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ESA: No Conclusive Evidence of Big Bang Gravitational Waves

hypnosec writes: The European Space Agency has made a joint analysis of data gathered by the ground-based BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments and its own Planck satellite to try to verify previous reports of BICEP2's primordial gravitational wave detection. However, the ESA was unable to find evidence of primordial gravitational waves, and they think the earlier report was simply based on an outdated model that didn't take interstellar dust into account.

"The Milky Way is pervaded by a mixture of gas and dust shining at similar frequencies to those of the CMB, and this foreground emission affects the observation of the most ancient cosmic light. Very careful analysis is needed to separate the foreground emission from the cosmic background. Critically, interstellar dust also emits polarized light, thus affecting the CMB polarization as well. ... The BICEP2 team had chosen a field where they believed dust emission would be low, and thus interpreted the signal as likely to be cosmological. However, as soon as Planck’s maps of the polarized emission from Galactic dust were released (PDF), it was clear that this foreground contribution could be much higher than previously expected."

96 comments

  1. Thus confirming existing opinions: by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Scientists and those who understand science: "Yep, that's how science works. No matter how exciting a new finding may be, if later analysis finds that its conclusions are flawed, it's out the door."

    Popular media and pundits: "See? Science is a sham! They just make stuff up to get the big research bucks! Why are we wasting money on this, instead of spending it on something that matters, like welfare or fighter jets?"

    1. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      Of course, if you're being a real scientist, presumably you don't announce spectacular results till they've been peer-reviewed....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    2. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Crashmarik · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you are a real scientist, you don't go around proclaiming final answers, ever. Science is a journey of discovery. The land of answers is religions turf.

    3. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are we wasting money on this, instead of spending it on something that matters, like welfare or fighter jets?"

      Incidentally, there is quite a lot of overlap between the air force and astronomy, as both are concerned with processing radio signals.

    4. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm uncircumsized and I don't have any "dick cheese". It's called hygiene, look it up. Showering does wonders.

    5. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by starless · · Score: 1

      Of course, if you're being a real scientist, presumably you don't announce spectacular results till they've been peer-reviewed....

      And even more than just announcing a non-reviewed piece of work, they went overboard with the hype it seems to me,
      including the highly-staged video they made of arriving at Andre Linde's house and telling him the result:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    6. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Oligonicella · · Score: 0

      I believe you misread. They're not saying *science* is a sham, they're saying *these guys* (generic) were a sham. Sometimes they *do* hang on to bad ideas for that research money. If you deny that, you're saying scientists are not prone to human foible.

      And, with the size of the expense, it's valid to weigh whatever benefits may possibly come against said expense. It's a noteworthy point that the money is seldom, if ever, out of the scientist's pocket.

    7. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The land of answers is religions turf.

      As a Christian, having seen those answers work in my life and others', I couldn't agree more.

    8. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So wait, God came down from heaven and showed himself to you, directly? Did you happen to get any pictures?

      or by "seen" do you just mean "attribute to God anything that happens to go well?"

      Are you talking about the whole "love others" bit, which works in everyone's life whether they are Christians or not, or are you talking about the "anyone who doesn't believe winds up suffering agonizing torture forever by dictate of God himself" bit? I would like to see how that "works" in anyone's life.

    9. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wouldn't gravity waves make this interstellar dust compress and expand like a regular shockwave. Then the light intensity would get brighter and darker as the gravity wave moved through space.

    10. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, your observation is very accurate. And with politics and religions liking what science finds less and less, it gets worse.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    11. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Indeed. The success of religion clearly shows that most people are not actually interested in knowledge or understanding, but rather want to be lied to as long as they like the lie and it comes as absolute truth.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    12. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I couldn't agree more. The irony in this is that the christian bible was written with that in mind. Cryptic is an understatement... it wouldn't be good to give willfully blind, and outright wrong, people like that any sort of metaphysical power. For myself, I've preferred the scientific method applied on a larger test population. The results have been unexpected, and easy to duplicate.

      Still, the results provide a straight forward avenue to decipher the same concepts hidden in the christian bible. (If you're wondering, I take the time to do so when I need some brainwashing type humor... it's amazing what one can pull up with a digital copy, knowing what you're looking for, and good old fashioned regexs.)

    13. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (FYI I'm a different anon)

      that's rather brilliant, actually. It shouldn't so much change the intensity, but rather act as a lens. This should be very noticeable, seeing as even an almost non-measurable divination would be astronomical after traveling galactic distances.

    14. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Methadras · · Score: 1

      No, science isn't a sham and never was. However, if you can't find the gravitational waves you need to bolster the big bang, they either have already passed you by and you can't see their wake at all. I say keep looking for them, but the possibility that the theory of the big bang might need to be revised. Maybe it didn't create any gravitational waves at all and it if did, they where all on the leading edge surface boundary of it's creation/inflation.

    15. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you a science fanatique ? I don't reject the fact that people are a bit lazy in matter of looking for knowledge. But have to accept that succes of religion simply show that religion touch the hard, the saoul, when science is about reason. That's all, for religion it is more easy and also more strong (the hard). By the way, there no reason to consider automatically science and religion antagonists. Because there is truths that only hard can understand, and in another hand truths made for reason, they are différent, and what people just need to do, as sensitive-and-reasonable being is to make this work together (for themselve). The only condition is that religion must never contradict with science, because science is facts. But often religion has a quiet large view and can be made compatible with science.

      Big bravo for Planck !

    16. Re: Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also know that God lives and answers prayers.

      Scientists tend to get flustered by all the reproducibility inherent in religion.

      Thing is, scientific method really works. The only difference is that in religion God tells you under what conditions He can be found.

      The problem occurs when scientists insist on doing it their way, even if it means groping on the floor for the light switch they were told would be on the wall as they walked in.

    17. Re: Thus confirming existing opinions: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Bible isn't hard to understand, however it is written in such a way that those who don't want to see the light will be kept from finding it.

      My nine year old probably understands more of the Bible than most of the people on this forum. Then again, he is humble and willing to learn and understand. He also has access to additional scripture that clarifies the Bible, and revelation through prayer. Not that it's cheating though: anyone can pick up a Book of Mormon or pray in faith, believing you can receive a answer. After that, a little child can literally lead, and the simple be given words that can confound the wise.

    18. Re:Thus confirming existing opinions: by david_thornley · · Score: 2

      For many religious people, they are interested in knowing and understanding things, including things that can't be scientifically investigated. Science isn't the only source of truth, it's just by far the best we know of when applied to fields where scientific investigation is possible. Their evidence of God tends to be direct perception, which happens with some people and not others. While science can investigate this phenomenon, it can't distinguish between said perception being something more or less real or an artifact of brain evolution.

      The more religious people I know tend to be interested in other perspectives, and dislike being lied to. They have certain specific and very firm beliefs I don't share, but they're also willing to sacrifice more for others than I am, and I generally respect them.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  2. Back to steady state in our lifetimes? by towermac · · Score: 1

    I just have this feeling...

    1. Re:Back to steady state in our lifetimes? by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

      Guess that means we should ignore you when it comes to astrophysics!

    2. Re:Back to steady state in our lifetimes? by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      I suspect it will be closer to eternal and ever changing.
      The idea of the big bang always wreaked of religion to me anyway. It just seems like a way to reconcile our inability to conceive the universe as being eternal. We look at all things as having a beginning and an end. To accept that the universe has neither can be mind shattering. It is so much easier to interpret the data in a way which shows a beginning and insinuates an end.

    3. Re:Back to steady state in our lifetimes? by towermac · · Score: 1

      That was exactly my thought. I believe creationism and religion has had an influence on the big bang theory, as it has on everything else in our society.

      The haters up there don't see that their reaction to having the big bang questioned is the same reaction the religious have to having their stuff questioned.

      Einstein's gut was steady state, and he had to be convinced of the big bang. I'm just trying to keep my mind open.

  3. Fortune by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I go on working for the same reason a hen goes on laying eggs. -- H.L. Mencken

    Because his abdomen is swollen with chicken eggs?

  4. zerp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yet more evidence that the Kabbalistic, pseudoscientific entity known as the "big bang" is not and never was real.

    1. Re:zerp by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

      No, this is evidence that we don't understand gravitational waves.

    2. Re:zerp by gweihir · · Score: 1

      That is actually a complete fail on your part. The theory is getting refined, not invalidated. That is a different process. Also, if it is an entity then it is real. Really, you are confused and rather dramatically so.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    3. Re:zerp by Kahlandad · · Score: 1

      Oops, nobody's perfect.

      Except for creationists, so they claim.

    4. Re:zerp by JasonGoatcher · · Score: 0

      Christianity teaches that only God is perfect. Part of becoming a Christian is admitting that one is a hypocrite.

      A wise man once said that if you have a clear conscience, you also have a very bad memory.

  5. Wrong, IMHO by s.petry · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are 2 competing theories for the beginnings of the Universe. One that has been pounded into everyone's heads for the last century called "Big Bang" and another more recent theory called "Expanding Vacuum" (also called Quantum Vacuum).

    The Big Bang, as mentioned, has been pounded into everyone's head as the right theory even though people have pointed out countless flaws with the theory since the beginning. The more recent theory has been ignored, largely by people claiming to be pro-science. The Big Bang has even evolved in the last few decades to be more like EV/QV theory. Very few people will say "Hey, what about this other theory" and generate the necessary discussion.

    Personally I don't see this as shocking or new. Science likes to hang onto bad theory for as long as possible, people invest a lot of time into their opinions and it's very difficult to change them. History has a good amount of these issues if you care enough to study history (see Newton especially a great book called "Newton and the Counterfeiter).

    This is a case where it's not so much people claiming science is a sham, it's people saying "that theory is wrong". Some people lack the knowledge and/or desire to move on to a new/better/different theory. Many of those people are "scientists" who have invested a long long time in a theory that's broken.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Big Bang theory essentially says that in the past the universe was very hot and very dense. Are you disputing these claims? If not, then I don't see how you can call the theory "wrong".

    2. Re:Wrong, IMHO by buchner.johannes · · Score: 1

      There are 2 competing theories for the beginnings of the Universe.

      There are many more theories (read: thousands) for the expansion of the Universe since the last scattering (CMB) (the topic of your post), and hundreds for the origin of the early universe (mostly inflation, but also others). Another hundred theories for what Dark Energy is (the most recent expansion).
      If you only hear people talking about one theory, you are probably in the wrong room.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    3. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're coming across as a crank and conspiracy theorist, largely because you're using terms like "pounded in everyone's head" and claiming that your pet theory is being ignored by the powers that be.

    4. Re:Wrong, IMHO by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Or in other words: There are a lot of bad scientists around that cling to the little part of science that they thought they had mastered. When it turns out they did not, they turn irrational. Good scientists do not regard it as a loss if a theory they have worked on turns out to be invalid. They are intrigued, applaud the advancement of knowledge, regard their working on the failed theory as getting more insight and skill, and move on.

      The sad thing is that Sturgeon's Law applies to scientists as well. It also matches my experience as a scientist, and especially as a peer-reviewer: Good researchers and good research is rare, most do small incremental and usually irrelevant stuff, because they do not have what it takes. Many of these researchers also excel at hindering, sabotaging, ridiculing and stealing from researchers that are actually good at it.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    5. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I've been working in Cosmology for 10 years now and I haven't seen a single paper talking about your "EV" theory on the archive, or in any journal that I read.

      There are hundreds of alternative guesses, but very few of them make any testable predictions. It's not a surprise that scientists hold on to old theories - the burden of proof of anyone positing a change from the status quo is that they have to 1) match the correct results of the existing theory and 2) introduce a new result that the old theory doesn't match. We don't hold on to old theories out of habit, or some sense of reverence - it's far, far better for us (career wise and ego wise) if we jump into a new area early and establish results there as we get our names on new things. However most of us are quite conservative in this regard because coming up with any old crap is easy. Coming up with something that both matches existing tests and predicts new ones is hard. If you've got a proof of your pet theory doing something new and testable, and you can show it matches (say) CMB observations etc. we'd all love to see it.

    6. Re:Wrong, IMHO by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      He was a little bit sloppy with his EV/QV reference. Typing "Quantum Vacuum" into Wiki produces this page. In other words, QFT.

      --
      I come here for the love
    7. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If that is what the original poster meant, then it means both of you are not familiar with the topic at all. QFT is integral to the Big Bang theory in its current accepted form, and in most alternative forms too. It is not a competing theory.

      I'm not the AC you replied to, but also having experience in astrophysics, I don't understand what the original poster was getting at, other than possibly trying to make their own pet theory look more important than it is. And while mods may fall for it, it is another case of showing off that a person hasn't even looked into something enough to know things on the level of Wikipedia. It is rather sad to see people talk about people not having enough knowledge to move on when they seem to be displaying a completely lack of both current and potential future alternative theories.

    8. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Jack9 · · Score: 1

      > because you're using terms like "pounded in everyone's head"

      The BB theory is the only one that is well-known, because it's the only one that is mentioned in modern (and not so modern) textbooks, when making any cursory reference to a number of phenomena.
      That doesn't make him a crank, it makes him savvy to the current state of education (largely, across the world). The crank part comes from promoting another theory as the only alternative.

      --

      Often wrong but never in doubt.
      I am Jack9.
      Everyone knows me.
    9. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason the BB is the only one that's well-known is that it is pretty much settled that the BB happened, as opposed to the universe being eternal, which was the other hypothesis at the time, that being almost 100 years ago. Key names are Lemaitre and Hubble.

      The BB is so successful, that today's cranks claim that it says stuff it doesn't say, in order to hold up their pet hypothesis that they probably don't understand. The actual physicists who come up with these hypotheses for how the BB happened understand the BB and its historical context.

    10. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      because it's the only one that is mentioned in modern (and not so modern) textbooks,

      I've seen courses and textbooks talk about alternatives, especially similar but alternative models (i.e. still have a "big bang" like beginning, but disagree with the lambda-CDM approach of getting from there to here), and some even more extreme alternatives get mentioned, but maybe not covered in detail.

      The crank part comes from promoting another theory as the only alternative.

      The crank part comes from him either naming either a very obscure theory, or mangling things so bad it makes it look like he doesn't know the topic, especially in the face of alternatives that are already out there. Even if there was no mention of "2" competing theories, it would come off as crank.

    11. Re:Wrong, IMHO by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      people invest a lot of time into their opinions and it's very difficult to change them.

      Oh people's opinions are easily changed. The problem however is that theories are just that. They exist in models and mathematics which all seems to work out quite well for a small subset of scenarios. We have one model of gravity for interaction of galaxies, and another model for interaction of subatomic particles. Both of them are "wrong" in a way.

      I have no doubt if someone discovers the Theory of Everything and models it and can show the model remains consistent all the way to the start of the universe meeting all the necessary statistical requirements, then people's opinions on their own theories will change.

      You know the old saying, extra-ordinary claims require extra-ordinary proof. And I haven't seen any extra-ordinary proof that the big bang theory is a bad theory. Incomplete maybe, hard to fathom yes, but not "bad" and not from what I can see displaced by anything "less bad".

    12. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have one model of gravity for interaction of galaxies, and another model for interaction of subatomic particles.

      No, the only standard, well tested model for gravity interaction is General Relativity, and this is the same for both galaxies and particles. We have many more models for gravity interaction between galaxies, modified theories like MOND, etc., that are being studied for alternatives to things like dark matter. But models of gravity at the particle level are nearly none existent, or are theoretical supersets of general relativity but not established or flushed out yet.

    13. Re:Wrong, IMHO by s.petry · · Score: 1

      Call me a skeptic, but the fact that you don't know the EV/QV theory indicates that you don't really work in Cosmology. At least as a scientist.

      There are hundreds of alternative guesses, but very few of them make any testable predictions.

      See above, read "A Universe from Nothing" and then talk. Spouting from ignorance does not change my skepticism in your favor.

      the burden of proof of anyone positing a change from the status quo is that they have to 1) match the correct results of the existing theory and 2) introduce a new result that the old theory doesn't match.

      This is wrong on just about every level, and surely not science. In fact doing this is exactly the Einstein definition of insanity. "Well, we know it's wrong but fuck it..."

      Now if we were talking about something like gravity, we have things that are close enough. The Big Bang has never been close, hence most models of the Universe requiring upwards of 90% dark matter and energy (which EV/QV does not require).

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    14. Re:Wrong, IMHO by s.petry · · Score: 1

      I first read papers on the Quantum Vacuum theory called "Expanding Vacuum", and Lawrence Kraus who published several books on this subject used the terms synonymously the first time I heard him speak. In the first paragraph I wrote, I stated exactly "Expanding Vacuum" (also called Quantum Vacuum)." The only thing sloppy is people's ability to read.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    15. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your comment is reprehensible. First, if you were knowledgeable enough about the subject to discuss it, you wouldn't have even worded it the way you did. So you literally do not know what you are talking about. Nobody thinks of the Big Bang as some ultimate theory with no flaws. But there are a number of aspects of it that are rock-solidly established (hot origin and expansion in particular). That pretty much defines what a "big bang" theory is. All future cosmological theories will almost surely preserve the hot origin and expansion and will therefore STILL be Big Bang theories. As for those future theories, there are many many many of them of which vacuum theories are just one class. You are presenting your "Expanding Vacuum" theory as just one alternative and are therefore mis-educating readers by presenting them with a false dichotomy. In short, you are scientifically illiterate and at the same time are attacking the merits of scientific theory. If there is such a thing as an "anti-teacher" you are one.

    16. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nope, it really doesn't. Post a link to a peer reviewed paper, a posting on the ArXiv, or something concrete. "A Universe from Nothing" is a book by Lawrence Krauss in which he posits that the big bang came to be as a quantum fluctuation. Nothing to do with some new "There was no big bang" theory. It seems to me that you are the one who knows just about nothing here. Krauss also works on, and /requires/ dark energy in his model: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L....

      You're also misquoting Einstein, and have no idea how scientific research works. The first burden of replacing an existing theory is that you recreate the correct results of that theory. The first thing that Einstein worked on when he had a general theory of relativity was showing that it reduced to Newtonian gravity in the correct limits. The first work on scattering amplitudes in QFT was to show that they give the existing observations that worked in quantum mechanics. The correspondence principle of quantum mechanics stats that as quantum numbers get large, classical mechanics (and all the results therein) are reproduced. This is precisely how science works. You can't come up with a new guess that doesn't match existing results and claim it's a good theory. It isn't, and the older, existing theory will always be favored because it's a) Testable and b) Passed those tests.

    17. Re:Wrong, IMHO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, such arrogance and ignorance, I'm not sure if you could ever realize how wrong you are on the subject, even if you were explained so from a person sitting in an office within a physics or astronomy department, with many published papers in the field. There are bigger issues that how far off you are understanding the particular theory, and that can't be corrected with forum posts. Sometimes my coworkers and I come across those that get things so far off, it is time to nod and move along, even if that gets interpreted as agreement. At least Krauss is the type to laugh about such things, and at the next conference I would have to see how hard he laughs at the idea of his theory being in competition to the Big Bang theory as opposed to building upon it.

    18. Re:Wrong, IMHO by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind that for thousands of years it was settled science that the world was flat and the sun revolved around it. Just because something is considered settled science does not mean that it has any bearing on reality.

      Religious thinking has always, and will always plague science. When people have invested a great portion of their lives researching something using a single model for the base of the research the idea of throwing out that model is terrifying. Making small changes to that model isn't so hard as long as the accumulating changes do not alter the base of the model. Religious thinking creeps in, and before you know it the model cannot be wrong. Any inconsistencies observed are haphazardly explained away as not yet fully understanding the model. At that point the scientific theory becomes a religion, and is just as hard to get rid of.

  6. Re:Oh yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just wait until I bang your Mom! She's so fat I slapped her ass and rode the wave in!

    Or to misuse the words of the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

    Give it away, Give it away, Give it away, Give it away Now!
    Give it away to a big fat cow now!
    Give it away to a chick that's not hot
    roll her in the flour and aim for the wet spot!

  7. If everything started from a point in space/time.. by See+Attached · · Score: 1

    How could one galaxy pass another or collide with it? Assuming that everything that exists started from the same point, and receive its primary ejection vector (speed + direction), how is it that one galaxy could crash into another? Its not like one galaxy would decide to make a right turn into another. Plus there would be a VERY compelling velocity/vector gradient map that would point back (overall) to the point of origin of the big bang. Anyone seen one of these? Science is based on observed evidence, but can also develop theories that go beyond. Fine. The big tip off is corroboration. Do bodies observed in the universe have a radial/spherical pattern with Faster bodies further from a common location, and slower bodies being closer to that point? If so, I'll start to listen. Next, string theory, if I heat up a gyroscope, hang it onto a spring, and attach that spring to a buoy in the ocean, will I have a 12 dimensional energy state that is as valid as a 12 dimensional universe that we -had- been tired of hearing about. Even Sheldon Cooper is off string theory. didn't see a paper that says it was discredited. Time for someone to step into the role of Science-Man - sort of like weather-man. Tell us whats coming, but would have to be just a teeny bit more accountable, as tax payers do drive science, substantially.

    --
    Time for a new Political party in the US (or two!) One is off the rails Other cant pony up a leader.
  8. Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What evidence would disprove the big bang?

    1. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discovering a star that is older than the Big Bang.

    2. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What properties would this star need to have? Specifically.

    3. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      a 14 billion year birthday card standing on the mantel?

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    4. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by ihtoit · · Score: 0

      well, going on what the radical religious claim, something that proves that nothing in the universe can possibly be older than ~6630 years?
      (we've got organisms on this planet, for example a 5,000 year old bristlecone pine, that are older than that, and they spend their entire lives metabolising - no dormant stages for them. Carrion beetles and hydras are both known as organisms that absent physical hazards, are basically immortal. Those three examples alone show the religious right to be a bunch of crocks).

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    5. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure what your point is. I just want an example of evidence that would make cosmologists no longer believe in the big bang.

      Also, it started as a religious theory. It is a christian one, just catholic rather than protestant.

    6. Re: Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wouldn't gravitational waves imply that gravitational effects are not instantaneous? If they were, then you would only be able to dectect the waves as they are being generated, but not after. I'm no expert but I have read of some examples of them being instantaneous or indistinguishable from instantaneous but absolutely faster than light. One example was that a sensitive gravity detector can tell you where the sun IS but looking at the sun will tell you where it WAS 8 minutes ago... Any thoughts on this? Anyone else have more to share in this area? I find this whole subject fascinating and I can't wait until it all gets sorted out and we can put more pieces of this grand puzzle together

    7. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Kahlandad · · Score: 1

      Discovering a star that is older than the Big Bang.

      This was the case for quite awhile during the late 80's and 90's. Astronomers studying the age of the universe calculated its age to be between 10 and 15 billion years old, while other astronomers studying ancient stars calculated their ages to be between 15 and 20 billion years old. Eventually they discovered more accurate ways to take measurements and the calculations worked this apparent paradox out.

      Finding a star that is older than the big bang wouldn't disprove the big bang... it would only mean that more research needs to be done.

    8. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by pastafazou · · Score: 1

      out of mod points, but you're clearly a troll

    9. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So is it possible to disprove the big bang theory?

    10. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by harperska · · Score: 1

      If you come up with a different theory that can explain doppler shift and the cosmic microwave background, as well as all other phenomena predicted by the big bang theory, while simultaneously correctly predicting observations that the big bang theory fails to predict, then yes, it is possible.

    11. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is not disproving, it is replacing. I do not think that is necessarily an illegitimate way to operate, but it is somewhat unfair to any challenging explanation.

      For example, take my big bong theory that galaxies are just wisps of smoke from a giant bong hit that we live inside. If evidence conflicts with the big bang theory, the data is blamed. However, if evidence conflicts with the big bong theory, the theory is blamed.

      Are you familiar with any literature that investigates this issue?

    12. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      that's your opinion and you're welcome to it, valueless to anyone else though it is. I was offering a theory, all you've offered is a character attack, which not knowing me clearly marks YOU as the troll. Now, kindly fuck off and die.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    13. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If evidence conflicts with the big bang theory, the data is blamed.

      This happens with any heavily tested theory in science. If you have a bunch of agreeing data points, and come across one or two that disagree, you have to weigh the prospects of the theory being wrong vs. the chance a measurement was made wrong. Sometimes the simpler explanation is that a measurement was wrong or incorrectly interpreted, and scientists have to wait then for newer data and ideas to repeat the process to check that.

    14. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again, I do not claim that to be illegitimate. However, surely you can see the danger. Only evidence that conflicts with the "accepted" theory will get fully investigated. The method is biased to build up a web of "corroborating" evidence that has not been vetted as severely as the conflicting data.

    15. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The method is biased to build up a web of "corroborating" evidence that has not been vetted as severely as the conflicting data.

      Well, evidence only gets fully vetted if it conflicts current theories... or if it conflicts with alternative theories, or if it could distinguish alternative theories from current theories with better error bounds but at the moment is inconclusive, or if it new experiments with better performance want to see if they are doing things right, or because someone is trying to find novel uses for results from a different experiment...

      There is quite a bias within a particular experiment, for a person do double check their work more when it disagrees than when it agrees. But as far as motivation of where to go with new work, it is very difficult for a piece of evidence to be important, but not be a potential source of separation between current and alternative theories (of which there are a lot, even if they only differ in subtle ways) and not be something checked by later experiments looking for basic checks of their new measurements (e.g. larger or higher resolution surveys of space).

    16. Re: Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty much since GR was found to have wave solutions, they were expected to travel at c and not instantaneous, which has been backed up indirectly by the only evidence of waves we have at the moment: decay of orbits of binary compact objects. To make them travel at not c, would require GR to be wrong (which is possible, but not many alternatives even attempt to modify gravity waves that way as opposed to just getting rid of them, etc.)

    17. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, evidence only gets fully vetted if it conflicts current theories... or if it conflicts with alternative theories....or...or... etc

      I doubt that evidence conflicting with the big bong theory will be vetted to the same degree as would be the case for the big bang theory. The larger number of people and funding associated with thelatter allows more effort to be thrown at finding problems with the data.

      Its status as the mainstream suggests this would be the case compared to all other alternatives. I also do not think that the other reasons to further inspect the evidence will motivate the same amount of effort. I have no data on this but that is what seems plausible to me. I am thinking that this putative advantage should be measured and perhaps offset somehow.

    18. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finding a star that is older than the big bang wouldn't disprove the big bang...

      No it would. Take the statement literally. Do not insert the word "calculated" in there.

    19. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's more "Give us a better theory".

      If you have one and can prove it better than the big bang, then it will take the place of the big bang theory.

    20. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by DaveyJJ · · Score: 1

      Neil Turok's cyclic universe theory *is* a simpler theory, without any of the fudge factors needed to get inflation to be correct, and everything in it can be confirmed by observation. It has yet to be falsified, and the lack of gravitational waves is another factor supporting the theory. Furthermore, if the lack of gravitational waves actually falsifies rapid inflation, which means there is evidence that shows we must throw that one out.

      --
      DaveyJJ
    21. Re: Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to science of the 20th century and beyond!

      Sadly.

    22. Re: Falsify the Big Bang by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      The difference between modern and pre-20th century science is that we now have very good mathematical models and very poor representations. Our human minds simply cannot understand general relativity and quantum mechanics intuitively.
      So we don't disprove the big bang but we disprove formula A and replace it with formula B which may be a scientific revolution but may still match the global idea of a big bang.

    23. Re: Falsify the Big Bang by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know. It reminds me of the problem with the "social sciences". They measure different instances of dynamic systems at a single timepoint... Then they average these results and say it's all too complicated to make a real prediction. That may be true, but the method they use precludes them from doing so whether true or not. In that case the problem is they refused to collect most of the relevant information and then threw out a large percentage of what they did have. The situation you describe is similar, but I cannot put my finger on it.

    24. Re:Falsify the Big Bang by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Finding out that redshift can be an inherent part of a galaxy and not only existing from extremely fast movement, or that redshift occurs naturally as light travels extremely great distances in space. The big bang is based on redshift, without it the theory has no base at all.

  9. Title is misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Title should read; "ESA: No Conclusive Evidence of Big Bang Gravitational Waves from BICEPS"
    The ESA is saying that a previous experiment that claims to have detected primordial gravitational waves (supportive evidence as to the Big Bang theory) didn't account for dust. It doesn't invalidate the Big Bang as a potential candidate for the formation of the universe.

    1. Re:Title is misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The title is fine. The only reason to add "from BICEP2" would be if there were conclusive evidence of Big Bang gravitational waves from some other experiment.

    2. Re:Title is misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's evidence and evidence. Bicep2 failed to find some evidence, this is a fact, but the 'conclusive' part is editorializing. I think the evidence is already conclusive

  10. Big Bang gravitational waves? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    Hofstadter isn't THAT heavy...

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  11. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think of a 1-D analogy:

    - object i is at position i.
    - object i is traveling at speed i + c + Math.random().

    A galaxy could crash into another because its speed has a random component.

    The center of expansion is at object -c. The problem is that any constant c works, so every point is equally the center of expansion.

  12. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its not like one galaxy would decide to make a right turn into another.

    Except for a thing called gravity which does tend to pull things together, causing galaxies to "turn" into each other.

    Plus there would be a VERY compelling velocity/vector gradient map that would point back (overall) to the point of origin of the big bang.

    Says who? Even pop-sci tends to get it right that there is not necessarily a point of origin and tries to make an analogy with balloons.

    Do bodies observed in the universe have a radial/spherical pattern with Faster bodies further from a common location, and slower bodies being closer to that point?

    Yes, that is what Hubble et al. discovered. This has been demonstrated pretty heavily, although it is in such a manner that from any point in the universe it would look like everything is moving away from the observer.

  13. Back to steady state in our lifetimes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that's retarded and you should go engage in risky behavior

  14. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by See+Attached · · Score: 1

    If everything is moving away from us, perhaps we -are- the center of the Universe! Sounds like there are still things we dont understand about the observable universe if we cant get the red/green shift stuff to make consistent sense.

    --
    Time for a new Political party in the US (or two!) One is off the rails Other cant pony up a leader.
  15. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe things would be more consistent appearing if you spent time to actually learn about the topic, even a bit more, before throwing out that what you don't understand is universal.

  16. Multiple medium Bangs? by See+Attached · · Score: 1

    Why not a regional bang? Could a galaxy (or subset of the universe) invert into a medium bang? Always wondered if intelligent beings, always being fascinated by science and understanding, eventually win the Darwin-Award by blowing themselves up? Or... imploding their Solar System into a black hole... (also winning the Darwin-Award !!).

    --
    Time for a new Political party in the US (or two!) One is off the rails Other cant pony up a leader.
  17. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're imagining the big bang as a grenade explosion in the middle of an empty space, but that's not what it was.

    Simplify by reducing dimensions: a ball is a 3d object, its surface is an infinite plane (2d). Take a small ball (V=100cm3). Mark two points on its surface, measure their distance along the ball surface. Inflate the ball (V=1000cm3). The distance between the marks along the surface has grown. In the 2d universe of the ball surface, this expansion has no center. Any two originally adjacent points are now separated by some distance.

    Our universe might be a surface of an inflating 4d object. At least, its expansion has no center. Galaxies (clusters, superclusters) are like points on the inflating ball surface. Everything is getting farther from everything else.

    Spooky, if you ask me.

  18. Because gravity still pulls matter together. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So if you have two galaxies fairly close to each other, their overall motion relative to each other, equal to the expansion of space between them minus their mutual gravitational infall can be overall negative and therefore they get closer, which decreases the value of the expansion related velocity and increases the gravitational pull between them.

    And so the galaxies collide.

  19. Re:If everything started from a point in space/tim by jdschulteis · · Score: 1

    If everything is moving away from us, perhaps we -are- the center of the Universe! Sounds like there are still things we dont understand about the observable universe if we cant get the red/green shift stuff to make consistent sense.

    Get a rubber balloon and a marker, or just use your imagination. Put a bunch of dots on the balloon. Now choose one dot as a reference and inflate the balloon--all of the other dots move away as the balloon expands. Try using a different dot as the reference and you get the same result. Note that there are limitations to this analogy, but I found it helpful.

    P.S. It's red/blue shift, not red/green.

  20. Cyclic by DaveyJJ · · Score: 1

    This means that Neil Turok's much more elegant and simpler theory (cyclic universe) may actually be the correct one. No gravitational waves, no Big Bang inflation. Rapid inflation has too many fudge factors built into it to sustain it to be correct, and many of them scan not ever be falsified. It's simpler than that. I think Mr. Hawking will soon be paying Neil is his money.

    --
    DaveyJJ
  21. Re: If everything started from a point in space/ti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What does it even mean mean for time, the fourth d, to expand? Expansion is a physical phenomena, ie limited to the first 3 dimensions. Looking at the universe as you suppose implies that we are on the surface and without access to the actual center or to any parts closer to the center than we are. Intriguing for sure but doesnt seem to make sense. Am I missing something here?