Just what is out there? Indeed, when we look up at the night sky we observe and are captivated by the distant specks of light that scatter the dark canvas. But what else is out there? And what even is "out there"? I talk of this natural progression of curiosity. The way our brains discover and ask, discover and ask again, and the cycle continues. We aren't satisfied. It seems the universe has an equal incline.
Every time we think we've figured something out, about the going-on's of the cosmos, a new event or strange arrangement of matter appear within our reach, almost as if to say, "are you sure, you've got me pinned?" This is why I fell in love with astronomy, cosmology, and quantum physics.
It is everything. It is nothing. One could spend a lifetime studying a singular conundrum such as a quasar, and die mostly ignorant. How daunting a task, and how beautiful. This essay is a dissemination of my thoughts on the subject of the cosmos. A humble appreciation of the universe. And a profound curiosity, deeply ingrained in our primal DNA that drives us to seek understanding about the unknown, about the reason for everything, and about just what is out there.
First and foremost, there is an initial entrance into this world of discovery. A specific event. A switch is turned on that causes us to look upwards and wonder. It has always existed. Dormant in each one of us. We are explorers. Curious and mystified. We seek to understand. We desire to know new things, new places, and we are not satisfied. The first time I took an earth and space science class I was captivated. Curiosity switch on. Gas giants and black holes? What do you mean? How come I'd been learning about plants in school and listening to petty Earthly scuffles on the news when these things exist out there? The curiosity grew, but in 2016 I was sold. Carl Sagan, Neil Degreasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, Bill Nye, Lawrence Krauss. Oh what the internet can be used for. The vast amount of knowledge and content that exists out there can be daunting and so, so captivating at the same time. How much time I must have spent.
These influential figures spoke words that lied as fragmented questions in my naive mind. They introduced me to concepts, realizations, and profound topics of elevator conversation that I am eternally grateful for having been exposed to. So let's discuss. And then regroup, MMB - Mutually Mind Blown.
Red Shift and The Expanding Universe
Let's start at the beginning, the Big Bang. At some point the Universe was born in a massive explosion from a singular point. Everyone knows this. However, traditional dogma says that if there was a big bang, matter would scatter as far as the energy from the explosion propelled it, and then would fall back towards a singular point; the Big Crunch. But this isn't happening. The Universe is still expanding, but the original energy from the initial explosion has run out. Well you must say, we miscalculated the original activation energy. Okay fair, but what about this. The expansion, yeah it's getting faster. A singular anomaly? Nope, its getting faster in all directions. Now how can we know whats happening at the far reaches of the "observable Universe?" Red shift. When objects move away from us, the light traveling back to us is Red, because of Red's spot on the ROYGBIV spectrum. And boy is there a lot of red.
String Theory
What was once fringe science is now almost completely accepted theory by the scientific community. So here's how it works. Below the atom, deeper than the electrons, far beyond the smallest quarks, and go another million or so of the smallest unit of measurement you can extract from 9th grade physical science class and you've arrived at the elusive and infinitesimally small, Strings. These one dimensional collections of matter vibrate at a certain frequency that define the laws of physics in our Universe. The way in which these strings vibrate affect quantum fields and in other words control the properties and actions of the smallest units of matter. Since the discovery of the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Super Collider, we've solidified that space and time are indeed connected as a fabric whereby gravity serves as the medium. Given this, String Theory now fits perfectly into the mold of what makes up our space-time.
Multiverse with the Goldilocks Theory
Those ours in the paragraph above were purposeful. Because this theory, as its name properly describes, tells the story of other universes and more specifically, why ours is the way it is. The multiverse theory, in simplicity, states that there are in fact many, if not an infinite amount of universes. Lets say our Strings vibrate at 3.14 hz (not really). Well what if they vibrated at 3.15 hz? Since they're one dimensional strings, they would create new 2 dimensional realities which in turn would create new 3 dimensional properties. In other words, a separate Universe, with different fundamental laws of physics.
But now the second part, Goldilocks Universe Theory. The porage is indeed just right. Our Universe has the properties, created by those vibrating Strings, that allow for up to be up and down to be down. In other words the conditions are just right for galaxies to form under appropriate levels of gravity, and then stars to form of appropriate temperature, and then worlds to form with the appropriate atmospheric conditions, and eventually it all adds up to the perfect settings for life to form. And so many other "appropriate" conditions omitted from that brief simplification of the unique nature of our nature. We are in the Goldilocks Universe.
Black Holes and White Holes
A topic everyone is aware of. So first a brief explanation of what a black hole is, and then the real fun with white holes. For the sake of brevity, on an extraordinarily complex topic, a black hole is formed when a sun, of a size that reaches a certain threshold, ages, uses up all its hydrogen and helium fuel reserves, develops heavy metals in its core, expands massively, then contracts heavily, so much so that the gravity inward created by the size of the star becomes stronger than the outward pressure of the nuclear reactions in the core, and the gravity wins. The star collapses on itself and the matter that formerly made up the star falls into a single point, so dense that it appears to not exist. But it does, and its so strong that it will suck in any matter within a certain range of it, called the Event Horizon, into this infinite pit of darkness. It grows, it gets heavier and denser, and stronger. Its the end of anything that falls into it. Or at least we think...
And that's where white holes come in. We've already established that there's a possibility for other universes to exist under String Theory, so how do those form? Well what if on the other side of black holes, exist white holes? A black hole spewing it's guts into another dimension, creating another universe? Its purely conjecture at this point, but many cosmologists and quantum physicists are beginning to think that a black hole is one side of a funnel, and if the funnel gets too blocked up inside, matter explodes (Ie: Big Bang) into another dimension via a white hole. Fascinating stuff.
Dark Energy, Dark Matter and the Ghost Condensate
So we've now established that the Universe is expanding with no end in sight, super tiny vibrating Strings control the laws of physics, there may be an infinite amount of universes in existence, and black holes may not be the end. So what about Dark Energy and Dark Matter. These two combined, make up roughly 95% of all the "stuff" in the Universe. In other words, if you measured the entire mass of the Universe, only 5% of the mass comes from observable things, such as gas clouds, stars, galaxies and worlds. The other 95%? Well we have no idea. Not only that, but we can't see it, observe it or interact with it. But they're affecting the structure and course of our Universe and so we know of it's existence. There exists three possible explanations in popular cosmology for what these phenomenons are.
1. Maybe it is the answer to the original, discarded version of Einstein's Theory of Relativity that had in place, a Cosmological Constant.
2. Maybe space-time is actually a fluid called the Super-fluid comprised of dark energy that can clump together to from dark matter
3. Maybe dark matter are actually a highly theoretical particle called Sterile Neutrinos that interact with gravity through dark energy which is the explanation for the speeding up expansion.
But my favorite theory is one that's much less commonly accepted but now has new evidence that I believe will make it a more researched hypothesis.
What I've coined to be called the Interference-Propulsion Theory. What this states is that Dark Energy is actually created by the rubbing of two parallel universes who's membranes are diminishing due to the presence of massive black holes in the parallel Universe. And that Dark Matter is created when a black hole pokes through to the neighboring Universe and spills its contents out. Interference. And of course the reason we can't see it or interact with it is because it is governed by Strings that are vibrating on a different frequency. But it has mass nonetheless and so we feel its presence. Where the Propulsion part comes in is that our Universe only has a limited amount of space. The fabric can only tolerate so much mass. So when the energy and matter from another universe begin to seep through and affect the infrastructure of our space-time fabric, then it forces the contents that currently exist here to move, pushing the outer limits of the universe. So here's the new evidence: The Ghost Condensate. A team of physicists who were recently working on Einsteins Theory of Relativity, modified it a bit to fit new observations and what they found is a new substance coming from the new theory, the ghost Condensate. They believe it can produce repulsive gravity that would drive the universe's expansion which many contribute to dark energy. Additionally they believe it can clump together, forming dark matter. I believe this hypothetical substance under the guise of a revised Theory of Relativity can align with the the Theory I proposed above and possibly explain the origins of 95% of our Universe.
Cyclic Model of the Universe
We've covered everything we need to cover to make this theory make sense. But a piece of backstory. At the center of almost all galaxies in our Universe, exists a super massive black hole that is sucking the contents of the galaxy into itself. So what happens when two black holes meet up? The answer escapes me... (joke). What really happens is that they collide, and form an even larger black hole. Well the next question is what happens when all the black holes suck up all the matter in their respective areas and begin to collide with each other one by one? Right now we're ignoring all the conjecture above about white holes and dark energy and matter being from other universes's black holes. But what if there was only two black holes left after they all collided, and they formed into one? That would mean, in theory, that the universe had sunken down into a singular point, containing all matter. So then what? Would it blow up and create a big bang? And what if this has happened before, and continues to happen into infinity? This is the Cyclic Model of the Universe. Basically the Universe oscillates into and out of existence by blowing up, spewing matter, and then coming back together, not because of a big crunch, but instead because gravity wins and eventually sucks everything back into a singular point. In this theory, Gravity is God. It controls the destiny, the duration, the beginning and the end of our Universe.
Gravitational Waves
On the subject of black holes colliding, some recent evidence came to light last year that had astronomy and physics majors throwing midnight pizza parties in physics buildings all across the globe. The discovery of Gravitational Waves. These waves are literally ripples in the fabric of space-time. The discovery of these ripples confirms the fact that space and time are linked in a fabric. A fabric that can be distorted. If two black holes colliding can produce disturbances in the fabric, then imagine what two super massive black holes, millions of years old, that have consumed multiple galaxies can do when they collide and form an even larger black hole. Possibly puncture the fabric?
Quantum Entanglement
A proven phenomenon that is bound to blow your mind. Scientists have discovered that if you put two electrons next to each other in the same field, that are spinning in the same direction and you allow them to interact in isolation, that if you reverse the spin of one electron, the other electron will reverse its spin to match. But this works even if you shoot the electron off into space, 50 light years away, and reverse its spin, the other electron will reverse as well. They are entangled by some unseen, non quantified quantum connection.
Deja Vu
This has a lot less to do with cosmology and astronomy than everything else aforementioned but it derives its basis from the multiverse theory so I thought it fitting to throw it in here. Plus it's kind of crazy and thought provoking. We say that Deja Vu is just your brain thinking you've done something before because you've done something similar in the past, but what if you really have done it before? What if in a parallel universe, an alternate version of you, has completed that same task, been to that same location, or thought the same thought? And your brains are connected in sort of an Emotional Quantum Entanglement and you sense it? Some have theorized this version of Deja Vu, but it's still widely considered pseudo or fringe science.
Quasars and Pulsars
These anomalies represent the kind of vastness, the oddity, and the raw physical manifestation of the imagination that the Universe contains. The very objects that science fiction authors could only dream of. A quasar, visually represented by a glowing mass of matter, shooting a beam of energy straight up, is a super massive black hole in the far reaches of the universe firing electromagnetic radiation with luminosity thousands of times greater than a singular galaxy which can contain hundreds of billions of stars. They are the oldest and farthest objects in the Universe. Observing what is left of them, is like observing the oldest living ancestors to date. Since light cannot escape a black hole, the light is actually caused by incoming material passing through the event horizon causing so much friction, because of how massive the material and the black hole are, that it metaphorically screams out for help. The friction shreds the material and fires electromagnetic radiation into space.
Pulsars aren't much different. Except one distinction, these are white dwarfs or neutron stars; stars which have died and dried up to their core elements but weren't heavy enough to collapse into a black hole. However, they rotate and pulsate an electromagnetic beam in both directions. Like a blinking lighthouse. This can be caused by a decaying magnetic field, the accretion of matter, or by the dwindling rotational power literally giving the star its last breaths before going cold and dark.
These objects are beautiful creations of our infinitely wondrous Universe.
The Matrix
And finally some thought provoking madness. First and foremost, as we dive deeper into the inner workings and relationships that all things in the Universe have with each other, we're discovering more and more that complex mathematical concepts and equations are showing up again and again, like a computer code. We get ourselves into the chicken or the egg argument here. Are we seeing math in relationships because the math preceded us finding it, or because we invented math for the very purpose of explaining things? But the strangest piece of evidence came recently when theoretical physicists at the University of Maryland found mathematical, error correcting codes studying quarks and super-symmetry, that are synonymous with those that computers and simulations use. Whatever your view, the evidence is mounting and sooner or later, we'll have a very serious discussion about it.
Rather than end on the rather drab possibility that our lives are playing out in a computer simulation, lets recap on some of the topics mentioned above and make some different hypotheses. Commonly accepted theory about our Universe now involves infinite amounts of alternate universes, black holes that consume galaxies colliding and producing ripples in a space-time fabric that is controlled by vibrating super strings that create universal laws of physics, ancient pits of gravity so dense that they consume anything and everything then fire beams of light hundreds of times greater than 800 billion suns, theories on the beginning, end, and possible immortality of our Universe, and discover-able math so complex, so perfect, so universal, that we can observe it in the motion of stars all the way down to the design of the smallest particles that make up our brains. And people think religion is crazy. The Universe means all. Everything. It is so complex, so vast, so ever-changing. And yet so simple. So beautiful. Not to mention 95% of it isn't observable, but its very presence we are aware of. In Latin there is a term called Pantheism. A doctrine of sorts. Dues Sive Natura - "God or Nature?" The philosopher Baruch Spinoza popularized this view, called Spinoza Pantheism, that God, Nature, and the Universe are one in the same. They are interchangeable. Einstein once said, "Spinoza's God, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists."
But I think Einstein described it best when asked about his religious beliefs in 1929, he responded:
"The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza's Pantheism."
So what is out there? And what is "out there"? We may never know. But what we do know, is that it is beautiful, chaotic, and pure. Let's keep an open mind, with the realization that this thing called the Universe is more than just the stars and the night sky. It is everything. And we are in it, on this small world we call Earth with the unique opportunity to observe and learn. Carl Sagan summarized it best:
Every time we think we've figured something out, about the going-on's of the cosmos, a new event or strange arrangement of matter appear within our reach, almost as if to say, "are you sure, you've got me pinned?" This is why I fell in love with astronomy, cosmology, and quantum physics.
It is everything. It is nothing. One could spend a lifetime studying a singular conundrum such as a quasar, and die mostly ignorant. How daunting a task, and how beautiful. This essay is a dissemination of my thoughts on the subject of the cosmos. A humble appreciation of the universe. And a profound curiosity, deeply ingrained in our primal DNA that drives us to seek understanding about the unknown, about the reason for everything, and about just what is out there.
First and foremost, there is an initial entrance into this world of discovery. A specific event. A switch is turned on that causes us to look upwards and wonder. It has always existed. Dormant in each one of us. We are explorers. Curious and mystified. We seek to understand. We desire to know new things, new places, and we are not satisfied. The first time I took an earth and space science class I was captivated. Curiosity switch on. Gas giants and black holes? What do you mean? How come I'd been learning about plants in school and listening to petty Earthly scuffles on the news when these things exist out there? The curiosity grew, but in 2016 I was sold. Carl Sagan, Neil Degreasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, Bill Nye, Lawrence Krauss. Oh what the internet can be used for. The vast amount of knowledge and content that exists out there can be daunting and so, so captivating at the same time. How much time I must have spent.
These influential figures spoke words that lied as fragmented questions in my naive mind. They introduced me to concepts, realizations, and profound topics of elevator conversation that I am eternally grateful for having been exposed to. So let's discuss. And then regroup, MMB - Mutually Mind Blown.
Red Shift and The Expanding Universe
Let's start at the beginning, the Big Bang. At some point the Universe was born in a massive explosion from a singular point. Everyone knows this. However, traditional dogma says that if there was a big bang, matter would scatter as far as the energy from the explosion propelled it, and then would fall back towards a singular point; the Big Crunch. But this isn't happening. The Universe is still expanding, but the original energy from the initial explosion has run out. Well you must say, we miscalculated the original activation energy. Okay fair, but what about this. The expansion, yeah it's getting faster. A singular anomaly? Nope, its getting faster in all directions. Now how can we know whats happening at the far reaches of the "observable Universe?" Red shift. When objects move away from us, the light traveling back to us is Red, because of Red's spot on the ROYGBIV spectrum. And boy is there a lot of red.
String Theory
What was once fringe science is now almost completely accepted theory by the scientific community. So here's how it works. Below the atom, deeper than the electrons, far beyond the smallest quarks, and go another million or so of the smallest unit of measurement you can extract from 9th grade physical science class and you've arrived at the elusive and infinitesimally small, Strings. These one dimensional collections of matter vibrate at a certain frequency that define the laws of physics in our Universe. The way in which these strings vibrate affect quantum fields and in other words control the properties and actions of the smallest units of matter. Since the discovery of the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Super Collider, we've solidified that space and time are indeed connected as a fabric whereby gravity serves as the medium. Given this, String Theory now fits perfectly into the mold of what makes up our space-time.
Multiverse with the Goldilocks Theory
Those ours in the paragraph above were purposeful. Because this theory, as its name properly describes, tells the story of other universes and more specifically, why ours is the way it is. The multiverse theory, in simplicity, states that there are in fact many, if not an infinite amount of universes. Lets say our Strings vibrate at 3.14 hz (not really). Well what if they vibrated at 3.15 hz? Since they're one dimensional strings, they would create new 2 dimensional realities which in turn would create new 3 dimensional properties. In other words, a separate Universe, with different fundamental laws of physics.
But now the second part, Goldilocks Universe Theory. The porage is indeed just right. Our Universe has the properties, created by those vibrating Strings, that allow for up to be up and down to be down. In other words the conditions are just right for galaxies to form under appropriate levels of gravity, and then stars to form of appropriate temperature, and then worlds to form with the appropriate atmospheric conditions, and eventually it all adds up to the perfect settings for life to form. And so many other "appropriate" conditions omitted from that brief simplification of the unique nature of our nature. We are in the Goldilocks Universe.
Black Holes and White Holes
A topic everyone is aware of. So first a brief explanation of what a black hole is, and then the real fun with white holes. For the sake of brevity, on an extraordinarily complex topic, a black hole is formed when a sun, of a size that reaches a certain threshold, ages, uses up all its hydrogen and helium fuel reserves, develops heavy metals in its core, expands massively, then contracts heavily, so much so that the gravity inward created by the size of the star becomes stronger than the outward pressure of the nuclear reactions in the core, and the gravity wins. The star collapses on itself and the matter that formerly made up the star falls into a single point, so dense that it appears to not exist. But it does, and its so strong that it will suck in any matter within a certain range of it, called the Event Horizon, into this infinite pit of darkness. It grows, it gets heavier and denser, and stronger. Its the end of anything that falls into it. Or at least we think...
And that's where white holes come in. We've already established that there's a possibility for other universes to exist under String Theory, so how do those form? Well what if on the other side of black holes, exist white holes? A black hole spewing it's guts into another dimension, creating another universe? Its purely conjecture at this point, but many cosmologists and quantum physicists are beginning to think that a black hole is one side of a funnel, and if the funnel gets too blocked up inside, matter explodes (Ie: Big Bang) into another dimension via a white hole. Fascinating stuff.
Dark Energy, Dark Matter and the Ghost Condensate
So we've now established that the Universe is expanding with no end in sight, super tiny vibrating Strings control the laws of physics, there may be an infinite amount of universes in existence, and black holes may not be the end. So what about Dark Energy and Dark Matter. These two combined, make up roughly 95% of all the "stuff" in the Universe. In other words, if you measured the entire mass of the Universe, only 5% of the mass comes from observable things, such as gas clouds, stars, galaxies and worlds. The other 95%? Well we have no idea. Not only that, but we can't see it, observe it or interact with it. But they're affecting the structure and course of our Universe and so we know of it's existence. There exists three possible explanations in popular cosmology for what these phenomenons are.
1. Maybe it is the answer to the original, discarded version of Einstein's Theory of Relativity that had in place, a Cosmological Constant.
2. Maybe space-time is actually a fluid called the Super-fluid comprised of dark energy that can clump together to from dark matter
3. Maybe dark matter are actually a highly theoretical particle called Sterile Neutrinos that interact with gravity through dark energy which is the explanation for the speeding up expansion.
But my favorite theory is one that's much less commonly accepted but now has new evidence that I believe will make it a more researched hypothesis.
What I've coined to be called the Interference-Propulsion Theory. What this states is that Dark Energy is actually created by the rubbing of two parallel universes who's membranes are diminishing due to the presence of massive black holes in the parallel Universe. And that Dark Matter is created when a black hole pokes through to the neighboring Universe and spills its contents out. Interference. And of course the reason we can't see it or interact with it is because it is governed by Strings that are vibrating on a different frequency. But it has mass nonetheless and so we feel its presence. Where the Propulsion part comes in is that our Universe only has a limited amount of space. The fabric can only tolerate so much mass. So when the energy and matter from another universe begin to seep through and affect the infrastructure of our space-time fabric, then it forces the contents that currently exist here to move, pushing the outer limits of the universe. So here's the new evidence: The Ghost Condensate. A team of physicists who were recently working on Einsteins Theory of Relativity, modified it a bit to fit new observations and what they found is a new substance coming from the new theory, the ghost Condensate. They believe it can produce repulsive gravity that would drive the universe's expansion which many contribute to dark energy. Additionally they believe it can clump together, forming dark matter. I believe this hypothetical substance under the guise of a revised Theory of Relativity can align with the the Theory I proposed above and possibly explain the origins of 95% of our Universe.
Cyclic Model of the Universe
We've covered everything we need to cover to make this theory make sense. But a piece of backstory. At the center of almost all galaxies in our Universe, exists a super massive black hole that is sucking the contents of the galaxy into itself. So what happens when two black holes meet up? The answer escapes me... (joke). What really happens is that they collide, and form an even larger black hole. Well the next question is what happens when all the black holes suck up all the matter in their respective areas and begin to collide with each other one by one? Right now we're ignoring all the conjecture above about white holes and dark energy and matter being from other universes's black holes. But what if there was only two black holes left after they all collided, and they formed into one? That would mean, in theory, that the universe had sunken down into a singular point, containing all matter. So then what? Would it blow up and create a big bang? And what if this has happened before, and continues to happen into infinity? This is the Cyclic Model of the Universe. Basically the Universe oscillates into and out of existence by blowing up, spewing matter, and then coming back together, not because of a big crunch, but instead because gravity wins and eventually sucks everything back into a singular point. In this theory, Gravity is God. It controls the destiny, the duration, the beginning and the end of our Universe.
Gravitational Waves
On the subject of black holes colliding, some recent evidence came to light last year that had astronomy and physics majors throwing midnight pizza parties in physics buildings all across the globe. The discovery of Gravitational Waves. These waves are literally ripples in the fabric of space-time. The discovery of these ripples confirms the fact that space and time are linked in a fabric. A fabric that can be distorted. If two black holes colliding can produce disturbances in the fabric, then imagine what two super massive black holes, millions of years old, that have consumed multiple galaxies can do when they collide and form an even larger black hole. Possibly puncture the fabric?
Quantum Entanglement
A proven phenomenon that is bound to blow your mind. Scientists have discovered that if you put two electrons next to each other in the same field, that are spinning in the same direction and you allow them to interact in isolation, that if you reverse the spin of one electron, the other electron will reverse its spin to match. But this works even if you shoot the electron off into space, 50 light years away, and reverse its spin, the other electron will reverse as well. They are entangled by some unseen, non quantified quantum connection.
Deja Vu
This has a lot less to do with cosmology and astronomy than everything else aforementioned but it derives its basis from the multiverse theory so I thought it fitting to throw it in here. Plus it's kind of crazy and thought provoking. We say that Deja Vu is just your brain thinking you've done something before because you've done something similar in the past, but what if you really have done it before? What if in a parallel universe, an alternate version of you, has completed that same task, been to that same location, or thought the same thought? And your brains are connected in sort of an Emotional Quantum Entanglement and you sense it? Some have theorized this version of Deja Vu, but it's still widely considered pseudo or fringe science.
Quasars and Pulsars
These anomalies represent the kind of vastness, the oddity, and the raw physical manifestation of the imagination that the Universe contains. The very objects that science fiction authors could only dream of. A quasar, visually represented by a glowing mass of matter, shooting a beam of energy straight up, is a super massive black hole in the far reaches of the universe firing electromagnetic radiation with luminosity thousands of times greater than a singular galaxy which can contain hundreds of billions of stars. They are the oldest and farthest objects in the Universe. Observing what is left of them, is like observing the oldest living ancestors to date. Since light cannot escape a black hole, the light is actually caused by incoming material passing through the event horizon causing so much friction, because of how massive the material and the black hole are, that it metaphorically screams out for help. The friction shreds the material and fires electromagnetic radiation into space.
Pulsars aren't much different. Except one distinction, these are white dwarfs or neutron stars; stars which have died and dried up to their core elements but weren't heavy enough to collapse into a black hole. However, they rotate and pulsate an electromagnetic beam in both directions. Like a blinking lighthouse. This can be caused by a decaying magnetic field, the accretion of matter, or by the dwindling rotational power literally giving the star its last breaths before going cold and dark.
These objects are beautiful creations of our infinitely wondrous Universe.
The Matrix
And finally some thought provoking madness. First and foremost, as we dive deeper into the inner workings and relationships that all things in the Universe have with each other, we're discovering more and more that complex mathematical concepts and equations are showing up again and again, like a computer code. We get ourselves into the chicken or the egg argument here. Are we seeing math in relationships because the math preceded us finding it, or because we invented math for the very purpose of explaining things? But the strangest piece of evidence came recently when theoretical physicists at the University of Maryland found mathematical, error correcting codes studying quarks and super-symmetry, that are synonymous with those that computers and simulations use. Whatever your view, the evidence is mounting and sooner or later, we'll have a very serious discussion about it.
Rather than end on the rather drab possibility that our lives are playing out in a computer simulation, lets recap on some of the topics mentioned above and make some different hypotheses. Commonly accepted theory about our Universe now involves infinite amounts of alternate universes, black holes that consume galaxies colliding and producing ripples in a space-time fabric that is controlled by vibrating super strings that create universal laws of physics, ancient pits of gravity so dense that they consume anything and everything then fire beams of light hundreds of times greater than 800 billion suns, theories on the beginning, end, and possible immortality of our Universe, and discover-able math so complex, so perfect, so universal, that we can observe it in the motion of stars all the way down to the design of the smallest particles that make up our brains. And people think religion is crazy. The Universe means all. Everything. It is so complex, so vast, so ever-changing. And yet so simple. So beautiful. Not to mention 95% of it isn't observable, but its very presence we are aware of. In Latin there is a term called Pantheism. A doctrine of sorts. Dues Sive Natura - "God or Nature?" The philosopher Baruch Spinoza popularized this view, called Spinoza Pantheism, that God, Nature, and the Universe are one in the same. They are interchangeable. Einstein once said, "Spinoza's God, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists."
But I think Einstein described it best when asked about his religious beliefs in 1929, he responded:
"The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza's Pantheism."
So what is out there? And what is "out there"? We may never know. But what we do know, is that it is beautiful, chaotic, and pure. Let's keep an open mind, with the realization that this thing called the Universe is more than just the stars and the night sky. It is everything. And we are in it, on this small world we call Earth with the unique opportunity to observe and learn. Carl Sagan summarized it best:
haha snuck in that emotional quantum entanglement, real slick
ReplyDeleteBeing just an ordinary human, these theories are so beyond my mind’s capabilities. I love the capacity u have to grasp, much less explain the theories!
ReplyDelete