An identical copy of you is also reading this story. This twin is the same in every way, living on an Earth and in a universe that looks exactly like our own. And there may be an infinite number of them. Such doppelgängers could be a natural consequence of our present conception of the universe. Now, some physicists say they could pose a serious problem for quantum mechanics. But a possible fix may also be in sight, and it could help tie abstract quantum concepts to concrete physical causes.

At issue is the possibility that there could be a multiplicity of copies of any particular experiment floating about the universe, just as there could be a multiplicity of yous. There could even be an infinite number of them if, as is thought, the early universe underwent a period of exponential growth, called inflation.

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Physics, its practitioners will proudly tell you, is the most fundamental of sciences. Its theories and laws distil the workings of the real world – of particles and planets, heat and light – into stark, sweeping statements of universal validity. Think Newton's law of gravity, which describes with equal assurance how an apple falls and Earth orbits the sun, or the laws of thermodynamics that govern how energy flows. These physical laws are generally couched in the language of mathematics, to be sure. But this is merely a convenient shorthand. The mathematical quantities are ciphers, proxies for the tangible objects of the real, physical world and their measurable properties.

That was all true until quantum theory arrived on the scene. Quantum theory is odd, not just because its weird predictions are a source of consternation for physicists and philosophers, but because its mathematical structures bear no obvious connection to the real world, as far as we can see. "We do not have a source for the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics," says Časlav Brukner of the University of Vienna in Austria. "We do not have a nice physically plausible set of principles from which to derive it."

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This is the Hubble Space Telescope image of the inner region of Abell 1689, an immense cluster of galaxies located 2.2 billion light-years away. Image credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/Yale/CNRS

Astronomers have devised a new method for measuring perhaps the greatest puzzle of our universe — dark energy. This mysterious force, discovered in 1998, is pushing our universe apart at ever-increasing speeds.

For the first time, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope were able to take advantage of a giant magnifying lens in space — a massive cluster of galaxies — to narrow in on the nature of dark energy. Their calculations, when combined with data from other methods, significantly increase the accuracy of dark energy measurements. This may eventually lead to an explanation of what the elusive phenomenon really is. Read the rest of this entry »

If we ever make contact with aliens, they might be more interested in learning about Van Gogh and Bach than Einstein or Newton, scientists said Saturday.

Art may attract aliens more than academics because any extraterrestrial civilization that we are able to get in touch with is likely to be much older than us and more technically advanced, researchers said here at the SETIcon conference on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Humans would probably have little to teach them about science and mathematics that they don't already know, the theory suggests. However, our art and music is singularly human, and could likely be fascinating to an alien species.

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An NCAR model of magnetic flux below the Sun's surface, developed by Mausumi Dikpati and colleagues, shows the extended reach of flux transport during the solar cycle that ended in 2008 (right), compared to the previous cycle (left). The larger loop is believed to be related to the extended duration of the cycle. (Image courtesy UCAR.)

A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008 suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of the Sun's conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between the Sun's equator and its poles. The results should help scientists better understand the factors controlling the timing of solar cycles and could lead to better predictions.

The study was conducted by Mausumi Dikpati, Peter Gilman, and Giuliana de Toma, all scientists in the High Altitude Observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and by Roger Ulrich at the University of California, Los Angeles. It appeared on July 30 in Geophysical Research Letters. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, and by NASA's Living with a Star Program.

The Sun goes through cycles lasting approximately 11 years that include phases with increased magnetic activity, more sunspots, and more solar flares, than phases with less activity. The level of activity on the Sun can affect navigation and communications systems on Earth. Puzzlingly, solar cycle 23, the one that ended in 2008, lasted longer than previous cycles, with a prolonged phase of low activity that scientists had difficulty explaining. Read the rest of this entry »

Using an adaptation of Einstein's general theory of relativity, Nikodem Poplawski, of Indiana University, Bloomington, analysed the theoretical motion of particles entering a black hole.

He concluded that it was possible for a whole new universe to exist inside every black hole, which could mean that our own universe could be inside a black hole as well.

Read more on Telegraph.co.uk

"Quantum entanglement" may sound like an awful sci-fi romance flick, but it's actually a phenomenon that physicists say may someday lead to the ability to teleport an object all the way across the galaxy instantly.

It's not exactly the Star Trek version of teleportation, where an object disappears then reappears somewhere else. Rather, it "entangles" two different atoms so that one atom inherits the properties of another.

Read more on NPR.org

Imagine a star so luminous that it would burn the Earth up if it were anywhere near, a star that outshines the sun as much as the sun outshines the moon. A monster even in the abyss of space.

The star is not some scientist's celestial dream. Astronomers used a Very Large Telescope — the instrument's official name — to detect the most massive star discovered to date. In scientific lingo, it's a "hypergiant."

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Q. Is God a mathematician?

A. Certainly the universe seems to be reliably understood using mathematics, answers Clifford Pickover in "The Math Book." Nature is mathematics.

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There may be multiple versions of the elusive "God particle" – or Higgs boson – according to a new study.

Finding the Higgs is the primary aim of the £6bn ($10bn) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment near Geneva.

But recent results from the LHC's US rival suggest physicists could be hunting five particles, not one. Read the rest of this article