Happy Halloween
Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe
Is our universe haunted? It might look that way on this dark matter map. The gravity of unseen dark matter is the leading explanation for why galaxies rotate so fast, why galaxies orbit clusters so fast, why gravitational lenses so strongly deflect light, and why visible matter is distributed as it is both in the local universe and on the cosmic microwave background. The featured image from the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium Space Show Dark Universe highlights one example of how pervasive dark matter might haunt our universe. In this frame from a detailed computer simulation, complex filaments of dark matter, shown in black, are strewn about the universe like spider webs, while the relatively rare clumps of familiar baryonic matter are colored orange. These simulations are good statistical matches to astronomical observations. In what is perhaps a scarier turn of events, dark matter -- although quite strange and in an unknown form -- is no longer thought to be the strangest source of gravity in the universe. That honor now falls to dark energy, a more uniform source of repulsive gravity that seems to now dominate the expansion of the entire universe.
Federal prosecutors don't mess around. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates could face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering. The feds have a strong hand if they are trying to get them to flip and cooperate. Read more
The Russia probe is no longer just an abstraction for President Donald Trump. It's now a legitimate full-blown Washington scandal - the kind that can subsume a president's agenda or destroy his party at the polls. Can Trump stay on top of his policy goals while the investigation intensifies? Read more
Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman highlighted the fact that the 31-page indictment against Paul Manafort wrongly describes Yulia Tymoshenko as a former president of Ukraine as proof the allegations are not part of a "serious investigation." In fact, Tymoshenko twice served as the country's prime minister. Read more
George Papadopoulos, 30, is an American former campaign staffer who served in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. On October 5, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about contacts he had with the Russian government in 2016 relating to U.S.-Russia relations and Donald Trump's campaign. Read more
Parties and Parades this weekend
