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universe

WHAT IF: We’re Living in a Simulation?

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Matrix

Every Wednesday, we’re asking a what-if question – how would our world be different if something were changed? Today’s question is from QSFer Scott: What if this is all a simulation? How would we know? Live Science tackles the issue: https://www.livescience.com/universe-simulation-hypothesis-problems Share your serious scientific analyses, your off-color jokes, and random thoughts on the topic on our FB and MeWe Groups: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

WHAT IF: The Universe Were a Giant Computer Simulation?

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circuit board - deposit photos

Every Wednesday, we’re asking a what-if question – how would our world be different if something were changed? Today’s question is from QSFer Scott: What if the universe were one big computer simulation? Live Science addresses how much computing power that would require. Share your serious scientific analyses, your off-color jokes, and random thoughts on the topic on our FB and MeWe Groups: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

SPACE: Is the Universe a Giant Donut?

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unicorn donut - pixabay

Imagine a universe where you could point a spaceship in one direction and eventually return to where you started. If our universe were a finite donut, then such movements would be possible and physicists could potentially measure its size. “We could say: Now we know the size of the universe,” astrophysicist Thomas Buchert, of the University of Lyon, Astrophysical Research Center in France, told Live Science in an email. Examining light from the very early universe, Buchert and a team of astrophysicists have deduced that our cosmos may be multiply connected, meaning that space is closed in on itself in … Read more

FOR READERS & WRITERS: When is a “Universe” Too Big?

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Star Wars

FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: I’m old enough to remember when Star Wars was a single film. Now there are… well, I’ve lost count. Main films, side films, TV series, theme parks, cartoons, comics, and much more. Same with Trek, the MCU and DC to a lesser extent. Does it ever become overwhelming? Or are you always hungry for more? Writers: This is a reader/writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. … Read more

Is the Universe Expanding So Quickly Because of “Bumblebee Gravity”?

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bumblebee gravity

Physicists have long assumed that the universe is pretty much the same in any direction, and now they’ve found a new way to test that hypothesis: by examining the shadow of a black hole. If that shadow is a wee bit smaller than existing physics theories predict, it could help prove a far-out notion called bumblebee gravity, which describes what would happen if the seemingly perfect symmetry of the universe isn’t so perfect after all. If scientists can find a black hole with such an undersized shadow, it would open the door to a brand-new understanding of gravity — and … Read more

Are We Living in the Matrix?

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matrix

It is not often that a comedian gives an astrophysicist goose bumps when discussing the laws of physics. But comic Chuck Nice managed to do just that in a recent episode of the podcast StarTalk. The show’s host Neil deGrasse Tyson had just explained the simulation argument—the idea that we could be virtual beings living in a computer simulation. If so, the simulation would most likely create perceptions of reality on demand rather than simulate all of reality all the time—much like a video game optimized to render only the parts of a scene visible to a player. “Maybe that’s … Read more

Astrophysicists Figure Out How Much Stuff There Is

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universe - pixabay

The stuff that makes up our universe is tricky to measure, to put it mildly. We know that most of the universe’s matter-energy density consists of dark energy, the mysterious unknown force that’s driving the universe’s expansion. And we know that the rest is matter, both normal and dark. Accurately figuring out the proportions of these three is a challenge, but researchers now say they’ve performed one of the most precise measurements yet to determine the proportion of matter. According to their calculations, normal matter and dark matter combined make up 31.5 percent of the matter-energy density of the universe. … Read more

How Old Is the Universe? Older Than Me (and You)

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light rays - pixabay

Ancient light from the Big Bang has revealed a precise new estimate for the universe’s age: 13.77 billion years, give or take 40 million years. The new estimate, based on data from an array of telescopes in the Chilean Atacama Desert, also weighs in on one of the most important disagreements in astrophysics: How fast is the universe expanding? Described in two scientific papers, the new result gives a significant boost to one side of the disagreement, though the physicists couldn’t prove the other side of the dispute wrong. Here’s the problem: Physicists need to understand the universe’s expansion rate … Read more

Spacetime Ripples Could Explain Why Universe Exists

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A new study may help answer one of the universe’s biggest mysteries: Why is there more matter than antimatter? That answer, in turn, could explain why everything from atoms to black holes exists. Billions of years ago, soon after the Big Bang, cosmic inflation stretched the tiny seed of our universe and transformed energy into matter. Physicists think inflation initially created the same amount of matter and antimatter, which annihilate each other on contact. But then something happened that tipped the scales in favor of matter, allowing everything we can see and touch to come into existence — and a … Read more

What If Consciousness Pervaded the Universe?

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One of science’s most challenging problems is a question that can be stated easily: Where does consciousness come from? In his new book Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness, philosopher Philip Goff considers a radical perspective: What if consciousness is not something special that the brain does but is instead a quality inherent to all matter? It is a theory known as “panpsychism,” and Goff guides readers through the history of the idea, answers common objections (such as “That’s just crazy!”) and explains why he believes panpsychism represents the best path forward. He answered questions from Mind … Read more