Tag: Space

ᵀᴴᴱ GOLDEN RATIO φ

(Animation from GIPHY.com)

\varphi ={1+{\sqrt {5}} \over 2}

or

1.6180339887498948482045868343656381177203091798057628621354486227052604628189024497072072041893911374847540880753868917521266338622235369317931800607667263544333890865959395829056383226613199282902678806752087668925017116962070322210432162695486262963136144381497587012203408058879544547492461856953648644492410443207713449470495658467885098743394422125448770664780915884607499887124007652170575179788341662562494075890697040002812104276217711177780531531714101170466659914669798731761356006708748071013179523689427521948435305678300228785699782977834784587822891109762500302696156170025046433824377648610283831268330372429267526311653392473167111211588186385133162038400522216579128667529465490681131715993432359734949850904094762132229810172610705961164562990981629055520852479035240602017279974717534277759277862561943208275051312181562855122248093947123414517022373580577278616008688382952304592647878017889921990270776903895321968198615143780314997411069260886742962267575605231727775203536139362107673893764556060605921658946675955190040055590895022953094231248235521221241544400647034056573479766397239494994658457887303962309037503399385621024236902513868041457799569812244574717803417312645322041639723213404444948730231541767689375210306873788034417009395440962795589867872320951242689355730970450959568440175551988192180206405290551893494759260073485228210108819464454422231889131929468962200230144377026992300780308526118075451928877050210968424936271359251876077788466583615023891349333312231053392321362431926372891067050339928226526355620902979864247275977256550861548754357482647181414512700060238901620777322449943530889990950168032811219432048196438767586331479857191139781539780747615077221175082694586393204565209896985556781410696837288405874610337810544439094368358358138113116899385557697548414914453415091295407005019477548616307542264172939468036731980586183391832859913039607201445595044977921207612478564591616083705949878600697018940988640076443617093341727091914336501371576601148038143062623805143211734815100559013456101180079050638142152709308588092875703450507808145458819906336129827981411745339273120809289727922213298064294687824274874017450554067787570832373109759151177629784432847479081765180977872684161176325038612112914368343767023503711163307258698832587103363222381098090121101989917684149175123313401527338438372345009347860497929459915822012581045982309255287212413704361491020547185549611808764265765110605458814756044317847985845397312863016254487611485202170644041116607669505977578325703951108782308271064789390211156910392768384538633332156582965977310343603232254574363720412440640888267375843395367959312322134373209957498894699565647360072959998391288103197426312517971414320123112795518947781726914158911779919564812558001845506563295285985910009086218029775637892599916499464281930222935523466747593269516542140210913630181947227078901220872873617073486499981562554728113734798716569527489008144384053274837813782466917444229634914708157007352545707089772675469343822619546861533120953357923801460927351021011919021836067509730895752895774681422954339438549315533963038072916917584610146099505506480367930414723657203986007355076090231731250161320484358364817704848181099160244252327167219018933459637860878752870173935930301335901123710239171265904702634940283076687674363865132710628032317406931733448234356453185058135310854973335075996677871244905836367541328908624063245639535721252426117027802865604323494283730172557440583727826799603173936401328762770124367983114464369476705312724924104716700138247831286565064934341803900410178053395058772458665575522939158239708417729833728231152569260929959422400005606266786743579239724540848176519734362652689448885527202747787473359835367277614075917120513269344837529916499809360246178442675727767900191919070380522046123248239132610432719168451230602362789354543246176997575368904176365025478513824631465833638337602357789926729886321618583959036399818384582764491245980937043055559613797343261348304949496868108953569634828178128862536460842033946538194419457142666823718394918323709085748502665680398974406621053603064002608171126659954199368731609457228881092077882277203636684481532561728411769097926666552238468831137185299192163190520156863122282071559987646842355205928537175780765605036773130975191223973887224682580571597445740484298780735221598426676625780770620194304005425501583125030175340941171910192989038447250332988024501436796844169479595453045910313811621870456799786636617460595700034459701135251813460065655352034788811741499412748264152135567763940390710387088182338068033500380468001748082205910968442026446402187705340100318028816644153091393948156403192822785482414510503188825189970074862287942155895742820216657062188090578088050324676991297287210387073697406435667458920258656573978560859566534107036...

Is it possible that a ratio could exist, which is geometrically applicable to countless formations across the natural world? An almost blueprint-like commonality in design, spanning across the perceivable universe?

The short answer to that question, is yes, sort of.

Physical dimensions allegedly applicable to this “golden ratio” range from the shell of a snail, to the shell of a nautilus (most logarithmic spirals are linked to the golden ratio, regardless of accuracy), to the tail of a seahorse, to the formation of a rams horn. The proportions of human limbs, the formation of cyclones and even the celestial alignments of galaxies millions of light years away. (There is no shortage of alleged examples of the golden ratio.)

Some have claimed that this reoccurring ratio found throughout the universe is a mathematical sign of the divine. That the mere existence of such a reoccurring pattern behind what many would assume to be utterly random, defies their preconceptions of what is logical. That the very thought that the same 1:1.6 ratio that is found from the tip of a humans head, to their belly button, then down to their feet could be found in the circular dispersion of seeds on the face of a sunflower: to many, that seems absolutely irrational.

Irrationality, however, may be precisely why this occurs.

Irrational Numbers: (of a number, quantity, or expression) not expressible as a ratio of two integers, and having an infinite and non-recurring expansion when expressed as a decimal. Examples of irrational numbers are the number π and the square root of 2. —Oxford Dictionary

Imagine you have a spinning wheel, with a flat white circular front. You mark a dot in the center of the wheel. You could mark this wheel to show segments displaying the degrees of revolution. As seen below:

If you were to start at the point marked 90° and rotate the wheel exactly 90° clockwise, the part of the wheel marked 180° would now be centered at the top. Another 90°, the point marked 270°, and once more, finally, the point marked 360°. Doing this over and over again, regardless of how many times you do it, you will always land on those 4 specific points marked on the circle.

Again, if you instead turned the wheel 1°, starting at 90°, you would first land on 91°, 92°, 93° and so on. In all, making 360 1° turns until arriving once more at the starting point marked 90°.

But what would happen if instead of moving 90° each rotation, you moved φ, which could be expressed as 360°/1.618… which is equal to = ~222.5°

Unlike the original 90° rotations, always arriving at the same 4 specific points, over and over again, with these ~222.5° rotations, we notice something interesting occur. These much wider gaps, are far less likely to overlap, almost resistant to the notion. Time after time, with each rotation, off-centering from the last. Due to the nature of the irrational number, converted into ~222.5°

Even the leaves of a plant apply this formula to the directions in which they grow, because if they can systematically stagger their leaves not to overlap, they can absorb the maximum amount of sunlight.

(Source http://www.natures-word.com)

The problem for many of us, when we find this Golden Ratio in all sorts of places, we immediately assume this formula, this ratio was taken into consideration at the formation/design of whatever we’re looking at in the natural world. When in actuality, what we are looking at, is as close as we can currently perceive, to what could be regarded as perfect mathematical irrationality.

The Golden Ratio appears on the face of a sunflower in the arrangement of its seeds, because evolution discovered the optimum means to distribute seeds, which happens to be perfect mathematical irrationality. The leaves of a plant grow in the formation of the Golden Ratio, because evolutionary, those which stumbled upon (through genetic deviations) the formation received the most sunlight and were the most successful in reproducing themselves. The process could only refine itself, further and further with time and natural selection.

It is generally regarded (with varying accuracy and significance) that the Golden Ratio appears in physics, chemistry, biology and even (controversially) the topology of space-time. Are we simply conflating perceivable irrationality, of unrelated data due to broad similarities of dispersal/proportional arrangements? (due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) Or is the Golden Ratio far more intrinsically linked with the nature of our universe than we currently understand?

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 1

ᴛʜᴇ DRAKE EQUATION ᴀɴᴅ ABIOGENESIS

(Animation from GIPHY.com)

What is the meaning of Life? Many cringe and recoil at the mere mention of such an inquiry. Some of us ponder this question aloud during the naivety of youth, but as we grow older, this, like many other subjects become private and scarcely mentioned. Not because the question in itself is offensive, but we know all too well where this seemingly futile train of thought leads. Befuddlement, doubt, in lieu of some religious footing or adequate distraction, this can be the birthplace of nihilistic thought. It can seem as though there just isn’t any rhyme or reason to anything, merely a perpetual struggle of chaotic forces, seemingly meaningless events leading to meaningless outcomes and so on and so forth, for a meaningless eternity. So how could anything possibly matter, even in the slightest?

The innumerable species that have been wiped out entirely from our planet, many of which unknown to us, did they “mean” anything? The (approximately) 110 billion homo sapiens almost identical to us that have lived and died already, did they “mean” anything? The difficult part about the question “what is the meaning of life?” is that we don’t truly understand what life is. Yes, we know its characteristics, its commonalities (on this planet) but what do we really know about the nature of all life on this world? It simply wants to survive, it wants to procreate, a constant struggle of the individual to leave a common legacy behind. The simultaneously ugly and beautiful struggle, the failures, the successes, what is it all leading toward?

Is the struggle of life some complex form of entropy, disorder, working towards equilibrium? Is the fabled concept of the “supreme being” the embodiment of an achieved “equilibrium” of life? The final balance of all living chaos?

In 1961, Dr. Frank Drake came up with a theoretical equation to estimate the probability of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations within our Milky Way Galaxy. The equation is as follows:

N = R∗ · fp · ne · fl · fi · fc · L

N = Number of probable civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy.

R∗ = Average rate of star formation in the Milky Way Galaxy.

fp = Fraction of formed stars that are orbited by planet(s).

ne = Average number of planets capable of supporting life (as we understand it) per star, that is orbited by planet(s).

fl = Fraction of planets that could support life (as we understand it) that actually do develop life at some stage.

fi = Fraction of planets that develop life that lead to the evolution/existence of intelligent life capable of creating primitive civilization.

fc = Fraction of developed civilizations that become technologically advanced enough to release detectable signs of their existence into space (signal broadcast, etc).

L = Length of time such detectable signals, signs are capable of being received to interpret the civilizations existence (past or present).

In the very least likely scenario, when applying doubtful estimations, N can equal a value much less than 1. Suggesting that outside of earth, there is no intelligent life accompanying us in our galaxy. In some of the most optimistic of estimations however, the estimated number of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy can be in the vicinity of: 27, 000, 000 (assuming there are approximately 300 billion stars).

Despite these estimations using values based heavily on assumption, having a difference of below zero and over 27 million there is one crucial flaw to the concept of the equation. It relies almost entirely on the belief that all life as we understand it, arises from abiogenesis. The process by which life arises from inorganic/non-living matter.

Even if we were to look back, to the generally scientifically accepted age, 3.6 billion years ago when the last (known) universal common ancestor (LUCA) “spawned into existence”, a single-celled organism that seemingly appeared from a primordial cocktail. We don’t definitively know that LUCA came about from abiogenesis. We also don’t actually know (at this time) if abiogenesis has any real basis in reality. One of the reasons some doubt abiogenesis is that no one has ever successfully replicated the process to create life from matter. Some suggesting that the origin of life was an accident that took millions of years to occur, under very specific conditions. If abiogenesis isn’t the answer to our origin, then (outside of religious claims) we really don’t know how life began or even what it truly is. If it didn’t begin on this world, then where might life have come from in the beginning and why/how was it brought here in the first place?

Life wants to go on, thus far, it has succeeded. Life adapts, life learns from its mistakes. Life prioritizes procreation above all else, constantly looking to a future beyond the horizon. Life begets life. There are all sorts of theories why life “impregnates” a planet, a solar system, a galaxy or universe at large. Perhaps to be the designated custodians of time and space, for what purpose or from what origin is anyone’s guess.

As much as it may pain some to hear it, we often fail to realize how incredibly small we are in the grand scheme of things. You and I, everyone we’ve ever known, we all make up a minute fraction of a single tooth on a very, very small cogwheel. This cog, in turn spins another cog, and so on and so forth, to form a “machine” that we on the tooth of our cog may always struggle to comprehend. But the mere fact that we cannot perceive or even understand the nature of a system, doesn’t mean the system does not exist, serves a purpose or even has a will of its own.

Are we capable of understanding the will of a universe? We don’t even know the shape of the universe we find ourselves within. We also don’t quite understand what is beyond our universe, if anything at all. Will our universe always expand freely? Will a time come when the sentient “living” beings are required to overcome very real threats that could destabilize the entirety of space and time as we perceive it? The once seemingly primitive and dormant forms of life becoming antibodies (so to speak) and protectors of the “universe” the reality/dimension that holds the soul potential to give existence to everything we can comprehend. The desperate struggle of existence only on a much grander scale?

It’s possible the answers lie beyond the physical reality entirely. But the problem isn’t a lack of meaning, but rather the infinite possibilities as to what and why things are the way they are that leave us wondering. The belief that there is no meaning and everything that ever has or will happen is merely the work of chance alone, is quite a simple and somewhat lazy explanation. Because chance alone suggests that life as we know it is inevitable and inescapable, it is only a matter of time. A matter of rolling the dice under the right conditions. It implies that the existence of “life” is part of the “natural order” of the universe. Which means the meaning of life is integral to the meaning of the universe itself. Which brings us to the question that is connected to “what is the meaning of life?” and “what is the meaning of the universe?”, which is “what is the meaning of consciousness?”

This reality/dimension, in all it’s conceivable (and inconceivable) totality, what would there be in lieu of its existence? Virtually all of our answers involve something already existing to cause something else. The Big Bang requires the existence of mass and energy. Even in religion, God (or gods) create the universe, humanity etc, but where did God(s) come from? How did “something” come from “nothingness”? Even if you start with a blank canvas, where did the blank canvas come from? What was there before God(s)? Where did the first particle of matter come from?

This, much more complex, all-encompassing question is no doubt intrinsically linked with the meaning of the universe. However, just like the limits of our physical universe and how we cannot perceive what is beyond it, this knowledge, as far as I can tell, goes beyond the limits of our consciousness. But perhaps, one day, that will change.

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 1

SECRETS ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ENIGMATIC EMPYREAN

(Alleged patent of Nikola Tesla, unverified) 

Hearken not, the man who fears,
 All things we seek to know.
 When shadows fall and storm-cloud nears,
 His ilk, are soon to go.

As veils rise and darkness burns,
The beast called truth appears.
Strange winds will stir the tide that turns,
once 'certainty', to tears.
 —C. M. Johnson

The Unidentified Flying Object (or more commonly known UFO) ignites a certain wonderment among a great many of us. Because despite the fact that there is often a perfectly logical explanation for these sightings, in many instances the explanation is as dubious as the peculiar sighting itself. Like it or not, the situation is unusual and for this, it draws our gaze. But just as it stirs among the imaginations of those willing to believe the extraordinary, so too does it require the justification of those who see it merely as a misunderstood spectacle. And thus, the great and (seemingly) eternal dance of polarized perspectives begins.

People will go to great lengths to share their point of view on a popular matter. Especially if that matter holds a great deal of importance to so many people around the world. Some want others to share their opinion, or gain a more “logical” insight, some merely want you to be aware, some just want to be heard and don’t particularly mind what they’re saying. Whether it’s true or not, doesn’t matter to them. But despite all of these factors that seem to muddy the already turbid waters, somewhere somehow the truth will be unearthed. We may or may not like what is discovered, but truth doesn’t require an opinion to exist.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”

—Arthur C. Clarke

If I were to address the biggest problem (in my experience) in genuinely studying the nature of anything within the paranormal spectrum, it would be the disingenuous nature of people. Only a liar has the power to change the entire universe as they see fit (even God can’t theoretically control human free will). Unfortunately, a great many will always desire this power. It doesn’t mean that all believers and/or non-believers are lying, but that reality doesn’t always play a part in what some people define as truth. They desire a certain truth and that’s all that matters to them. Utterly blind to any other possibility, even if they’re clutching at proverbial straws.

If asked, personally, where I stand on the existence of extra-terrestrial beings and the appearance of seemingly advanced unidentified flying objects; I could only honestly say, “I don’t know.”

I remember vaguely, seeing something strange as a child (around 8). Some kind of aircraft hung extremely low, seemingly hovering at varying speeds, tailing the family car as we drove along a country road. At one stage, I pressed my face against the rear window and looked up and it seemed to be meters above the car, then quickly ascended into the cloud cover and completely out of sight. Is this a credible memory, even to me the bearer of said memory, absolutely not.

I couldn’t tell you the form of the “craft” because it was so dark, I couldn’t even tell you the layout of the lights. The lights were so bright it was difficult to look directly at them, but most lights in the night are. I can recall, however, the feeling more so than the actual visual spectacle, which was a childish certainty that something extraordinary was happening and how lucky I was to be seeing it. But there were a lot of Alien and UFO cultural influences at that juncture in my childhood. I even learned years later that we were about an hours drive from a large airbase at the time. Which has led me to speculate that what I witnessed was possibly a reckless or faltering pilot of an ordinary craft, mistaken by an 8 year old to be something out of this world. It certainly made an otherwise long and boring car trip entertaining.

This event may have contributed to my interest in the subject of UFOs, but it also led me to understand how a similar event could take place and someone could be deceived. I also appreciate the fact that maybe it was exactly as bizarre as my memory recalls and I tried to subconsciously justify it as a mundane ordinary event to keep a sturdier footing on a blissfully (and willful) ignorant state of normality.

My singular experience in no way contributes to any argument for or against extraterrestrial visitors. Unfortunately, as more and more objects get sent into the skies, we are seeing an influx in reported UFOs. Often UFO sightings also trend with the popularity of the term. Which makes sense because not only would people be more inclined to report false claims, but they would be more likely to look up to see legitimate unidentified objects.

Things like drones, various other flying/floating devices, satellites are more numerous throughout our skies now than ever before. A great many UFO sightings are also considered to be foreign nations or private endeavors utilizing seemingly highly technologically advanced aircraft. Stealth reconnaissance, testing for tactical weaknesses?

It could even be a governmental means to keep track of what makes a society tick. Almost like psychological stress tests to see how the masses respond to certain anomalies. In the same sense, if a government (or groups of) or maybe even something beyond all governments wanted to distract the world population from something, they could manufacture a distraction. A distraction the likes of a global obsession with UFOs.

If only we could go back to simpler times, surely the case would be closed if we could deduce the fact that the UFO is merely the creation of modern times. Maybe after the Roswell incident?

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

As lightly illustrated by Charles Hoy Fort, in his book published in 1919.

Sourced from The Project Gutenberg:

ᴛʜᴇ BOOK ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ DAMNED

“In the Scientific American, 40-294, is published a letter from Henry Harrison, of Jersey City, copied from the New York Tribune: that upon the evening of April 13, 1879, Mr. Harrison was searching for Brorsen’s comet, when he saw an object that was moving so rapidly that it could not have been a comet. He called a friend to look, and his observation was confirmed. At two o’clock in the morning this object was still visible. In the Scientific American Supplement, 7-2885, Mr. Harrison disclaims sensationalism, which he seems to think unworthy, and gives technical details: he says that the object was seen by Mr. J. Spencer Devoe, of Manhattanville.

“A formation having the shape of a dirigible.” It was reported from Huntington, West Virginia (Sci. Amer., 115-241). Luminous object that was seen July 19, 1916, at about 11 P.M. Observed through “rather powerful field glasses,” it looked to be about two degrees long and half a degree wide. It gradually dimmed, disappeared, reappeared, and then faded out of sight. Another person—as we say: it would be too inconvenient to hold to our intermediatist recognitions—another person who observed this phenomenon suggested to the writer of the account that the object was a dirigible, but the writer says that faint stars could be seen behind it. This would seem really to oppose our notion of a dirigible visitor to this earth—except for the inconclusiveness of all things in a mode of seeming that is not final—or we suggest that behind some parts of the object, thing, construction, faint stars were seen. We find a slight discussion here. Prof. H.M. Russell thinks that the phenomenon was a detached cloud of aurora borealis. Upon page 369 of this volume of the Scientific American, another correlator suggests that it was a light from a blast furnace—disregarding that, if there be blast furnaces in or near Huntington, their reflections would be commonplaces there.

We now have several observations upon cylindrical-shaped bodies that have appeared in this earth’s atmosphere: cylindrical, but pointed at both ends, or torpedo-shaped. Some of the accounts are not very detailed, but out of the bits of description my own acceptance is that super-geographical routes are traversed by torpedo-shaped super-constructions that have occasionally visited, or that have occasionally been driven into this earth’s atmosphere. From data, the acceptance is that upon entering this earth’s atmosphere, these vessels have been so racked that had they not sailed away, disintegration would have occurred: that, before leaving this earth, they have, whether in attempted communication or not, or in mere wantonness or not, dropped objects, which did almost immediately violently disintegrate or explode. Upon general principles we think that explosives have not been purposely dropped, but that parts have been racked off, and have fallen, exploding like the things called “ball lightning.” Many have been objects of stone or metal with inscriptions upon them, for all we know, at present. In all instances, estimates of dimensions are valueless, but ratios of dimensions are more acceptable. A thing said to have been six feet long may have been six hundred feet long; but shape is not so subject to the illusions of distance.“

The interesting thing about this text and others like it, is it suggests that people have been observing unidentified flying objects even before mankind had mastered flight in 1903. Depictions and stories hinting toward celestial “gods” and “visitors” exist throughout human history. Are the sightings a continuation of a possibly human desire? A desire for a connection with the “supreme” or “divine”?

Or have there been events taking place on this planet, all around us, which the majority of us are utterly (and in some cases willfully) blind to?

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 1

TIME TRAVEL ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ 2ɴᴅ ʟᴀᴡ ᴏғ THERMODYNAMICS

(Animation from GIPHY.com)

In some ways the birth of our universe could be compared to the lighting of a candle, the “Big Bang” was when it was first lit. With this now burning wick, entropy increases, the once stagnant unaltered order/state of the wick and candle’s pristine structure begins to diminish as time passes. So begins the gradual decline into total disorder. Total disorder being the incineration of the wick, the form of the candle being lost, and equilibrium is achieved. The energy (wherever it came from) has been transferred, converted, but for all intents and purposes, it is gone (a process is deemed ‘irreversible’ if dissipation occurs, which in most instances, it does). As the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics states, in all processes that occur (including spontaneous) the entropy at least in regards to thermodynamics, is irreversible.

So just as the flickering flame of the candle will at some stage burn out, so too, as theorized by some, could/will our universe reach its equilibrium and enter a phase known as “total heat death”. In this outcome of achieved equilibrium everything in the entire universe would be the same temperature. The height of entropy, total disorder, no transference of energy or structure. No rhyme or reason. Just stagnate remaining mass, moving unpredictably in an eternity of darkness.

Entropy is intrinsically linked with the Arrow of Time (in physics). Coined by the British astronomer Arthur Eddington. Eddington gave three factors regarding, the arrow of time:

⦿ It is vividly recognized by consciousness.

⦿ It is equally insisted on by our reasoning faculty, which tells us that a reversal of the arrow would render the external world nonsensical.

⦿ It makes no appearance in physical science except in the study of organization of a number of individuals.

These three factors pertaining to the arrow of time are extremely localized around human perception.

In a way, time going in one direction only → relies on the basis that nothing ever happens/happened after theoretical “total heat death”. Because if something did occur (which it is theorized to be nigh impossible), then we could readdress the definition of the direction of time. As the system of the universe is no longer irreversible. For instance, after total heat death, a gradual pooling of mass begins to occur. Taking billions and billions and billions (times infinity, why not) years, so much mass could be drawn together that a high-density and (and even less likely) high-temperature state is reached. In that scenario, could the “Big Bang” occur again? Could that be the process that occurs over and over and over? If that were possible, the process of our universe’s creation could be deemed reversible. Rendering time no longer linear, but cyclic and infinite.

Meaning time isn’t a straight arrow → pointing in one direction, but rather a circle ↻ that always returns to a structured state, a starting position. In a process larger than we could ever hope to imagine.

If that wasn’t as extremely far-fetched and hypothetically scientifically offensive for you to consider, then consider this, what if everything forms, exactly the same, every single time the universe goes through this cycle? (There are some that argue that there is no such thing as a truly random outcome of events. It merely appears that way to our understanding, as we cannot perceive what is going on at the most finite level.)

As it stands, our current time traveling abilities are extremely limited. We have access to such a tiny portion. At best, around 100 years. We’ve mastered travelling forward through time. We’re doing it right now. As your eyes trail over this text, the words previously read give an indication that you are progressively moving forward.

But consider this science-fiction scenario:

The adult son of two prominently known archeologists (by some extraordinary hypothetical means) manages to momentarily travel back in time, some 145 million years, for a total duration of 15 seconds. He travels to a region somewhere in North America, during the Cretaceous period. Where his brief appearance momentarily distracts a pack of deinonychus (the 100kg version of the 15kg velociraptor) from noticing a tenontosaurus in the distance, prey they would have otherwise eaten. Thus, eliminating the specific archeological dig site where his parents first met. Subsequently, either, eliminating himself from existence, creating an alternate reality. Or whatever other scenario someone might imagine.

One of the many problems with this hypothetical scenario is that small, minuscule detail skimmed over at the beginning. The act of travelling backwards in time. It’s virtually impossible to imagine a means by which anyone could travel backwards through a process while entropy is taking place.

Unless, a being was somehow capable of making itself entirely independent from the process (the universe reaching equilibrium). In which case, according to the theories suggested (total pseudo-science, if that wasn’t obvious already), the way to travel backward in time could be to actually go so far forward, that you catch the past as it occurs again for the first time, in one of the next formations of the universe.

Perhaps beings beyond our comprehensible universe have been aware of this cyclic order of things longer than we even have words to describe what we call “time”?

Could God himself be a being who discovered how to isolate himself from the process? Or perhaps his ability to escape the process is innate?

If extraterrestrial life does have an interest in our planet, could it be monitoring the formations of this universe each cycle? Comparing our status with last time and the time before that? Eternally making comparisons to previous visits. Maybe they require things that occur so rarely, they come to a specific point each cycle to gather a valuable resource.

These theories are just a handful of many theories that are more than likely, all completely wrong (like most theories). But, it’s still intriguing (for some) to entertain the thought. Maybe we’ll never truly understand the mysteries of the universe, maybe next time around?

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 2

EARTH ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ HUMAN ODYSSEY

Where are we now? As a people, as a species, as a world?

It’s easy (for some) to believe we’re on a downward spiral headed for oblivion. It’s been easy to believe that for as long as time has been recorded. Our inescapable and impending doom. The end of all things as we know it. “The Apocalypse”, something each our ancestors spoke of even when the world was new, well, newer than it is now. A fear that has existed alongside the first known civilization that sprung up in Mesopotamia, so many long-lived lifetimes ago. They knew then just as we know now, that one day, it is within the realm of possibility, for us to lose absolutely everything. Everything we’ve ever known. Perhaps even in the blink of an eye.

“The end is nigh” is such an old sentiment that the word “nigh” is seldom used (commonly) in the English language anymore. Empires rose and fell and our demise seemed to pass from the elusive hands of Gods and Titans, into our very own. So what became of this passing of fates, what followed this age of enlightenment? Thus began the Industrial Revolution. The less we had to fear from this world, the more we were willing to take from it. So that’s exactly what we did.

Wars scorched the earth, we mined metals to kill one another with. It’s estimated that as many as eighty-five million people lost their lives in the second great war. That’s almost twice as many as the (predicted) death toll of the Black Plague. But then, for a time, (with the help of the atomic bomb), we grew tired of killing one another in grand world wars. Fighting continued, the fighting always continues but some scattered around this planet experienced something new. For the longest time, relatively speaking in terms of this planet, they knew a sort of peace.

But life is relative, nothing is absolute. We take things for granted. The age of apathy is upon us. As the world grew smaller (technologically), strangely we found ourselves growing further apart. In the years between 1970 and 2012 it’s estimated that our planet’s collective marine species have declined by 75%. Species of flora and fauna considered iconic to most humans are beginning to fade from existence. At the time of writing this sentence, it’s believed that there are less than 4,000 tigers left on the planet. Islands are being reclaimed by the ocean. But while the world around us faces uncertainties, the human race has grown by over 6 billion people in less than 100 years.

Minds that not so long ago saw only to plundering what they could from the earth are now working to solve the problems crippling it. Where once we were something of a pathogen to this world, in time we could become the antibodies that attempt to sustain it. But is it too late? An unpopular theory, is that the things we are seeing unfold are natural events of a grander scale than we can comprehend. Something we often fail to accept is that in the fullness of time, by a myriad of possible catastrophic (or even not so catastrophic) events, this planet will be lost.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent to many, that maybe we were never meant to stay fixed upon this planet indefinitely. Like the spores of a plant, we are the spores of a planet that go beyond this solar system and forge a future that was only possible because of the millions of years our species had to develop here. Our terra nursery.

It will be a long and arduous road, riddled with many difficult choices along the way. But as a species, alike as an individual, if you do not adapt and grow you will stagnate and inevitably fail.

So why not bring about a new age, to end this age of apathy? An age of wonder. Because it’s going to require a great deal of imagination to contemplate the extent of our potential. It will require imagination to confront what part we truly have to play in the fate of our planet and our fellow earthlings. Regardless of species and evolutionary progression, all life from this planet, on an individual level, is considered an ‘Earthling’.

In the end, no matter what happens, the one thing that will bind all human beings alike all other forms of life under our care, wherever they should go in the universe, will be the small blue planet of the Milky Way Galaxy, from whence our ancestors came.

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 2

ᴛʜᴇ ILLUSION ᴏғ TIME

Unless you hold some sort of remarkable disinterest in the natural world, or possess a visual impairment, thus far in your lifetime it’s highly likely you would have noticed stars. Shining, twinkling and adorning the darkness of our planet’s night skies. Unbeknownst to some of us however, is that a great many of these twinkling little lights extinguished in many cases, millions of years ago.

What we are gazing upon is the light that star produced during its prime, traveling at the speed of light, yet still only now reaching our visual senses. The speed of light in the vacuum of space, is 299, 792, 458 meters per second (186, 282 miles per second. 299, 792 kilometers per second). To put that in perspective, our Earth is also about 149, 597, 870 km from the Sun. The light from the sun takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds to reach us on our planet’s surface. (149, 597, 870 km/299 792 km = 499 seconds/60 = 8.3168 = 8 minutes and 19 seconds).

So what this tells us, among other things, is that space is in fact, very, very big. So big in fact that even something as fast as the speed of light, takes quite a bit of time to get from one celestial body to the next. So what does any of this have to do with how we perceive time you might be wondering?

It is said that the speed of light as far as we can tell is a constant, but that doesn’t mean it’s a reliable source to suggest the existence of what we call “time”. Because while gravity does not effect light particles (directly), it does result in something called Gravitational Time Dilation. Gravitational Time Dilation is the differences in recorded time(s) observed at varied distances to a gravitational mass.

Essentially, while light is not directly effected by gravity, spacetime however, can be curved or warped by mass (gravity). This curvature of spacetime can in effect lengthen the distance required by light to travel to reach an observer. Meaning even though light travels at a constant speed, depending on the mass of the planet you find yourself on (along with many other gravitational factors), you may see the light sooner or later than someone perceiving the same light source on a planet further or closer to the same source.

This theory(?) is most commonly observed in Global Positioning System satellites which are positioned about 20, 197 km/12, 550 miles from the Earth. Being so far from the center of the Earth’s gravity, the clocks aboard the satellites systems measure (represent?) a passing of time faster than that on Earth. Which eventually led to the satellites requiring re-calibration with earth’s time to be able to function adequately.

To apply this concept of Gravitational Time Dilation in a way that is relative for us to understand (because in the end, that’s all time actually is). Scientists have discovered that if you should place two atomically accurate stop-watches at two locations, one stop-watch one foot higher than the other and left them ticking over in pristine isolation for 79 years, upon your return you would find that the stop-watch closer to Earth’s center would be 90 billionths of a second behind the stop-watch, one foot above.

To anyone reading this (assuming anyone did), you may scoff at 90 billionths of a second and think, in no way does that mean anything to me. But to you I will present this possibility: Imagine if everything that occurred in the formation of this planet (or one very similar), just so happened, by some chance, to take formation identically to Earth’s, only in regards to its collective mass being amplified, by 999, 999 , 999 billion, billion, billion, billion etc, etc %.

Mega Earth. Where there are copies of every one of us standing 999, 999 , 999 billion, billion, billion, billion etc, etc % larger than we are now. Out of curiosity how long do you think one of these colossal doppelgänger’s might live? An average lifespan? It theoretically correlates with gravity, so it goes without saying, that these beings, would live unbelievably long lifetimes. Nigh unfathomable to you or I.

The same principle could be applied to a microscopic world and the theory of evolution. Microscopic humanoids from a microscopic world would see a relative time almost uncurved by mass/gravity at all. Does this mean when compared to a much, much larger planet they are thousands of years of development ahead? Could there be microscopic highly advanced spacefarers traversing distances we can’t fathom, at sizes we cannot even detect with the naked eye?

All said and done, time is relative. Not even just in a scientific sense. It’s personal, we each perceive it differently. We wield it how we choose, some better than others. We even get allotted different amounts to spend in this world. But time as we generally come to know it, purely a man-made means of showing up on time for appointments, giving a name to something that doesn’t really exist.

The concept of TIME is brilliant, unique and very much needed for order and structure on this planet. But, it is also an illusion.

Posted on by ᵀᴴᴱ ARGONAUT 1