Are wormholes gates to alternate universes after all? [News]

Well, maybe. Some scientists seem to be thinking that way. From The Press Association:

Gateways to parallel universes or distant parts of our own cosmos may be found if astronomers look for the right signs, a Russian physicist claims.
Wormholes to other worlds can be recognised by the unusual way they bend light, according to Dr Alexander Shatskiy, from the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.

He believes future space telescopes might be able to look for wormholes in the centres of large galaxies.

Wormholes are said to link different regions of space, or even different parallel universes. Anything entering one end of a wormhole would instantly appear at the other end, so long as the tunnel could be kept propped open.

Although scientists have seen no direct evidence of wormholes in the universe, it may be because they are disguised as black holes. But Dr Shatskiy believes there is one sure way to tell the two kinds of object apart.

Wormholes would have to be kept open by a so-far unidentified material with bizarre properties. This substance, known as “phantom matter”, would have negative energy and negative mass, causing it to exert a repulsive effect.
Dr Shatskiy’s calculations indicate that as well as “opening the door” phantom matter would deflect light, providing a useful wormhole signature.

Because of phantom matter, any light emerging from a wormhole would diverge to form a bright ring. Any stars behind it would shine through the middle of the circle.
US expert Dr Lawrence Krauss, from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, points out that the idea rests on untested assumptions.
He told New Scientist magazine: “It is an interesting attempt to actually think of what a real signature for a wormhole would be, but it is more hypothetical than observational. Without any idea of what phantom matter is and its possible interactions with light, it is not clear one can provide a general argument.”