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The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...

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  • The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...
• The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...

• The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...

  Michael > July 13th, 2023, 02:02 PM

  A recent paper published by scientists at the University of Ottawa proposes to double the estimated age of the universe to explain a number of anomalies that have intrigued physicists, cosmologists, astronomers, and their fans.
  
  Here's a quote from an article by the Daily Mail (but this is only the latest story I've seen on the topic - they're by no means my only source):
  
  

  Quote:The Universe is almost twice as old as we thought, according to a new study that challenges the leading cosmological model. 
  
  Experts from the University of Ottawa have devised a new model and claim that the Big Bang happened 26.7 billion years ago. 
  
  This is almost twice as old as previous estimates, which suggest that our universe dates back 13.7 billion years.   
  
  'Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by a several billion years, making the universe 26.7 billion years old, and not 13.7 as previously estimated,' said Professor Rajendra Gupta, an author of the study.

  
  I don't think it's settled science by any means. It could take years for other scientists to test this model and find ways to confirm or break it. But it certainly does provide some thought-provoking ways of interpreting the available data.
  
  Many Earth-like civilizations could have arisen (and vanished) in that time.

• RE: The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...

  Alvin Eriol > October 1st, 2023, 11:48 PM

  Not sure if this is connected to the production of the paper, but thanks to gravitational lensing a star has been observed by the Hubble Telescope last year that is thought to date back 26 billion years. Maybe they were seeking to explain this very kind of anomaly.
  
  They named it Earendel, Anglo-Saxon for "rising star" or "morning light". The connection with Tolkien's character and legend of his First Age need not be belabored on this board!

• RE: The universe may, in fact, be 26+ billion years old ...

  Michael > October 2nd, 2023, 01:30 AM

  Many scientists have given their careers to Tolkien. (That's about as close as I can come to a Star Wars metaphor tonight.)
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