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The detection of miniature black holes by the Large Hadron Collider could prove the existence of parallel universes and show that the Big Bang did not happen, scientists believe.
Wait, what?
It's all Quantum, don'tchaknow! 😀
Elephants all the way down?
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. - Douglas Adams
*dons saucepan hat*
Needs more Penny.
Needs more Penny.
If the big bang never happened then Penny never happens :_(
Universe?
Pff, bloody conspiracy theories!!
Next thing you know some clever bugger will come up with a [url= http://www.nature.com/news/simulations-back-up-theory-that-universe-is-a-hologram-1.14328 ]simulation that suggests the universe is just a holographic projection[/url]
Quantum stuff is all weird, I find it disturbing that we run at a quantum level.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/26/youre-powered-by-quantum-mechanics-biology
Quawtumn Mechanicals and black bowels my arse. Everyone knows the universe was sneezed out of the nose of the [url= http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Green_Arkleseizure ]Great Green Arkleseizure[/url]
This is all far too confusing and hard for my puny human brain.
Can't we just say that a big god did it and ran away?
Dark energy.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05n8jqs ]Physics is broken[/url].
there's more theories than theoretical physicists.
*dons saucepan hat*
*Smacks the top with a wooden mallet*
Fed up with headlines on the LHC, they're always over-exciting - and then boil down to - "we will know about something in 2024".
Remember the higgs-boson, that got completely out of hand and then the damn thing was shut off for nearly a year and it sort of went quiet with lots of "sure, maybe consistent with" - then more shut downs and promise of something in 2015. And then a few more years after that we will know for sure.
Dunno if it's CERN's PR getting excited or general coffee table physics via the press.
Quantum stuff is all weird, I find it disturbing that we run at a quantum level.
Speak for yourself, I can just about manage a fast walk.
Is there any practical use for any of this though?
I should point out my entire knowledge of physics over-and-above GCSE level is entirely based on watching Penny in a myriad of tight clothing and the odd thing sneaking into my brain when I wasn't taking notice, but they say it's the search of the origins of the universe, and with that we might just understand the meaning of life (which we won't because we already know it).
Sometimes they say, "oh well, if we understand how space was created we might be able to use wormholes / blackholes or arseholes to travel faster than light, or at least huge great distances through space within our lifetime and perhaps find other life forms" Well I'm sorry, but they're talking out of their arse - they simply taken the best bits of science fiction and sold the idea that some if it might just be possible, if only some mug gives them a gazillion pounds to find out - you've heard of the "inconvenient truth" well wormholes and such are the "convenient bullshit".
Understanding this sort of thing is what will eventually lead to hover boards and the like. That's cool. That's good enough for me 😉
Is there any practical use for any of this though?
We only know what a very small percentage of "stuff" is made from. And we've got pretty far with that knowledge, to the point where we can manipulate and build things at an atomic level which allows us to create new materials with interesting properties.
Surely finding out what the vast majority of "stuff" is made from might also be practically useful in some way?
Well that article referred to the Higgs Boson as the "God Particle" so I wan't expecting much from it.
Slightly better explanation of Rainbow Gravity [url= http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rainbow-gravity-universe-beginning/ ]here[/url]
It is at least testable either be creating micro black holes in the LHC or by finding a gamma ray burst and measuring the frequency of the gamma rays
Tortoises all the way down!
Fred Hoyle first used the term Big Bang as a derogatory term, he was a proponent of a steady state Universe maybe boosted by black hole/white hole stuff.
Is there any practical use for any of this though?
No of course not. In the same way quantum physics hasn't impacted on your abililty to post on this forum.
Besides, what exactly is WRONG with acquiring knowledge for its own sake?
No of course not. In the same way quantum physics hasn't impacted on your abililty to post on this forum.
Well, you say that but it's helped provide the computers, etc we're all using.
What I fail to grasp with this stuff is the existential bit. We only think reality exists because we experience it through our senses and interpret it with a combination of our intelligence and collective and personal recollections. But these are just electrical impulses in our brains. Who's to say they can be trusted?
I always quite liked the theory that reality is some sort of simulation. Doesn't answer who created it though.
Fred Hoyle first used the term Big Bang as a derogatory term, he was a proponent of a steady state Universe maybe boosted by black hole/white hole stuff.
The thing is there is pretty decent evidence for the Big Bang.
The Big Bang Inflationary model predict lots of stuff that we have observed like the Cosmic Microwave Background and it even predicts dark matter in the ratio observed through gravitational angular momentum (although doesn't propose what it is)
So although it leaves it lot of stuff unanswered like how exactly a singularity would work, its the best model we have
Well, you say that but it's helped provide the computers, etc we're all using.
ironing detector not working today?
Is there any practical use for any of this though?
If everyone thought like that, we would still be running around in the woods, pissing and barking and clubbing small furry animals over the head.
Stupid to think every started with a bang. Time is irrelevant, thus a beginning is illogical
What I fail to grasp with this stuff is the existential bit. We only think reality exists because we experience it through our senses and interpret it with a combination of our intelligence and collective and personal recollections. But these are just electrical impulses in our brains. Who's to say they can be trusted?
That's called "post modernism" there is no objective reality everything is a construct of our minds
I invite any post modernists to "test" the objective reality of gravity by leaving my office via the window, which is six stories up, rather than the door.
Is there any practical use for any of this though?
On balance, I would rather our collective intelligence and effort be combined with the earth's resources to do this sort of stuff, as opposed to things like making designer handbags or selfie sticks.
{quote]ironing detector not working today?
Indeed.
I'm with dazh.
Up with this sort of thing.
I invite any post modernists to "test" the objective reality of gravity by leaving my office via the windows
If reality is a construct of our minds, why wouldn't it still be constrained by some simple rules? And what about dreams? Is what we experience in dreams, where these rules don't exist, any less valid than what we experience the rest of the time?
I also like the [url= http://www.nature.com/news/simulations-back-up-theory-that-universe-is-a-hologram-1.14328 ]holographic theory[/url].
What I fail to grasp with this stuff is the existential bit. We only think reality exists because we experience it through our senses and interpret it with a combination of our intelligence and collective and personal recollections. But these are just electrical impulses in our brains. Who's to say they can be trusted?I always quite liked the theory that reality is some sort of simulation. Doesn't answer who created it though.
The Matrix has you, Neo.
If the universe is constructed in your brain then you have to accept that you are a **** for constructing this particular universe, really.
Always comes down to "a difference that makes no difference is no difference", if you live in a construct that's sufficiently realistic that you can't tell it from reality, or is sufficiently well constructed that you're unable to spot the things that make it different from reality, then it doesn't matter. Because even if you took the pill and left the matrix... You could still be in the matrix.
The machine is broken again according to the beeb
Ming - I wondered if it's ever fully working, I mean something that large and complex must always be running with a few faults. Eg. How many of the Atlas detectors are on the blink at any one point.
Personally I love this sort of stuff, and the fact that there's stuff we've theorised to be present but also theorised to be virtually undetectable is a great time to be in. Though of course if higgs explains gravity then we're a step closer to hover boards, and that's pretty good too.
If reality is a construct of our minds, why wouldn't it still be constrained by some simple rules? And what about dreams? Is what we experience in dreams, where these rules don't exist, any less valid than what we experience the rest of the time?
Well, in a dream, when you get that falling sensation, followed by an abrupt jolt, you wake up, whereas in reality, that falling sensation is followed by you becoming geography.
There was a brilliant Horizon programme about dark matter, and the research into it last week.
There was a brilliant Horizon programme about dark matter, and the research into it last week.
There's even a link to it from the first page of this thread 🙂
The Horizon documentary was very good. I quite enjoyed the final mention of Dark Energy where it was admitted that they really don't even know where to start looking for a theory.
Life is more interesting when we don't have the answers
Yeah I thought the Horizon Doc was good too, especially when they disregarded most of what all the theories to date they've agreed on.
I'd like a job like that, thinking up stuff for 20 yrs then disregarding it, just like that.
Does make me wonder sometimes where and why we chuck all this money at trying to find out where we come from and what we're made up of.
Seems like a whole industry and universities are funded buy the words.. "but what if"
It does intrigue me, I find it all quite fascinating though.
Is there really some point to it?
Genuine question, feel free to try and explain..
they're talking out of their arse
How would you know that?
Is there really some point to it?
The more we know about everything, the more stuff we can do.
Quantum mechanics, nuclear physics - all pretty high brow, and yet with it we invented computers and associated telecommunications. Which you will agree have had a pretty significant impact on life.
Imagine if this research into the nature of reality results in faster-than-light wormhole travel. How amazing would that be?
You know what lasers were called when they were invented? A solution looking for a problem. And where would we be without them now? That's why scientific endeavour and discovery is important - it allows us to solve problems we don't yet have. Why bother finding out how electricity works? Why bother finding out how dna works? Why bother finding out how the universe works?