Scientists have long known that the nearby galaxy Andromeda and our own Milky Way galaxy will collide in four to five billion years, but now a new computer simulation
(above) from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in
Western Australia shows what the colossal crash may look like.
The
simulation is part of new research showing that massive galaxies like
Andromeda tend to grow by snacking on smaller galaxies.
“All galaxies start off small and grow by collecting gas and quite efficiently turning it into stars,” lead researcher Dr. Aaron Robotham, an astronomer at the Centre's University of Western Australia node, said in a written statement. "Then every now and then they get completely cannibalized by some much larger galaxy."
An article describing the research was published online in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on September 18, 2014.
Looking for extraterrestrial life is akin to a search for a cosmic needle-in-a-haystack, as evidenced by the above incredible Hubble Space Telescope image showing approximately 10,000 galaxies.
In large part, thanks to NASA's Kepler spacecraft, more than 1,400 planets have been identified beyond Earth.
A
few days ago, NASA tried closing the gap between life on Earth and the
possibilities of life elsewhere. The space agency and the Library of
Congress (image below left) brought together scientists, historians,
philosophers and theologians from around the world for a two-day symposium, "Preparing For Discovery."
Their agenda: To explore how we prepare for the inevitable discovery of
extraterrestrial life, be it simple microbial organisms or intelligent
beings.
"We're
looking at all scenarios about finding life. If you find microbes,
that's one thing. If you find intelligence, it's another. And if they
communicate, it's something else, and depending on what they say, it's
something else!" said astronomer, symposium organizer and former chief
NASA historian, Steven J. Dick.
"The idea is not to wait until we
make a discovery, but to try and prepare the public for what the
implications might be when such a discovery is made," Dick told The
Huffington Post. "I think the reason that NASA is backing this is
because of all the recent activity in the discovery of exoplanets and
the advances in astrobiology in general.
"People just consider it
much more likely now that we're going to find something -- probably
microbes first and maybe intelligence later," he added. "The driving
force behind this is from a scientific point of view that it seems much
more likely now that we are going to find life at some point in the
future."
Among the many speakers at last week's astrobiology symposium, one has raised a few international eyebrows in recent years.
"I
believe [alien life exists], but I have no evidence. I would be really
excited and it would make my understanding of my religion deeper and
richer in ways that I can't even predict yet, which is why it would be
so exciting," Brother Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit priest, astronomer and Vatican planetary scientist told HuffPost senior science editor David Freeman.
Consolmagno
has publicly stated his belief that "any entity -- no matter how many
tentacles it has -- has a soul," and he's suggested that he would be
happy to baptize any ETs, as long as they requested it.
"There has
to be freedom to do science. Being a good scientist means admitting we
never have the whole truth -- there's always more to learn." Consolmagno
also doesn't think the public would panic when or if it's revealed that
alien life has been found.
"I really think it would be a
three-day wonder and then we'd go back to worrying about reality TV or
the crazy things going on in Washington -- that's the way human beings
are. Because I think most people are like me: we expect it's out there.
And our reaction would be, 'Wow, thank heavens. It's about time."
Earth
is no longer the center of the universe, nor is it flat -- at least
that's the currently accepted thinking among most scientists. And we now
know, conclusively, that there are a lot more planets than the ones in
our own solar system.
"The number of habitable worlds in our
galaxy is certainly in the tens of billions, minimum, and we haven't
even talked about the moons. And the number of galaxies we can see,
other than our own, is about 100 billion," Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at California's SETI Institute told HuffPost. Watch this video zooming and panning through the night sky to show 10,000 galaxies photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
At
the NASA/Library of Congress symposium, Shostak gave out some startling
numbers about how many stars there are in the part of the universe that
we can see. "It's a big number: 10,000 billion, billion. And we know
that most of those stars have planets -- 70 or 80 percent. If all of
those planets are sterile, and you're the only interesting thing
happening in the cosmos, then you are a miracle. That would be
exceptional in the extreme. So, the middle-of-the-road approach is to
say, 'You're not a miracle, you're just another duck in a row of
ducks.'"
"The bottom line of this," Shostak said, "is something
like one in five of all stars may have an analog to Earth. That's a lot
of habitable worlds, and, indeed, the number of Earths in our own galaxy
might be on the order of 50 billion."
Those are big numbers to ponder.
The
D.C. conference included a great deal of discussion about the upcoming
mission of the Hubble's long-anticipated successor: the James Webb Space Telescope.
As large as a tennis court, this deep space observatory is scheduled
for a 2018 launch and will orbit beyond our moon. The Webb telescope
will focus on new planetary discoveries and collect data from the
atmospheres of those planets, looking for certain things that might
point to what we would consider possible indicators of life.
HuffPost asked Dick, an astrobiologist, for his opinion on the continuing output of UFO reports around the world.
"I
try to keep an open mind on this. Ninety-some percent can be explained
by natural phenomena, etc. The question is what to do with the other 3
or 4 percent," Dick said. "My opinion is that they should be studied
further, on the one hand. By definition, they're something that we don't
know what they are. They could be some physical, psychological or
social phenomena that we don't know about. But I think it's jumping to a
conclusion that they're extraterrestrial. I don't see that evidence.
"I
haven't looked at the evidence close enough to say that there's
intelligence behind it. But I've seen enough to know that there are
unexplained things that we should look at more, and right now, the U.S.
government is not doing that."
Some dogs have a hard time communicating their emotions, but not Abby Doo the Great Dane.
Watch the video above to see her express how she's feeling through song.
While it may not be genuine doggy communication, we're still happy this video exists (and we know it).
A nice forest retreat turned into a Rambo-esque hunt for vengeance after a rabid bat bit a guitar-strumming man.
Oregon man Derrick Skou was jamming out with his bros last weekend at a campsite in Clackamas County when the attack occurred, KATU first reported.
Skou
told the station he wanted to record the music session on video because
he was really grooving when the rabid bat finally had enough and went
in for the bite.
Video shows the terrifying moment when the bat circles Skou and then clutches onto his shirt, climbing up to his neck, and biting him like a vampire reject.
"It
was like a cold dog nose,” Skou told KATU. “It was a cold bat nose,
mouth, whatever. It didn't sting. I wasn't injected with anything. It
was just a cold bite.”
Skou said the bat camped out in a tree
before swooping down at least two other times to finish off his prey.
Thankfully, it was no match for a BB gun, which quickly took the
creature down.
"[We wondered] whether we would get in trouble for
shooting it, and I said well, it drew first blood. We need to take care
of this thing,” he said.
Multnomah County health officials took the bat and confirmed that it had rabies.
Skou
will now have to get several painful shots to prevent him from
contracting the disease. Maybe he should write a little song about it.
Winter came a little too soon for some Americans this week, as an
early-season snow storm moved through parts of the western United
States.
And it’s more than just a dusting. The three day average
shows several areas of South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming received more
than seven inches of snow, according to the Weather Channel. Up to 18 inches was estimated to have fallen in the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming. North Platte, Nebraska; Rapid City, South Dakota and Cody, Wyoming
all reported the earliest snowfall on record this week. Boulder,
Colorado also saw its first snow of the season, with less than an inch
reported on Friday morning.
Photos of what some are calling “Snowtember” appeared on social media and local news outlets. While some celebrated the first snow of the season, others lamented that the rest of the country was still enjoying summer while they froze.
Snow blankets the town of Cut Bank, Montana (mikeyg733/AccuWeather)
Snow falls in Cut Bank (mikeyg733/AccuWeather).
Thick snow obscures the road in Cut Bank (mikeyg733/AccuWeather)
This kid from Calgary, which saw heavy snow earlier this week, summed up what many are thinking about the early winter.
This pretty Persian kitten has more than just a case of sniffles.
And while your owner, Nick Cornelison,
chuckles empathetically at your plight, Romeo, we can only imagine how
many more sneezes you had coming your way after this 6-second Vine was
recorded. Trust us -- there's a "bless you" coming from us for each and
every one of them, and hey, at least you couldn't sneeze in a more
adorable way, paws raised and all.
Don't forget to breathe, cutie!
