Programmed Reality

Tachyons, entanglement, cold fusion, dark matter, galactic filaments.  Just when you thought physics couldn't get any stranger...

- THE VERY COLD: Fractional Quantum Hall Effect: When electrons are magnetically confined and cooled to a third of a degree above absolute zero (See more here), they seem to break down into sub-particles that act in synchronization, but with fractional charges, like 1/3, or 3/7.

- THE VERY HIGH PRESSURE: Strange Matter: The standard model of physics includes 6 types of quarks, including the 2 ("up" and "down") that make up ordinary matter.  Matter that consists of "strange" quarks, aka Strange Matter, would be 10 times as heavy as ordinary matter.  Does it exist?  Theoretically, at very high densities, such as the core of neutron stars, such matter may exist.  A 1998 space shuttle experiment seems to have detected some, but repeat experiments have not yielded the same results.

- THE VERY LARGE DIMENSIONAL: Multidimensional Space: String theories say that we live in a 10-dimensional space, mostly because it is the only way to make quantum mechanics and general relativity play nicely together.  That is, until physicist Garrett Lisi came along and showed how it could be done with eight dimensional space and objects called octonions.  String theorists were miffed, mostly because Lisi is not university affiliated and spends most of his time surfing in Hawaii.

- THE VERY HOT: Quark-Gloun Plasma: Heat up matter to 2 trillion degrees and neutrons and protons fall apart into a plasma of quarks called quark-gluon plasma.  In April of 2005, QGP appeared to have been created at the Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).

My view on all this is that it is scientific business as usual.  100 years ago, we lived in a smaller world; a world described solely by Newtonian Mechanics, our ordinary everyday view of how the world works.  Then, along came relativity and quantum mechanics.  Technological advances in laboratory equipment and optics allowed us to push the limits of speed and validate Relativity, which ultimately showed that Newtonian Mechanics was just an approximation of the larger, more encompassing theory of Relativity at slow speeds.  Similarly we pushed the limits of probing the very small and validated Quantum Mechanics, which showed that Newtonian Mechanics was just an approximation of the larger, more encompassing theory of Quantum Mechanics at large scales.  In the 1960's, we pushed the limits of heat and energy, discovered  and found that our Quantum Mechanical / Relativistic Theory of the world was really just an approximation at low temperatures of a larger theory that had to encompass Quantum Chromodynamics.  Now, we are pushing the limits of temperature, or the slowing down of particles, and discovering that there must be an even larger theory that describes the world, that explains the appearance of fractional charges at extremely low temperatures.  Why does this keep happening and where does it end?

Programmed Reality provides an explanation.  In fact, it actually provides two.  

In one case, the programmers of our reality created a complex set of physical laws that we are slowly discovering.  Imagine a set of concentric spheres, with each successive level outward representing a higher level scientific theory of the world that encompasses faster speeds, higher temperatures, larger scales, colder temperatures, higher energies, etc.  How deep inside the sphere of knowledge are we now?  Don't know, but this is a model that puts it in perspective.  It is a technological solution to the philosophy of Deism.

The second possibility is that as we humans push the limits of each successive sphere of physical laws that were created for us, the programmers put in place a patch that opens up the next shell of discovery, not unlike a game.  I prefer this model, for a number of reasons.  First of all, wouldn't it be a lot more fun and interesting to interact with your creations, rather than start them on their evolutionary path and then pay no further attention?  Furthermore, this theory offers the perfect explanation for all of those scientific experiments that have generated anomalous results that have never been reproducible.  The programmers simply applied the patch before anyone else could reproduce the experiment.

Interestingly, throughout the years, scientists have fooled themselves into thinking that the discovery of everything was right around the corner.  In the mid-20th century, the ultimate goal was the Unified Field Theory.  Now, it is called a TOE, or Theory of Everything.

Let's stop thinking we're about to reach the end of scientific inquiry and call each successive theory a TOM, or Theory of More.

Because the only true TOE is Programmed Reality.  QED.

Tags: physics, programmed reality, cosmology, quantum mechanics, fractional quantum hall effect, strange matter, strangelets, multi-dimensions, string theory, quark-gluon plasma, quarks, qcd, quantum chromodynamics, toe, gut, grand unified theory, unified field theory, entanglement, cold fusion, tachyons, dark matter, galactic filaments
Categories: Cosmology | Future Tech | Particle Physics | Physics | Programmed Reality | Quantum Mechanics | Science

Think we understand that big object in the night sky?  Guess again.  The moon is full of mysteries, some of which baffle scientists more the more we learn about it.  Admittedly, the source of many of these reports has not been fully verified, and I don't have the time to do the full research.  But hey, this is a blog and by definition, I can take liberties with my sources and talk about whatever I want, right?

For example, rocks from the moon and the earth reportedly have very different minerals; the earth has high concentrations of iron, the moon does not.  This implies that they were not formed from the same source, nor was the moon once part of the earth, as previously thought.

Some lunar rocks supposedly contain brass (a man-made alloy not found naturally), mica, and pure titanium.  Stranger still, Uranium 236 and Neptunium 237, elemental isotopes not found in nature on earth, have been found in rock samples.

The solar system is known to be about 4.5 billion years old, the oldest earth rock is 3.7 billion years old, yet some lunar rocks have been dated to an ages ranging from 4.5 to 5.3 billion years.  The lunar soil is a billion years older than its rocks and of a different composition.

Instruments left behind from Apollo missions detected a "wind of water" in 1971.

Some moon rocks are magnetized, although the moon has no magnetic fields.  Where did the magnetic property of the rocks come from?

Measurements indicate that the moon is less dense at the core than at the crust, which is counter to conventional "geo-logic."

No one really understands where the moon came from.  Due to differences in composition, it can't have come from the earth, nor from the same material from which the earth was created. Impacts on the moon (meteors or artificial objects crashed into the surface) have resulted in the measurement of a "ringing" reverberation, sometimes for hours before dying down.  Such an effect typically only occurs in a hollow object, leading some to speculated that the moon is hollow at its core.  No cosmological process can explain this.

The moon is the only satellite to revolve around its planet in a near circular orbit where one side always faces it.

The moon takes up the same angular size in the sky as the sun; hence the possibility of perfect solar eclipses.  No other planet-moon combination comes close.

Most all other satellites orbit their planet in line with the planets ecliptic plane.  But the moon is off by 5 degrees.  Why?

The scientific community has been struggling with these anomalies for many years.  A little internet research and one can easily find creative scientific explanations for most of the above anomalies. Unfortunately, they do not all peacefully coexist.

Programmed Reality has another explanation.  The moon is simply a programmed part of our reality, like everything else.  Its size was selected to create eclipses, its distance to facilitate exploration and generate tides and resultant tidal tables to make boating courses a little more complex.  Reasons for other anomalies have yet to be discovered, but serve to provoke investigation and discourse.  And, of course, without its beautiful prominence in the sky, we might never have known Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade", Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and the name of Frank Zappa's daughter. 

Tags: moon, hollow, cosmology, solar system
Categories: Cosmology | Philosophy | Programmed Reality | Science

Physicists tell us that gravity is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.  And yet it behaves quite differently than the other three.  A New Scientist article breaks down the oddities, a few of which are reproduced here:

- Gravity only pulls.  It doesn't appear to have an opposing effect, like other forces do.  Notwithstanding the possibility that dark energy is an example of "opposite polarity" gravity, possibly due to unseen dimensions, there appears to be no solid evidence of it as there is with all other forces.

- The strength of other forces are comparable in magnitude, while gravity checks in at 40 orders of magnitude weaker.

- The fine-tuned universe, a favorite topic of this site, includes some amazing gravity-based characteristics.  The balance of early universe expansion and gravitational strength had to balance to within 1 part in 1,000,000,000,000,000 in order for life to form.

The Anthropic Principle explains all this via a combination of the existance of zillions (uncountably large number) of parallel universes with the idea that we can only exist in the one where all the variables line up perfectly for matter and life to form.  But that seems to me to be a pretty complex argument with a few embedded leaps of faith that make most religions look highly logical in comparison.

Then there is the Programmed Reality theory, which as usual, offers a perfect explanation without the need for the hand-waving Anthropic Principle and the "Many Worlds"
interpretation of quantum mechanics.  Gravity is not like other forces, so let's not keeping trying to "force" it to be (pardon the pun.)  Instead, it is there to keep us grounded on the planet in which we play out our reality, offering the perfect balance of "pull" to keep every fly ball from flying out of the stadium (regardless of the illegal substance abuse of the hitter), to make kite flying a real possibility, and to enable a large number of other enriching activities.  While, at the same time, being weak enough to allow basketball players to dunk and planes to fly, and to enable a large number of other enriching activities.  Our scientists will continue the investigate the nature of gravity via increasingly complex projects like the LHC, unpeeling the layers of complexity that the programmers put in place to keep scientific endeavor, research, and employment moving forward. 

   
Tags: science, gravity, physics, anthropic principle, programmed reality, simulation, physics, science, cosmology, big bang, unified field theory
Categories: Cosmology | Programmed Reality | Physics | Science

It turns out that it is very likely that an unseen world is occupying the same space that we do.  What goes on there?  Are there Bizarro humans living with Bizarro pets in Bizarro homes, working at Bizarro jobs, just like we do?

Astronomers who have studied the motion of galaxies and clusters of galaxies have noticed that such large astronomical objects rotate too fast for the amount of matter inferred by their size, distance, and luminosity.  Further, in order for the universe to be flat, as it is observed, there must be much more matter than is currently visible.  In fact, by some estimates, observable matter only accounts for less than 1% of the mass of the universe.  The rest, therefore, must be dark – hence the name “dark matter.”  Many varieties of dark matter have been proposed, including exotic dark matter consisting of various high energy loose particles such as neutrinos and theoretical particles called WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles).  Also in the menu of candidates for dark matter are big chunky masses called MACHOs (massive compact halo objects - don’t astronomers have a great sense of humor?), which include brown dwarfs, planets, or black holes.  Certain studies of the structure of the early universe, however, have demonstrated that MACHOs can not account for more than a fraction of the total dark matter.

As a result, WIMPs are winning the battle.  Anomalous scientific results from Results from ATIC (Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter in Antarctica, PAMELA (an Italian space mission called a Payload for AntiMatter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics), and INTEGRAL (a European Gamma Ray satellite, INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) ) are starting to narrow down the kinds of particle that could be responsible.  See Kaluza-Klein particles for more (also see New Scientist article).

Interesting, this has some fascinating implications.  The fact that WIMPs don't interact means we don't even know they are there.  Because the measurements imply that they are integrated into our space just like ordinary matter is, they are effectively right next to us and we have no way of detecting them.  

But what form are they in?  Is it a sea of particles?  Or do they clump like ordinary matter?  The answer appears to be the latter.  According to Hubble data, dark matter clumps at all magnitudes (see Science Daily article), which means it looks pretty much like ordinary matter.

What does all this mean?  All indications are that there is tons (figuratively speaking) of invisible, undetectable material existing right in our own space.  In fact, by all accounts, there is about 7 times as much as our common ordinary matter.  For all we know, there are dark desks, dark Volvos, and dark versions of Donald Trump's hair.

 
Tags: dark matter, parallel universes, parallel worlds, wimps, machos, bizarro, cosmology, dark energy
Categories: Cosmology | Particle Physics | Programmed Reality

I remember the days when we were all amazed at the concept of a white dwarf star; the final evolutionary state of most stars after their gravitational collapse.  It can't collapse any further due to something called electron degeneracy pressure.  I always visualized it by imagining atoms jammed together to the point where their electron shells were nearly touching.  A white dwarf's density was such that a teaspoonful would weigh as much as an elephant.  They are about the size of the earth.

But there was an even more bizarre concept - the neutron star.  Still more dense, it was proposed by Baade and Zwicky in 1933, a year after the neutron was discovered.  For a star that has more mass than the Chandrasekhar limit, or 1.44 solar masses, when it collapses at the end of its life, its density is even enough to overcome the forces that hold a white dwarf together.  In the late 60's, one was actually observed and by the 70's, the concept was considered to be well accepted by most astronomers.  Neutron stars can't collapse any further due to the Pauli exclusion principle.  I always visualized it by imagining neutrons jammed together to the point where they were nearly touching.  A neutron star is maybe a billion times denser than a white dwarf.  They are about the size of Manhattan.

But then, I thought, what if the mass of the star was so large that even the neutrons collapsed into their constituents, quarks?  Well, I don't know if anyone else had such an idea and now, doing a little web research, I can't seem to put my finger on when such a concept was first proposed.  But I'm starting to see a buzz about quark stars.  In 2008, astrophysicists Denis Leahy and Rachid Ouyed proposed the quark star as the result of super-supernovae (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080603-aas-neutron-quark.html).  And now, astrophysicists from the University of Hong Kong have presented evidence of a quark star in super-supernova SN 1987A (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126964.700-quark-star-may-hold-secret-to-early-universe.html)

So, now I wonder, what next?  Quarks probably have their own sub-quark constituents.  String theorists say quarks are made of vibrating strings.  If so, could a massive enough star, or a dense enough hunk of matter overcome "quark degeneracy" and collapse into a "String Star?"  A star consisting of string material that is so compressed it can vibrate anymore?  

So I searched the web and am proud to say that I have found no such proposal.  So, I hereby claim it.  Someday, someone will lay claim to discovering a string star.  You heard it here, first.  :)

 

Tags: quark star, neutron star, cosmology, string theory, string star
Categories: Cosmology

A recent article in New Scientist offers us cosmology enthusiasts an exciting new possibility - evidence of another universe.  It seems that some recent measurements demonstrate that certain clusters of galaxies are moving in the same direction against background space, which violates the idea that the universe should be the same in all directions and instead implies a clump of excess density outside of our observational range.  Like another universe, maybe?

Also known as dark flow, the latest in the series of "dark" monikers, joining predecessors "matter" and "energy," scientists are baffled at its cause.  Just as Copernicus, Galileo, and Hubble were baffled before us.  70 years ago, Edwin Hubble said "At the last dim horizon, we search among ghostly errors of observations for landmarks that are scarcely more substantial. The search will continue. The urge is older than history. It is not satisfied and it will not be oppressed."

No surprise to us programmed realitists.  As long as our species is blissfully unaware of the big picture, the cosmic programmers must keep at least one step ahead of our best instrumentation and keep us fascinated with hints of what lurks just beyond our horizon.  

Tags: multiverse, dark flow, dark energy, cosmology
Categories: Cosmology | Programmed Reality