The beginning of the Universe

Scientists have a new tool to detect sub-atomic particles that may have been present or responsible for the event that began the Universe. Plus, don’t miss the space shuttle in the night sky on this week’s SkyTalk.

Image credit: NASA.gov
Scientists have a new tool to detect sub-atomic particles that may have been present or responsible for the event that began the Universe. These are the most basic building blocks of what we know as the Universe. The way to find these is through the Large Hadron Collider, which has finally come on line in Geneva. Could this process be dangerous? What about the creation of mini black holes? Physicists have very little concern about this as this scenario is a remote possibility. Also, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite is put into orbit around the earth and can look for heat sources. One of its jobs is to look for asteroids. Most asteroids are the size of small cars, nothing the size of planets, but some have orbits that could be potentially dangerous. These asteroids could come within 5 million miles of earth in the future. Plus, don’t miss the space shuttle in the night sky on this week’s SkyTalk. [audio: st20100405.mp3]

Follow the next shuttle mission scheduled to launch on April 5th at www.heavens-above.com

Also, check out Hubble now playing at the Franklin Institute IMAX theater.