The Matrix was right

What is reality?

Think about it. You have been taught in school that to discover "Truth" we have an objective system called the "Scientific Method." If you can remember that far back the scientific method is based on your 5 senses.

What you

See

Taste

Feel

Touch

Smell

Consider this quote from Einstein "People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." Thank you Einstein, now what the Heck does that mean? Einstein was demonstrating to us that what we observe as our "Reality" may not actually be "Reality." Scared yet? I was and for the most part still am. In his book, "God Delusion" renowned Biologist Dr. Richard Dawkings expresses our ability to 'observe reality' by comparing our perception to a Burka. In other words, you as a person can only:

See - The visible light spectrum is really just a fraction of the over all electromagnetic spectrum. We can only see wavelengths with 380nm to 760nm (nano meters).

Hear - Sound is nothing more than waves of pressure traveling through the air, solid, or liquid. The human ear can only hear pressure frequencies at about 12 to 20,000Hz.

Touch - What we sense as "Solid surface" we saw in my last post is really a force field of the atoms not an actual surface!

Taste, Smell - both are receptors on the tongue and Olfactory that are sensitive to concentrations of chemical compounds. These compounds stimulate these receptors and your brain interprets the oder or taste.

As a being, you are very limited in your ability to observe. This is why scientist have to use expensive instruments to observe things. But, even in our increased ability to observer, Einstein theorized that our underlying assumptions about the Universe are not necessarily well grounded. He revolutionized our idea of the speed of light and time.

Remember the Matrix. Neo realized his whole world was a stubbornly persistent illusion the day he took the red pill. His mind had a hard time accepting that. He threw up all over Trinity. Truth, can sometimes floor us. With Enlightenment comes responsibility. Enlightenment is also very sobering.

Be one with the Force Luke

Most of us have seen the "Star Wars" double-Trilogy. Many of us, no doubt after watching the Empire Strikes Back ventured into the back yard to stare at a stone until we could move it, not really ever being able to. "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes." Being able to lift X-wings out of swamps on an asteroid comes in very handy! Well, its as if Nature already knew we we would have a fascination with super human strength and invisible forces "that's telekinesis Kyle," as it turns out, Nature operates on invisible forces. Now before clicking the back button and mumbling something about, "This guy is OUT there," know that this is standard physics taught in all Universities its the field of Quantum Mechanics. It does sound a little far fetched because it is not all that well known. Conveniently, this whole idea of invisible forces wasn't discovered until the same century that Star Wars came out. That way Physics Professors the world over would have ample material to draw from when making comparisons and parallels between nature and Star Wars.

The idea is this:

When you wake up in the morning (feeling like P Diddy), you are laying on top of a solid surface...your bed. You are separated from your sheets, pillows, dog whatever because you are a solid object and so are the sheets, pillow, or dog. When you finally roll out of bed, you walk across the floor, you do not go through the floor because the floor is a solid object and you, again, are a solid object as well. What physics have discovered is that in fact neither you or the floor is a solid object! In face what you and I consider "Solid" is actually mostly empty Space!

You ask: How can that be?

Well, I am glad you asked. All Solid Material is made up of atoms. We learned this a long time ago in grade school. But an atom only has 3 subatomic particles, Proton, Neutron, Electron. Go to wiki answers and you will see this description:

"If a proton were the size of a marble an electron would be about the width of a human hair. With that scale the electron's orbit would be about 2 1/2 miles away from the proton. "

So we see that the atom, is mainly empty space! So all the solid objects that you and I interact with on a daily basis is in fact mostly empty space.

You say: Then how do I not fall through the floor when I walk in it or fall through anything for that matter!

That is where the idea of an invisible force comes into play. When atoms combine to make molecules they share their electron clouds. These clouds generate an electrical field around it. That field repels other molecules. So when I walk on the floor the electrical field from the molecules in the floor come in contact with the electrical field from the bottom of my foot or shoe and repel one another. SO the two force fields repel one another.

You ask: So why do I "SEE" solid surfaces if they are in fact mostly empty space?

Well, you will just have to wait until my next Post!

How to find a Black Hole

I attended a lecture by Dr. Charles D. Bailyn of Yale University on how to find a black hole. I learned a few things I didn't know before. First, Black Holes are only theoretical. You assume they exist only if you assume Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity to be true. Second, I had always heard the term "Event Horizon" but never really knew what it meant. In one of these Theoretical Black Holes the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light, thus the term Black Hole. So matter, energy, and even light is sucked down into the core of a Black Hole. Since light cannot escape, there is no way to "observe" one. But the further you move away from the center of the Black Hole (Singularity - A point of infinite density) the less the escape velocity has to be. Anyway, Event Horizon is when the escape velocity equals the speed of light. This creates sort of an end point, a boundary to the Universe if you will. I ring of light surrounding a Black Hole. Black Holes are in effect a place where nothing can escape. So, will the universe collapse in all of these Black Holes? Nope, the Universe is expanding and the Black holes are rushing away from one another. How do you observe these? The technique Dr. Bailyn uses is to look at a black hole in close proximity to another star, a two star system. Here the black hole will tear off gasses from the partner star and then emit X-ray flashes. We can observe these X-ray flashes and then determine where a Black Hole might be. We can then measure the rotational velocity of the gasses or the Star around the Black Hole. If it is a Black Hole, this velocity will be huge in comparison to other two star systems. If these criteria are met, then you may have a Black Hole. Currently we think there are around 20 Black Holes in our Galaxy, the Milky Way. How are they created? It is the natural end of life of every star.

Dr. Bailyn Website http://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/10503/

Roller Coaster Physics

Ever wonder how the brakes on a roller coaster work?  After all, a simple malfunction of the hydraulic-electric system and you go smashing into the riders in front of you, right?  Well, not exactly.  Instead of depending on the lowest bidder for the air brakes, roller coaster engineers use a naturally created force using copper and magnets. (You can try this at home) If you try to get a magnet to stick to a piece of copper you will eventually get so angry you will vote democrat.  Why? Because copper is NOT magnetic. But if you slide a magnet ALONG a piece of copper you will notice a large amount of resistance, almost like a lot of friction. What is happening? As the magnet slides across the copper the magnetic field from the magnet creates electricity in the copper wire. Since you are sliding the magnet across the copper the magnetic field is moving, or as we say in physics ‘changing.’ This change creates electricity in the wire naturally producing a FORCE against the direction of the moving magnet. Weird! But really cool. So try this: Take a piece of copper tubing and try to stick a magnet on it. You will see nothing happen. Now, drop the magnet down the tubing or slide it down the strip. See what happens! So when you are flying through the roller coaster, having the best time of your life and you come close to the end, getting ready to stop, praying to everything holy the brakes work, remember you are relying on the laws of nature not the man made air brakes.