Lisa randall dark matter dinosaurs
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs
non-fiction book by Harvard astrophysicist Lisa Randall
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe is a non-fiction book by HarvardastrophysicistLisa Randall. Randall conjectures that dark matter may have indirectly led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.
Other scientists generally regard this as a credible hypothesis but note a lack of supporting evidence. The book itself was well reviewed.
Overview
Randall hypothesizes a plane of dark matter exists roughly on the plane of the Milky Way galaxy.[1] As the Sun oscillates in its orbit around the center of the galaxy, it passes through the dark matter.
The resulting gravitational disturbances destabilize bodies in the Oort cloud, resulting in increased Earth impacts, such as the one that caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event resulting in the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.[2][3] Formation of a plane requires that a fraction of the dark matter have different properties than the bulk of it, described by Randall as "dissipative dark matter"[4] in a paper co-authored with Harvard physics professor Matthew Reece.[5] Randall's hypothesis is similar to the Nemesis theory, which postulates that a currently unseen brown dwarf star orbiting the Sun is the cause of the periodic impacts.[6]
Criticism
Astrophysicist Coryn Bailer-Jones of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and physicist Adrian Melott question the statistical analysis used to determine the periodicity of impacts, with Jones also noting impacts could be from asteroids rather than objects originating in the Oort cloud.[4] Physicist Konstantinos Dimopoulos offers that a proposal from a world-renowned cosmologist is certainly credible, but notes the "need to make dark matter weirder than it already is" violates Occam's razor.
Lisa randall dark matter dinosaurs photos If [Randall is] correct. Baird, Jr. Article Talk. Criticism [ edit ].Randall rebuts such criticism by noting that it could be "simpler to say that dark matter is like our matter, in that it's different particles with different forces", adding "the other answer is that the world's complicated, so Occam's razor isn't always the best way to go about things."[7]
Critical reception
Jim Al-Khalili, in a review published in The Wall Street Journal, describes the book as "a cracking read, combining storytelling of the highest order with a trove of information" on the underlying science.[2] Film critic Joe Morgenstern, in a review of film The Good Dinosaur, says the book is a "splendid source" regarding dinosaur extinction, saying it "ranges far and eloquently through our current knowledge of the universe".[8]Maria Popova, writing for The New York Times, was less enthusiastic, saying while Randall is not one of the few "working scientists who are also enchanting writers", she is "an excellent explainer" with an "infectious" affection for the subject matter.
Popova notes the idea, due to a lack of confirming physical evidence, is "essentially a thought experiment", and that the book's "greatest reward" is actually "the gift of perspective".[9]
See also
References
- ^Freeman, David (26 October ). "This Physicist Says Dark Matter May Have Killed Off The Dinosaurs".
Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 December
- ^ abAl-Khalili, Jim (9 December ). "The Science of Shooting Starts".Lisa randall dark matter dinosaurs pictures Lisa Randall Ideas Portal. In Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, Lisa Randall proposes it was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter embedded in the Milky Way. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs. Author Url's.
The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 12 December
- ^Brean, Joseph (12 December ). "Dark matter and the dinosaur: New theory challenges notions on origins of human life".
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National Post. Retrieved 12 December
- ^ abGibney, Elizabeth (7 March ). "Did dark matter kill the dinosaurs?". Nature. Retrieved 12 December
- ^"Faculty: Matthew Reece, Assistant Professor of Physics".
Harvard University. Retrieved December 11,
- ^Dimopoulos, Konstantinos (10 December ). "Did 'dark matter' or a star called Nemesis kill the dinosaurs?".Randall dark productions But [my colleagues and I] thought, maybe just a fraction of dark matter does. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. Article Talk. People have debated whether dark matter has any nongravitational interactions at all.
The conversation. Retrieved 12 December
- ^Temming, Maria (1 November ). "Did Dark Matter Kill the Dinosaurs? A Q&A with Author Lisa Randall". Scientific American.Lisa randall dark matter dinosaurs Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs illustrates beautifully that there is so much left to be discovered about ourselves and the universe that we call home. I really love the science but I also love telling the story and putting it all together, figuring out what it all means. Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University, where she is Frank B. Copy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page.
Retrieved 12 December
- ^Morgenstern, Joe (25 November ). "'The Good Dinosaur' Review: A Warm-Blooded Jurassic Lark". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company.
Lisa randall dark matter dinosaurs book: What do you hope readers will take away from reading this book? References [ edit ]. With lively writing and wonderfully accessible explanations, she now convincingly implicates a new suspect as ultimately responsible for the hit: a novel kind of dark matter. What observations or evidence could astrophysicists eventually gather that would prove whether or not the dark matter disk you describe actually exists?
Retrieved 12 December
- ^Popova, Maria (24 November ). "'Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs,' by Lisa Randall". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 December