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gravitational waves

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Black holes of various sizes
black holes

Physicists Argue That Black Holes From the Big Bang Could Be the Dark Matter

By Joshua Sokol
September 23, 2020
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It was an old idea of Stephen Hawking’s: Unseen “primordial” black holes might be the hidden dark matter. A new series of studies has shown how the theory can work.

An apple being jostled by gravitons
gravitational waves

How the Bits of Quantum Gravity Can Buzz

By Thomas Lewton
July 23, 2020
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New calculations show how hypothetical particles called gravitons would give rise to a special kind of noise.

Image of LIGO’s mirror.
Abstractions blog

To Make the Perfect Mirror, Physicists Confront the Mystery of Glass

By Natalie Wolchover
April 2, 2020
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Sometimes a mirror that reflects 99.9999% of light isn’t good enough.

Computer simulation of gravitational waves produced by a binary neutron star merger.
Abstractions blog

‘Radical Change’ Needed After Latest Neutron Star Collision

By Dana Najjar
February 20, 2020
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A recent neutron star merger has defied astronomers’ expectations, leading them to question longstanding ideas about neutron stars and the supernovas that create them. “We have to go back to the drawing board.”

An illustration of an extra-large black hole.
Abstractions blog

A Black Hole So Big It ‘Should Not Exist’

By Natalie Wolchover
August 28, 2019
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Researchers have confirmed rumors of a black hole collision that challenges our ideas about how black holes form.

Illustration of three black holes on a starry background
Abstractions blog

To Make Two Black Holes Collide, Try Three

By Erika K. Carlson
August 15, 2019
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How do black holes merge and make gravitational waves? Maybe with a little help from their friends.

Art for "New Studies Rescue Gravitational-Wave Signal From the Noise"
gravitational waves

New Studies Rescue Gravitational-Wave Signal From the Noise

By Natalie Wolchover
December 13, 2018
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Two independent papers vanquish lingering doubts about LIGO’s historic discovery of gravitational waves.

Abstractions blog

A New Test for the Leading Big Bang Theory

By Natalie Wolchover
September 11, 2018
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Cosmologists have predicted the existence of an oscillating signal that could distinguish between cosmic inflation and alternative theories of the universe’s birth.

Illustration of a black hole with a Cauchy horizon
general relativity

Mathematicians Disprove Conjecture Made to Save Black Holes

By Kevin Hartnett
May 17, 2018
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Mathematicians have disproved the strong cosmic censorship conjecture. Their work answers one of the most important questions in the study of general relativity and changes the way we think about space-time.


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