Will the Universe Ever Stop Expanding?

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

August 31, 2023

Hello Readers,  I'm filling in for Lee Billings this week. In our top story, we investigate whether the universe will keep expanding forever. Physicists are considering three possible outcomes to this expansion: the big freeze (the universe will continue to calmly enlarge and cool off); the big rip (the universe will expand so rapidly that it will tear itself apart); or the big crunch (eventually the universe's expansion will reverse and contract in on itself). Whatever happens will be determined by the balance of dark matter, dark energy, and regular matter and energy in space. Dive deeper in our story below and check out all of this week's most popular space and physics reads! And if you'd like MORE science news every day, sign up here for Today in Science, our free daily newsletter, written by me. Enjoy!

Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Astronomy Will the Universe Ever Stop Expanding? Scientists debate what the future of the cosmos looks like and whether space will ever stop getting bigger and bigger By Sarah Scoles

Extraterrestrial Life How Wealthy UFO Fans Helped Fuel Fringe Beliefs There is a long U.S. legacy of plutocrat-funded pseudoscience. Congress just embraced it By Keith Kloor

Particle Physics Particle Physicists Dream of a Muon Collider After years spent languishing in obscurity, proposals for a muon collider are regaining momentum among particle physicists By Daniel Garisto

Astrophysics The Colors of Stars, Explained From dim red to brilliant blue, stellar colors span the spectrum—and reveal how much any star brings the heat By Phil Plait

Basic Chemistry Rare Superheavy Oxygen Isotope Is Detected at Last The long-awaited discovery of oxygen 28 might prompt physicists to revamp theories of how atomic nuclei are structured By Katherine Bourzac,Nature magazine

Astronomy The Last Super Blue Moon until 2037 Rises Tonight. Here's How to See It August gets not only a second full moon but a rare super blue moon By Robert Lea,SPACE.com

Particle Physics Perpetual Puzzle By Andrea Gawrylewski

Defense Meet the Physicist who Spoke Out against the Bomb She Helped Create After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear physicist Katharine Way persuaded the world's greatest physicists to contribute essays to a book opposing nuclear weapons By Katie Hafner,Erica Huang,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Quantum Physics Quantum Physics Can Explain Earth's Weather By treating Earth as a topological insulator—a state of quantum matter—physicists found a powerful explanation for the twisting movements of the planet's air and seas By Katie McCormick,Quanta Magazine

FROM THE STORE Special Editions Volume 32, Issue 3s

FROM THE ARCHIVE Astronomers Gear Up to Grapple with the High-Tension Cosmos A debate over conflicting measurements of key cosmological properties is set to shape the next decade of astronomy and astrophysics By Anil Ananthaswamy | April 2022

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add newsletters@scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us

Scientific American

1 New York Plaza, FDR Dr, Floor 46, New York, NY 10004

Unsubscribe - Unsubscribe Preferences