The universe burst into existence some 13,799,000,000 years ago. Why did it become this universe? Why does it have quarks and electrons; and elements including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen; and gravity to grow galaxies; and planets orbiting vast numbers of stars; and all of the ingredients that lead to life? Doing this required many […]
Tag Archives: space
Taking Lessons from the Universe
Arithmetic is fundamental to science; but we tend to take it for granted. Few realize its foundations are shaky. Now there are exciting ways to firm them up. We are sold a knowledge pyramid like this: Sciences rest on a foundation of physics; physics on math; math on arithmetic. And arithmetic on logic— but, actually, […]
The Beginning of Time
When did time begin? Science now has an answer. How did time begin? For millennia this was a subject for speculation, little of it based on science. But there is now a philosophic answer. Space came first. Time began soon after space. Very soon. Here’s how. From recent measurements we know that time began 13,799,000,000 […]
The Flow of Time
Does time flow? It is a fundamental question. It has confounded physics for hundreds of years. It still does. We sense the flow of time. Today many physicists say this is an illusion. I say they don’t understand. Physics at the very largest and the very smallest scales leads to a simple way to make […]
A Breakthrough is Underway New physics will drive new technologies
Breakthroughs in physics drive the economy. Our economy could use new drive. Canadian Blackberry innovator Mike Lazaridis understands this. ‘We need a new discovery,’ he said a few years ago and gave $170M to endow the Perimeter Institute to study fundamental physics. History offers examples. In 1687 Isaac Newton kicks off mechanics. It set the […]
A Foundation for Building Real Physics (At Last)
Physics has two great theories, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Each does very well in its domain. That is nice but plainly isn’t real. Each is fundamentally at odds with the other. And neither of them works at all with the conditions that existed when the universe began. How can we find a single theory […]
In Search of the Physics of Causation
Does the world work on cause and effect or is this a world of random chaos? This question needs exploration at the universe’s smallest scale, far smaller than that of the atom. We are coming to see the answer is: neither and both! Long ago, physicists as well as philosophers wrestled with this question. Albert […]
Space Mass
‘It is indeed an exacting requirement to have to ascribe physical reality to space in general, and especially to empty space.’ — Albert Einstein Most physicists work in a vacuum. That is, they tend to think in terms of particles in empty space. But both Albert Einstein and recent evidence say they are wrong: Far […]
The Shifting Shape
Reader Stevo asks a deep question: ‘If space is granular and Planck size is the shortest “length” then what geometric “shape” is a single Planck “thingie”?’ Geometry studies size and shape. Last week we saw Bernhard Riemann in 1856 divining how to do geometry in either of two different kinds of space: continuous space and […]