quote: From the 200 or so type 1a supernovas that astronomers have now studied, they've deduced that galaxies today are flying apart faster than they did 5 billion years ago—prima facie evidence for runaway expansion. Now, researchers want to learn whether the presumed dark energy has had the same density throughout cosmic history.
If its density is constant, then dark energy may resemble what Einstein called the cosmological constant—an unchanging property of empty space that imbues the universe with a constant acceleration. If dark energy's density varies, it could either increase in strength and rip the universe apart, or it could fade away. In the latter case, the gravitational tug of all the matter in the universe would eventually cause the cosmos to collapse.
quote: If it gets funded by NASA and the Department of Energy, the 3-year mission could be launched by 2010. However, the project's funding has been delayed by NASA's recent presidential mandate to focus on human exploration of the moon and Mars.
posted
This is why Bush's "push to mars" sucks serious ass. Fund it SEPERATELY from everything else nasa is doing, and its great.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
i wonder why they call it dark energy, and not say antigravity or something else. dark energy sounds too unscientific
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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