Astro-image of the day: Observing the universe accelerates the end

[mckitterick]

Don't you just hate it when your observing the universe hastens its doom? Yep, according to a couple of astronomers, a complex combination of our observing dark energy and the Big Bang and quantum physics results in our doom. Here's your gratuitous image of a huge ring of dark matter:

Click the image to see the story.

This reminds me a bit of my last astro-post: Sure, this is cool fodder for writing SF, but... really? They believe this? Does that mean when when a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, it makes no sound?

So: Yesterday's physics lesson was about Occam's Razor. Today's is about the anthropic principle.

Chris

Comments

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

Does that mean when when a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, it makes no sound?

I've always taken that zen koan to be a definition of human perception. The concept of sound is something that we clothed with language as human beings. Does sound, by definition, exist if there isn't an ear to hear it? I think if every living person was suddenly wiped out, sounds would continue to be made, but there would be no one to call it sound, just as there would be no one to witness the apocalypse and recognize it as such. All words, all thought, all existence disappears - all books are effectively blank if there's no one left to read them.

The other thing about this is the use of the words "no one". Animals have ears and hear sounds, even recognize familiar sounds. They don't have words for those sounds (not sure where we're at in terms of animals outside of dolphins having an actual language), but I think they have a concept of sound. They may even use body language to communicate about that sound, in which case, even if there isn't a person to hear the sound of a tree falling, animals will hear it because it will still make noise.

[fortyozspartan.livejournal.com]

Uhm, I saw this article the other day and the first thing I thought was, "Don't our mathematical models represent reality rather than reality representing the mathematical model?" I don't know if the people who come up with this stuff have been stuffed in an office for too long or what, but just because I can make a mathematical model show groundwater flowing uphill doesn't mean such a thing will ever happen in reality.

[margaretq.livejournal.com]

Another easy term to remember: pseudoscience.

Where not going anywhere until...

[dlana.livejournal.com]

Hey Chris...don't listen to them...besides we are not going anywhere until God is ready for something to happen...until then.

Lana

PS: Hope you had a nice Thanks Giving...