The Science Thread

[Tigger]

Leonard Susskind explains the universe as hologram ( the 'holographic principle' )

Susskind is a pioneer in string theory and is known for winning the 'Black Hole' wars against chief rival Stephen Hawking. An interesting notion at the heart of the discussion relates to the oddity of the states of a black hole being proportional to the area of the event horizon, not the volume of the interior.

The holographic principle suggests this is true for all matter.

Susskind presents the idea using very basic drawings to illustrate the concept, it's pretty easy to follow but the conclusion is a bit mind bendy. Voxels are your friend...

[Sarge]

So, in layman's terms, this particle is (or can be) the blueprint? 

[Tigger]

So, in layman's terms, this particle is (or can be) the blueprint?

The term 'God Particle' is the genuine laymen term for it. I don't know about 'blueprint', that suggests some kind of organization which is an unknown ( actually it's noted as 'spontaneous symmetry breaking' ), what it's been proposed to do ( as it's only existed in math before ) is to give elementary particles like electrons mass or is a byproduct of the process.

The Higgs field is proposed to exist in all of space and give rise to everything in space in terms of mass, the Higgs boson ( a boson is one of the two essential classes of particles in physics, the other being fermions ) is created when the Higgs field becomes excited.

In the standard model, the Higgs boson was the last particle to be observed. If they get more than a footprint it goes a long way to validating that theory and focuses a new understanding of how and why we have mass to begin with.

I like the old school 'ether' myself... ;)

[Sarge]

Thanks... I think  :o

[Tigger]

Thanks... I think  :o

:) Put it another way, without it nothing as we know it would exist, at least in the way we describe it on paper. Without the Hb particles would never gain mass, never form atoms and without atoms there's no you, no me etc., according to the theory at least, it had to be there or someone was getting a 10 billion dollar drawing board.

But of course everything does exist so really they're tightening up their theories and knocking down another wall towards understanding how things work, a fundamental one if this really is proof of how particles with mass suddenly come into existence. Apparently the group at cern is pretty confident with their results, I guess we'll know more tomorrow.

For some reason I'm reminded of Bill Hicks.

[Sarge]

Pretty hardcore creationalist talking my ear off on this since this morning... My head is spinning.

[hockeyfan1]

Thanks... I think  :o

:) Put it another way, without it nothing as we know it would exist, at least in the way we describe it on paper. Without the Hb particles would never gain mass, never form atoms and without atoms there's no you, no me etc., according to the theory at least, it had to be there or someone was getting a 10 billion dollar drawing board.

But of course everything does exist so really they're tightening up their theories and knocking down another wall towards understanding how things work, a fundamental one if this really is proof of how particles with mass suddenly come into existence. Apparently the group at cern is pretty confident with their results, I guess we'll know more tomorrow.

For some reason I'm reminded of Bill Hicks.

Personally speaking, I always believed that there is an intelligence out there responsible for the very essence of creation.  God does not sport a beard, but rather, as this recent research points to, one can also say that existence is part of the psychic realm of the universe, looking at it from a religious scope.

We are all made of molecular energy.  The theory of quantum physics, tachionic faster than light.

Everything is made of energy.  What is fascinating is how all this energy came into being, the how more than the why.  The research being done sheds new light on the mysteries of our existence, our universe, even our religious viewpoint on the issue of the commencement of creation in terms of everything else.

[Tigger]

To that end Strassman's work with DMT comes to mind, I don't doubt there's a higher order, personally I think humans are a little too distracted to really embrace it/perceive it right now, generally.

Build us a quantum computer then...

Using a pair of impurities in ultra-pure, laboratory-grown diamonds, the researchers announced earlier this week that preliminary results reveal the ability to create quantum bits and store information in them for nearly two seconds — an increase of nearly six magnitudes, say the scientists. The work, described in the June 8 issue of Science, is a critical first step in the eventual construction of a functional quantum computer that could one day allow for advanced computations.

"What we've been able to achieve in terms of control is quite unprecedented," Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin said. "We have a qubit, at room temperature, that we can measure with very high efficiency and fidelity. We can encode data in it, and we can store it for a relatively long time. We believe this work is limited only by technical issues, so it looks feasible to increase the life span into the range of hours. At that point, a host of real-world applications become possible."

The research is the latest step towards creating quantum computers. A  practical quantum computer with enough qubits available could complete in minutes calculations that would take ultrafast super-computers years, and your laptop perhaps millions of years to process. Such computers will harness the powers of atoms and sub-atomic particles (ions, photons, electrons) to perform memory and processing tasks, thanks to the strange sub-atomic properties of quantum mechanics, say scientists.

...

The most current computers are possibly able to understand is a bit. Much like a light that can be switched on or off, a bit can have only one of two values: "1″ or "0″. For qubits, they can hold a value of "1" or "0" as well as both values at the same time. Described as superposition, this is what allows quantum computers to perform millions of calculations at once.

[Tigger]

Speed of light corner cameras...

"Initially I was obsessed with the camera seeing around corners and then I realised that we could use the data for pure visualisations," he told the BBC.

He has discussed the idea with scientists from around the world, including those at Cern - the base for the Large Hadron Collider.

"They have various ultra-fast events at the sub-atomic level which this has potential to help with," he said.

Other possible uses for the femto-camera include health imaging to offers views from inside the body without using x-rays.

I'm not quite sure how to emote Dr. McCoy's diagnosis gadget, some kind of whistling sound...

[Tigger]

Oh boy...

Scientists have created the world's first synthetic life form in a landmark experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved.

The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40m, was described by one researcher as "a defining moment in biology".

Craig Venter, the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, said the achievement heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that churn out biofuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines.

However critics, including some religious groups, condemned the work, with one organisation warning that artificial organisms could escape into the wild and cause environmental havoc or be turned into biological weapons. Others said Venter was playing God.

[Bender]

Oh boy...

Scientists have created the world's first synthetic life form in a landmark experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved.

The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40m, was described by one researcher as "a defining moment in biology".

Craig Venter, the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, said the achievement heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that churn out biofuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines.

However critics, including some religious groups, condemned the work, with one organisation warning that artificial organisms could escape into the wild and cause environmental havoc or be turned into biological weapons. Others said Venter was playing God.

I don't buy the playing God nonsense one bit, but I do agree that we don't know how to control them. Until we have a method for complete control ideas such as these won't work. I don't think there's really any difference in the ethics behind this.

[Tigger]

Yeah, I buy the 'we don't have a clue how this will impact an ecosystem and we're afraid of that' more than playing god, unless god's a degenerate gambler or something... ;)

[Bender]

Yeah, I buy the 'we don't have a clue how this will impact an ecosystem and we're afraid of that' more than playing god, unless god's a degenerate gambler or something... ;)

Haha, it reminds me of an old George Carlin bit. It's not like "God" has a great batting average anyway, look at us!  ;D

[Tigger]

shifting holes in the magnetosphere

According to NASA, Jack Scudder—a researcher at the University of Iowa—has found "hidden portals on Earth's magnetic field [that] open and close dozens of times each day." Some of them are open for long periods of time.
Scudder says that these portals "create an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun's atmosphere 93 million miles away."

Called X-points or electron diffusion regions, they are located "a few tens of thousands of kilometers from Earth. The portals are created through a process of magnetic reconnection in which lines of magnetic force from both celestial bodies mingle and criss-cross through space. The criss-crossing creates these x-points.

The portals are "invisible, unstable and elusive," opening and closing without any warning. When they open, however, they are capable of transporting energetic particles at high speed from the Sun's atmosphere's to Earth's, causing geomagnetic storms.

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

John Anthony West was on the Joe Rogan Podcast on June the 9th, very interesting.

I know you'll probably enjoy it Tigger.