Astronomy

Astronomers have discovered a hidden feature in exoplanet distribution that could explain the absence of so-called "hot-Neptunes" close to their stars.

The third Venom movie is almost here, and its latest trailer has unveiled the villain in the shadows: Knull, the King in Black.

Here’s what members of the New Scientist editorial team are keenest to catch at the world’s greatest festival of ideas and discovery, which runs from 12 to 13 October

Here’s what members of the New Scientist editorial team are keenest to catch at the world’s greatest festival of ideas and discovery, which runs from 12 to 13 October

Certain values carry more weight in spring and autumn than in summer and winter

Tiny black hole "bullets" left over from the Big Bang could be passing through Mars at speeds in excess of 7,000 times the speed of sound, causing the Red Planet to "wobble."

On 18–19 September, Europe’s space industry from start-up companies to large system integrators gathered at ESA–ESTEC in the Netherlands for Industry Space Days 2024.

Europe's Hera mission to the asteroid Dimorphos, which NASA's DART probe hit in September 2022, has arrived at its launch site in Florida ahead of its planned Oct. 7 liftoff.

Scientists are putting a new spin on the creation of binary asteroids

As a six-year investigation into the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica wraps up, the scientists involved are pessimistic for the future of this glacier and the consequences for sea level rise

As a six-year investigation into the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica wraps up, the scientists involved are pessimistic for the future of this glacier and the consequences for sea level rise

Mathematics communicator and drag queen Kyne will help you discover the beauty and power of math in this miniseries.

During the morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 22, skywatchers will be able to watch a waning gibbous moon cross in front of probably the most popular of all the star clusters in the sky: the Pleiades.

The Moona Lisa

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission has snapped a souvenir of the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock desert in Nevada.

XRISM revealed the structure, motion and temperature of the material around a supermassive black hole and in a supernova remnant in unprecedented detail. Astronomers presented the first scientific results of the new X-ray telescope today, less than a year after the telescope’s launch.

Genetic analysis shows that microbes growing inside the International Space Station have adaptations for radiation and low gravity, and may pose a threat to astronauts

Genetic analysis shows that microbes growing inside the International Space Station have adaptations for radiation and low gravity, and may pose a threat to astronauts

SpaceX has sent a letter to high-ranking Senate and House committee members contesting the $630,000 fine proposed by the FAA for alleged launch violations.

Computers truly are wonderful things and powerful but only if they are programmed by a skilful mind. Check this out… there is an algorithm that mimics the growth of slim mold but a team of researchers have adapted it to model the large scale structure of the Universe. Since the Big Bang, the universe has been expanding while gravity concentrates matter into galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Between them are vast swathes of empty space called voids. The structure, often referred to as the cosmic web.

The cosmic web is the largest scale structure of the universe and it’s made up of filaments of galaxies and dark matter that stretch across the gulf of space. The filaments connect galaxy clusters with immense voids in between. The web-like structure has formed as a result of the force of gravity pulling matter together since the beginning of time. Studying the cosmic web helps us to piece together the evolution of the universe, how matter is distributed and the relationship with dark matter. 

Image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of a galaxy cluster that could contain dark matter (blue-shaded region). (Credit: NASA, ESA, M. J. Jee and H. Ford et al. (Johns Hopkins Univ.))

Since the early 80’s it’s been known that the nature of a galaxy and its environmental properties has an impact on how it grows and evolves. The exact nature and how this happens is still the cause of many debates. A team of researchers believe they may have demonstrated how galaxies evolve using a slime algorithm!

The team, led by Farhanul Hasan, Professor Joe Burchett and eight co-authors, published their findings ‘Filaments of the Slime Mold Cosmic Web and How they Affect Galaxy Evolution’ in August’s edition of the Astrophysical Journal.  In the paper they report how the mold algorithm has helped to unlock mysteries of the cosmos. 

Burchett recommended the slime mold algorithm could be used for an astrophysical application. Hasan worked with Burchett and altered the algorithm to help them visualise the cosmic web. The team worked with graphics rendering expert Oskar Elek to use the slime mold algorithm. The mold algorithm was designed to mimic slime mold that could find its own food by reforming itself into a structure much like the cosmic web. It took the team several years to complete their work. 

In shaping the Universe, gravity builds a vast cobweb-like structure of filaments tying galaxies and clusters of galaxies together along invisible bridges hundreds of millions of light-years long. A galaxy can move into and out of the densest parts of this web throughout its lifetime. Credit: Volker Springel (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics) et al.

The result produced far more detailed discrete structures than the old method according to Hasan. He added ‘I didn’t know how well it was going to work or not work, but I had a hunch the slime mold method could tell us much more detailed information about how density is structured in the universe, so I decided to give it a try.’

Of the conclusion, Hasan and team found that the impact on galaxies seems to have taken the proverbial u-turn. In earlier epochs, the growth of a galaxy was stimulated by proximity to larger structures. In the near universe, and therefore in cosmologically recent times, we see that galaxy growth is limited by proximity to larger structures. This wasn’t possible without the modified slime mold algorithm. We can now map out the gas around the real universe using the algorithm across many different times to help understand how the web has changed and the universe evolved. 

Source : NMSU astronomy research uses slime mold to model galaxies

The post Slime Mold Can Teach Us About the Cosmic Web appeared first on Universe Today.