Is our universe alone? Friday, Oct 5 2007

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Is our universe alone?

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Induced Bigbangs Sunday, Sep 23 2007

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Induced Bigbangs

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The Eternal Cosmos Saturday, Sep 8 2007

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The Eternal Cosmos

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Is the universe aware of its existence? Monday, Aug 20 2007

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Is the universe aware of its existence?

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Universe = Antimatter mercy? Wednesday, Jun 13 2007

One of the visitors to the blog requested me to write about matter-antimatter and bigbang.
Cosmology is  one of my most favorite subjects! So here we go!

As we know the observable universe is expanding! Going back in time, we reach a point where the entire universe had been collapsed to a point singularity called the big bang singularity.

The universe was created in a bigbang. Yes it was big, but there was no bang. Universe didnt explode into outerspace. Space/Time was created during the bigbang and this space/time is increasing, which in turn is increasing the distances between galaxies, there by causing the illusion of expansion.

In our observable universe we only see matter. There is no antimatter that we see. Going by the laws of physics, the big bang energy created matter and antimatter in equal amounts. So where is the antimatter? Please note that if matter and antimatter come into contact then they annihilate into pure energy immediately. If a matter human shakes hands with an anti matter human, vroooom, both vanish into a flash of energy!

So during big bang, both matter and antimatter should have vanished into a flash of energy and  there should have been no stars, galaxies formed, on structure formation, no planets, no life!!!! But still all these things are there!

What I think on this is that during the big bang, matter antimatter annihilation did happen, which is what we see as quasars today. Quasars are farthest known objects in deep space which are about the size of a star and yet give out energy equivalent to an entire galaxy! The only known physical process that can explain this is matter-antimatter annihilation. Note that the further we go deep in space, it means that we are looking back in time, as light takes time to travel from one point to other in the universe. So if we look at a quasar 10 billion light years away, it means we are looking at an object 10 billion years ago!

So quasars are probably matter-anti matter flashes of big bang, or probably even after big bang there were these regions of matter antimatter zones where matter contacts antimatter, resulting in massive energy bursts that we see today as quasars.

During this process, might be that a part of matter escaped from the anti matter zone during the expansion resulting in the creation of the part of the universe we know, i.e the part which contains stars, galaxies, nebulae, planets etc. In other words, the matter universe we see /live in is just a part of this matter/antimatter universe. Our matter didnt get annihilated with antimatter because it somehow went far away from antimatter during the expansion!! Somehow got insulated from antimatter.

I think this is where the solution to the dark/energy or dark/matter lies too. In our same universe we have an antimatter section too!! The portion of antimatter that was unable to annihilate our matter must have formed a separate antimatter based region too where all stars, galaxies, planets etc are made up of only antimatter!! Probably there is intelligent antimatter life there which is wondering like us, about a matter life!! Its more probable that they call themselves to be matter, and our part to be antimatter

So we can conclude that the universe has three regions

1) Matterverse – The region where we live, our galaxies,stars, planets all made up of matter

2) Annihilation Zone – Where matter antimatter meet and annihilate which both sides see as quasars!!

3) Antimatterverse – The region on the other side where galaxies, stars, etc are all  made up of antimatter

In this case, we need to think up of a technology that would help us to communicate with life in antimatter verse. We cant meet them directly as we would annihilate immediately!! So a new technology is required to communicate with antimatter counterparts. Probably some light based technology!

So sad, that I cannot fall into love and marry an antimatter beauty! Oh God, what have you done?

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Brains and Branes Saturday, Jun 2 2007

Are our brains sophisticated enough to understand branes?

For those brains wondering as to what branes are, well they are a speculation of the string theory (the theory that is expected to describe everything physical about our universe!! well again its another interesting fact to note that the string theory which was expected to describe our universe has now ended up speculating multiple co existing universes like ours!!!) Branes are membranes that exist in higher dimensions of space (9? 10?). Imagine a sheet of paper that can move about in all 9-10 spatial dimensions. Well, yes, string theory requires that the universe have many more spatial dimensions for it to explain everything about the universe, sorry multiverse!!

Coming back to the brains, are our brains well equipped to understand the functioning of this universe?? Well, that is not the question here.
The real question is an even more fundamental one.
The mental picture of the universe created in our brain with the help of our sense organs, does it correspond to reality?
In other words, is the universe we see the same as the universe we live in. Are we getting an incomplete partial picture based on the capabilities of our sense organs?? Or is it just a mere mapping of the universe into our brains and it has nothing do with the real picture at all??

Consider the example of what we see through our eyes. Our eyes recognize light rays that enter it and send the information to the brain, which then maps it to our visual information in the visual cortex.
The question here is, do our eyes see everything?
Answer is an obvious ‘No’. Our eyes can identify only a part of the electromagnetic spectrum i.e. the light whose wavelength is between 400 to 800 nanometres. We DO NOT SEE light that falls below or above this so-called ‘visible range’!! In other words we are blind outside the so called visible range.
Of course, yes, we have developed instruments, which can identify light outside the ‘visible range’. For instance radio telescopes, X-ray telescopes, Infrared goggles etc.
But when we see the images from these instruments, we map the contours to some color that falls in the visible range!!!!! In other words, we can never see how that real world looks like!!! For instance, if we assume that our eyes were capable of also seeing light waves between 1000-1500 nanometers, how would it look like???????

Now being convinced that we DON’T SEE EVERYTHING, let us discuss about whether at least what we see really corresponds to reality or not!!

We see a red rose. We identify its color as red. Now what is this red? Is the rose really red, or is it just a visual interpretation given to it by our brain??? Well, first lets talk about primary colors: red, green and blue. We call them primary colors !! Why?? Because the cones (cells that identify colors) in our eyes identify only these three colors (to be more precise, only these three wavelengths!) Any other color we perceive is a combination of two or more of these colors.

In other words, primary colors are primary ONLY for human eyes. Not necessarily for every other species on this planet!! So even what we are able to see is just a mapping done based on the light information received by our eyes. Then what does the world really look like? Or does it have something called real look at all??

Probably any audio/video or other information that we receive is ‘perceived depending on the ability of our sense organs’ and this perceived information ‘mapped by the brain’s imagination’.

If this is the case, then what about the scientific theories, facts etc that we build based on our observations of this universe?? Do they correspond to reality atleast?? Well as long as the observation maps the expectations, we can say yes. But we cannot say that it is the only way universe is working. While we might have observed that 2+2=4, we cannot say ONLY 2+2=4 and nothing else is 4. Probably we might have derived based on our observations that 2+2=4, where as universe itself might be functioning as per 3+1=4. We will never know it because the end result is the same aka 4!!!

This is something similar to what Einstein had to say about theories. It is like we are given a wristwatch that shows time accurately and then we are asked to find out how the watch actually works and we have to do that without opening the watch !!

Now, we might come up with an explanation as to how the watch is working and it may perfectly fit the observation. Somebody else might come up with another explanation and even that might fit the observation!! But what is the real mechanism based on which the watch is working?? Based on our earlier discussion on reality, here we are not even sure that we are observing everything about the watch, let alone explain how it works!

Oh my god, so isn’t there any thing called reality at all??
Well, I think there is. The quantum entanglement! Particles sharing information in spite of being physically light-years apart!! The physical universe that we see may not be a direct mapping between reality and observation. We continuously try to refine and redefine our understanding, but as I showed earlier we can never be sure that it is the reality, because there is nothing called reality in the physical universe we observe!! It is only a interpretation of our brain of the information it receives from our sensory organs which are again limited by the capabilities of their observation!

The reality lies in the universe that we feel. Probably that is the reason why ancient Indian seers (scientists of those days) attempted to observe the reality not by opening their eyes, but by closing them and investigating inwards, where in the real truth lies!! Observing from within does not have any limitations imposed by the sense organs, and that is simply because when we observe reality there are no limitations for that observation.

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Time Travel and Future Friday, May 18 2007

We classify time as past, present and the future.

Past is what has passed off, and future is the unseen, while present is the ongoing transition from past to future. This is what our entire life is all about. A transition from past to future.

Lets talk about this ‘present’. What we see, is it really the present thing ? Or is there a gap ?

I look at the night sky and see a star say 100 light years away. What does it mean ? That the light of that star that I’ve been seeing NOW left the star 100 years back. In other words, what I see NOW is how the star was 100 years ago. Then, how does the star look NOW? Well, to know that I have to wait here for another 100 years!

In other words, the star I see is a thing of the past, not the present. I shall meet the present in the future by when it would have been a thing of the past.

The sun we see is how it looked 8 minutes back. The moon a few seconds back. Even when I see other people right in front of me, its how they looked a few nano seconds back.
THERE IS NOTHING FROM THE PRESENT THAT WE SEE OR EXPERIENCE. WE ALWAYS SEE THE PAST, AND LIGHT IS THE MESSENGER WHICH TELLS US ABOUT THIS PAST.

Just like the way we always see the past, is there some way where we can see the future? In other words can we see light from the future ? But for this to happen, Future should have already happened. So what is the distinction between Past, Present and Future ? Does time exist only within our minds? Our consciousness moving in a given direction at a given speed of 1 second per second experiencing events like being a part of a movie, giving rise to the illusion of an unidirectional time ?

What is time travel ? We normally travel at the rate of one second per second in time into the future. This is our default speed in time. Suppose we increase or decrease this speed. Then that is something not normal. Lets look a bit more deeper.

Suppose I want to travel into the future at a faster rate than our default one second per second. So I somehow increase the speed say to 10 seconds per default second. So by the time other people move from say May 18 2007 to May 18 2008, I would have moved to May 18 2017!

Here is an interesting thing to be noted. If this kind of time travel has to be possible, where one is able to visit the future, then that future should have already taken place!
Note that for the normal people who are not doing time travel with me, they would still be in 2008, where as I am in 2018. So from our normal point of view for such a time travel to be possible, future should have already occured !

So I conclude this new theory that for time travel into the future to be possible, future should have already taken place. In other words, such a time travel is possible simply means that future is a thing of the past ! It again means that our perception of past present and future is just an illusion created out of our recognition of our own existence somewhere in the already existing timeline.

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Demystifying Einstein’s Field Equations Friday, May 18 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What we see aint what it is Tuesday, May 15 2007

What we see is not what it is!

What we see is just a custom mapping and interpretation by the brain of the data received from the eye. What we hear is a mapping of the data received from the ears. What we smell is a mapping of the data received from the nose, etc

Lets take for instance, sight.
We believe that what we see is what the real world looks like. But let me tell you the truth. Real world exists only inside our brain. The world has no real existence of its own outside our brain. In other words, the world has no form of its own. This is what is called ‘Niraaakar Brahmand’ (formless universe) in the vedas.

Let me explain how the world has a form only inside our brains.

We cannot see in the night/darkness. But still we know there are things out there. Why is this ?
Because our eyes depend on the light to perceive things. In other words eyes believe whatever light tells it.
Now can we see all the light ? In other words can our eyes perceive all the light that reaches it ?
NO. Our eyes can only see the visible range of the electromagentic spectrum (which we call light) which ranges from 400 nanometers to 800 nanometers.
Our eyes cannot see light in the range of Infrared, Ultraviolet, Radio waves, Gamma rays, X rays etc.
So our eyes send to the brain light signals which they receive only in the visible range. Then our brain creates a mapping of these signals and tries to interpret them using color coding, shades and depth. Probably there are other species or aliens whose brains perform a different kind of mapping of the light signals their eyes receive and for them sky, oceans etc look quite differently than it looks for us.

Except for monkeys and one or two other species all other animals see the world in black and white. They dont have the concept of color. Probably there are aliens whose eyes can sense a more wider range of light signals than us and hence probably they can see more colors than we can!

Also more importantly, even the colors we see are a result of our eye – brain interpretation. There is nothing like a ‘color’ in the nature. Light is an electromagnetic continuity and is not quantized as different colors.
We know that there are three primary colors, Red, Green and Blue and that all other colors are a mixture of these three colors. Do you know why ?
Not because there are three primary colors in the nature out there. But because the Cone cells in our eyes which identify color, can recongnize only three color ranges in the visible range and our brain perceives them as Red, Green and Blue. All other colors that we see are a combination of these three colors in different ratios.

So the colors we see are created in our eyes and interpreted by our brain. They do not exist out there in the nature. Other animals might see and perceive nature quite differently. And then there are other species which cannot see at all. They perceive the world only by sound. Some animals use the smell sense to preceive the world. And so on…

Probably there are aliens who have completely different kind of sense organs than we have. Something other than sense, tough, sight, hearing and taste.

In other words the universe is not what we or any other life forms see or perceive. In fact, different species perceive universe in different ways. Even in humans there are variations. For instace for a person who is blind since birth the perception of universe is completely different than the rest of us.

Universe by itself has no form. What we think to be the universe is just a perceived form of the custom mapping done by our brain of the limited range of electromagnetic spectrum which the Cone cells in our eyes perceive in three different ranges with their intensities being identified by the Rod cells in the eyes.

In other words, the universe is formless and exists only inside the brains of an aware consciousness called life. That is why ancient Indian vedic sages have said, ‘Change your perception and the world changes accordingly’

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Education in IT era Wednesday, Apr 25 2007

This is the age of information. Internet is the sum of all knowledge gained by humans throughout our recorded history, (of course except for those behind the scenes R&D and classified information and technology in NASA, Pentagon, etc).

In this IT age, what should be taught to children as part of their education.

Do we need to focus on piling up their brains with more and more information ?
OR
Do we need to concentrate on increasing their analytical skills ?

In other words, facts or concepts ?

Unanimously we all vote for concepts. Facts are now available at our finger tips. A simple search on the internet can retrieve a fact. And given that there is so much information available which is difficult for one single brain to grasp it all, we need to focus on creating specializations oriented education system.

But then ask me, I simply dont believe in ‘jack of all, master of none’
I have been studying a variety of subjects from IT to Physics to Mathematics to Music to History to Politics to Economics to Vedas to what not, and what I have observed is that as a person learns more and more wider range of concepts, theories, etc, it becomes more easier to learn even more things due to the inter-relation between these different fields and going in depth into a field also becomes easy than it would have been if one had studied that field alone !

In other words, to become a master of a wide range of subjects, all you need is strong fundamentals in all the related fields AND analytical ability to co-relate things between different fields.

Please note that, all these different fields are artificial classifications by humans, to make it easier to study one thing at a time, for instance nature does not distinguish between physics and biology, the reason for an apple to fall from a tree is explained in physics while the growth of the apple itself is described by botany, these are artificial classifications we did and there are overlappings too like biophysics, biochemistry, physiochemistry etc.

What I intend to mean here is that by restricting one self to a particular field we might get a particular depth in that field, but one will never get a complete picture of that field till he understands other fields also. This is the reason why today scientists have come across a road block in terms of enquiring more into a particular field. Say for ex to understand the true nature of life we need the person to be an expert in biology which defines how a body functions, and then chemistry which describes how the molecules in the body function, and even physics to see for ex how the brain functions at a quantum mechanical level. Now if you are doing a research on the very depth of life, one needs to be expert in all these fields to truly appreciate and understand the real definition of life, bcos as I said earlier, NATURE DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENT FIELDS AS PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, ETC

An expert in string theory, quantum mechanics, relativity, cosmology can have some hope of finding a Grand Unified Theory

A very good doctor, but with very limited knowledge of biotechnology is not a really good idea.

In other words, allow children to have as wide interests as possible to go to a greater depth in the ocean of knowledge. A broader view leads to a more analtyical, non prejudiced thinking, when you think from the views of experts in different fields.

This is the age of information. The more information one has, the more accurate he/she is, the more easier it is to understand, the more easier to relate, the more easier to investigate and dig out more knowledge.. 

I have seen people who are great experts at a particular software application, but the moment you show them the same computer screen but with some other application window opened, they get completely confused about where to click or which key to press, and they get so relieved when their familiar screen comes up again

Well, thats not how we want to be, dont be afraid of the unknown, for nothing is to be feared, its only to be understood. Take the untravelled paths, uncharted waters, unexplored landscapes, create new paths and be a different person, than to take the same old familiar paths and have no mark of your own…

I think therefore I exist

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