You know what is a tremendously interesting book? A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's just awesome. I'm only 150 pages in and I can't stop thinking and talking about it.
It explains the most complex ideas in science in a form that regular people can understand. He uses fantastic metaphors and regales you with tales of drama from scientists' lives through the centuries. What inspired me to write this post is at the subatomic level. First of all, the subatomic level is a pretty crazy place that is pretty much as hard to comprehend as the vastness of the universe. But yet somehow Bryson made it accessible. So...
Ok. Think back. At some point in school we learned about what makes up an atom. There are neutrons and protons in the nucleus of the atom with electrons somehow floating/orbiting/they aren't even sure what to call it around the nucleus. There are always the same number of protons as electrons, and scientists have determined that each is partnered. If one electron is affected, it's partner proton is affected in the opposite manner. Here's the kicker that they haven't been able to explain; honestly it's so incomprehensible that scientists just ignore the 'why' and accept that it is the way it is.
If you spin an electron in one direction, the partner proton instantly spins the opposite way. They tested this when each was 7 miles apart from one another. 7 miles might as well be across the galaxy when you think about how small an electron is. Instantly the proton spun in the opposite direction. Instantly. Here's an example that allowed my brain to comprehend it. 2 Scientists. One is at Southgate and the other is at City Centre Airport. In front of each of them is a miraculous floating ping pong ball that is spinning. The scientist at Southgate spins hers in the opposite direction and at that same nanosecond, the ball at the city centre airport starts spinning in the opposite direction with no explanation but its relationship with the other ball. Of course the problem with this example is scale. If we're blowing up electrons and protons to the size of pingpong balls then the scientists would have to be... hmmm... uhhh... carry the one... really far apart.
Anyway, this occurence completely violates Einstein's Theory of Relativity whereby nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. This is the theory we use to currently define our universe!There is some force that allows for electrons and protons to share a connection across the relative distance of a galaxy. It's a miraculous connection that our meagre minds have yet been able to begin to comprehend. Could it be that it surrounds us and penetrates us? That it binds the galaxy together? Perhaps the only person smart enough to comprehend it is George Lucas.
One physicist has even said that scientists have dealt with this problem so far by 'not thinking about it.' Can you think of what it would be like to be the person with the brainpower to prove The Force exists? This person, like Einstein, will change the way that we understand our universe. Was your mind just blown? Mine was.
I'm totally nerding out over here.
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4 comments:
Okay, so could it be that this dark matter scientists are almost starting to prove does exist as we can comprehend it. It is hard to exactly say what it is, as it is anti-matter.
Could that be this force, this connection between your proton and electron is what we consider anti-matter.
But is anti-matter really not material or is it possibly a new dimension that our brains are just starting to be able to grasp.
You also wrote about how this author used more common language to explain science a bit better. There are many languages that could explain our universe. Poetry, visual, mathematical, scientific, story telling, english vs. french. These are all different languages used to explain our lives. this message is transmitted between computers in binary and yet is still presented between us in english.
this dark matter could be a new language that we have yet to decipher. whatever it is it holds us together in the smallest and largest ways possible.
i love that book. It blows my mind without rendering me catatonic. I like that. ;o)
So according to the book, scientists have done calculations as to how much the universe should weigh and how much the matter within the universe probably does actually weigh. They found out that the weight of what we already know is in the universe only makes up about 1/3 of what the universe should weigh. Their explanation for the remaining 2/3 is the dark matter. They have no clue as to what it is, why it is or if it is. But you're right, it could be that it exists on some plane/dimension that we have yet to understand. Maybe it does exists on a level where language, energy or thoughts take up mass.
Woo... It's like a science fiction novel in the making. This stuff practically writes itself!
People should read this.
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