Scientists find 'marker' left by Big Bang

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26605974

Scientists say they have extraordinary new evidence to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe.

Researchers believe they have found the signal left in the sky by the super-rapid expansion of space that must have occurred just fractions of a second after everything came into being.

It takes the form of a distinctive twist in the oldest light detectable with telescopes.

Hard to get your head around what they've found but it seems to be the light left over from the Big Bang and thus further evidence that it not only happened by happened in the way hyptotised by Scientists for a long time now.

Inflation was first proposed in the early 1980s to explain some aspects of Big Bang Theory that appeared to not quite add up, such as why deep space looks broadly the same on all sides of the sky. The contention was that a very rapid expansion early on could have smoothed out any unevenness.

But inflation came with a very specific prediction - that it would be associated with waves of gravitational energy, and that these ripples in the fabric of space would leave an indelible mark on the oldest light in the sky - the famous Cosmic Microwave Background.

It must be so rewarding for the Scientists that came up with these theories to see them validated decades later.

Here is a video of the guy who came up with this theory being told he was right all along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlfIV...ature=youtu.be

I also found this post on Reddit to better explain why this is so important: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comm...hailed/cg4unam

Its direct proof about what happened during the big bang and inflation, The Inflationary theory of the Big Bang has been around for ~30 years, and has a good deal of indirect evidence to back it up. This discovery directly confirms our current model as the correct model, and quashes a lot of possible competing theories. Its very similar to the Higgs Boson in that regards.

What this means, is that it limits the possibilities for what a theory of Quantum Gravity and a Theory of Everything look like and further allows theorist to focus their research. It also provides experimental data for those researcher to use to hone their models.

Edit: It also means that Dark Energy is real. Not what it is, only that it exists.

Apparently if confirmed this will be one of the greatest discoveries in the history of physics.

---------- Post added at 19:35 ---------- Previous post was at 19:26 ----------

I also think this also suggests our estimates for the age of the universe are more likely...

Listening to the sound of creationists digging in the sand..

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Listening to the sound of creationists digging in the sand..

No that would be the sound of the 'Young Earth-ers'. Us Creationists don't really have a problem with the Big Bang theory.

This is the second time in a year that a fundamental hypothesis in physics has been proven correct decades later when our ability to look for it has arrived. That's amazing.

Originally Posted by Damien

This is the second time in a year that a fundamental hypothesis in physics has been proven correct decades later when our ability to look for it has arrived. That's amazing.

how has it been proven correct? they have found something that they theorise gives evidence that a theory is correct they still could be totally wrong

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

how has it been proven correct? they have found something that they theorise gives evidence that a theory is correct they still could be totally wrong

They found exactly what the theory suggested would be there. The thing that had to be there for the big bang expansion theory to occur. They don't think it proves the theory correct by chance, this is exactly what they were looking for.

but they can not categorically say they have it right they can simply say they think they do

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

but they can not categorically say they have it right they can simply say they think they do

It needs to be confirmed first. However like the Higgs Boson this squares a theory. For the inflation theory to be correct the scientists said that these 'gravitation waves' would exist alongside some other things. There was a lot of supporting evidence for the inflation theory but they needed to find that these waves exist, the smoking gun of inflation theory. Presuming there hasn't been a awful mistake they've found it.

Also they don't simply 'think' they have it right. They have evidence to support their hypothesis. It's also hard to doubt them when they said something would be there and then find it is. Their hypothesis is holding up.

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Better explanation here:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...-physics-bicep

Scientists have heralded a "whole new era" in physics with the detection of "primordial gravitational waves" – the first tremors of the big bang.

The minuscule ripples in space-time are the last prediction of Albert Einstein's 1916 general theory of relativity to be verified. Until now, there has only been circumstantial evidence of their existence. The discovery also provides a deep connection between general relativity and quantum mechanics, another central pillar of physics.

"This is a genuine breakthrough," says Andrew Pontzen, a cosmologist from University College London who was not involved in the work. "It represents a whole new era in cosmology and physics as well." If the discovery is confirmed, it will almost certainly lead to a Nobel Prize.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

but they can not categorically say they have it right they can simply say they think they do

Have a read of why the guy mentioned 5 sigma when the door was opened.

---------- Post added at 22:04 ---------- Previous post was at 21:37 ----------

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Listening to the sound of creationists digging in the sand..

I have no doubt the young earthers will do what they do every time science shines a light on their nonsense and misinterpret the evidence.

Originally Posted by Damien

It needs to be confirmed first. However like the Higgs Boson this squares a theory. For the inflation theory to be correct the scientists said that these 'gravitation waves' would exist alongside some other things. There was a lot of supporting evidence for the inflation theory but they needed to find that these waves exist, the smoking gun of inflation theory. Presuming there hasn't been a awful mistake they've found it.

Also they don't simply 'think' they have it right. They have evidence to support their hypothesis. It's also hard to doubt them when they said something would be there and then find it is. Their hypothesis is holding up.

---------- Post added at 21:31 ---------- Previous post was at 21:23 ----------

Better explanation here:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...-physics-bicep

what if there is another explanation for the 'gravitation waves' that they have not found yet?

They thought they knew the shape of the milky way yes the very system we are in tiny in comparison to the universe until they found out they were actually incorrect and only found out something this close because the voyager probes shown them

I think I will stick to my skepticism seeing as they can get something wrong this near yet they say they know something millions of times further away

Edit not the milky way our solar system

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Russ

No that would be the sound of the 'Young Earth-ers'. Us Creationists don't really have a problem with the Big Bang theory.

Don't suppose there is much difference between "let their be light" and a big bang really.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Don't suppose there is much difference between "let their be light" and a big bang really.

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

what if there is another explanation for the 'gravitation waves' that they have not found yet?

They thought they knew the shape of the milky way yes the very system we are in tiny in comparison to the universe until they found out they were actually incorrect and only found out something this close because the voyager probes shown them

I think I will stick to my skepticism seeing as they can get something wrong this near yet they say they know something millions of times further away

Not sure exactly to what you're referring with regards to the shape of the solar system.

The Scientists seem pretty sure and they've been working on this for several years not content with the theory until they found these waves. The level of effort they've gone to prove this theory instead of just accepting all the other evidence should inspire confidence. You can stick to your skepticism but it appears to be based on nothing but a desire to question everything they do without evidence to merit your scepticism. They have gone to extraordinary endeavours to back up their claims whereas yours appear to be based on the fact that sometimes scientists are wrong. I would suggest that we go with the state of science which will evolve when they find out more information.

The alternative is to reject all scientific advances because there could always be another explanation for what we think we already know. Matter and concepts which we currently cannot detect or grasp. Things which exist outside our current understanding of the world. That train of thought heads into madness and the questioning of everything we currently know. Do we even exist? and so on.

So the best we can do to work within the parameters we have and the world as we can measure it. It's done well enough to help us invent air flight, space travel, nuclear technology and computing. So until such time as it's proven otherwise, it would seem the inflation theory is correct. It was hypothesised almost 100 years ago. Evidence has increasingly mounted in it's favour. Now they've found the final part of the jigsaw.

Originally Posted by Damien

Not sure exactly to what you're referring with regards to the shape of the solar system.

The Scientists seem pretty sure and they've been working on this for several years not content with the theory until they found these waves. The level of effort they've gone to prove this theory instead of just accepting all the other evidence should inspire confidence. You can stick to your skepticism but it appears to be based on nothing but a desire to question everything they do without evidence to merit your scepticism. They have gone to extraordinary endeavours to back up their claims whereas yours appear to be based on the fact that sometimes scientists are wrong. I would suggest that we go with the state of science which will evolve when they find out more information.

The alternative is to reject all scientific advances because there could always be another explanation for what we think we already know. Matter and concepts which we currently cannot detect or grasp. Things which exist outside our current understanding of the world. That train of thought heads into madness and the questioning of everything we currently know. Do we even exist? and so on.

So the best we can do to work within the parameters we have and the world as we can measure it. It's done well enough to help us invent air flight, space travel, nuclear technology and computing. So until such time as it's proven otherwise, it would seem the inflation theory is correct. It was hypothesised almost 100 years ago. Evidence has increasingly mounted in it's favour. Now they've found the final part of the jigsaw.

The thing is Damien science have often said something is such and such a way only for years later to find it disproved. The human race I find a very arrogant species we have only traveled to the moon and we have probes that have only left this solar system yet by having devices that capture light that has traveled for many many years radiation and sound waves we try to explain everything.

They can say that x + y = reality but they can never ever be 100% sure on anything that they can not actually witness

As it stand at this moment they are trying to tell us how our universe began but they can not find a plane on our own planet lol

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

The thing is Damien science have often said something is such and such a way only for years later to find it disproved. The human race I find a very arrogant species we have only traveled to the moon and we have probes that have only left this solar system yet by having devices that capture light that has traveled for many many years radiation and sound waves we try to explain everything.

They can say that x + y = reality but they can never ever be 100% sure on anything that they can not actually witness

But that doesn't get us anywhere. It's not a constructive way to look at the world. Even the things we can witness might not be true, it's not uncommon for people to fabricate experiences instead their own heads after all. You might as well believe in nothing if you work on the assumption that science is wrong.