Has anything changed in cosmology in the last three years

[cwjohn (Chris)]

Hi

I tend to look at the field of cosmology and astrophysics every three years or so. I guess I tend to get bored once I am up to speed and move on to something else. It is interesting to note some of the postings here.

It seems to me that very little has really happened in the last three years. The standard cosmological model has been bolstered by ever increasing accuracy in CMB, supernova and quaser measurement, and as such our certainty factor has markedly increased and the numbers much more accurate. Similarly in particle physics the standard model seems to be hanging on. I am unaware of any real outcomes for the LHC and certainly the higgs still seems pretty elusive. String theories seem to be rooted in the same place they were 5 years ago. Supersymmetry ditto. Still totally hypothetical and despite assertions otherwise I cannot see any comfirming evidence any time soon.

Can anyone who keeps up with this stuff let me know if any game changing events have happened over the last three years or so.

Cheers
Chris

[Archy (George)]

Chris,
Not much has changed, because the paradigms are still stuck with the concept that observed redshifts are solely caused by velocity and that has led to fictional models in which dark matter and dark energy are 96% of the cosmos.

In many ways we have a cosmos that is akin to the Phlogiston hypothesis of the 18th century, pre Lavosier, and the Ether Hypothesis of the 19th century.

[cwjohn (Chris)]

Hi George

I dont think I would buy that we go back to the 18th century - maybe 10 years. I assume you are a MOND supporter. I think I saw a news release recently suggesting evidence that fundamental contants vary over space this fundamentally affecting redshift measurements. I assume then that Milgrom and his supporters are alive and well. The argument by the astro gurus last time I looked was that the consistency of results over a number of domains gave a high level of certainty that the redshift measurments were valid and the fundamental constants are constant over the universe. I assume however, given the physical measurement constraints this will remain a contentious point for a long time to come.

Chris