Latest news with #PerimeterInstitute
RNZ News
4 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
What if the Big Bang wasn't the beginning?
We're joined by theoretical physicist Niayesh Afshordi—professor at the University of Waterloo and associate faculty at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics—and science communicator Phil Halper, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society whose stunning astronomy images have appeared in The Washington Post, BBC, and The Guardian. Together, they've co-authored Battle of the Big Bang New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins , a book that challenges the boundaries of what we think we know about the origins of the Universe. Photo:
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'New' Tatooine-Like Exoplanet Appears to Orbit 2 Failed Stars
Scientists have found evidence of a Tatooine-like exoplanet that orbits two stars instead of one. Unlike the other 15 circumbinary planets to mimic the orbit of Star Wars' most famous planet, though, this one appears to circle failed stars. Astronomers not involved in the research consider it "some of the most direct evidence yet" of this unique type of system. The planet in question is 2M1510 (AB) b, and while it hasn't yet been observed directly, data strongly suggests that it exists. Its discovery follows that of two strange stars 120 light-years from Earth: a pair of brown dwarfs, otherwise known as failed stars. While one of the brown dwarfs had been on researchers' radar since 2018, it was only found last year to have been two failed stars, which were too light to ignite. The 45 million-year-old brown dwarfs orbit each other every 12 days, circling a small, proper star just 18 light-years away. But what orbits them? Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, researchers in the United Kingdom and Portugal found that both brown dwarfs orbit in opposition to their own orbital motion. Thanks to new data analysis methods developed by astronomer Lalitha Sairam when she was at the University of Birmingham, the team knew their findings weren't a fluke: Sairam's methods had improved the precision of their observations by a factor of 30. That meant the odd pattern could only be explained by gravitational bumps from another object, which would need to orbit the failed stars at roughly a 90-degree angle. A visible light image of the two brown dwarfs locked in a binary system. Credit: DESI Legacy Survey/D. Lang (Perimeter Institute) "We had hints that planets on perpendicular orbits around binary stars could exist, but until now we lacked clear evidence of this type of polar planet," PhD student and lead study author Thomas Baycroft said. "We reviewed all possible scenarios, and the only consistent with the data is if a planet is on a polar orbit about this binary." Baycroft and his colleagues consider their discovery "serendipitous," as they'd been using the VLT to study the binary brown dwarf system in general, not to find a new planet. "It is a big surprise and shows what is possible in the fascinating universe we inhabit, where a planet can affect the orbits of its two stars, creating a delicate celestial dance," Baycroft said.
CBC
14-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Grab a slice while celebrating Pi Day in Waterloo region: Jasmine Mangalaseril
Social Sharing March 14 is Pi Day. Although many math-leaning sorts will celebrate the result of dividing a circle's circumference by its radius, it's a day everyone can mark with pie. The date, first celebrated in the United States in 1988, lined up perfectly with the mathematical constant: 3.141592653… In Waterloo, when Henry and Dianne de Jong opened Sweet and Savoury Pie Company, they didn't realize how important Pi Day was in the Region. "Of course, with two big universities, colleges, the Perimeter Institute, you've got a lot of math and science-oriented and -focused careers and studies and that sort of thing," said Dianne de Jong. They held their first Pi Day in 2015. "People were getting pies. We were lined up out the door so they could be home at 9:26 and be eating that pie at 9:26 and 53 seconds, because that's the number," added Henry de Jong. There is no official flavour or type of pie to celebrate the mathematical constant, as Henry de Jong explained. "People just want pie on Pi Day. Some people look at it and go, 'I'll have a quiche for breakfast. I'm going to have a meat pie for lunch. I'll have something for dinner, but I'm going to have pie for dessert.' Or they'll do pie, pie, pie." A world of pies A picture perfect latticed cherry pie or golden domed chicken pot pie may immediately jump to mind, but given pie is simply a food with a crust, the world of pie is as varied as its fillings. With the Middle East home to a cradle of civilization, some of the world's oldest pies can be found there. One is sfiha (or sfeeha), which is a round flatbread topped with chopped or minced lamb or beef, that is mildly seasoned with pepper, onions, parsley and tomatoes. "It's sort of like a mini pie. We put meat and spread it on top," explained Adam Alhares, who along with his family, owns Kitchener's Damask Resto-Market. "It's usually, flat and more in a circle shape. And we have many like variations of it. Some people put pomegranate. Some people put lemon with it." Along with manaeesh (a flatbread similar to sfiha, sometimes topped with za'atar), Damask also prepares other oven-baked fatayer (savoury handheld pies). Their boat-shaped pies are filled with cheese or mhammara (or muhammara), a ground mixture made of nuts, red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses and breadcrumbs. And their pyramid-like pies are stuffed with spinach. While Damask's spinach fatayer feature crimped seams, Melina's spinach and cheese-bundled spanakopita are a Mediterranean relative. "Spanakopita is actually spinach pie in Greek," said Nathalia Zuniga, who owns Melina's in Kitchener with her husband Mel Ioannou. "Spanakopita is layers of filo stuffed with spinach and feta cheese…it's very traditional in Greece and in Cyprus. [It's] served all the time." At Melina's, spanakopita is made into baked filo-wrapped triangle of varying sizes, from cocktail-sized to larger handhelds for a hearty snack or light lunch. They'll also be made into cushions and served with sides for a meal. The Greek-Latino fusion takeaway also makes several Central American and South American sweet and savoury pies. Their staff, from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, prepare pastelitos and empanadas as they would at home. Most are half-moon shaped (but Chilean ones look more like a rectangular pocket), using either corn meal or wheat flour for the envelope that holds their fillings. Some are deep fried while others are baked. Their sweet pies can be filled with tropical fruit, dulce de leche or coconut, while their savoury offerings are filled with any combination of beef, chicken, potatoes, ham. "The Colombians have mashed potatoes mixed with the beef or chicken, and a little bit of cumin makes them stand out. The Venezuelan is similar, but the difference is that they are not stuffed with potatoes," said Zuniga. "When it comes to both delicious, but completely different taste, even though they look very similar."
