A new wearable device that looks like a simple beanie could soon change how people interact with computers. Developed by Silicon Valley startup Sabi, the prototype uses brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to convert a user’s internal speech into text, effectively allowing them to “type” using their thoughts.
According to a report by WIRED, the device is designed to be one of the least intrusive brain-tech wearables yet, avoiding the bulky, futuristic look of many experimental headsets. Instead, it blends into everyday clothing, making it more practical for daily use.
A Wearable That Listens To Your Thoughts
The beanie works using electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive method that reads electrical signals from the brain through the scalp. Unlike implant-based systems such as those being developed by companies like Neuralink, Sabi’s approach does not require surgery.
NeuralinkNPR
The goal is to detect “internal speech” – the words people think but don’t say out loud – and convert it into text on a connected device. If successful, this could allow users to communicate or control devices without speaking or typing.
To improve accuracy, the beanie reportedly includes tens of thousands of miniature sensors, far more than traditional EEG devices. This high-density sensing is designed to capture more detailed neural signals, helping the system better interpret what the user is thinking.
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Why This Approach Matters
Brain-computer interfaces are not new, but most existing systems fall into two categories: invasive implants or bulky external hardware. Both approaches have limited mainstream adoption due to medical risks, cost, or usability challenges.
Sabi’s beanie takes a different path by focusing on comfort and accessibility. The device is designed to work out of the box without requiring daily calibration, which has been a major limitation for many BCI systems.
Early targets suggest typing speeds of around 30 words per minute, with the potential to improve as users become more familiar with the system.
This could open up new use cases, from accessibility tools for people with disabilities to hands-free computing for everyday users.
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The Challenges Of Reading The Mind
Despite its promise, the technology faces significant hurdles. Brain signals vary widely between individuals, and even the same thought can produce slightly different neural patterns each time.
To address this, Sabi is developing a large-scale AI model trained on thousands of hours of brain data collected from volunteers. The aim is to identify patterns that correspond to internal speech across different users.
However, experts caution that “mind-reading” remains a complex and often overstated concept. Current systems can decode limited patterns or commands, but translating continuous, natural thought into text is still an evolving challenge.
Privacy And Ethical Questions
One of the biggest concerns surrounding this technology is privacy. Neural data is deeply personal, potentially revealing thoughts, intentions, and cognitive patterns.
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Data PrivacyUnsplash
Sabi says it is addressing this by encrypting data and working with neurosecurity experts to ensure safe handling. Still, the broader conversation around brain data rights and ethical use is likely to grow as such devices move closer to commercialization.
What Comes Next
The company is aiming to release its first consumer version of the beanie – and a cap variant – by late 2026.
If successful, the device could represent a shift toward more subtle, everyday brain-computer interfaces that integrate seamlessly into daily life.
For now, the idea of typing with your thoughts may still feel futuristic. But with devices like this beanie, that future is starting to look a lot more wearable—and a lot less intrusive.
A Microsoft Surface tablet at Lumen Field in Seattle on Wednesday running Copilot as it’s seen by Seahawks and other NFL personnel who use the devices and technology during games. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
When Bill Belichick famously spiked a Microsoft Surface tablet as the New England Patriots head coach in 2016, the moment was a symbol of frustration with technology on the sidelines.
But inside the company, it actually became a point of pride. Thomas Labuzienski, a senior partnerships manager at Microsoft, shared the rest of the story with us this week: the Belichick device made it back to the company — where testing showed, amazingly, that it still worked.
That rugged (and apparently indestructible) hardware remains the tech giant’s most visible presence on NFL game days. But these days, the action is inside: Copilot, AI agents, and live data tools that are changing how coaches, players, and scouts prepare and compete.
That was one of the takeaways from an event Wednesday at Seattle’s Lumen Field, where Microsoft walked content creators and this reporter through some of its latest NFL technology. High above the field, social media and YouTube influencers posed for photos and selfies with a Microsoft Surface Copilot+ PC much like NFL fans would with their favorite players.
It was an off-season glimpse into the evolution of Microsoft’s partnership with the league, which started in 2013 and was extended last summer to go deeper on AI and cloud tools.
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Just as with business workflows, these tools are changing how teams operate on and off the field. One big benefit of AI, Microsoft says, is speed: getting the right information to the right person fast enough to shape the next play call or adjustment. But the coaches, players, and staff are ultimately still calling the plays, both literally and figuratively.
“We’re not using AI and technology to make decisions for them,” Labuzienski said. “They’re the experts. They know what they’re trying to do.”
Even with baseball and soccer well under way, Microsoft seems as excited as ever about football, especially with its hometown Seahawks coming off a Super Bowl championship.
Here’s what we saw and learned during the event:
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In a suite at Lumen Field, Thomas Labuzienski, a senior partnerships manager at Microsoft, shows off Copilot functionality on a Surface tablet like those used by NFL players and coaches. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
Copilot filtering: The NFL’s Sideline Viewing System now features Copilot-powered filters that let coaches and players instantly sort plays by down, distance, quarter, and gain type.
Labuzienski demonstrated how a play that took a minute to find manually could be located in seconds using the filters. “That five seconds can mean giving my coach the right information so they can make the right adjustment or the right play call,” he said.
Excel on the sidelines: One analyst per team has access to a real-time Excel dashboard in the coaches booth that pulls live play-by-play and player usage data from the NFL.
Coaches can load custom templates before the game and use Copilot to run analyses on the fly — tracking formation tendencies, snap counts, and player load without having to manually write formulas mid-game.
NFL Combine: Microsoft built a custom AI agent trained on 10 years of NFL Combine data, allowing scouts to query prospects using natural language. This helps teams assess players faster than ever during one of the most time-sensitive periods of the NFL calendar.
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For example, Labuzienski said, “If I really love this defensive lineman, I can pull his data compared to other prospects over the last 10 years.”
Tablets on game days: Hardware is still a key part of the equation, of course. Labuzienski said there are 2,500 Copilot Plus PCs throughout the league on game day, with 20 on each sideline, and 10 in each coach’s booth.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald. (GeekWire File Photo)
Tech as a coaching advantage: Back when Belichick got his start, NFL sidelines relied on thermal printers hardwired to stadium cameras. It was a process that took minutes, with runners ferrying photos into binders for coaches and players on the sidelines.
Technology has transformed all of that, and a new generation of coaches has grown up never knowing anything different.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, who has openly embraced his reputation as a “football nerd,” is a prime example. Labuzienski said he represents exactly the kind of coach Microsoft has built its NFL partnership around. Macdonald views technology as a differentiator across the league and has said it’s an advantage for the Seahawks to embrace it.
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Even coaches less enthusiastic about AI are coming around, Labuzienski said, if only to avoid falling behind. “They do, sometimes begrudgingly, study up and make sure they get the most out of the technology,” he said.
A view of the new Hawks Nest seating area at the north end of Lumen Field, with a real grass playjng surface installed for the FIFA World Cup this summer. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
Digital-first players: Labuzienski said he’s seen players become some of the most engaged users of sideline technology — sometimes more so than the staff around them.
“I was at the preseason game with the Bills against the Bears, and after every single drive, Josh Allen picked up this device,” Labuzienski said of the Bills QB. “He was talking with the other quarterbacks, and they were using it to go through the plays from that previous series.”
The system is designed to make that kind of real-time collaboration easy. The 20 devices on each sideline are all connected, with coaches in the booth able to write notes directly to individual player profiles — so a quarterback picking up a tablet can instantly see what his position coach upstairs is flagging, without having to radio up or wait for a break in the action.
That dynamic is likely to only deepen as younger players enter the league.
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Microsoft was at last year’s Rookie Premier — an event where roughly 40 top draft picks gather for brand activations ahead of their first NFL season — and showed the incoming class the Sideline Viewing System for the first time. The reaction was telling.
“A lot of them really quickly picked it up and were able to click around,” Labuzienski said. “They’re very digital-first — very savvy.”
The app works with passports or ID cards, is built to be “completely anonymous” for the people who use it, works on any device (smartphones, tablets, and PCs), and is open source. “Best of all, online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app, so there are no more excuses,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Wednesday. “Europe offers a free and easy-to-use solution that can protect our children from harmful and illegal content.”
High Expectations
“It is our duty to protect our children in the online world just as we do in the offline world. And to do that effectively, we need a harmonized European approach,” von der Leyen said at Wednesday’s press conference. “And one of the central issues is the question, how can we ensure a technical solution for age verification that is valid throughout Europe? Today, I can announce that we have the answer.”
This answer takes the form of an open source app that any private company can repurpose, as long as it complies with European privacy standards and offers the same technical solution throughout the European Union. The user downloads the app, agrees to the terms and conditions, sets up a pin or biometric access, and proves their age through an electronic identification system, or by showing a passport or ID card (in which case biometric verification is also provided). The app does not store your name, date of birth, ID number, or any other personal information, according to the European Commission—only the fact that you are over a certain age.
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After that, when a person using the app wants to access a social network (minimum age: 13), pornographic site (minimum age: 18), or any other age-protected content, if they are logged in from a computer, they need only scan the QR code shown on the site they want to visit. If, on the other hand, the person logs in from a smartphone, the app sends the proof of age directly. The platform does not access the document with which the user proved it in the first place.
Adoption Event
The need to introduce a common system for the entire European Union has been discussed for some time, and according to commission technicians, the technical work is now complete. Of course, it will still be possible to circumvent the system—all it takes is for an adult to lend their phone to a younger friend—but the technological architecture exists, and it will be up to EU member states to decide whether to integrate it into national digital wallets or develop independent apps.
“No More Excuses”
For the app to really be effective, platforms must be obligated to verify the age of their users—that’s where things get tricky. The Digital Services Act, which went into effect in 2024, requires “very large online platforms”—those with more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union—to take concrete steps to mitigate systemic risks related to child protection, with heavy penalties for noncompliance.
“And that’s why Europe has the DSA: to call online platforms to their responsibilities. Because Europe will not tolerate platforms making money at the expense of our children,” European Commission executive vice president Henna Virkkunen told a press conference. She added that after an investigation into TikTok, the European institutions plan to take similar action against Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, as well as four porn sites. “Since the platforms do not have adequate age verification tools, we developed the solution ourselves,” he concluded. In short, as von der Leyen also remarked, “there are no more excuses.”
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Bare Minimum
So far, this is the European framework that sets the general rules. On this basis, member states can consider more restrictive measures. Italy was among the first to discuss how to regulate the use of social media by minors but has so far not landed on anything concrete. Elsewhere in the EU, France’s Emmanuel Macron has been a trailblazer on the issue, pushing France to discuss a rule to ban social networks for minors under the age of 15 entirely. So far, this measure has received broad political support—but the outcome depends largely on compatibility with the Digital Services Act and the availability of effective age verification systems like the app the European Commission just released.
This article originally appeared onWIRED Italiaand has been translated.
Chargers are often tucked into drawers and bags because most of us simply plug them in and forget about it, but Anker’s Nano 45W Smart Charger, priced at $27.99 (was $40), is different. Travelers are constantly looking for gear that does not take up too much room, and the Nano is a game changer. It’s small enough to put in a pocket or a carry-on, yet it delivers an impressive 45 watts of power via a single USB-C port. The prongs fold up in two directions.
When you plug it in, the charger comes to life and displays all of the information on its small screen right in front of you. The latest iPhone models, starting with the 15 series, provide instant ID and display the actual phone name, amount of electricity coming through, battery level, and even the device’s temperature. This is very cool since it transforms what was once just a wall socket into a helpful small gadget that keeps you updated. It charges in three stages so that the charger does not overheat and you do not risk burning out your battery.
Smart iPhone Recognition with Care Mode: Automatically recognizes supported iPhone models and adjusts charging for smarter, safer power delivery…
45W Max Fast Charging with Smart Power Adjustment: Delivers up to 45W of high-speed charging while adjusting output based on your battery level…
Smart Display Controls: Tap once to view real-time charging status, double-tap to switch between modes, and press for 2 seconds to rotate the screen…
As a result, if your phone is supported, it can charge to half capacity in about 20 minutes, and this is not limited to phones. This works with tablets and lighter laptops as well, but it’s mainly designed for Apple devices because they’re always going to be the most comfortable with them. Leave it on your desk or nightstand and you’ll be able to see the status of your phone without having to unlock it. There’s no need to worry about it getting too hot or taking too long because it’ll all come naturally.
Anker definitely got it perfect with the Nano. With compatibility across a wide range of USB-C devices, it’s the one adapter that can do it all, regardless of your phone’s brand. As a result, you can travel light while remaining charged. When you go home, the same charger continues to provide you with detailed information on each session. The charger adjusts its output based on what it has learnt about your device, so your batteries will eventually care after themselves.
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Once you’ve seen the light, or gotten used to using a smart charger, switching back to a standard charger feels sort of boring. Anker identified a genuine need for a quick, portable charger that tells you what’s happening on and simply nailed it with the Nano.
Tom Stanton has spent years fiddling with many strange flying machines. His current idea cleverly updates a traditional toy. Rubber band planes have been around forever, storing energy in twisted bands that then spin a propeller. The problem is that they must be wound up for several minutes merely to produce a short burst of flight. Stanton sought to create a flying machine that was faster, more practical, and could be built with easily accessible components.
Instead of relying on rubber bands, Stanton used supercapacitors to store energy. A hand crank generator charges the capacitors up to a 10-farad unit, which weighs just 3 grams and takes just a few seconds to charge. To keep an eye on things, an analog voltmeter is used to ensure that the voltage does not exceed 2.7 volts and destroy the capacitor. Once fully charged, the capacitor powers a small brushed motor repurposed from a toy drone, which propels a propeller engineered to work efficiently with the capacitor’s low voltages.
PILOTED FLIGHT – Grab a sheet of paper, fold it, and go! Instantly put yourself in the cockpit of an amazing smartphone controlled paper airplane that…
INCREDIBLE STABILITY – Loops, Barrel Rolls, & Hammerheads are achieved with the special Acro Mode! Your paper plane’s onboard computer automatically…
CONNECTED FLYING – Pair your plane with the POWERUP App to maneuver your plane, keep a robust flight log, compete with other flyers on the…
Stanton just printed the wings directly onto tissue paper. He used a textured construction plate secured with magnets so that the printer could lay down the structure without breaking the paper. After finishing the print, he simply clipped the edges, applied some adhesive, and used a heat gun to mold the paper so it could function as an airfoil. The initial effort at a wing was a disaster, as it flexed too much under load, sending the plane straight into the ground. However, later versions converted to shorter wings with a greater aspect ratio, which solved the problem by reducing flex and drag while adding minimal weight.
The plane’s fuselage is built of carbon fiber rods, which provide it strength without weighing a ton. Stanton built notches into the rod to prevent it from being drilled out of the holes, allowing the wings and tail to slip in and out with a simple friction fit, making changes easy when testing the plane. The tail is a 3D print that is glued to the back of the rod, and up front, a small steel bolt serves as the nose weight to keep everything balanced. Stanton adjusted the wing mount slightly to keep the propeller out of the line of the airflow, and a printed bracket connects the capacitor and motor and simply clips into the rod.
First, Stanton tested the basic glider on its own, as it was so light (weighing only 3.8 grams) that it flew through the air like a dream and outperformed a simple paper plane. Adding the power system increased the total weight to 15.6 grams, which isn’t terrible given it’s still lighter per square inch than most paper airplanes. When he tried it with the power system, it shot up high after launch and settled into a long, steady glide. Cranking the hand crank for 4 seconds gave him 45 seconds of flight time, but what about the charging time? It was a blazing 0.1 seconds. Stanton thought the charging-to-flight time ratio was impressive to say the least, especially since the charging process takes roughly the same amount of time as blinking.
Cold and damp air reveal one weakness: tissue paper absorbs moisture and loses rigidity quickly. The wings began to sag and the plane fought to stay aloft, as Stanton mentioned in his video, although other individuals have had success with minor repairs such as coatings on comparable planes. To be fair, the primary design of the product demonstrated that the concept works. In the end, the last plane popped right up off the ground, kept altitude far longer than I expected, and then glided down for a rather easy landing.
Stanton made the glider files accessible on Printables, allowing anyone to print their own version and try it out. The entire project is very simple, as it just requires some basic hardware: a 3D printer, a piece of tissue paper, a carbon rod, and the minimum essentials of some electronics. There are no sophisticated or high-tech materials or intricate machine work involved.
That boiling water is a contentious topic of discussion is clear, but what about hot air? When you take a 12 VDC, 280 Watt-rated air fryer and pit it against a bog-standard 240 VAC, 1400 Watt unit, which one would you want to use when you’re doing some camping or other exciting off-the-grid opportunities? Unlike with boiling water the physics aren’t as clear-cut here, so [Cahn] did some testing to figure out exactly what the efficiency numbers look like
Since air fryers rely on the transfer of thermal energy from the resistive heating element into the food, any thermal energy that’s not immediately transferred is effectively wasted. This, combined with the relatively low power rating and thus much higher time demand of the low-voltage air fryer is enough to set one’s expectations pretty low.
As scientific test samples chicken nuggets were used with the test, following a preheating period for the 12 VDC unit. Both units managed to hit a safe temperature inside the nuggets after 20 minutes, thus successfully staving off food poisoning, but the browning with the 240 VAC air fryer was much better.
As for the efficiency, the 12 VDC unit required 150 Wh for 20 minutes plus the 10 minutes of preheating, with 45 minutes total at 225 Watt to get proper browning. Meanwhile the 240 VAC unit burned through 250 Wh in 20 minutes, with no pre-heating, though only 230 Wh with no inverter losses included. As a final test, the 12 VDC unit was run at 400 Watt using 14.6 VDC input, which did indeed get it up to temperature much faster.
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Thus both are equivalent, just with the caveat that the low-voltage unit will take considerably more time to get the same result. This mirrors the results with boiling water, where most options mostly vary in how much time they require to get water up to a boiling temperature.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: We may appear to have little in common with sperm whales – enormous, ocean-dwelling animals that last shared a common ancestor with humans more than 90 million years ago. But the whales’ vocalized communications are remarkably similar to our own, researchers have discovered. Not only do sperm whale have a form of “alphabet” and form vowels within their vocalizations but the structure of these vowels behaves in the same way as human speech, the new study has found.
Sperm whales communicate in a series of short clicks called codas. Analysis of these clicks shows that the whales can differentiate vowels through the short or elongated clicks or through rising or falling tones, using patterns similar to languages such as Mandarin, Latin and Slovenian. The structure of the whales’ communication has “close parallels in the phonetics and phonology of human languages, suggesting independent evolution,” the paper, published in the Proceedings B journal, states. Sperm whale coda vocalizations are “highly complex and represent one of the closest parallels to human phonology of any analyzed animal communication system,” it added.
[…] The new study shows that “sperm whale communication isn’t just about patterns of clicks — it involves multiple interacting layers of structure,” said Mauricio Cantor, a behavioral ecologist at the Marine Mammal Institute who was not involved in the research. “With this study, we’re starting to see that these signals are organized in ways we didn’t fully appreciate before.” The latest discovery around sperm whale speech has inched forward the possibility of someday fully understanding the creatures and even communicating with them. Project CETI has set a goal of being able to comprehend 20 different vocalized expressions, relating to actions such as diving and sleeping, within the next five years. A future where we’re able to fully understand what the whales are saying and be able to have a conversation with them is “totally within our grasp,” said David Gruber, founder and president of Project CETI. “We’ve already got a lot further than I thought we could. But it will take time, and funding. At the moment we are like a two-year-old, just saying a few words. In a few years’ time, maybe we will be more like a five-year-old.”
After one person passed away and after dozens more were injured, Casely has reannounced a recall of its MagSafe-compatible power bank.
Casely has reannounced its 2025 recall of the 5,000mAh Power Pods MagSafe charger.
Back in April 2025, Casely and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) published a recall of the 5,000mAh Power Pods wireless. More than 429,000 units were recalled, following 51 incidents of the products “overheating, expanding, or catching fire,” ultimately causing burns. A year later, the same recall has been reissued, as 28 additional incidents have occurred. “The recalled power banks pose a risk of serious injury or death from fire and burn hazards to consumers,” says the USCPSC. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Privacy in the digital age is more important than ever, and using a strong VPN can help keep your internet behavior safe from prying eyes. We write a lot about VPNs, and one provider has been making moves over the past two weeks to expand its global coverage.
Proton VPN is the privacy tool in question, and the Swiss-based company’s network, which has the best free VPN option on the market, now spans roughly 20,000 servers across 145 countries — with new server locations in Lebanon, Nicaragua, Gabon, Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — making it the top provider on our best VPN list for worldwide coverage.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, operate by masking your actual IP address with one from a remote server, allowing you to disguise your location and keep your internet activity secure.
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There are a multitude of ways a VPN can enhance your experience, whether you’re looking to access streaming titles from another country or get around oppressive government firewalls that can block important information and communication pathways, and impede an open, uncensored internet.
Proton VPN now has the biggest global footprint out of all the VPNs CNET has tested. It has a vastly larger number of servers than NordVPN (9,300), and its reach exceeds NordVPN’s (135 countries), ExpressVPN’s (105 countries) and Surfshark’s (11 countries).
There is one caveat in all of this expansion: Proton VPN doesn’t have a server presence in all 50 US states, unlike NordVPN. That said, it’s still an excellent choice for watching streaming TV shows and movies — especially if you’re traveling internationally.
A Proton VPN spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.
Popular gaming platform Roblox agreed to pay more than $12 million and implement new safety features as part of a settlement with the state of Nevada. This settlement comes amid several lawsuits accusing the company of an alleged lack of protection of children on the platform.
The agreement resolves potential litigation over allegations that Roblox failed to adequately safeguard children while they played the online game, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a press release on Wednesday.
As part of the deal, Roblox will spend $10 million over three years to encourage children to engage in non-digital activities, as well as institute age verification for all users. This will include “facial age estimation technology and government-issued ID for age assurance, and will use behavioral monitoring to identify users who may have been aged incorrectly,” according to the press release.
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“The injunctive relief that Roblox has agreed to will give parents the tools they need to protect their children on the platform; institute default protections to block predators from engaging with children; and ensure that messages involving minors are not encrypted,” Ford said in the press release.
Roblox also committed to spending $1 million over two years on a campaign to educate minors and adults about online safety and another $1.5 million to develop a law enforcement liaison position to work with state law enforcement agencies over concerns about the platform.
Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said it’s part of the company’s “work to establish a new standard for digital safety.”
“This resolution creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect the next generation of digital citizens,” Kaufman said Thursday. “We have no finish line when it comes to safety.”
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Roblox is under significant legal pressure amid more than 140 lawsuits, according to Reuters. The suits, filed in 2025, allege the company knowingly created a gaming platform that allowed child predators to target minors.
Roblox Kids will be available for children between the ages of 5 and 8, and Roblox Select is for those ages 9 to 15. Roblox is reportedly used by nearly half of US children under 16. Children who are older than 16 will be in their own age group, simply called “Roblox.”
Kids and Select accounts would be available in those age groups as determined by Roblox’s age-check technology or by a verified parent.
Unmonitored chat in the game has been a point of criticism for the platform, as it allows predators to chat with children. Kids’ accounts will have chat turned off by default, with limited access to Minimal or Mild games as determined by the platform. Select accounts will have chat with safeguards and access to games with Moderate content, which is described by the platforms as having “moderate violence, light realistic blood, moderate crude humor, unplayable gambling content, and/or moderate fear.”
These new age-based accounts will roll out sometime in early June.
A recent cosmological model combines two of the most eccentric ideas in contemporary physics to explain the nature of dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up about 85 percent of all matter in the universe. To understand it, it’s necessary to look beyond the Big Bang we all know and consider two concepts that rarely intersect: cyclic universes and primordial black holes.
A Different Kind of Multiverse
There are different versions of the “multiverse.” The most popular model—that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—proposes that there are as many universes as there are possibilities and that these versions of reality are parallel. Physics proposes something more sober and mathematically consistent: the cosmic bounce.
In this model, the universe is not born from a singularity, but expands, contracts, and expands again in an endless cycle. Each “universe” is not parallel, but sequential—that is, one arises from the ashes of the previous one.
Is it possible for something to survive the end of its universe and endure into the next? According to a paper published in Physical Review D, yes. Author Enrique Gaztanaga, a research professor at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, shows that any structure larger than about 90 meters could pass through the final collapse of a universe and survive the rebound. These “relics” would not only persist, but could also seed the formation of giant, unexplained structures observed in the early stages of the present-day universe. Moreover, they could be the key to understanding dark matter.
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For decades, the dominant explanation for dark matter has been that it is an unknown particle or particles. But after years of experiments without direct detections, physicists have begun to explore alternatives. One of them proposes that dark matter is not an exotic particle, but an abundant population of small black holes that we overlook.
The idea is appealing, but it has a serious problem. For these black holes to explain dark matter, they would have to exist from the earliest moments of the universe, long before the first stars could collapse. There are indications that these objects could exist, but a convincing physical mechanism to explain their origin is lacking.
A Universe Born With Black Holes
This is where Gaztanaga’s newly proposed model shines. If cosmic bouncing allows compact structures to survive the collapse of the previous universe, then the current universe would have already been born with pre-existing black holes. They would not have to have been generated by extreme fluctuations or finely tuned inflationary processes, but would simply have been there from the first instant.
The assumption has the potential to solve two riddles at once: the origin of black holes and the nature of dark matter. If this model is correct, dark matter would not be a mystery of the early universe but rather a legacy of a cosmos that predates our own.
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“Much work remains to be done,” Gaztanaga, also a researcher at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, said in an article for The Conversation. “These ideas must be tested against data—from gravitational-wave backgrounds to galaxy surveys and precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background.”
“But the possibility is profound,” he added. “The universe may not have begun once, but may have rebounded. And the dark structures shaping galaxies today could be relics from a time before the Big Bang.”
This story originally appeared inWIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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