Computer simulation of developing universe
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The largest computer simulations of the development of our universe from its early infancy to its current state have just been carried out by an international consortium of astronomers (the Virgo Consortium) based at Durham University, writes Tom Wilkie.
The researchers demonstrated that galaxies as we see them today formed by the merging of protogalactic fragments that grew, over billions of years, out of tiny ripples in the energy from the fireball after the Big Bang.
In the computer simulation, the properties of the ripples are fed into a large supercomputer as the 'initial conditions'. A computer program that simulates the growth of these ripples is then executed.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments