We humans are really getting a bad rap lately,
aren't we? What a destructive group we are.
I can think of few things less enticing than getting into the global warming
debate--it's like wrestling a beehive from a bear, it just can't end
well--so rest easy that this isn't another "Bawww" fest about melting
glaciers or economic collapse. What I'm talking about here is so much larger
than our little planet. Forget the Earth, humans are so bad-ass that we are
not just killing the planet or the galaxy, but the whole frakking universe.
At this rate, there won't be anything left for our future generations to
destroy. This is why we can't have nice things.
You are probably wondering what I am talking about. Humans destroying the
universe? No way. Well, scientists think otherwise...
Mankind 'shortening the universe's life'
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor - November 21, 2007
Forget about the threat that mankind
poses to the Earth: our very ability to study the heavens may have shortened
the inferred lifetime of the cosmos.
That does not mean the field of astronomy does direct harm. A universe with
a truncated lifespan may come hand in hand with the ability of astronomers
to make cosmological measurements, according to two American scientists who
have studied the strange, subtle and cosmic implications of quantum
mechanics, the most successful theory we have.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/21/scicosmos121.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
Quantum mechanics, sucka...do you theorize it?
I had some other plans for this week's column, but a headline like this one
is just too great to pass up. I don't know if it's the absurdity of the
theory or just the awesomeness that is quantum super-science, but this stuff
has me thoroughly intrigued.
I'm no Einstein, but from what I can understand, it is because we are
observing the cosmos that it is going to die. The theory is a sort of 'tree
falling in the woods' scenario. So long as no one knows of its existence,
something can't really cease existing. Put another way, I guess it's like an
actor that no one can agree on whether he is alive or dead. For those that
believe he's dead, it holds true in their quantum universe. Well, maybe it's
not at all like that, and I am sure that a real scientist somewhere is
burying his face in his palm.
If you can get through the mind blowing science in the article, the main
culprit fingered for our inescapable demise is the mysterious force known
dark energy. Because we have observed dark energy's supposed ability to
increase cosmic expansion, it is now inevitable that the universe will decay
because of it. I'm having trouble trying to grasp these concepts, but what
really cooked my noodle is the theory that because we are a part of the
universe, our observations don't determine its ultimate fate, but only the
state of our perception of it.
You hear that noise? That's the sound of all this quantum mechanics going
straight over my head. Still, I think that's great that we have the power to
destroy so much so easily. It really makes you appreciate just how cracked
our universe is.
I am also reminded of that old demon-hunting and witchcraft trick to gain
power over something by learning its name. It's because we are continuing to
understand the universe that our power over it is also increased. Which I
guess holds true for all forms of science. If you're looking for a point in
this week's K-Files, I guess that it's new scientific theories like quantum
mechanics are more and more blurring the once highly defined line between
the natural world and the paranormal. When scientists are debating such
things as man destroying the universe by observing it, then suddenly things
like UFOs and Bigfoot don't seem nearly as outlandish as the skeptics would
lead you to believe.
And also, does this mean that the environmentalists will be going after
astronomers now? If nothing else, it brings new meaning to the phrase
'ignorance is bliss'.
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