When Science Fiction Becomes Science Fact

[Commander Fuckass]

Alot of you may have noticed that over the years, concepts that we've sorta taken for granted in science fiction are either influencing actual developments in the realm of science or eventually prove to be actual science fact. Star Trek came up with the hypospray back in the day, and now we have folks attempting to develop a painless medicine injector that delivers medicine through the skin via a pressurized jet of air. Robert Heinlein once wrote about motorized "power suits" that footsoldiers would wear in combat, and now we have the military actually developing exo suits for combat. Before that, back in the 1800's, Jules Verne was talking about nuclear powered submarines before such things even existed (FYI - first nuclear powered submarine was called the Nautilus after the Verne namesake). Even ideas like alternate Earths which was a plot device back in the day is turning out to be actual science fact.

So....what I'm hoping to do is try to spark some conversation - post an article about a concept/idea and give proof about what you think is right/wrong, if it sounds feasible, how it'd work if it's technology based.....that sorta thing. Anyway, once anybody posts a topic, I'll include a direct-link in a TOC on this first post, that way we can keep track of what's being discussed.....so guests and new members can go directly to the post that interests them.

[Commander Fuckass]

Topic: Nomad or Rogue Planets

So this concept has been sorta bandied about in Sci-fi for a while - the idea of moons and planets drifting through space like large comets, with no attachment to a solar system, and just drifting through the blackness between stars (or even galaxies). I ran across this concept back in the day when I first got into reading some of the older Doctor Who episodes in book-form. In the 2nd Doctor episode - "The Tenth Planet", a sister-planet of Earth called Mondas somehow became detached from orbit during prehistoric times and rocketed off into a very wide orbit, which only brought it back in the 20th century. During that time, the lifeforms on that planet developed into people and eventually developed into Cybermen (humans who have removed their human components for robotic ones). This idea was yet again revisited (in a way) in the series "Space 1999" where an explosion on the moon hurls it out of Earth's orbit and it drifts away into the galaxy.

Now, according to recent articles (here, here, and here) it looks like nomad planets outnumber stars in our galaxy at least 100,000 to 1, and there are roughly 200-400 billion stars in the Milkyway Galaxy. What's the cause of them? *shrugs* There've been a couple of theories - the planets were in orbit around a star that changed (due to age) and lost gravitational pull, thus ejecting the star. Another theory is that rogue planets might be caused by a stellar impact (basically impact with another stellar body to such a degree that it knocks it out of its orbit....think "planetary pool"). Another theory is that rogue planets which formed without the means of a star, probably formed in similar ways TO a star and are called sub-brown dwarfs.

So......we got these drifting planets (some with moons) and some stellar objects that could probably be classified as moons, all moving between the stars in our galaxy, or orbiting black holes.......and according to scientists at both Harvard (here) and the University of Colorado (here), the formation of our own moon was probably caused by a rogue planet impacting a "fetal" Earth 4.5 million years ago, while another theory maintains that the moon was actually a rogue captured by our planet's gravity (here - also contains info on other theories). But yeah, supposedly there MIGHT be life on these planets - it's theorized that a water-based mass, with possibly a large enough moon still in orbit could account for heat based on planetary tectonics occurring due to the moon's presence - so heat, plus water = possible life. Another theory is that if the atmosphere was thick enough, it could theoretically trap enough heat from either tectonic activity, radioactive material giving off heat, etc.  and that these rogue planets can carry the "seeds of life" from one solar system to another.

I dunno....I mean, truthfully - if we eventually find (and land or examine close-up) a nomad/rogue planet, I'm sorta hoping we hit it big and find some proof of extraterrestrial life. Don't get me wrong - bacteria is probably what we're going to find, or microscopic organisms, but I'm kinda hoping for the proverbial "Time-Capsule" or "Message in a Bottle". Remnants of some civilization that might be millions or billions of years old - cities or an outpost or SOMETHING that was on the planet when either it was ejected from a solar system and went drifting off into space.

So.....what do you guys think? More rogue planets out there than previously thought, or do you have your own take on what folks're seeing? And if it is true - what do you guys think we'll find if we find anything?

[Commander Fuckass]

Topic: The Multiverse - Intro & Pt 1: String Theory & Gravity

The term "multiverse" was first coined back in 1895 by William James, an American philosopher and psychologist, and since then it has gone on to being used as a plot point in science fiction and fantasy under a variety of names: "Parallel Universes", "Alternate Realities", "Alternate Timelines", "Alternate Universes", etc. Looking at pop-culture, you can see the idea showing up in comic books (i.e. the JLA meets the JSA or the JLA versus the Crime Syndicate of America), TV shows (i.e. Star Trek's famous "Mirror, Mirror" episode and the Futurama "Farnsworth Parabox" episode), Movies (i.e. Back to the Future Part II) and Books (i.e. from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll to Stephen King's Dark Tower series).

But the thing is, as time went on, we began to see scientific proof that we actually DO seem to be living in a Multiverse. Now, alot of it deals with complex mathematical theorems and different theories depending on who is doing what computations - I personally don't comprehend that much of the math but I do understand some of what the scientists are saying....so my explanations here will be basically what I understand...

String Theory:

The first step in understanding the concept of the Multiverse, depends on understanding what is going on at the sub-atomic level. Atoms are made up of three basic components - electrons, neutrons and protons. Neutrons and protons make up what is "the body" of an atom, while electrons "orbit" around the mass. Electrons are an elementary particle (it doesn't get smaller than what it is), but neutrons and protons are made up of smaller particles - quarks. When it comes to neutrons and protons, quarks come in two charge-types: up-charged or down-charged (there's a 3rd type, "strange quarks" but it doesn't come into play here). Basically, a proton is made up of two up-charged particles and one down-charged particle, and a neutron is made up of one up-charged particle and two down-charged particles. With me so far?

Okay, so...this is where things start getting interesting - quarks and electrons are made up of the same material, a band of electric vibrating string, and that basically how the string vibrates or oscillates gives the observed particles their flavor, charge, mass and spin - so that the string that moves in a given manner will be an electron, or an up-charged quark, or a down-charged quark, or even a graviton. Basically, all matter in the universe - from the tiniest particle of dirt, to the smallest cell in your body, to the very stellar material of stars in every galaxy in the universe....all of it is made up from strings.

So here's the deal...folks tried to figure out the mathematics of String Theory, how it worked, etc and started running into a problem - that being when you're dealing with things at the quantum level (like strings), the law of physics (as we know it) kinda goes out the window. The physical laws become erratic and chaotic, and things basically get sorta wacky. So after studying the situation and doing the math, scientists figured out what was happening - there were EXTRA DIMENSIONS beyond the 4 that we know. String Theory initially dictates that there are 6 additional dimensions besides the 4 basic that we know and see every day - the 3 spatial dimensions and the 4th dimension being time. These extra dimensions are curled up and are so small, that they affect the vibrating string, and by association dictate how matter acts and our universe is formed.

Now, when dealing with the idea of a Multiverse (as I understand it), M-Theory dictates that strings vibrate in 11 dimensions, and it is this 11th dimension that we suddenly start to begin to understand where this Universe and OTHER Universes come from. According to physicists, the 11th dimension allows a string to stretch until it resembles something like a membrane. These membranes (or "Branes" for short), with enough energy can grow up-to the size of a universe. Supposedly, the 11th dimension can be categorized as being "infinitely long", yet having a maximum size of a trillionth of a millimeter or "10 to the minus 20" size of a millimeter across, and existing a trillionth of a millimeter from every point in our Universe - basically closer than you clothes to your body.

Okay, hold onto this thought because we're going to come back to address it in a bit, because the next thing you need to be informed about is about how gravity isn't native to here....

Gravity:

Okay, few basics - gravity is the force that helped primordial matter coalesce into stars and planets and galaxies, etc., and also why we have large stellar objects that have enough "pull" as to hold planets and moons in orbit, like the Sun and the Earth.

So.....here's the weird bit: For years, scientists have scratched their head when it came to how weak the force of Gravity was compared to other forces in the Universe like Strong Atomic Bonds, Weak Atomic Bonds, and Electromagnetism. As an example, Electromagnetism is 1x10^39 (that's a one with 39 zeros after it) billion times more powerful than Gravity. Finally, they realized that the reason behind this was that the force of Gravity doesn't originate from here, it's not FROM this Universe, but rather a force we are feeling from OUTSIDE of the Universe. Remember the 11th dimension we were just talking about in String theory? The initial idea (and I say initial because I have my own theory) was that the force of Gravity we feel actually originates from a Brane in the 11th dimension, and our Universe sits on ANOTHER Brane in the 11th dimension. On that Brane the force of Gravity is GINORMOUS and the Matter on that Brane that causes Gravity to be felt on ours is called Dark Matter! Now, the reason why we don't feel it as strong as THAT Universe, is due to the distance between our Brane and that Brane. Most of the energy is spent between our Universe and that one, and as a result we have these spots of uneven gravity in our Universe that correspond to heavy areas of gravity in their Universe. When a large enough concentration of Dark Matter occurs in that Universe, we have a singularity (a black hole) appear in our Universe.

But the truth is, THAT doesn't matter right now - what you need to take away from this discussion on Gravity is that Gravity is a force that lies outside of our Universe and yet has influenced (in part) how our Universe has formed.....and that this is one of two major forces which impacts how our Universe developed and which points in the direction of there being a Multiverse.

And now onto our next two points: The Big Bang(s) and Dark Energy.

[Commander Fuckass]

Topic: The Multiverse - Pt 2: The Big Bang(s) & Dark Energy

Okay, so - we've discussed String Theory, and about how the 11th dimension and Branes ties into it. Now we're going to go a step further with these topics and discuss the whole topic of the Big Bang....

The Big Bang(s):

Couple things you need to realize going into this topic -  1) The Big Bang was not a unique experience and 2) Big Bangs apparently happen ALL THE TIME! When we deal with the 11th dimension and Branes, you have to realize that what is going on is happening outside of the realm of our ability to register with our senses in some higher-dimensional plane of existence, and that Branes move in this plane in a wave-like motion (think of a rubber sheet that's rippling with waves of force and momentum) and that these Branes can move apart or close to one another, sometimes touching momentarily. So.....that being said and with that information in mind, let's dive right in:

The initial theory was that when two Branes love each other very much ripple and slam into one another momentarily, the resulting momentum is converted into a "Big Bang" with hot matter and radiation, and results in the formation of the Universe on one of the Branes. This idea had the Brane with our Universe, smacking into another Brane repeatedly, causing Big Bang after Big Bang, with our Universe being destroyed in the process. The current theory that scientists now think is that what REALLY happens is that the momentum of the rippling Branes transforms the energy into matter (Energy is just Matter traveling at the Speed of Light^Squared or E=MC^2) and the force generated can take a particle the size of a molecule and rapidly expand it to the size of the Milky Way Galaxy in one billionth of one billionth OF ONE BILLIONTH of a blink of an eye. The evidence of this is visible as the cosmic microwave background radiation that we read using microwave telescopes. The idea is that what is happening is called "Bubble Nucleation" - it is the rapid formation of a bubble of Space within what scientists call either the "Bulk" or "Hyperspace" with massive amounts of primordial matter rocketing around inside of it. Once the initial "blast" calms down (BILLIONS of years later), we see the formation of stellar objects like suns, planets, galaxies, etc. and our Bubble Universe floats along in this area of Hyperspace - this theory is called "The Theory of Eternal Inflation".

The Initial Idea in String Theory		The Theory of Eternal Inflation

The Eternal Inflation Theory basically states that the Multiverse is in a constant state of expansion, with new universes being born all the time, and will continue to be so into infinity. So think of it this way - the Pre-Universe Multiverse (basically what scientists call the "Bulk" or "Hyperspace"), prior to formation of Bubble Universes filled with stars and galaxies, is uniformly filled with energy that, when the Multiverse begins to expand, the energy begins to discharge. Now, if we assume that Branes exist within this area and are smacking into each other, they are causing a discharge of this energy (think of it like a static charge when you rub your feet on a carpet and touch someone.....but on a cosmic scale) and we see the creation of a Bubble Universe.

Now....couple things - as I previously stated, Gravity (for us) is a contributing factor to how we develop, but it's not the only one. Additionally, some of you might be asking "Well how do we know that the Multiverse is expanding? Both of these questions are going to be answered by the next point:

Dark Energy:

First thing to remember here - Dark Energy is NOT Dark Matter, though it is a force outside of our Universe which affects us. When scientists began looking at galaxy formations in the night sky, they figured that after the initial expansion of the Big Bang, the initial momentum would eventually slow and stagnate and stellar objects like galaxies would stop drifting apart from one another. So they were surprised that when they did their calculations, they realized that not only were galaxies in our Universe NOT stopping, but that they were continuing to accelerate further and further away from one another - that they weren't slowing down, but in fact speeding up! So....we had a Big Bang, the creation of a giant bubble of space in hyperspace filled with hot primordial matter that eventually cooled and formed stellar objects, and that momentum that spread apart the galaxies never stopped, and just kept going and picking up speed!

So....what caused it? Once again, science tells us that the energy between these stellar objects is the cause and that this is happening OUTSIDE of our Universe. Yet, when they tried to figure out just how much energy was expended to push the galaxies apart, scientists found that the number was EXTREMELY tiny: 0.1 / 10^122 (that's a decimal point with 122 zeros and then a 1). If the energy was increased slightly, there'd be no stellar objects IN our universe, as everything would've been pushed away and no stellar matter would've initially formed after the Big Bang. If we decrease it, everything would've been lumped together and we'd have a universe where stellar phenomena would've been exceedingly close and you'd probably have massive issues with gravity between planets and stars (if they even formed as we know it in the first place) from different solar systems.

Okay so think about it this way - Earth inhabits what we call the Goldilocks zone of habitability when it comes to our relationship with the Sun - it isn't too distant to be too cold to support life, it isn't too close to be too hot to support life, it's "Just Right". Take that concept and now apply it to our Bubble Universe and what we know about Gravity and Dark Energy. Our Universe occupies a section of Hyperspace where the effect of Dark Energy allowed stellar objects to form, and the effect of Gravity is such that life (as we know it) is able to develop and function. In effect, the point of where we are in Hyperspace is a sort of "Goldilocks zone" for the development of planets and life (as we know it). How much of this stuff makes up our universe? According to a recent study - 74% of the Universe is made up of Dark Energy, 22% is Dark Matter, and 3.6% is Interstellar Gas, and 0.4% is Stars and Planets.

That being said - we can suppose that additional Universes created IN this same general area as our Universe will undergo the same general development as they will share the same effects of Dark Energy and Gravity that we do. So basically, life in Universes near us will RESEMBLE US and it is here that we start seeing the traditional idea of "Parallel Universes" begin to appear - things like the concept of "If the Nazis had won World War II" or "If JFK had survived the assassination attempt in Dallas" sorta universes.

And THIS idea segues into my next sub-topic - Viewing the Multiverse.

[snoorkel]

[glow=red,2,300]monolithic-deathcult-2-3-79[/glow]

[img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d90/EBach/Art-Media/3DLV.jpg[/img]

[img]http://members.wri.com/jeffb/visualization/calabi-spin.gif[/img]

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

[glow=red,2,300]2-3-79[/glow]

[Nyerp]

you know dp copying and pasting a bunch of stuff really isn't the best way to start a thread

[snoorkel]

[glow=red,2,300]2-3-79[/glow]

TRANSCEND THE MATRIX KONTROL

[Socks]

that rotating dimension looks like a tumor which looks like a wart which looks like jello.

hmm yummy.

[silvertone]

matrix is one of the best movies . if not the best movie.