Boffins take the temperature of the cosmos
The universe is cold and getting colder, according to work by an international team of scientists working with CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array near the NSW town of Narrabri. The group has pinned the average temperature of the universe at 2.73 Kelvin – not far above absolute zero – but more impressively, it’s also given …
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So the heat-death of the Universe is ~8.19 billion years from now?
Somehow, I doubt it. Entropy will win over the long-haul, mind, but somehow I suspect it'll take a trifle longer than that given that we're capable of seeing energy from 23.5 billion light-years away. And stretching the distance on a regular basis.
Not that it really matters to us puny humans, mind ;-)
Re: So the heat-death of the Universe is ~8.19 billion years from now?
Not the heat-death of the univers.
It's just the temperature of the background radiation that drops (actually should be doing that exponentially I reckon).
You still have a hundred billion years or so until the last galaxy disappears over the horizon and the universe looks just like a big empty room from any vantage point. And then you have to wait even longer until everything has decayed and finds itself on the light cone (if that ever happens). In these strange aeons, even time will die... because there aren't any clocks any longer. An interesting fate.
Re: So the heat-death of the Universe is ~8.19 billion years from now?
"we're capable of seeing energy from 23.5 billion light-years away"
The universe is "only" 13.77 billion years old so it is not possible for anything further away than 13.77 billion light-years to be detectable simply because the light/energy can't have gotten here yet.
As for the "death" of the universe, given the Eddington number (10^80 protons) and the proton half-life (10^32 years) my math says we have 2.67*10^34 years before the last proton evaporates back into energy. But I could be wrong.
Re: So the heat-death of the Universe is ~8.19 billion years from now?
I wrote: "we're capable of seeing energy from 23.5 billion light-years away"
You replied: "The universe is "only" 13.77 billion years old so it is not possible for anything further away than 13.77 billion light-years to be detectable simply because the light/energy can't have gotten here yet."
Yeah, kinda. But not quite. Look up "observable universe" and "expansion of space". It might surprise you.
Beer, because the math(s) and the shear wonder requires same :-)
Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
One day the universe will become a vacuum where everything has decayed and there is no activity.
A bit like the Windows 8 / Win Pho 8 / Surface market then.
Re: Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
If you can't see the IT in this article, Eadon, I think the vacuum and/or decay and/or lack of activity is between your ears.
Doubly-so for bad-mouthing any OS in reference to said article.
Re: Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
Impressive Eadon...you even managed to get your now-traditional anti-ms jibe into a story that has nothing whatsoever to do with IT. Kudos. <slow clap>
Re: Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
Jeez, you're annoying. Your attitude makes me consider dumping Linux from some servers.
Re: Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
>Jeez, you're annoying. Your attitude makes me consider dumping Linux from some servers.
That's his intention, I think:
50% chance Eadon is an agent provocateur- claiming to be a a Linux support but actually aiming to discredit it. An age old strategy, akin to governments placing thugs amongst peaceful opposition protests.
35% chance Eadon has learning difficulties. "Linux is so easy that even Eadon can use it".
10% chance - troll
5% chance - agent of El Reg as a click-baiter.
The other day he derailed a thread about 3D-printing by spouting off about WinPho 8, and then accused others of "plaguing these forums".
Re: Universe is suffering a heat-death like fate
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to ignore certain commentards.
"The cooling is predicted by the big bang theory"
Nice to hear that TV gets it right for once.
Big Bang Theory has the advantage of actually being funny. Please take note.
Big Bang Theory has the disadvantage of being about some miserable blokes being miserable. Nothing funny about that.
Better cite the episode...
...or some troll will reject it for lack of peer review.
[Pul / Qua] sar
"the radiation received from a pulsar"
"Radio waves from this quasar "
So, is it a pulsar or a quasar?
Re: [Pul / Qua] sar
We are talking DISTANCE, man. So it's bound to be a Quasar.
Also:
1) Pull up Google in the browser
2) "PKS 1830-211"
3) ????
4) http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0201551 : PKS 1830-211: A Face-On Spiral Galaxy Lens
We present new Hubble Space Telescope images of the gravitational lens PKS 1830-211, which allow us to characterize the lens galaxy and update the determination of the Hubble constant from this system. The I-band image shows that the lens galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy with clearly delineated spiral arms. The southwestern image of the background quasar passes through one of the spiral arms, explaining the previous detections of large quantities of molecular gas and dust in front of this image. The lens galaxy photometry is consistent with the Tully-Fisher relation, suggesting the lens galaxy is a typical spiral galaxy for its redshift. The lens galaxy position, which was the main source of uncertainty in previous attempts to determine H_0, is now known precisely. Given the current time delay measurement and assuming the lens galaxy has an isothermal mass distribution, we compute H_0 = 44 +/- 9 km/s/Mpc for an Omega_m = 0.3 flat cosmological model. We describe some possible systematic errors and how to reduce them. We also discuss the possibility raised by Courbin et al. (2002), that what we have identified as a single lens galaxy is actually a foreground star and two separate galaxies.
Your Face When it's actually a gravitational lens.
A query arises...
...is the restaurant at the end of the universe's location measured in distance or time?
And if entropy wins, does this mean my steak will be served rare?
Enquiring minds must know.
Re: A query arises...
Neither distance nor time. Rather, entertaining speculation.
Also known as "science fiction". HTH, HAND.
Meanwhile at the nearby Narrabri Pub....
Right Bruce, set the beer fridge to 2.73 Kelvin.
That'll get these slabs nice and cold.
Re: Meanwhile at the nearby Narrabri Pub....
Liquid Helium, 4 Kelvin. Takes about 10 seconds of being right next to the dewar(opened) to be nice and cold. Put in dewar for a second for beer lollies.
That's for Tennents, your time may vary for other lagers. Kingfishers slightly shorter, Special Brew slightly longer.
/valuable scientific boffinry from the NMR lab.
CMBR
Isn't this the same as just measuring the cosmic microwave background radiation? Which coincidentally is the same temperature?
Re: CMBR
Yes, but the point is that they've measured it (not predicted it) at a redshift of 0.89, which in the standard model corresponds to a time when the universe was somewhat over half its current size. The title of the paper (linked in the article) makes it clear: "A precise and accurate determination of the cosmic microwave background temperature at z=0.89".
2.73K
Spooooooky. The average temperature of the whole universe is (to 3 S.F..) exactly one percent of the freezing point of water. More proof that we're in a big simulation with a lazy sysadmin? I'll get me tinfoil hat....
Universal cooling? Cue Lewis...
Talking of temperature. Has Lewis missed this: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123133612.htm
I hope it isn't tax payers cash being wasted on this utter pointless cr@p!
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