Now, I'll be the first to admit that the Paco gene pool hasn't produced, and isn't likely to produce, any Nobel laureates. I'm probably a good representative sample of the tribe when it comes to the size and quality of thought-box that might be said to serve as a sort of mean or possibly mode of Pacos en masse. Still, although I can't really wrap my headpiece around all the cogs and wheels of higher science, I do manage to enjoy some of the general themes, in the same way that an uneducated person might admire a piece of abstract art without knowing what it's supposed to mean (if anything), or, since we're talkin' about Pacos, maybe a more appropriate metaphor would be of a dog enjoying a sunset.
Here are two articles that grabbed my interest, without leaving me with a genuinely fuller understanding of how it all works (I am drawn to such things pretty much as a pack rat is drawn to a shiny tin can).
"A 'Mirror Image' of Our Universe Existed Before The Big Bang".
"20 Things You Didn't Know About... Time".
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Yes, I can say that my reach exceeds my grasp, when it comes to understanding the physics of our universe. Not to brag, but even with my somewhat above average IQ, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough to unravel more than the basics of cosmology. I started reading A Brief History of Time thinking that I could send my review notes to Hawking, to help him understand the inner workings of the universe that reading his book would surely lead me to discern.
ReplyDeleteI ended up with a headache.
Edjercated or not, you have a wonderful way with words Paco. We used to say 'well read' but that makes us look like dinosaurs now.
ReplyDeleteI really like the time list, where standardised time zones only came because of railway timetables, in 1883. Then Einstein, who lived through this, must have wondered about the relativity of time and space. Wow.
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me there's a reason we don't have rail timetables before about 1900.
People forget what a world-shaking thing the steam engine and then railways were.
Thankee, Bruce.
ReplyDeleteYes, the interrelationship between railroads and the marking of time is quite interesting.
I liked the 20 Things list. It was understandable and interesting. I tried reading the Mirror Universe article but when they got to the point where there may be another universe where time runs backward, all I could think of was that Brad Pitt movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I don't think that's what they're talking about, but I can't imagine it any other way. Thus, I meet the limits of my intellect once again.
ReplyDeleteThe "mirror image" is a hypothesis, not a theory. A theory is a tested exlanation, which has yet to happen. At least, according to the article. I saw no references to any on going testing. Even the the Physical Review abstract said "proposed" and "testable", which lends to this being a hypothesis.
ReplyDeleteBut I didn't go past the abstract -- I have my limits, and I could see the math that would have my eyes crossed in about 30 seconds. A physicist I ain't.
This goes back to basic science, as NOT practiced in our culture. Consider how "consensus" is being forced into the scientific method.
So, pardon my pedantic moment. I just wanted to be clear on the matter.
13 Until the 1800s, every village lived in its own little time zone, with clocks synchronized to the local solar noon.
ReplyDeleteCheck out a map of the world time zones. Some countries still do this.