News Flash!

Here's a simple opinion expressed in a heretical way:

Anything we know about Physics that includes a Fudge Factor (yes, I'm pointing your way Plancke!) is ipso facto bullshit.

If it has a fufac('), it really means we're missing something and we're expressing our ignorance in numeric form. That's it. If we can't accurately describe something in terms that can predict reality, then like dark energy, it's worse than useless... it's wasting our time when we could be moving on to new ideas.

Let's look at "dark matter". Instead of that phrase meaning simply 'matter we can't see', it's been morphed into an entity that seems like The Monster Under The Bed. You can't see it, you can't detect it, but it must be there because it'll leave a gaping hole in reality if it goes missing. Or so the gospel Math proclaims.

Honestly, every time one of these theorems appears I spend otherwise useful time wondering where the hell they came up with such nonsense.

Am I crazy, or...?

Yes, I have to wonder. As, I guess, we all do who contemplate any kind of physics and the way the universe works.

What I've been struggling with lately is the whole dark matter/energy war. I call it a war instead of a bar fight simply because of the scale of the fight going on. Everyone is trying to figure out why the universe as observed doesn't seem to show enough mass or energy to fill out what they have decided should be there. This has me wondering if these people are smart enough to balance their checkbooks every month.

Look at what they are up against:

First off, how do they decide how much matter there should be? If they're honest, they should admit that they have no idea if they could see all the matter in the universe. Ditto on detecting all normal energy. That's got to be the biggest boast in the history of our race. If any dictionary needs a definition of hubris, this is an easy shot. Consider this minor example- a star 50 lightyears away goes ultinova. It explodes with such violence that what is left inplodes and goes dark. This happened 500 years ago and the shockwave passed us 450 years ago. Now, how exactly will we know this happened? No-one noticed it, among the dozen (maybe) astronomers on Earth. They were all asleep at the time and there were no cameras. So, the blast wave and anything visible is 450 years in our past, along with the only chance to add the matter and energy to our supposed total. Multiply this by a few billion. Now tell me how you figure an accurate total.

Like I said, the very claim that that there can be an accurate guess, much less factual total, is suitable for fertilizing gardens much more than discussing in a serious setting. Then we get into 'dark matter' and 'dark energy'. I wouldn't try to get that into a comic book.

Well, let's get back to some serious science stuff. The most recent word is that Space-X will go for Mars by 2020. That is one to watch for. I have to support any attempts at planting extra-planetary bases. There is entirely too much crap zipping around out there of a size to make those who know lose sleep. Sometimes the only thing you can do about giant meteor impacts is not be home when it happens. Consider how much evidence has been left on the surface of every planet and moon we can see. It's like being in the infantry in a war- at some point your number is gonna come up. One of those bullets is going to end up in the same space you occupy at the same time. Only a fool counts on dodging all of them.

I actually feel the same way about ufo sightings. You can take any view you please about the existence of other life, but numbers don't lie. There are entirely too many planets out there to get odds on there NOT being other species with spaceflight. The only thing I am willing to bet on is that the half dozen or so that that have been observed are probably from within 50 or 100 lightyears. There are plenty of planets in that range and it ups the odds that we might be picked as a place to visit.

To finish up, I hope I will live to see a base on Mars and the moon. I will feel better about humanity's future.

Randomness, or is it chaos?

I really don't know the answer to that. As so many have observed, sometimes it's the right questions and the answers will come along in time. And then there's other times when you're left with questions and answers and the whole mess makes no sense at all. I know that it's been a long while between posts. That's because whatever time is, there isn't enough to go around.

Now, back to things we know and things we don't. There seems to be some confusion between the two in the minds of a great big bunch of 'scientists'. Or that's the impression I was left with after watching months of tv programs about our universe, its history, present, and future. Considering that quite a few of those people appeared on camera with their current theorems, I would like to plead that they should consult a dictionary for the differences between theorem, theory, and fact.

The latest thing getting airtime is planetary formation and that part that works at explaining why planets are what they are. All driven by the discovery of the hundreds (so far) of other planets in this galaxy. It seems a bit presumptuous to worry about other solar systems when they can't figure out why our own is the way it is. Did you all know that there's ANOTHER planetoid(?) out there buzzing around outside of Pluto? I think that's something my teachers failed to mention simply because they didn't know. And precisely why was Pluto demoted? There are moons out there that are bigger than our Luna. Should we then demote our moon to a moonlet because of it? This must be some kind of planetary snobbery.

And the worst part is that they seem to be totally blind to other possibilities. As we have seen repeatedly in the past, the only source for fresh ideas is old science fiction. There are so many examples that I couldn't list them all. I kind of like the concept of wandering planets being captured by a star's gravity well. Even that idea is suspect. Gravity will bend light, but so will a chunk of common glass. That seems a little limp a reason to assume that it's a case of gravity bending space. And then you get into "well, if space is the absence of anything, then how can you bend it?".

It's a mess and it's not going away. We need to accept the things we don't know and try to imagine some way to prove what we do. But can we? Where do stand in order to discover what space is?

I leave you with a final thought: 'we' have decided that nothing can go faster than light. Why that is, I don't know. Yes, our God of Science Albert Einstein has proclaimed it to be true. So, let me be a heretic. I have never heard or seen any proof that this is a fact. So... Prove me wrong. Don't throw math at me. You can make math prove that apples are diamonds. Show me proof that the speed of light is a cast iron speed limit everywhere. Then I'll apologize and shut up.

Dig It

Let's get right to work. This time we'll continue the attack on the tiny end of the spectrum. This in an attempt to get a handle of any kind on gravity. I'm slightly hindered by the lack of a lab and a research staff ☺.  A simple search reveals that there are all kinds of forces that have been quantified. That certainly doesn't help.

So what we have at a 'macro' level is gravity, magnetism, electro-magnetism, and electricity. That seems to argue that we've missed a category: magneto-gravitic, for want of an actual term. If such a thing exists, that is where we would look for an 'anti-gravity' drive.

Of course since we can't detect gravity, it may be a while before that concept does us any good. What's that you say? You can detect gravity (as he jumps up and down like a monkey)?

Sorry, but you can't detect gravity any more than Heisenberg can tell you where that phantom electron is. What you and every other thing in the solar system can detect is the effects of gravity. And darned happy about it, generally speaking. However, we're left with the same sinking feeling we got when we tried to nail down the atom. Yes, I know that there are things out there called gravity detectors, but it's the same story as before- we can see the critter's tracks, but the animal itself is invisible. We'll deal with the atom later. Maybe we can figure out where it went by then.

The trouble is, nobody can prove what gravity is or how it propagates. Since we can't detect it, we're going to have a rough time doing anything with it. It seems reasonable to consider it a force, but there are so many forces (well, at least they have been named forces... it's another case of The Cat Syndrome). And how do we know that they aren't all the same force with another name? We don't. There you are. The 'experts' really hate admitting that they have no clue. I don't. We are simply clueless about most things that happen at the atomic level. This is not to say that we can't use what we've deduced to operate these forces- atomic fission bombs still wipe out cities and all, but we're frankly jungle savages playing with an iPod. We can poke the buttons and make it run, but we have no real clue of how or why it works. We find something that goes boing when we poke it there and then we scribble down a theory that describes why.

For heaven's sake, the entire realm of physics and chemistry is loaded with enough fudge-factor numbers to sink a doughnut. Or an aircraft carrier. That alone should be screaming that there are things going on that we know nothing about! There are huge gaps in what we know about atomic and molecular forces and I seriously doubt that we'll make any progress until we do. It's really disappointing to me, but there's no choice. We have to build the foundation before the roof goes up.

Light the Way

I'm not sure how to slide into this subject.

'In the beginning there was darkness upon the face of the void...'

Before I run face first into this post, I have to wonder- was this just an expression in poetiic terms or did it intimate that people knew more about the universe than we have ever given them credit for? I suppose it was the former... I guess I'll go ask the Dogon People. Considering that the phrase was written circa 410 A.D., it leaves the question open to at least a teensy bit of wonder.

Now. It's suddenly 2.5 and something million years ago. Somewhere out there, a galaxy the size of our own is just as it is when we look at it right now and it's about to hit ours.

HMMM???

Yes, I thought that might cause you to stop dead. I haven't done the math all the way through; I do have a few other things to do besides sit here and write. Consider that  our neighbor M-31 (fondly known as the Andromeda galaxy) is going to 'hit' ours. That's a fact, so I'm assured. That galaxy was 2.54+- light years away when the light we see it by left that body of stars, etc. So... it's not really  where we see it, right? It's been trotting along during all that time. It's more complicated than that. I think there's some doppler effect there (the light is blue-shifted) and that may affect when we're seeing it.

Where does that leave us? Or when? I'm not at all sure, but I have this sneaky feeling that it's quite a few miles closer than it looks through Mr. Hubble's namesake. Now, I don't think we need to duck for cover just yet. Given the space between stars, we may not have to worry even comes the day the collision happens. It is, however, at least interesting to think about that day when the leading edge comes this way. Makes me wonder if anyone has calculated where the solar system will be in relation to the wedge-point. I couldn't find an intelligible reference for how fast M-31 is going relative to us, which doesn't make it any easier.

And this little exercise can be applied to other things. I speak of local stars. I don't have any idea if any  are headed this way, but given how close they are, I'd be real interested to know. If we saw something 4 lightyears from here, headed this way at half light-speed, I might be willing to get nervous. What's giving me a headache is trying to figure out just how much closer that thing would be. And just how long until we really do need to duck or run.

Remembrer what I said about building starships?