Hi Russell Standish It's not theory, it's measurement to 4 figures, with an error of plus or minus 0.87 %:
http://www.universetoday.com/13371/1373-billion-years-the-most-accurate-measurement-of-the-age-of-the-universe-yet/ "13.73 Billion Years -- The Most Precise Measurement of the Age of the Universe Yet by Ian O'Neill on March 28, 2008 Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter NASA? Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has taken the best measurement of the age of the Universe to date. According to highlyprecise observations of microwave radiation observed all over the cosmos, WMAP scientists now have the best estimate yet on the age of the Universe: 13.73 billion years, plus or minus 120 million years (that's an error margin of only 0.87% ! not bad really). The WMAP mission was sent to the Sun-Earth second Lagrangian point (L2), located approximately 1.5 million km from the surface of the Earth on the night-side (i.e. WMAP is constantly in the shadow of the Earth) in 2001. The reason for this location is the nature of the gravitational stability in the region and the lack of electromagnetic interference from the Sun. Constantly looking out into space, WMAP scans the cosmos with its ultra sensitive microwave receiver, mapping any small variations in the background temperature (anisotropy) of the universe. It can detect microwave radiation in the wavelength range of 3.3-13.6 mm (with a corresponding frequency of 90-22 GHz). Warm and cool regions of space are therefore mapped, including the radiation polarity. Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 11/11/2012 "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen ----- Receiving the following content ----- From: Russell Standish Receiver: everything-list Time: 2012-11-10, 17:39:09 Subject: Re: 14 billion years ago there was a huge explosion Not quite. It has measured that the universe 14 billion year ago was very different from now, ie very hot and dense. All else is theory - some theories have a beginning, others don't. Cheers On Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 05:50:38AM -0500, Roger Clough wrote: > Hi Stephen, > > Science has meaured the beginning of the universe > to have occured about 14 billion years ago. > So it has a beginning. > > > Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net > 11/10/2012 > "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen > > > ----- Receiving the following content ----- > From: Hal Ruhl > Receiver: everything-list > Time: 2012-11-09, 12:26:47 > Subject: RE: Life: origin, purpose, and qualia spectrum > > > Hi Stepen: > > Interesting post. > > I indicated in the initiating posts that life should rapidly appear where > the conditions supporting it are found. > > I suspect that in most cases the sphere of influence for a particular > instance of a biosphere is small when compared to the size of the universe. > Therefore I propose to change "heat death" to "operative heat death" re your > "finite resolving power" for observers. This should allow for the > possibility of an "open" universe. > > I am also considering changing "purpose of life" to "function of life". > > Thanks > > Hal > > > Dear Hal, > > What consequences would there be is the Universe (all that exists) is > truly infinite and eternal (no absolute beginning or end) and what we > observe as a finite (spatially and temporally) universe is just the result > of our finite ability to compute the contents of our observations? It is > helpful to remember that thermodynamic arguments, such as the heat engine > concept, apply only to closed systems. It is better to assume open systems > and finite resolving power (or equivalently finite computational abilities) > for observers. > > -- > Onward! > > Stephen > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
