Scientists to Unveil 'Major Discovery' at Astrophysics Center Monday

Here we go again another major dicovery the be show.

www.space.com...

What do you think it will be this time ?
Is it me or these "Major Discovery" news are posted to get funds ?

CfA officials did not detail the nature of the astrophysics discovery in a media alert. They only stated that the center will "host a press conference at 12:00 noon EDT (16:00 UTC) on Monday, March 17th, to announce a major discovery." Space.com will provide complete coverage of Monday's announcement.

I know what it's going to be!

"We think we might have found even MORE evidence of liquid water on Mars!"

*eye roll*

To add a bit of information from what I've come across:

Scientists at the center pursue studies of those basic physical process that determine the nature and evolution of the universe

Furthermore, the word around town is that the announcement will be related to data collected by Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a experiment module that is mounted on the International Space Station. According to Wikipedia: "It is designed to measure antimatter in cosmic rays and search for evidence of dark matter." Perhaps these scientists found further proof to substantiate the Big Bang Theory or maybe they discovered evidence shedding light towards a newer model of the origin of the universe.

Possibly this is regarding the Kuiper belt.

Given the timing of the announcement on Monday March 17th, it may be to confirm that the objects in the main belt are in fact leprechauns. And are in fact coloured green.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

(Sorry for using wikipedia as a single source but it fits my mildly humourous theory)

Anyway look forward to seeing if I'm correct on Monday.
Happy St Patricks day ATS.
Sláinte.

Some things may not seem that "major" to you or I, or anyone who is not involved in the daily grind of crunching numbers or analyzing vast amounts of data. There are planning things predicted by science, or supported but there is no actual proof. When data starts coming in and it supports/contradicts scientific prediction, it is pretty "major" since it shapes our fundamental understanding of the universe and the world around us.

It's great to predict there is (x) amount of habitable planets, or that water is on (x), or whatever, but when something confirms a hypothesis it really is a big deal.

Remember the burden of proof for scientists is a little more than grainy youtube videos...

reply to post by Dolby_X


These big announcements always turn out non eventful and forgettable.

MystikMushroom
I know what it's going to be!

"We think we might have found even MORE evidence of liquid water on Mars!"

*eye roll*

Yeah, and even more exciting is that!!..........well, they won't tell us anything...

reply to post by Pistoche

And then there's this...
Possible discovery of primordial gravitational waves also known as holy grail of cosmology.

There is intense speculation among cosmologists that a US team is on the verge of confirming they have detected "primordial gravitational waves" – an echo of the big bang in which the universe came into existence 14bn years ago.

If true, this would be really groundbraking discovery and another point for Einstein.

TheGuardian

Almost triple double post lol

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


that's a major event !

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown



I'll go with that , another step forward in our understanding of the Universe.

reply to post by Dolby_X

It seems Big Bang really did happen, and the next step would be to find what was before the Big Bang, or to find the evidence for something that it's impossible to find evidence for lol

boncho
Some things may not seem that "major" to you or I, or anyone who is not involved in the daily grind of crunching numbers or analyzing vast amounts of data. There are planning things predicted by science, or supported but there is no actual proof. When data starts coming in and it supports/contradicts scientific prediction, it is pretty "major" since it shapes our fundamental understanding of the universe and the world around us.

It's great to predict there is (x) amount of habitable planets, or that water is on (x), or whatever, but when something confirms a hypothesis it really is a big deal.

Remember the burden of proof for scientists is a little more than grainy youtube videos...

Absolutely, piecing together data to confirm hypotheses is painstaking and the cosmos does not give up her secrets easily.

Every tiny piece of the puzzle that is fitted correctly, advances humanity greatly in the noble quest to deny ignorance and increases the awe inspiring complexity and beautiful mystery of the universe. Each discovery is 'major' as it opens doors to others.
Kudos to the decades of research that cleans even a tiny portion of our window onto the cosmos.
Still leprechauns would be cool. (Unless they spot us that is)

Good god, I bet these people invite each other round to admire a new stopcock being installed.

CallYourBluff
Good god, I bet these people invite each other round to admire a new stopcock being installed.

Especially if the original stopcock is 14bn years old

MystikMushroom
I know what it's going to be!

"We think we might have found even MORE evidence of liquid water on Mars!"

*eye roll*

Mmmmm......that would be astronomers who are planetologist.

Astrophysicist on the other hand tend to work with things on a bit of a bigger (or much smaller) scale.

Most likely, as another poster pointed out, it will have something to do with cosmic rays or something along those lines.

MystikMushroom
I know what it's going to be!

"We think we might have found even MORE evidence of liquid water on Mars!"

*eye roll*

I was gonna say.. Apparently the only way to keep NASA in the public eye is to hold a press conference on some "major Discovery".

One of these days they are going to hold a conference, no one will show up to cover it, and the scientists will be sitting around talking to the Extraterrestrials about 1st contact.

Dolby_X
Here we go again another major dicovery the be show.

www.space.com...

What do you think it will be this time ?
Is it me or these "Major Discovery" news are posted to get funds ?

CfA officials did not detail the nature of the astrophysics discovery in a media alert. They only stated that the center will "host a press conference at 12:00 noon EDT (16:00 UTC) on Monday, March 17th, to announce a major discovery." Space.com will provide complete coverage of Monday's announcement.

edit on 14-3-2014 by Dolby_X because: quote

Well I give this announcement a lot more weight then I ever held out for Courtney Brown's announcement. At least we know it will be science and reality based.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


Albert Einstein is my god. Quantum physics is my religion and the field of potentiality is my church.

AthlonSavage
reply to post by Dolby_X

 

These big announcements always turn out non eventful and forgettable.

Well, these announcements and discoveries may be "huge" to the researchers and scientists involved in that particular field, but the scientific significance of it may be too esoteric for the average person to get excited about.

I guess I'm saying that if you, me, or the next guy doesn't find a particular discovery interesting does not mean it is not significant to science.