DESI Opens Access to the Largest 3D Map of the Universe Yet
133 points
1 month ago
| 4 comments
| newscenter.lbl.gov
| HN
T-A
1 month ago
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dj_mc_merlin
1 month ago
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So if the new data is correct, there's no heat death or big rip, no? Everything just crashes back into itself.
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IG_Semmelweiss
1 month ago
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The video is nice, particularly the mid-video, but it feels a lot like an early aviation movie reel of a dogfight in the sky.

its wont shine without a reference point, and that's hard to do in space.

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dylan604
1 month ago
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That video made sense. Using the information from a prior graphic showing that the entire map is made from the perspective of the earth, the video then places that data in one of the arms of the theoretical Milky Way where the earth is meant to be located, and clearly shows a lack of data in the direction of the center of the Milky Way. That tracks with anything I'd imagine the results to look like
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micromacrofoot
1 month ago
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something is ~weird~
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fashion-at-cost
1 month ago
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Is this anything but a really long winded way of saying that they got a better fit from their model by adding more parameters? That’s not news…
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somenameforme
1 month ago
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Yes, but said model contradicts the typical understanding of dark energy. So I think the takeaway is not that 'this new model is how the universe works', but rather that 'our typical understanding of dark energy is inconsistent with what we are observing.'
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gitaarik
1 month ago
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Maybe also a good time to revise the Axis of Evil:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil_(cosmology)

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fashion-at-cost
1 month ago
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Huh - if all you read was Wiki’s content “above the fold”, it would seem pretty conclusively debunked. But once you expand the actual evidence it’s far more mixed. There does not appear to be any consensus at all.
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gitaarik
1 month ago
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Yeah, in almost all observations / readings the axis is there. There's just no explanation for it, and most people shrug it off as a data inconsistency or error with the measurement. But this measurement / data is the same that we base the big bang theory upon. The CMB is actually the biggest proof for the big bang theory. And the axis of evil is starring us right in the eye.

That's why they call it like that, it's an unexplainable evil anomaly that challenges the scientific worldview. And that is also why scientists generally don't look at it or even want to talk about it. Because as a scientists you can't do much with it except being confused and weirded out.

I'm very curious if there will be new discoveries or theories that would explain it.

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fashion-at-cost
1 month ago
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Reading into it a bit more, it seems like essentially the idea is you can take a sort of 2D Fourier Transform of the CMB, and the 4th and 8th terms of this series are generally aligned with the solar system’s axis.

It’s interesting, but not quite a slam dunk unless I’m missing something – across all the terms in the series, some of them would be sure to generally align with our axis right?

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gitaarik
1 month ago
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I'm not familiar with these techniques, but from what I understand there is a very small chance, like somewhere around 0.01 or lower, that this aligns so perfectly with the solar system. So it would be a bad explanation to say it is coincidental.
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gitaarik
1 month ago
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The first sattelite to make a map of the CMB was COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) in the early 90's. The Axis of Evil was first observed there, but it was expected to be a measurement error / problem with the instrumentsation, and that it would go away with the next sattelite.

Then in the 2000's with WMAP sattelite, the Axis of Evil was still there. Scientists were very confused, but still they thought there must be something wrong with the measurement and / or the interpretation of the data. So still the hope was that this might finally disappear with the next sattelite, Planck, in the 2010's.

But the Planck observations still had the Axis of Evil in them. And since Planck there hasn't been any major sattelite that measures the CMB.

I'm really curious where this is gonna end up.

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smcnally
1 month ago
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> The DESI collaboration is honored to be permitted to conduct scientific research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak), a mountain with particular significance to the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Anyone here know how a request like this was made or the permission given? I haven’t seen this previously.

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colechristensen
1 month ago
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It is on a large reservation in Arizona, the tribal government would have given them permission. They have a website.

https://www.tonation-nsn.gov/tribal-government/

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Wumpnot
1 month ago
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Unless it is in a reservation they probably don't need permission
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nullpoint420
1 month ago
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Can’t wait until someone ports this to GMOD.

https://nichegamer.com/garrys-mod-user-creates-map-2000x-big...

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laacz
1 month ago
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Just make this a flythrough interactive experience.
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