Final chapter: Possability of Time Travel

Is time travel possible? Can we actually move backwards or forwards to different points on time? It is currently unknown whether the laws of physics will allow time travel to pass. In theory, particularly the multiverse theory, it is believed to be possible.

One man, a University of Connecticut professor Ronald Mallett is challenging this notion by trying to send elementary particles back into time using a laser. His project has received criticism within the physics community, but he nonetheless continues its efforts.

A central problem with time travel to the past is the violation of causality. This phenomenon is relationship between a first event and a second event where the second event is a direct consequence of the first. Thus, should an effect precede its cause, it would give rise to the possibility of temporal paradox. One of the most famous temporal paradoxes is the Grandfather Paradox. In this riddle, a boy travels back in time and kills his grandfather before his grandfather is conceived. This leaves the boy unable to return to his previous state, because in his present world, he now would not exist. Some interpretations of time travel resolve this by accepting the possibility of travel between parallel realities or universes.

I know its sort of exciting to imagine a thing like this happening. But really, according to the laws of physics- you could not travel back in time without somehow affecting the present and the future.

Time MINI mini series Part IV: Time and the Big Bang

When did time actually begin? Some argue that time is infinite and others argue that it is finite.
Others argue whether the Big Bang is where it all began or if time existed prior to this event. The latest in the field of brane cosmology explains The Big Bang as an occurrence of two giant membranes colliding, thus birthing our universe. Perhaps the best explanation, in my opinion, is from none other than Steven Hawking. He discovered time within our universe began with the Big Bang.

In A Brief History of Time and elsewhere, Hawking says that even if time did not begin with the Big Bang and there were another time frame before the Big Bang, no information from events then would be accessible to us, and nothing that happened then would have any effect upon the present time-frame.

Scientists have come to some agreement on descriptions of events that happened 10−35 seconds after the Big Bang, but generally agree that descriptions about what happened before one Planck time (5 × 10−44 seconds) after the Big Bang will likely remain pure speculation.

2009 Leonid Meteor Shower!

The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower is coming to Earth and possibly near you! Meteor showers are typically named after the area of the sky from which they appear to radiate. The Leonids come from the constellation Leo.

The Leonids are known to be made up of particles from a 2.2 mile dusty comet called “Tempel-Tuttle”. This comet takes 33 years to complete an orbit.

The Earth encounters the lingering debris from previous orbital passes when these tiny particles, typically no bigger than a sand grain, impact our atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 miles per second, revealing a spectacular blazing myriad of colors in the night sky.
Comets are composed to ice and dust and melt when they get closer to the sun, spreading particles around the part of the orbit. When Earth passes through the orbital debris - we experience a meteor shower.

BRACE YOURSELF. You could potentially see up to 30- 300 shooting stars per hour depending on your dwelling. Get out the lawn chairs and beer and toast to a miraculous and spectacular vision.

Count on moments like these to really put us in our place. To remind us of something much greater beyond this Earth and much larger - making us somewhat…insignificant.

Sometimes, we humans (the dominant species) NEED to be knocked down a few pegs…

Check out the International Meteor Organization for more specific info.

Time MINI mini series Part 4: Time and the "Big Bang"

Little is known about the earliest moments of the universe's history

Scientists have come to some agreement on descriptions of events that happened 10−35 seconds after the Big Bang, but generally agree that descriptions about what happened before one Planck time (5 × 10−44 seconds) after the Big Bang will likely remain pure speculation.

Stephen Hawking is perhaps the most famous cosmologist today studying time.
Upon occasion, he has stated that time actually began with the Big Bang, and that questions about what happened before the Big Bang are irrelevant.

Even if time did not begin with the Big Bang and there was another time frame before the Big Bang, no information from events then would be accessible to us, and nothing that happened then would have any effect upon the present time-frame.

Some argue that our measurable, quantified “time” concerns the elements beyond the visible universe.

Afterall, there may also be parts of the universe well beyond what can be observed in principle.

Some theories, each of which are untested hypotheses, include the Hartle-Hawking boundary condition in which the whole of space-time is finite; the Big Bang does represent the limit of time, but without the need for a singularity (one specific point where the event occurred).
Brane cosmology is another story. The word “brane” refers to a giant oscillating membrane believed to house individual universes. Brane cosmology models contend that this "inflation" of the universe is due to the movement of branes.

The pre-big bang model; the ekpyrotic model, in which the Big Bang is the result of a collision between branes; and the cyclic model, a variant of the ekpyrotic model in which collisions occur periodically between them.
Chaotic inflation occurs: in which inflation events start here and there in a random quantum-gravity foam, each leading to a bubble universe expanding from its own big bang. This my dear friends- is a segway into theories of parallel universes.

Time MINI mini series Part 3: The Arrow of time

I could be sued for reproducting this picture. I know that. I am usually smarter than that. BUT I dont intend to redistribute it for money blah blah blah.... I just thought it was an amazing way to illustrate our discussion.

It’s not exactly cupid’s arrow, but time DOES indeed have a direction. The past lies behind us: fixed and unchangeable, while the future lies ahead and is not necessarily fixed. When we gaze into the universe we absorb this principal since we can only see as far into the universe as light can travel.

It is in essence- looking back in time.

A bit of physics for you to show how this is present in the different ideological branches:

The main areas of physics suggesting that time is an arrow include: the Second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy must increase over time; the cosmological arrow of time, which points away from the Big Bang, and the radiative arrow of time, caused by light only traveling forwards in time. In particle physics, there is also the weak arrow of time.

The thought that time is a topological form is indeed strange, but very prevalent in Big Bang cosmology…

Time MINI mini series part 2: The real Spacetime

Time has historically been closely related with space, the two together comprising space-time in Einstein's special relativity and general relativity.

According to these theories, the concept of time depends on the spatial reference frame of the observer, and the human perceptions as well as the measurement by instruments such as clocks are different for observers in relative motion. The past is the set of events that can send light signals to the observer; the future is the set of events to which the observer can send light signals.

Returning to the discussion of visible universe, consider this concept in measuring the size of our universe: we can only see as far as light can travel. So maybe this space-time mumbo jumbo isn’t so incorrect after all.

Time mini "Mini series" Part 1: Defining the standards

Ahhh…TIME. Your greatest friend or your worst enemy. The clock either works for you or against you. It is the only elements in this life that moves continuously. NOTHING stops time! The conceptual framework was debated for thousands of years by philosophers and cosmologists.

Time is such a perplexing theme in cosmology that I’m featuring a mini mini series about it. This is part 1 and based on our universal laws- you will be guaranteed to see a 2, 3 and 4 as well.

Time, by formal definition is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects.

Time keeping is so critical to the functioning of modern societies that it is coordinated at an international level. The basis for scientific time is a continuous count of seconds based on atomic clocks around the world, known as the International Atomic Time IAT. These clocks are related to electromagnetism and emissions of the atoms when their internal components change energy levels.

Maybe you’ve heard the term “Real time”?
Real time is actually a description technique in which the events depicted take place entirely within the span of the depiction, and at the same rate, regardless of external factors.
IE…if you’re in France and on Facebook chat and I’m in America on FB chat- we’re talking in real time. Never mind the fact that we are located in 2 different time zones with drastic differences in times of day. We are indeed, virtually in the same place at the same time.

The flaming (fire, that is) Latvian hoax

APPARENTLY- a news station known to the Latvian public as Tele2 staged an elaborate hoax for the public to feign them away from suicidal thoughts and tickle their spirits after the global economic meltdown.

Someone dug a giant hole claiming it was the "impact crater" left behind from the Meteorite.

There was just one problem: A BASIC LACK OF CONSIDERATION FOR SCIENTIFIC FACT: meteorites are not on fire or even remotely hot when they land on Earth. Nice going boys...

Still just 2 years shy of 2012- its certainly a great way to prod us all with "doomsday" scenarios! Either way- I forgive the Latvians. They have a unique culture and hauntingly beautiful men. At least the ones I've seen...:)

May the force be with you...Wait. Which one?!

There are 4 Fundamental forces acting on all of us in this universe. You maybe didn't know that and I find from most of my conversations many others have no clue.
Each force has an interesting and intricate role.
VERY quickly- I'll explain:

STRONG NUCLEAR FORCE: Now this one has the ultimate power of holding Nuclei in atoms together, and is a very short range force. Probably not a good one for ESP:)

WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE: SO important that the SUN would not burn without it bitches!!! Oh yeah, it also decays nuclear particles.

ELECTROMAGNETISM: Perhaps the most prevalent for mentalism and telepathy. Then again, I don't know that but I sure am guessing! It actually holds atoms and molecules together and determines atomic and molecular structures.

GRAVITY: Funny Oxymoron- despite its prevalence on Earth objects- it is a VERY weak force. I wouldn't go up to your roof and jump off just to test it though- it is still dominant over all earth objects.
Gravity occurs when objects with mass attract each other. In outer space, this causes dispersed matter to coalesce. In theory- it plays huge roles in M- Theory and General Relativity.

JEDI: HA HA- this force does not exist. BUT- I am sure they referred to one of the above:)

Parallax is why you cant always trust everything you see

Parallax is a displacement and disorientation of an object viewed along different lines of sight. Confused? Me too.

Look at the picture. January and July represent two different points of view. If you are in July and you're looking at Star A- you would assume Star C is indeed the star behind A. However, my dears- our universe and all of its elements are matters of perspective. If you are in January, you will assume star B is behind A.

Really- it's just a perspective shift.

Interesting tidbit: Nearby objects have a larger parallax than more distant objects when observed from different positions, so parallax can be used to determine distances. In astronomy, parallax is the only direct method by which distances to objects (typically stars) beyond the Solar System can be measured.

Finally it is true when Obi Wan in Star Wars said "Your eyes will deceive you, don't trust them".

Is it UBER geeky that I know that???

Superstrings and spacetime dimensions and ahhhh no I'm not making this up...I swear!

Superstring theory seems almost improbable but it strives to explain particle interactions with various forces of nature by modeling them as vibrations of super symmetric strings.

An excellent example is a violin string vibrating and resonating sound. Superstring theory claims reality consists of strings (Planck Length) which vibrate at certain resonant frequencies. Every one of these strings has a unique harmony and these different harmonies determine different fundamental forces.
Perhaps the most radical aspects of Superstring theories are their perceptions of space/time dimensions. Our physical space is believed to have 3 dimensions plus a 4th dimension- time. In contrast- string theories perceive space-time to have up to 26 dimensions.

Superstring theories depend heavily on topology- an extension of geometry and set theory that investigates the structure of a space. Today there are up to five dominant superstring theories- all of which are unified by M- theory. I will discuss M theory briefly in a later post.

Here is an interesting fact: there is a guy whom I believe is my distant cousin and works at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Damn, if only I could figure this out! What are seriously the odds, dear, of a guy with the last name Buchleitner who is a cosmologist?

Supersymmetry

As opposed to just regular "symmetry"? Remember in elementary school you were taught that symmetry means two things are alike on each side. You were given little paper cutouts and amazingly, when you folded the little starfish or monkey or whatever, it was equal on both sides and they matched.
Yeah, this is a little different:)
Supersymmetry or SUSY (in geek language) is a symmetry that relates elementary particles of one spin to other particles that differ by half a unit of spin. (Its better if you first learn what bosons and fermions are.)
For every type of boson there exists a corresponding type of Fermion with the same mass and internal quantum numbers- supposedly.
In other words, there only exists indirect evidence for supersymmetry, but it is a huge component in many theories.

The "visible" universe

In Big Bang Cosmology, the observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that we can in principle observe from Earth in the present day, because light (or other signals) from those objects has had time to reach us since the beginning of the cosmological expansion. The portion of it that we (humans, from the perspective of planet Earth) are able to observe is determined by whether or not the light and other signals originating from distant objects has had time to arrive at our point of observation (planet Earth).
The edge of the observable universe is now located about 46.5 billion light-years away
Estimates of the matter content of the observable universe indicate that it contains on the order of 1080 (10 to the 80Th) atoms. The vast majority of the energy density is contributed by dark matter and dark energy.

"Better than Average" day job

Look closely and ye shall see thy astronaut hooked to the giant deflector. Spending weeks and in some cases months inside the space station only to be suspended above the earth's atmosphere while you complete repairs. Maybe Hollywood thinks they're cool, but really- what could be more breathtaking than hanging here! That glow in the background is actually Earth's atmosphere.

Power of the sun

One of NASA's STEREO spacecraft observes two active regions on the sun's disk in extreme ultraviolet light. Such regions, visible as bright spots at upper left, can send out violent storms of charged particles in bursts. The radiation then travels all 93,000,000 miles to us dissapating at the atmosphere. Maybe we should top putting holes in the sky afterall :)
C'mon, Americans dont REALLY need those giant cars.

Space elevator? W...T...F. Really?!

For the last decade, the science community has debated back and forth over whether or not the conceptual "space elevator" could actually be constructed. The elevator would carry cargo and possibly even life forms (though warm or cold blooded I am unsure) from a base on Earth to a suspended space station caught within the earth's gravity.

The cord's tether design on this thing would theoretically be made out of carbon nanotube filaments. Apparently the measured strength of microscopic carbon nanotubes appears great enough to make it theoretically possible.

Don't believe me STILL- there was actually a contest between nano tech gurus to see who could build the strongest thether!

NGC 2623 Galaxy Love!

Ahhhhh love! The beautiful picture of when 2 become 1 indeed. This image is the latest from the Hubble deep field scope of two Galaxies merging into one in an astronomic collision. An interesting tidbit- the Milky Way is set to collide with Andromeda in a few billion years.I imagine humans will have caused our own extinctions at this point and planet earth will be nothing more than a giant smog cloud...