Universe 80-Million Years Older Than Previously Thought
According to astronomers studying background radiation data gathered by the Planck Space probe, the universe is 80-million years older than previously thought. So now when somebody asks you how old the universe is, you can confidently tell them, "80-million years older than previously thought" because you never knew the original figure in the first place. WTF are they teaching in school these days?
The Planck space probe looked back at the afterglow of the Big Bang, and those results have now added about 80 million years to the universe's age, putting it at 13.81 billion years old.
The findings released Thursday bolster a key theory called inflation, which says the universe burst from subatomic size to its now-observable expanse in a fraction of a second.The probe, named for the German physicist Max Planck, the originator of quantum physics, also found that the cosmos is expanding a bit slower than originally thought, has a little less of that mysterious dark energy than astronomers had figured and has a tad more normal matter. But scientists say those are small changes in calculations about the universe, whose numbers are so massive.
Not gonna lie, trying to wrap my head around the scale of the universe and how it was formed and are their infinite universes -- that kind of thinking makes my head hurt. I'm a simply man, you know? Some might argue too simple. Others would probably argue mentally deficient. And you know what I call those people? Friends and family. "Don't forget us." And Geekologie readers.
Thanks to Pyrblaze, who, like me, can't even fathom 13.81-billion years and starts spazzing out whenever the Burger King drive-thru line is takes too long. LIKE IT WAS TODAY.
-
According to astronomers, star formation across the universe is at an all time low, some 30 times less than it was at its height 11-billion years ago. They also speculate only another 5% more stars being formed in the future. Well folks, looks like it's all downhill from here... / Continue →
-
When I think old I think the tub of cottage cheese in my fridge that was there when I moved in. I'm afraid to touch it. Not even the pickles and artichoke hearts will go anywhere near that thing. And you know what? I don't blame them. What I do do is gag every time I see i... / Continue →
-
This is a video showing the history of earth from big bang to current day, all in a minute and a half video. In real life it took almost 10,000 times that long though -- maybe even 100,000. "You're an idiot." I have never passed a math class. The video was created using foo... / Continue →
