{"id":18623,"date":"2018-03-01T01:44:01","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T17:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/scientists-say-theyve-detected-birth-of-the-first-stars-and-perhaps-dark-matter-too\/"},"modified":"2018-03-01T01:44:01","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T17:44:01","slug":"scientists-say-theyve-detected-birth-of-the-first-stars-and-perhaps-dark-matter-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/scientists-say-theyve-detected-birth-of-the-first-stars-and-perhaps-dark-matter-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists say they\u2019ve detected birth of the first stars \u2013 and perhaps dark matter, too"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"First
This artist\u2019s rendering shows the universe\u2019s first, massive, blue stars embedded in gaseous filaments, with the cosmic microwave background just visible at the edges. (NSF Illustration \/ N.R. Fuller)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Astronomers have detected radio waves from a time within 180 million years of the Big Bang, and they say they see signs of what may be the first stars to coalesce in the infant universe.<\/p>\n

The detection was made using an array of radio antennas that was set up in Australia for a project known as the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature, or EDGES. Astronomers from Arizona, Massachusetts and Colorado reported their discovery in this week\u2019s issue of the journal Nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding this minuscule signal has opened a new window on the early universe,\u201d lead investigator Judd Bowman of Arizona State University said in a news release. \u201cTelescopes cannot see far enough to directly image such ancient stars, but we\u2019ve seen when they turned on in radio waves arriving from space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the signal was difficult to detect, it was twice as dramatic as computer models predicted for the startup of the first stars. If the findings hold up, the models would have to be adjusted to account for the effect, and one possible explanation could involve interactions with dark matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that idea is confirmed, then we\u2019ve learned something new and fundamental about the mysterious dark matter that makes up 85 percent of the matter in the universe,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cThis would provide the first glimpse of physics beyond the standard model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some astronomers counseled caution.<\/p>\n

Harvard theoretical astrophysicist Avi Loeb told The Associated Press that if the observations are fully verified, the discovery \u201cdeserves two Nobel Prizes\u201d \u2014 one for finding the signature of the first stars, and the other for gaining insights into dark matter.<\/p>\n

However, he noted that such extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. \u201cWhat makes me a bit nervous is the fact that the [signal] doesn\u2019t look like what we expected,\u201d Loeb told Science News.<\/p>\n