We couldn’t even achieve it by changing the scale.

Nintendo insists that there is no such thing as the “Nintendo Cinematic Universe.” The facts suggest otherwise.

by

Fox McCloud in a Mario movie, Yoshi voiced by Donald Glover and the post-credits scenes pointing directly to other Nintendo games. ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’ sweeps the box office with 372 million dollars in its first global weekend, but Nintendo still does not confirm that we are facing a “cinematic universe.” However, Marvel’s precedent is more than obvious. The figures. With 372 million dollars in its first weekend worldwide (188 million in the United States), we have a start only slightly below its precedent, which reached 387.8 million in five days. But the bombshell is indisputable: the only animated franchises with more than one installment with opening weekends above $100 million are DreamWorks’ ‘Shrek’, Illumination’s own ‘Despicable Me’ and Disney’s ‘Frozen’. Mario is also the only one that has exceeded 350 million with two deliveries. And there is still Japan. Fat cameo. But let’s analyze some very relevant elements of the film. A week before the premiere, Universal revealed that Fox McCloud, protagonist of the ‘Star Fox’ saga, had a relevant role in the sequel, and it would not be a mere cameo, but a character with his own narrative arcwhose presence in the Mario universe is justified argumentatively with a certain coherence, drawing on the always loving parallel universes. By the way, Glen Powell, who provides his voice, entered the movie after calling the production company to tell them that if a Star Fox movie was ever made, he wanted to be there. Something similar happened with the presence of Donald Glover, voice of Yoshi after asking the production company to participate “in any way” in a Nintendo film. Intersecting IPs. The fact is that Miyamoto had no initial intention of crossing Mario with ‘Star Fox’, since as he told Forbeshad to remind Illumination that Nintendo IPs don’t mix. But he made an exception, saying that “as the creator of ‘Star Fox’ and this movie being set in space, I wanted to see that. I wanted to see what would turn out. But I also sensed that there might be significant resistance internally.” That is, it had to be worked on at Nintendo, but it was achieved. And it is a more important step than it seems, because it opens the door to not having a Mario Universe, but an entire Nintendo Universe. More cameos: Donkey Kong. Another example of a Nintendo character that points to a larger universe than the one we glimpse here. Although he was one of the most celebrated characters in the first film, here only appears in the background in a sequence starring Yoshi in New York, causing destruction in a half-built building, like in the old days. The truth is that in July 2025, Nintendo and Universal registered a project described as “Untitled Donkey Kong Project”. Seth Rogen, who voices the character, stated after the first film that he saw “a lot of opportunity” for a spin-off set in the world of ‘Donkey Kong Country’. Universe, but without going overboard. In recent interviews Miyamoto has openly stated: “I don’t think we’re going to have a situation like ‘Super Smash Bros.’ where all the Nintendo characters come together.” From Illumination they confirm that the creative process has nothing to do with a team of strategists with graphics on the wall planning ten years of narrative crossover, in clear reference to the MCU: “Our process is very different. It arises from conversations about what would be funny in a specific scene.” The mention of Pikmin appearing in a sequence because it’s just cool is a good example of that approach. Marvel’s mirror. But although Nintendo has no intention of following in all of Marvel’s footsteps, the parallels are indisputable, especially with the process that was followed between 2008 and 2012 to propose the MCU. Some examples: A popular secondary character becomes the protagonist in later installments: Black Widow, secondary in ‘Iron Man 2’, or Scarlet Witch, presented in ‘Winter Soldier’, or Nick Fury, built cameo by cameo. A dormant IP is rehabilitated with a cameo in a successful franchise: Doctor Strange, a comic book character for very coffee lovers, appears as a mere wink mentioned in ‘Winter Soldier’; Black Panther, barely known outside of the comics, is supporting in ‘Civil War’ and soon got his own movie; and Spider-Man was known but his franchise was worn out and he was rehabilitated since ‘Civil War’. Quietly Registered Copyright: Marvel and Disney have a documented history of registering trademarks for characters long before announcing projects. They recorded ‘She-Hulk’, ‘Ms. Marvel’ and ‘Moon Knight’ or ‘Eternals’ as brands years before confirming the Disney+ series and movies. The same pattern as the “Untitled Donkey Kong Project”. Post-credits scenes as de facto advertisements: Continuously. The original was Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative in ‘Iron Man’. ‘Thor’ ends by showing the Tesseract, thus announcing the Thanos saga. ‘Ant-Man’ closes with a scene where Steve Rogers and Bucky appear in a situation that only makes sense if you’re already producing ‘Civil War.’ Thanos at the end of ‘Avengers’ appears for three seconds, does not speak, and his presence retroactively turns the entire film into a prologue. The difference between both companies is that Marvel ends up putting Kevin Feige on stage at Comic-Con to explain the plans for the next ten years. Nintendo lets fans guess and then Miyamoto denies it. Marvel announced its multiverse early on, with dates, and Nintendo hasn’t even suggested that anything like a Nintendoverse exists. However, anyone who comes out of watching ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ wonders what the next episode will be. In Xataka | Japan hates its most devious tourist trap: the Super Mario karts that refuse to die

the birth of the most extreme magnetic monster in the universe

by

In the vast catalog of violent cosmic events, there are explosions and then there are superluminous supernovae, which are nothing more than the result of a stellar death which is capable of shining up to 100 times brighter than a conventional supernova, challenging our understanding of astrophysics for years, since it is not known where it can get so much energy from. Now we are getting an idea. What do we know? The big news in the world of astrophysics comes from an international team of astronomers who has been able to observe for the first time the live birth of a magnetar, conclusively confirming the link between these highly magnetic stellar corpses and the brightest supernovae in the cosmos. Where. The protagonist of this discovery is SN 2024fav, a type I superluminous supernova detected on December 9, 2024 and located in the Eridanus constellation about 1,000 million light years from us. And it’s not that it is a very common phenomenon, because watching this event is like looking for a needle in an intergalactic haystack. Finding this ‘needle’ is something very precious and that is why, in order not to lose any detail of this brilliant monster, the astronomical community mobilized a network of more than 20 telescopes around the world, including the fundamental contribution of the LOCGT. Thanks to this uninterrupted surveillance, scientists obtained the observational data necessary to reconstruct what was happening in the depths of the explosion. The relativistic screech. The question here is pretty clear: how do you confirm that there is a magnetar inside that expanding fireball? The first thing is to know what a magnetar is, which is nothing other than a very dense neutron star that has a magnetic field trillions of times stronger than that of the Earth. And it is not static, because when born after the collapse of a massive star it can rotate several times per second, reaching high speeds. In order to discover it, the researchers have named what gave them the key ‘relativistic chirp’. In this way, as the newborn magnetar rotates at the center of the supernova, its immense magnetic field acts as a brake, transferring its colossal rotational energy to the ejected stellar matter, causing it to shine with such extreme intensity. What they saw. From here, the researchers precisely detected the temporal signature of this external braking. From here, the light curve of SN 2024afav fit perfectly with the prediction of the energy loss of an incipient magnetar injecting power into the supernova, so we are facing the birth of a magnetar. Its importance. This discovery not only allows us to understand why certain stars say goodbye to the universe with a blinding brightness capable of eclipsing entire galaxies, but also opens a new window to study the behavior of matter subjected to such extreme magnetic fields that modern physics can barely replicate on paper. Images | NASA Hubble Space Telescope In Xataka | James Webb has been detecting red dots in the universe for years: the only problem is that we don’t know what they are

If the universe is closed, there is no room for an external observer

by

In the world of theoretical physics, the different articles that are published can be dry texts, full of equations with endless integrals. However, a recent article has broken this rule. Although its content is rigorously technical, it is a small footnote that has captured the public’s imagination: a direct reference to the theological implications of his mathematical discovery. A universe without ‘outside’. To understand the reference that has been made to God, we must first understand the conclusion of the document. Harlow and his team address the quantum gravity problem in a closed universe. This, unlike the usual theoretical models that have “borders”, a closed universe It doesn’t have edges or an ‘exterior’ or anything.. In this way, the study indicates that the universe does not have an immense variety of possible states. It is a single, static and trivial state, so whatever has happened or what will happen will be contained in a single dimension. The appearance of God. This is where the phrase that has shaken the networks comes in, since they affirm that if we are in a closed system with only one possible state, there is no place for an external observer. That is, a God. This is something that clashes quite a bit with traditional physics and many theological and religious conceptions that suggest that there is someone or something that is observing the system with all its changes. Although for researchers, these implications are an exercise for the reader. They just give their own conclusion. The meaning. As reported by media such as IFLScience and Knewzthis comment is a humorous but profound “wink”. It is not that the article attempts to prove or disprove the existence of a deity, but rather it points out a structural paradox. What they point out is that if the universe contains everything and its state is unique, you cannot be “outside” it. Something that quite clashes with the classic theistic idea of ​​a God who exists separately from his creation, but who observes it from the outside. The problem is that for these scientists there is no outside. Your opinions. The physicist and popularizer Brian Cox qualified the document and its bold footnote as “exhilarating”, highlighting how a purely mathematical question about Hilbert spaces ends up bordering on questions that used to be the exclusive domain of metaphysics. The paradox. The article in this case raises a fascinating dichotomy that some philosophers of physics are already analyzing. What they propose is that if the “eye of God” sees the universe, they will only see a static point without any type of change. But from within we see a rich, chaotic and complex universe as we experience all its properties. The authors solve this mathematically using quantum code theory and holography, suggesting that complexity is an illusion of internal perspective. But the theological joke remains: if God is the fundamental reality, then reality is incredibly simple. It is we who complicate it by observing it from within. Images | Davide Cantelli In Xataka | The Hand of God trying to reach a galaxy: an impressive image in which not everything is what it seems

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.