Stephen Hawking’s final research paper suggests that the universe may be one of many similar to our own, resolving a cosmic paradox of the late British physicist’s own making. The paper submitted to the Journal of High-Energy Physics, 10 days before Hawking died on March 14, also points a way forward for astronomers to find evidence of the existence of parallel universes.
In the 1980s, Hawking, along with US physicist James Hartle developed a new idea about the beginning of the universe, BBC News reported. This resolved a difficulty with Einstein’s theory that suggested that the universe began nearly 14 billion years ago but said nothing about how it began. The Hartle-Hawking idea used a theory called quantum mechanics to explain how the universe arose from nothingness. As scientists analysed the idea, it carried with it the implication that the Big Bang would create not just one universe – but an endless supply.
Some, according to the theory, would be very like our own universe, while others would be subtly different. Hawking collaborated with Thomas Hertog, a professor at KU Leuven in Belgium, to try to resolve this paradox. (DH)

Astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of Earth, and it’s within a zone that could allow liquid water to exist on its surface. The finding comes from data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which ran out of fuel in October 2018.
K2-288Bb, as the new planet is called, is located within its star’s habitable zone, which is why liquid water is a possibility. Its size is unusual for an exoplanet Few planets that orbit close to their stars are more than 1.5 times as large as Earth, yet K2-288Bb is estimated to be roughly 1.9 times the size of our planet.
According to NASA, the planet is half the size of Neptune and could be gas-rich, though it’s possible that it’s rocky instead. K2-288Bb is located in the Taurus constellation and is about 226 light-years away.
The new planet orbits the smaller of two cool stars in the stellar system called K2-288. These stars are about 5.1 billion miles apart, and the dimmer one is one-third as massive as the sun. NASA said the brighter star is half the size of the sun.

A NASA scientist says intelligent aliens may have already visited Earth – but claims humans would not have noticed due to their ‘extremely tiny’ size.
Silvano P. Colombano says the extra-terrestrials would have looked hugely different to the carbon-based organisms currently roaming our planet.
He says that ‘super intelligent’ aliens would posses technology that humans cannot even imagine, and may have capable of interstellar space-travel.
It comes as NASA scans the universe for civilisations as prat of its ‘Search for extraterrestrial intelligence’ (SETI) programme.

Beijing: China has developed a massive bomb, said to be the country’s answer to the US-built ‘Mother of All Bombs’, the most powerful non-nuclear weapon. China’s defence industry giant NORINCO for the first time showcased the aerial bomb, the country’s largest non-nuclear bomb, state-run Global Times reported.
It is dubbed as the Chinese version of the “Mother of All Bombs” due to its huge destruction potential that is claimed to be only second to nuclear weapons, the daily said.
The bomb was airdropped by an H-6K bomber and caused a gigantic explosion, showed a promotional video released by China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (NORINCO) on its website at the end of December.
This is the first time the new bomb’s destructive powers have been shown in public, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Last year, while waging war against militants in Afghanistan, the US military dropped a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) weapon, more commonly known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” on the Islamic State.
Although China is using the same nickname for its bomb, said to weigh several tonnes, the Chinese weapon is smaller and lighter than its American counterpart. Judging from the video and the size of the H-6K’s bomb bay, the bomb is approximately 5-6 meters long, Beijing-based military analyst Wei Dongxu told the Global Times.(Al Mujtama)

The planet’s oceans are warming a lot quicker than estimated, highlighting the perils of unchecked climate change, according to a study.
New data published by the journal Science on Thursday, indicates that ocean temperatures have consistently risen since the 1950s and are rising 40% faster than calculated by scientists in a 2014 U.N. report. According to Lijing Cheng, one of the study’s authors, temperatures down to 2,000 meters rose about 0.1 degree Celsius (0.18F) between 1971-2010, according to Reuters. The fallout could include rising sea levels, destruction of corals, severe weather systems and a decrease in ice sheets and glaciers. According to the study, sea levels could rise by 30cm by the year 2100.
The earth’s oceans have absorbed more than 90% of heat caused by greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere, according to the New York Times, making them a vital regulator for the planet’s thermostat. In October 2018, a report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC stated that the planet has only until 2030 to avoid devastating climate change effects. Governments are becoming more aware of their responsibilities, with almost 200 nations pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the 2015 Paris climate accord.

GENEVA – Global temperatures are on course for a 3-5°C rise this century, far overshooting a global target of limiting the increase to 2C (3.6F) or less, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said. Scientists say that it is vital to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2°C to avert more extreme weather, rising sea levels and the loss of plant and animal species, although limiting the rise to 1.5°C would have a far greater benefit.
At the 2015 Paris climate conference, the countries of the world pledged to work to limit the rise to 2C, a step that will require a radical reduction in the use of the fossil fuels that are the primary cause of global warming. (Reuters)