Scientists to Unveil 'Major Discovery' at Astrophysics Center Monday

[Red Iron Crown]

Source.

I wonder what the big revelation will be? I'm hoping for either a propulsion breakthrough or an Earth-like planet in a nearby system.

Edit: It's gravity wave evidence of cosmic inflation. Link

Edited March 17, 2014 by Red Iron Crown

[ZedNova]

What could it be?

[Kryten]

Source.I'm hoping for either a propulsion breakthrough or an Earth-like planet in a nearby system.

Neither of those would fall under astrophysics.

[Red Iron Crown]

Neither of those would fall under astrophysics.

True enough. Though some astrophysics discoveries could help with new propulsion.

[Brotoro]

Gravity wave detection?

[Accelerando]

Dark energy or dark matter candidate particles observed!

[Holo]

Functional and affordable warp drive ready for use!

[Comrade Jenkens]

Snickers wrapper on Mars?

[Omicron314]

A quick google search revealed this: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/14/gravitational-waves-big-bang-universe-bicep

So, perhaps it will be evidence of inflation? Not as exciting as negative energy, but still pretty neat. It's probably a lot more significant than I make it out to be as I have absolutely no idea what this would imply.

[Rakaydos]

"The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is made up of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory. Scientists at the center pursue studies of those basic physical process that determine the nature and evolution of the universe," according to the CfA website's official description. "

So dark mater/dark energy seems a likely canidate.

[m4v]

Don't get too hyped, a major discovery can be anything and most likely won't have any practical uses, just like the higgs boson.

[Ravenchant]

Let's wait and see! Anything involving dark energy/matter would be intriguing even without practical applications for the knowledge.

[Red Iron Crown]

Don't get too hyped, a major discovery can be anything and most likely won't have any practical uses, just like the higgs boson.

They said that about the electron when it was discovered, not you can't spit without hitting something electronic.

[Kryten]

They said that about the electron when it was discovered, not you can't spit without hitting something electronic.

The discovery of the electron long post-dates the widespread use of electronic devices.

[Kerbart]

At that level "major discoveries" are usually extremely arcane and only interesting for a few who specialists (who then tend to get overexcited and think everything else should know this).

It's usually something along the lines of "this confirms something that the rest of the world had already taken for granted and it will take a two year university study to understand what we are talking about in the first place"

[Nuke]

The discovery of the electron long post-dates the widespread use of electronic devices.

fun fact: tesla did not believe in electrons.

[Red Iron Crown]

The discovery of the electron long post-dates the widespread use of electronic devices.

The electron was discovered in 1897 and was theorized long before then; I can't think of a single electronic device that existed at that time, let alone was in widespread use.

[Ravenchant]

Well... batteries, lightbulbs and the telegraph/telephone spring to mind. Not that widespread, but still.

[Red Iron Crown]

Well... batteries, lightbulbs and the telegraph/telephone spring to mind. Not that widespread, but still.

None of those are electronic.

[Ravenchant]

None of those are electronic.

Well, no, but I assumed Kryten meant electric.

[Kryten]

The electron was discovered in 1897 and was theorized long before then; I can't think of a single electronic device that existed at that time, let alone was in widespread use.

I think it's pretty well-established the CRT pre-dates the discovery of the electron, given it was used to discover the electron.

[vger]

Don't get too hyped, a major discovery can be anything and most likely won't have any practical uses, just like the higgs boson.

Everytime something gets hyped up like this now all i can think of is the Segway unveiling. After expecting transportation revolutions somewhere between anti-gravity and teleportation, we got a new scooter.

[Red Iron Crown]

I think it's pretty well-established the CRT pre-dates the discovery of the electron, given it was used to discover the electron.

You're right, but I don't think it predates the discovery by much. Certainly not in common use.

My point was, though, that when the electron was discovered, much of public reaction was along the lines of "Well, I guess that helps us better understand how electricity works, but what can it do for us?" It took decades for the largely academic discovery to be put into common, practical use. So I think it's premature to have the same reaction to Higgs-Boson and whatever the discovery announced Monday turns out to be.

[vger]

My point was, though, that when the electron was discovered, much of public reaction was along the lines of "Well, I guess that helps us better understand how electricity works, but what can it do for us?" It took decades for the largely academic discovery to be put into common, practical use. So I think it's premature to have the same reaction to Higgs-Boson and whatever the discovery announced Monday turns out to be.

Given the landscape of society these days though, I think the odds of discoveries having any beneficial impact on everyday life is considerably less. Any major breakthrough means that someone out there who has a lot of power, risks to lose a boatload of money as a result of the discovery. And that someone will do anything they can to make sure that it never gets anywhere.

[cantab]

Equally, someone else with a lot of power may see the chance to gain a boatload of money. And it's a whole lot easier to invest in something than to try and stop everyone else from investing in it.