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Macorra Axel of the Institute of Physics, UNAM, denied that the Mayan civilization with their advanced knowledge of astronomy has predicted the end of the world in 2012, as noted, however, considered that the care can take in recent times is given to the Mayan culture to follow his example and encourage interest in understanding the origins of the universe with the technological tools now available.
In this regard, he announced that renowned cosmologists around the world, including George Smoot, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2006, will meet tomorrow in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza to discuss the fundamental enigmas of modern cosmology .
The researcher noted that for the first time in human history, it may raise questions about the origin of the universe which would have been impossible to imagine, as well as answer some of them thanks to satellites (like the Planck released in 2009) and the new instrumentation on the telescopes that have on Earth.
He noted that thanks to technological advances, we are living the golden age of cosmology and the proof is that in the past 15 years, we have learned more about the universe and its structure than in the entire history of civilization.
By comparison, the Macorra Axel, organizer of the meeting, felt that cosmologists today are humanity as it was in the fifteenth century, when maps of the Earth were obscure and vague. In the universe, he said, there are 100 billion galaxies in the year 2000, had been mapped only about 10 000, very few compared to the size of the universe.
In this regard, he stressed the importance of institutions such as UNAM and CONACYT Mexican cosmologists support to participate in international projects such as the so-called bigboss that aims to map the larger universe ever made, measuring 50 million galaxies.
He also director of the Advanced Institute of Cosmology, said the project bigboss will use a four-meter optical telescope, located at the National Observatory on Kitt Peak , in Arizona, USA to answer some fundamental questions of cosmology and try to clarify what is dark energy.
Currently, we can take the telescopes that have become obsolete for some tasks of astronomy and adaptive optical fibers, so that in every moment can take thousands of photos at the same time, and to reconstruct a part of the universe as it is today and as it was for millions of years, he said.
From Macorra cautioned that date, the project is in its infancy, making it the best time for Mexican researchers involved, as will later be late.
On the fundamental mysteries of modern cosmology is solved, said that it is primarily to clarify what are the matter and dark energy.
The physicist said that only 4 percent of the universe is made up of atoms and molecules, as we know, and 22 percent is made up of dark matter and 74 percent is dark energy. Scientists know that dark matter and dark energy exist and know its effects, but until now no one knows what they are. Cosmologists speculate that in future the person or group of people who can describe what is dark energy, they could win the Nobel Prize.
The meeting of cosmologists, called Visions of Our Universe and the New Era of Cosmology will be held January 18 morning. In your organization participate UNAM, Advanced Institute of Cosmology, the National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Center for Physics and Cosmology, Berkeley (Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, BCCP).
DG Popularization of Science, UNAM
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