Voyager Clue Points To Origin of the Axis of Evil 293
KentuckyFC writes "Cosmologists have been scratching their heads over the discovery of a pattern imprinted on the cosmic microwave background, the radiation left over from the Big Bang. This pattern, the so-called Axis of Evil, just shouldn't be there. Now an independent researcher from Canada says the pattern may be caused by the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space where there is a sharp change in pressure, temperature and density of ions in space. Known as the termination shock, astronomers had thought this boundary was spherical. But last year, data from the Voyager spacecraft which have crossed the boundary, showed it was asymmetric. The new thinking is that the termination shock acts like a giant lens, refracting light that passes through it. Any distortion of the lens ought to show up as a kind of imprinted pattern on an otherwise random image. But the real eye-opener is that as the shape of the termination shock changes (as the Solar Wind varies, for example), so too should the pattern in the microwave background. And there is tentative evidence that this is happening too (abstract)."
So? (Score:4, Interesting)
Fascinating stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Fascinating stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
Way back in the 80's I was taking a receiver design course at George Washington University. My lab partner was involved in the continual design of more sensitive receivers to listen in on the voyager craft.
It led to interesting discussions about how the pace of receiver design (sensitivity, noise floor, selectivity). At the time we were learning the state of the art, the folks at the research labs were pushing the limits further and further. It warms my heart to realize that 25 years later they are still making significant advancements.
What it will take to monitor the weakening transmissions from the Pioneers and Voyagers five years from now doesn't exist today. Kudos to everyone involved in the process.
Re:Why Axis of Evil? (Score:3, Interesting)
It is left as an exercise for the user to determine why the word 'of' was included in the name.
Shouldn't? (Score:2, Interesting)
just shouldn't be there.
Sorry, but that's religious talk. Science revels in unexpected results.
Re:Why should we care? (Score:5, Interesting)
The singularity, or big bang, is the lowest common denominator state of the mass/energy of the multiverse. This universe is an expression of one of many higher order patterns which the multiverse can assume. Entropy and gravity are expressions of the universes inevitable degeneration back to the singular state. "Before" the big bang, there was another universe, and "After" the big bang, there will be another universe. Although that is misleading, because time is just another spatial dimension, and all of these universes exist simultaneously, connected at the singularity. None of this is infinite, just incredibly large and complex.
Understanding the shape of the multiverse is synonymous with understanding the laws of reality. Where the multiverse came from is beyond human experience, and not really a useful question to contemplate.
Re:Why should we care? (Score:4, Interesting)
It means that in the next two to five years we can confidently expect the development and release of FTL travel, zero-point energy, a cure for mortality, replicator technology and hot green alien nymphomaniac bikini chicks. From Mars.
If I'm immortal, what need do I have for hot green alien nymphomaniac bikini chicks? I'd be popping saltpeter pills and working on time travel science (since all the other super-science would be done, and being assured that I'd see the future via immortality, only the past would be of interest).
Re:Why should we care? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Shouldn't? (Score:5, Interesting)
Nah, that's good and scientific.
Religious: "According to my faith, that shouldn't be there. So it's not. la-La-LA, I can't HEAR YOU!"
Scientific: "According to my theory, that shouldn't be there. But it is. So what's wrong with my theory?"
There's not necessarily a conflict between "shouldn't be" and "unexpected". It's "unexpected" because it "shouldn't be".
Re:Voyager (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:too (abstract) (Score:3, Interesting)
It should be evenly distributed, but instead it's brighter and darker in places, and they think it's due to the uneven surface of the termination shock.
However, in a paper linked from the first article there is a second effect that optical phenomena at the termination shock won't account for: there appears to be a preferential handedness of spiral galaxies, and the handedness exhibits itself along an axis that is close to the Axis of Evil.
Furthermore, while this paper on optical effects is interesting and suggests some directions for more research, the author's own thoughts on what specific phenomena might be causing the distortions are, using his own term, "speculative."
Other than the asymmetry of the termination shock it is by no means certain that any of these phenomena exist (that is, that they are not artifacts of the instruments or the analysis), which is the typical state of affairs in leading-edge science, so it'll be interesting to see how the truth unfolds over the next few years.
Re:Why should we care? (Score:3, Interesting)
Replicators... because in America, I totally need another way to get junk food conveniently without moving from my couch.
Not to mention "Build Your Own Cheetos" and "Any-color Any-texture M&Ms". We don't just want junk food, we want designer junk food that we can design ourselves.
It helps remind us that we are special snowflakes.
Re:Why should we care? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's obvious why....I'm the center of the universe.
Assume the universe is infinite. If I look left, there is an infinite distance between me an the restaurant in that direction. If I look up, same thing, infinite distance. Right, down, forward, backward, same thing. The center of something is defined as the point where the distance between all opposing points is the same. Therefore, I am the center of the universe.
Re:Fascinating stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm more impressed that we can still get signals from the thing. The radio only emits 20 watts. By the time the signal reaches earth, it's been attenuated to 0.00000000000000001 watts. Being able to grab that signal is equivalent to reading morse code transmitted by an ordinary light bulb 200 million miles away!