Latest news with #UniversityofPortsmouth
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists make surprising discoveries in fight against emerging public health threat: 'The goal now should be to make their efforts count'
Scientists make surprising discoveries in fight against emerging public health threat: 'The goal now should be to make their efforts count' Microplastics are everywhere. They're in our oceans, our food, and even our bodies. According to a new University of Portsmouth study highlighted how public volunteers can help combat this invisible threat. What's happening? Researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. published a study examining the effectiveness of different protocols to capture plastic pollution on coastlines and whether volunteers can help fill crucial data gaps, like those reported by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. The research compared three leading microplastic and mesoplastic sampling methods across southern England, including two citizen science protocols and one used by European researchers. The goal was to determine which approaches are the most accurate, efficient, and easy to use. The findings revealed that while there's no one-size-fits-all method, public participation is a powerful tool. One technique, the Big Microplastic Survey, often detected more plastic than others, while AUSMAP was the fastest and most accessible. The EU's MSFD method provided the most accurate lab results but isn't practical without lab access or formal training. "In a perfect world, yes, we'd all be using the same protocol," Dr. David Jones, lead author of the study, said, per the University of Portsmouth. "But the variations in coastal geomorphology around the world make this challenging. We are not going to stop volunteers from getting involved — nor should we. The goal now should be to make their efforts count, even if their methods differ." Why are microplastics important to study? Plastic pollution is one of the most widespread environmental issues and is increasingly becoming a human health crisis. According to the study, up to 13 million tons of plastic enter our oceans every year. Larger plastics break down into smaller pieces called microplastics and mesoplastics, which can be easily ingested by marine life and passed on to humans through the food chain. Recent studies have detected plastic particles in human blood, lungs, and even the placenta. While we're just beginning to understand the long-term health impacts, early research suggests potential links to inflammation, hormone disruption, and increased toxicity. Better data collection leads to better chances to address the issue and protect our long-term health. "When it comes to understanding our plastic-choked coastlines, every piece of data counts — no matter how it's collected," Dr. Michelle Hale, co-author of the study, said, per the University of Portsmouth. What's being done about plastic pollution? While international organizations work toward global protocols, this research highlights the role of everyday people in tracking and combating pollution. Volunteer-based methods may not be perfect, but they are valuable, especially as researchers work to bridge the gap between different tools and environments. Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely Only in some areas Not really I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The study advocates for improved systems that allow for more effective comparison of data from various methods. In the meantime, individual action still matters. Reducing reliance on single-use plastics, choosing reusable alternatives, and supporting policies to limit plastic pollution can all contribute to the solution. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sound of The Big Bang Suggests Our Galaxy Floats Inside a Void
Sound waves 'fossilized' in the arrangements of galaxies across the Universe support the theory that the Milky Way galaxy floats adrift in a giant void in space. If this is the case, we could be teetering at the brink of solving one of the biggest problems in cosmology: the Hubble tension, a heretofore irresolvable discrepancy between measurements of the rate at which the Universe is expanding. The Hubble tension exists because different ways of measuring how fast the Universe is expanding – a rate known as the Hubble constant – give us different results. Measurements based on features of the early Universe, including the cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillations, tell us that the Hubble constant is around 67 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Measurements based on things closer, like Type Ia supernovae and Cepheid variable stars, give us a Hubble constant of around 73 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Related: This Is The Most Exciting Crisis in Cosmology "A potential solution to this inconsistency is that our galaxy is close to the center of a large, local void," says cosmologist Indranil Banik of the University of Portsmouth in the UK. "It would cause matter to be pulled by gravity toward the higher-density exterior of the void, leading to the void becoming emptier with time. As the void is emptying out, the velocity of objects away from us would be larger than if the void were not there. This therefore gives the appearance of a faster local expansion rate." A void in intergalactic space is pretty much what it sounds like. Matter isn't completely evenly distributed in the Universe; it tends to clump together, creating regions of higher and lower density. Astrophysicists have put forward the idea that the Milky Way is in just such a void as an explanation for the Hubble tension, with measurements of local space suggesting that our galaxy exists in a bubble about 2 billion light-years across that is 20 percent less dense than the average volume of space. However, this explanation is far from proven. To investigate the possibility of a local void, Banik and his colleagues turned to baryon acoustic oscillations, or BAO. When the Universe was just a wee baby, full of nothing but sloshing plasma, gravity and radiation combined to form waves of pressure that could shake their way through the compressed material. When space grew too diffuse for vibrations to propogate, the pressure waves remained preserved as vast spherical arrangements of cosmic structures, with higher densities of matter at their edges. This is the 'sound of the Big Bang', a buzz trapped in time across the Universe that is visible to us as ring shapes we call BAO. Because these rings froze at the same size – about 1 billion light-years in diameter – we can determine pretty much exactly how far away they should be. According to the researchers' calculations, the presence of a local void should distort BAO in a way that ought to be measurable, especially since that distortion would increase at greater distances. They carefully reexamined 20 years' worth of BAO observations, and found a deviation from what we would expect from the standard model of cosmology, consistent with the distortion invoked by a local void. Related: "A local void slightly distorts the relation between the BAO angular scale and the redshift, because the velocities induced by a local void and its gravitational effect slightly increase the redshift on top of that due to cosmic expansion," Banik explains. "By considering all available BAO measurements over the last 20 years, we showed that a void model is about one hundred million times more likely than a void-free model with parameters designed to fit the CMB observations taken by the Planck satellite, the so-called homogeneous Planck cosmology." The researchers say their void model results in a reduction in the Hubble tension from 3.3 sigma to 1.1 to 1.4 sigma. It's going to require some rigorous testing, but it suggests that at least part of the solution to this burning problem may at least partially be found in nothingness. The team plans to embark on this testing regime, looking at objects in local space to see if these observations hold up to the notion of a local void. The research has been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and presented at the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2025. Dying Star's Strangled Jets Solve 50-Year-Old X-Ray Mystery Alien World Discovered Provoking Its Own Hellish Apocalypse Impact That Gave Us a Moon Could Explain Why Earth Now Has Life
NDTV
09-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Is Earth In A Giant Cosmic Void? Why New Research Could Change Everything
In a discovery that could upend our understanding of the cosmos, scientists believe that Earth, along with the entire Milky Way, may be drifting near the centre of a massive cosmic void, an area unusually empty of galaxies and matter. Presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting, new research led by Dr Indranil Banik from the University of Portsmouth proposes that this "void", also known as an underdensity, could help solve one of astrophysics' biggest puzzles: the Hubble Tension, a long-standing discrepancy in measurements of the universe's rate of expansion. 'We showed that a void model is about one hundred million times more likely than a void-free model,' Dr Banik said, explaining that their data was based on 20 years of measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations – faint, frozen ripples in matter left over from the Big Bang, often described as the "sound" of the early universe. If true, this theory means we're sitting inside a cosmic bubble roughly a billion light-years wide and about 20% less dense than the average universe. This sparsity of matter could distort our view of how quickly galaxies are racing away, essentially tricking us into thinking the universe is expanding faster than it actually is. The idea of a local void is not new; scientists have debated it for decades, but it has remained controversial because it challenges the principle that the universe should be evenly spread out at large scales. However, Dr Banik's model, which incorporates redshift measurements and the latest Planck satellite data, offers compelling evidence that could shift mainstream scientific opinion. If confirmed, the implications are profound: not only would it reshape our understanding of cosmology, but it could also suggest that the "heat death" of the universe, when all energy is evenly spread and nothing happens anymore, might be much further in the future than previously believed. The research team plans to compare their void model with other measurements to further test its validity.
Metro
08-07-2025
- Science
- Metro
Scientists now believe Earth is sunken near the centre of a giant cosmic void
Ever felt like you're living in the centre of a desolate wilderness, with everything speeding away from you…? You could be right! Cosmologically speaking, that is. Scientists think they have found evidence that the Milky Way, our galactic neighbourbood, is in a part of the universe which is uncommonly empty. They say we might be in a big void called an 'underdensity', where there are some other galaxies, but less than you'd find elsewhere. Imagine the difference between living in a detached flat on a hillside in rural Scotland, and renting a flat in central London. The idea that the universe is not evenly spread out could explain why it seems like galaxies are speeding away from each other at a faster speed nearby than what we would expect from observiing the early universe. This is a puzzle that has been perplexing astrophysicists, and is known as the Hubble Tension. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video New research presented to the Royal Astromonical Society's National Astronomy Meeting suggested the 'void' as a potential explanation. Dr Indranil Banik, of the University of Portsmouth, said data comes from measuring baryon acoustic oscillations (AKA, the 'sound of the Big Bang'). If you don't know what baryon acoustic oscillations are, fair enough. They are like frozen ripples in the distribution of matter, created by sound waves moving through a hot plasma of particles at the very beginning of time. Dr Banik said: 'They act as a standard ruler, whose angular size we can use to chart the cosmic expansion history.' For decades, scientists have been pondering whether we could live in a big empty area of the universe. But the idea is controversial because it challenges what we think we know about space, which suggests matter should be more evenly spread out. If we really are floating in the middle of a bubble of nothingness, it is thought to be around 20% less dense than the universe as a whole, and a billion light years in radius. Explaining why a void might distort our idea of how quicky the universe is speeding away, Dr Banik said: 'It would cause matter to be pulled by gravity towards the higher density exterior of the void, leading to the void becoming emptier with time.' Matter being pulled away to the edge would move faster than if it were not in a void, but we wouldn't realise. Scientists have various ways to measure age in cosmic terms, including 'redshift' which measure how much light has stretched (as it stretches, it shifts towards the red end of the spectrum). Dr Banik said the gravitational effect of a void would be expected to increase the redshift, and distort its relation with the BAO angular scale (the 'cosmic ruler'). More Trending He said that by considering all the available measurements of these ancient ripples over the last 20 years, 'we showed that a void model is about one hundred million times more likely than a void-free model' when looking at parameters fitting oberservations taken by the Planck satellite. Researchers will now compare their model with other ways of estimating the universe's expansion. This is still just a theory, and one problem with it could be that the Hubble Tension has not only been observed on a local level, and so could suggest a more fundamental misunderstanding. But if the theory is right, the eventual heat death of all existence could be further away than we thought. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: These 6 traits make you cool — but one mistake cancels them all out MORE: This week's low-hanging Buck Moon will show a strange illusion on the horizon MORE: Here's how to see the Delta Aquariid meteor shower just around the corner
Newsweek
08-07-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Our Galaxy May Lie in a 'Mysterious Giant Hole'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Earth and the surrounding Milky Way galaxy may be sitting inside a cosmic void—a "mysterious giant hole"—that could be speeding up the universe's expansion in our region compared to others, This is the argument of researchers presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) in Durham. The notion may help explain one of cosmology's most puzzling problems: the so-called "Hubble tension"; the mismatch between two different ways of measuring how fast the universe is expanding. What Is the Hubble Tension? The Hubble constant, named after Edwin Hubble who first defined it in 1929, describes the rate at which the universe is expanding. It is calculated by measuring how fast galaxies are moving away from us and how far they are. But there's a catch. When scientists use data from the early universe—such as measurements from the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—they get a slower expansion rate than when they measure more recent, local data. This discrepancy is the Hubble tension. If we're situated in a low-density region like the green dot, gravity from the denser areas around us would pull matter outward, causing it to flow away from our location, as illustrated by the red... If we're situated in a low-density region like the green dot, gravity from the denser areas around us would pull matter outward, causing it to flow away from our location, as illustrated by the red arrows. More Moritz Haslbauer and Zarija Lukic/Royal Astronomical Society Paper author and cosmologist Indranil Banik of the University of Portsmouth, England, believes this inconsistency might be explained if our galaxy lies within a huge underdense region of space. "A potential solution to this inconsistency is that our galaxy is close to the center of a large, local void," explained Dr Banik. "It would cause matter to be pulled by gravity towards the higher density exterior of the void, leading to the void becoming emptier with time. "As the void is emptying out, the velocity of objects away from us would be larger than if the void were not there. This therefore gives the appearance of a faster local expansion rate." In other words, if we're inside a vast low-density region, it might make it look like space is expanding faster in our neighbourhood than it is elsewhere—solving the Hubble tension without needing to rewrite the laws of physics. "The Hubble tension is largely a local phenomenon, with little evidence that the expansion rate disagrees with expectations in the standard cosmology further back in time," Banik added. "So a local solution like a local void is a promising way to go about solving the problem." What Would This Void Look Like? For this theory to work, our solar system would need to be near the center of a void roughly a billion light-years across. Direct galaxy counts support the idea—astronomers have noticed that our local region seems to have fewer galaxies than nearby parts of the universe. Still, the idea is controversial. The standard model of cosmology assumes that matter should be spread fairly evenly across such large scales. A void of this size and depth doesn't fit easily within that framework. The Sound of the Big Bang Supporting evidence for the void theory comes from so-called baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs), often described as "the sound of the Big Bang." "These sound waves travelled for only a short while before becoming frozen in place once the universe cooled enough for neutral atoms to form," Dr Banik explained. "They act as a standard ruler, whose angular size we can use to chart the cosmic expansion history." According to Banik, BAO measurements slightly shift in a universe with a local void. The gravitational effects of such a void add a small redshift to the light from distant objects—on top of the redshift caused by the overall expansion of the universe. "By considering all available BAO measurements over the last 20 years, we showed that a void model is about one hundred million times more likely than a void-free model with parameters designed to fit the CMB observations taken by the Planck satellite, the so-called homogeneous Planck cosmology." What Comes Next? To test the theory further, astronomers will compare the void model against other independent methods of tracking the universe's expansion, such as cosmic chronometers. These involve studying old galaxies that no longer form stars. By examining the types of stars these galaxies contain—since massive stars burn out more quickly—scientists can estimate their ages. Combining these ages with the galaxies' redshifts reveals how much the universe has expanded while the light was traveling to us, offering another way to trace the cosmic expansion history. If future observations continue to align with the void model, it could fundamentally reshape our understanding of our place in the cosmos—and just how unusual our corner of the universe might be. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about stars? Let us know via science@ Reference Banik, I., Desmond, H., Valentino, E. D., & Shanks, T. (2025). Theoretical and observational approaches to the Hubble tension. National Astronomy Meeting 2025, Durham University.
