Latest news with #LiorShamir
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Entire Universe Could Exist Inside a Black Hole – Here's Why
When you peer out into the depths of the cosmos, a mystery lies there, waiting. In a survey of the deep sky, most of the galaxies are seen rotating in the same direction. This is a problem. Under current models of the way the Universe behaves, galaxies should be a hodge-podge rotating whichever dang way they please, resulting in a roughly even distribution of rotations. The fact that this is not what we observe suggests that there's something hinky going on: a huge gap in our understanding of the way the Universe works. "It is still not clear what causes this to happen, but there are two primary possible explanations," says astronomer Lior Shamir of Kansas State University. "One explanation is that the Universe was born rotating. That explanation agrees with theories such as black hole cosmology, which postulates that the entire Universe is the interior of a black hole. But if the Universe was indeed born rotating it means that the existing theories about the cosmos are incomplete." The other, much less exciting possibility is that it's an illusion caused by the rotation of our home galaxy. Although the Universe might appear pretty random at a glance, there is actually quite a bit of structure therein. Vast filaments of dark matter span the cosmos in a gravitational web that connects galactic hubs, for example. We had assumed, however, that the behavior of galaxies within that web was pretty randomized. That means that the distribution of spin directions of these galaxies should be more-or-less equal. Shamir's body of research suggests otherwise; previously, he has found evidence that the distribution of galaxy spin directions across the sky forms a distinct pattern. In the course of his research, Shamir has noticed that there's an asymmetry in the spin distribution; and, at greater distances across space-time, the asymmetry becomes even more pronounced. That means that there are more galaxies spinning one way than galaxies spinning the other, and the difference is stronger earlier in the Universe. For this new paper, he used data collected during the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) to study the rotations of 263 galaxies, whose light has traveled between roughly 5 and 10 billion years to reach us. There are only two directions these galaxies can spin – clockwise and counterclockwise. If the Universe is isotropic, or uniform in all directions, as described by the cosmological principle, there should be a pretty even 50-50 distribution of clockwise and counterclockwise galaxies throughout. When Shamir measured the spins of the 263 galaxies in his sample, he found an asymmetry that simply cannot be explained by chance: of the galaxies 105 rotate counterclockwise, while 158 rotate clockwise. "The analysis of the galaxies was done by quantitative analysis of their shapes, but the difference is so obvious that any person looking at the image can see it," Shamir says. "There is no need for special skills or knowledge to see that the numbers are different. With the power of the James Webb Space Telescope, anyone can see it." The notion that we all live in a black hole is pretty wild, and difficult to swallow, but there may be other explanations for the asymmetry. One possibility is that the rotation of the Milky Way galaxy from which we observe has more of an effect on our observations than we thought, making some galaxies appear as though they are rotating differently. That would be an oversight, but one to which the solution might clear up several other problems, such as the speed at which the Universe is growing. "If that is indeed the case, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep Universe," Shamir says. "The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology such as the differences in the expansion rates of the Universe and the large galaxies that according to the existing distance measurements are expected to be older than the Universe itself." His findings have been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Astronomers Stunned by Abundant Oxygen in Earliest Known Galaxy Space Is Set to Become a 'Wild West' as Outdated Laws Struggle to Keep Up JWST Detects Carbon Dioxide Outside Solar System For First Time
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Scientist Says Humans Might Be Trapped in a Gigantic Black Hole. It Isn't Crazy.
Observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope showed that more galaxies rotate in one direction than the other. According to one researcher, this could mean that the universe is actually inside an unfathomably huge black hole, and that most objects rotate in the direction the black hole is rotating It is also possible that we are biased—only seeing other galaxies as rotating a certain way because of how Earth rotates around the center of the Milky Way. Black holes have such extreme gravity that not even light can escape. They have been caught shredding entire stars and can even devour other black holes. And now, one scientist thinks there's a chance that our universe may have existed unscathed for tens of billions of years inside one super-super-supermassive black hole. Observations from JADES, the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, led Lior Shamir—a researcher from Kansas State University—to suggest this out-of-this-world idea. Shamir took a closer look at 263 galaxies seen by JADES, which showed up clearly enough to make out their rotation based on their shapes. He identified that about two thirds of these galaxies as rotating in the opposite direction to the Milky Way is rotating in. If the universe is truly random (whether it actually is continues to be an ongoing debate), it is thought that there should be an approximately equal amount of galaxies rotating in both direction, so the find is surprising. Shamir's earlier research using data from Earth-based telescopes found that the further out you observe, the greater the difference between the number of galaxies that rotate in opposite directions, with the amount of clockwise galaxies being higher. Luminosity helped determine the direction a galaxy was rotating in. He applied an algorithm that identified how a galaxy was rotating based on its arms—the brightest parts of its anatomy. 'If the observation shown here indeed reflects the structure of the universe, it shows that the early universe was more homogeneous in terms of the directions towards which galaxies rotate, and becomes more chaotic over time,' Shamir said in a study recently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Chaos in the universe may have caused more galaxies to rotate in different directions over time. However, it has been theorized that the universe itself is rotating. This idea is related to the theory of black hole cosmology, which views the universe as being inside a gargantuan black hole. The rotation of the black hole influences the rotation of the universe. This would also give our universe an axis. If a universe is rotating on its axis in the preferred direction of the black hole, it could explain why so many more galaxies are rotating in one direction than the other. There is still a margin for error, however. Even with the powerful eye of JWST, it was not possible to determine a direction of rotation for some galaxies, and resolving that may (or may not) change the difference between how many rotate one way and how many rotate the other way. Shamir also has an alternative reason as to why so many galaxies seem to be spinning in the opposite direction of the Milky Way—maybe we are just biased because we happen to be observing everything from Earth. 'Another explanation could be that the distribution of galaxy direction of rotation in the universe is random, but only seems non-random to an Earth-based observer,' he said in the same study. 'In that case, the observation can be explained by the effect of the rotational velocity of the observed galaxies relative to the rotational velocity of Earth around the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.' There is, of course, a glaring question. If the entire universe really is inside a black hole, how come it wasn't pulverized into dust eons ago? Let that keep you up at night. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Science
- The Independent
New Nasa data hints we could be living inside a black hole
A new study of 263 galaxies has provided fresh evidence to support a theory that our universe is the interior of a black hole. Using data from Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, researchers at Kansas State University in the US discovered that the majority of the galaxies were rotating in the same direction. This goes against previous assumptions that our universe is isotropic, meaning there should be an equal number of galaxies rotating clockwise and anticlockwise. 'It is not clear what causes this to happen, but there are two primary possible explanations,' said Lior Shamir, associate professor of computer science at Kansas State University. 'One explanation is that the universe was born rotating. That explanation agrees with theories such as black hole cosmology, which postulates that the entire universe is the interior of a black hole.' Black hole cosmology suggests that the Milky Way and every other observable galaxy in our universe is contained within a black hole that formed in another, much larger, universe. The theory challenges many fundamental models of the cosmos, including the idea that the Big Bang was the beginning of the universe. It also provides the possibility that black holes within our own universe may be the boundaries to other universes, opening up a potential scenario for a multiverse. The latest findings do not provide definitive proof of black hole cosmology, with more evidence required to fully understand the implications. Shamir noted that an alternative explanation for why most of the galaxies in the study rotate clockwise is that the Milky Way's rotational velocity is having an impact on the measurements. 'If that is indeed the case, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe,' said Shamir. "The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology such as the differences in the expansion rates of the universe and the large galaxies that according to the existing distance measurements are expected to be older than the universe itself.' The research was published in , in a study titled 'The distribution of galaxy rotation in JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey'.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientist Says He Found Evidence Our Entire Universe Is Trapped Inside a Black Hole
A researcher has made a puzzling discovery while analyzing observations taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. While analyzing images for the telescope's Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), Kansas State University associate professor of computer science Lior Shamir found that out of the 263 galaxies examined, two thirds of them rotated clockwise, while only a third rotated counterclockwise, as detailed in a paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This challenges the assumption that any given universe would have half of them spinning one way, with the rest spinning counter to that, according to a press release about the discovery. "It is still not clear what causes this to happen, but there are two primary possible explanations," said Shamir in a statement. "One explanation is that the universe was born rotating. That explanation agrees with theories such as black hole cosmology, which postulates that the entire universe is the interior of a black hole." The findings add credence to an existing, Russian doll-like theory called "Schwarzschild cosmology," which suggests that our galaxy is trapped within a black hole, which in turn is located inside another universe. As reports, this would imply that other observed black holes could be wormholes, otherwise known as Einstein-Rosen bridges, to other universes, which are unobservable to us due to the black holes trapping light within them. "I think that the simplest explanation of the rotating universe is the universe was born in a rotating black hole," University of New Haven theoretical physicist Nikodem Poplawski, who champions the theory that we're surrounded by doorways to other universes and wasn't involved in the research, told "A preferred axis in our universe, inherited by the axis of rotation of its parent black hole, might have influenced the rotation dynamics of galaxies, creating the observed clockwise-counterclockwise asymmetry." "The discovery by the JWST that galaxies rotate in a preferred direction would support the theory of black holes creating new universes, and I would be extremely excited if these findings are confirmed," he added. But Shamir's findings still leave the possibility that the Milky Way's own rotation could have influenced the galaxies' unusual distribution of spin rotation. Since the Earth rotates around the center of the Milky Way, researchers expect light from galaxies rotating in the opposite direction to be brighter, causing the discrepancy in the JADES observations, Shamir suggests. In other words, the velocity at which the Milky Way rotates may be influencing our celestial measurements, which had previously been considered negligible. "If that is indeed the case, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe," he said in the statement. "The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology such as the differences in the expansion rates of the universe and the large galaxies that according to the existing distance measurements are expected to be older than the universe itself.' More on black holes: Scientists Discover Black Hole So Gigantic That You Will Quiver in Existential Terror
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientist Says He Found Evidence Our Entire Universe Is Trapped Inside a Black Hole
A researcher has made a puzzling discovery while analyzing observations taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. While analyzing images for the telescope's Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), Kansas State University associate professor of computer science Lior Shamir found that out of the 263 galaxies examined, two thirds of them rotated clockwise, while only a third rotated counterclockwise, as detailed in a paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This challenges the assumption that any given universe would have half of them spinning one way, with the rest spinning counter to that, according to a press release about the discovery. "It is still not clear what causes this to happen, but there are two primary possible explanations," said Shamir in a statement. "One explanation is that the universe was born rotating. That explanation agrees with theories such as black hole cosmology, which postulates that the entire universe is the interior of a black hole." The findings add credence to an existing, Russian doll-like theory called "Schwarzschild cosmology," which suggests that our galaxy is trapped within a black hole, which in turn is located inside another universe. As reports, this would imply that other observed black holes could be wormholes, otherwise known as Einstein-Rosen bridges, to other universes, which are unobservable to us due to the black holes trapping light within them. "I think that the simplest explanation of the rotating universe is the universe was born in a rotating black hole," University of New Haven theoretical physicist Nikodem Poplawski, who champions the theory that we're surrounded by doorways to other universes and wasn't involved in the research, told "A preferred axis in our universe, inherited by the axis of rotation of its parent black hole, might have influenced the rotation dynamics of galaxies, creating the observed clockwise-counterclockwise asymmetry." "The discovery by the JWST that galaxies rotate in a preferred direction would support the theory of black holes creating new universes, and I would be extremely excited if these findings are confirmed," he added. But Shamir's findings still leave the possibility that the Milky Way's own rotation could have influenced the galaxies' unusual distribution of spin rotation. Since the Earth rotates around the center of the Milky Way, researchers expect light from galaxies rotating in the opposite direction to be brighter, causing the discrepancy in the JADES observations, Shamir suggests. In other words, the velocity at which the Milky Way rotates may be influencing our celestial measurements, which had previously been considered negligible. "If that is indeed the case, we will need to re-calibrate our distance measurements for the deep universe," he said in the statement. "The re-calibration of distance measurements can also explain several other unsolved questions in cosmology such as the differences in the expansion rates of the universe and the large galaxies that according to the existing distance measurements are expected to be older than the universe itself.' More on black holes: Scientists Discover Black Hole So Gigantic That You Will Quiver in Existential Terror
