In this post I’ll talk about curvature, what terms such as flat, positive and negative curvature mean and how this applies to the Universe. I won’t use complex mathematical definitions here, but intuitively curvature is a measure of how much a two-dimensional surface deviates from being flat. This concept can be extended to any number… Continue reading Is the Universe curved?
Tag: Universe
Our finely-tuned Universe part III – Explanations for fine tuning
As discussed in my previous two posts our Universe appears to be very finely tuned and is governed by four fundamental interactions. A relatively small increase or decrease in the strength of one of these interactions, such as making the force of gravity weaker or stronger, would make the emergence of life impossible. The four… Continue reading Our finely-tuned Universe part III – Explanations for fine tuning
Our Finely-tuned Universe Part I-Fundamental forces
This is first of a series of three posts in which I'll talk about the idea that the fundamental forces which govern our Universe and fundamental constants such as: the strength of gravity, the electric charge of the electron and the amounts of matter, dark matter and dark energy in the Universe have been in… Continue reading Our Finely-tuned Universe Part I-Fundamental forces
Copernicus
In this post I'll talk about Nicolas Copernicus (1473 - 1543) and the heliocentric theory. The move away from the prevailing Earth-centred theory of the Universe to the heliocentric theory represents one of the greatest advances in astronomy ever made. Nicolas Copernicus - Image from Wikimedia Commons Background - the need for a better theory… Continue reading Copernicus
Short post of the month February 2016 – gravitational waves
The subject of February's short post of the month is gravitational waves. These were predicted by Albert Einstein back in 1916, and after decades of searching have finally been detected. In an announcement made on 11 February at a Washington DC press conference David Reitze, the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, said: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have… Continue reading Short post of the month February 2016 – gravitational waves
Explaining Science 