Also known as the Buckyball experiment, Austrian researchers shot molecules through a barrier with two slits. Results did not agree with Newtonian physics but instead showed an inference pattern resembling expected results for light waves.

3

29

The Grand Design

The laws of nature seem mysteriously crafted to allow for complex life. Scientific explanations involve the existence of multiple universes with different sets of laws. Thus, a universe with our set of laws is no more special than the unique configuration of our solar system or the very planet we live on.

Get

Explore more quotes

Facebook:113123053025366329554 gjlg1m

Any model which agrees with observation is of equal value to any likewise model. No such model can be said to be more real than any other such model. Models are evaluated in terms of simplicity and their ability to make clear, falsifyable preditions.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1k09fs

The heliocentric model of Johannes Kepler can not be said to be more 'real' than the much older geocentric model of Ptolemy. Both agree with observation, although the heliocentric model is much more elegant in its explanation.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366337660 1f4cfm1

Our being restricts the environments we could potentially find ourselves in. We could not exist in a solar system with two suns, and thus find ourselves in a system with a single sun. This type of deduction is called 'weak anthropic principle'.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1u0aphm

The habitable zone of a star ('Goldilocks Zone') is determined by the size and temperature of the star. A planet too close will be too hot for life; those beyond the zone too cold.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 11u8m23

Physicist John Wheeler considered replicating the double-slit experiment with photons from a distant quasar. Whether we observe or not (thus altering the resulting inference pattern) will impact light that emerged even before our sun came to exist.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 f1o9sq

Ever thought about the dimensions of the big bang? No? Try to imagine a coin of one centimeter diameter suddenly blowing up to ten million times the width of the Milky Way.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366329554 18u6btw

Feynman assumes that particles at microscopic scale travel from A to B by taking every possible path - simultaneously. This accounts for the inference patterns observed in the double slit experiment.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1i6e15p

According to Feynman, a particle samples every path connecting point A and B, hence collecting information about the path to be taken. Manipulation of the experiment, e.g. closing one of the slits, will change information collected and the result observed.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 pwug5i

Information about each path can be imagined as a vector, called phase. Different phases can enhance or diminish each other. Adding up all the phases enables us to calculate the probability of the particle reaching point B.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1wktgn

Humanity's role in the universe is in no way central or privileged. Despite this, only a very narrow range of possible universes could support organisms as complex as humans. We had a great influence on creation - indirectly.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366331061 1wkqdhl

In 1929, Edwin Hubble deducted that the universe must be expanding. Recession speed increases with distance. The extrapolation of this idea into the distant past lead to the big bang hypothesis.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 t9kvnc

To better visualize the expansion and increasing speed of recession, imagine all galaxies on the surface of an inflating baloon. After a certain time, a galaxy near the observer will have moved less than an already very distant galaxy.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366337660 t3o6ks

Universes appear randomly due to quantum fluctuations. Most collapse after a fraction of time, a few inflate to critical size. All universes start off in a very similar way, each with all possible histories ahead of them. In later stages, different universes differ immensely.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 kt2ef3

Adding up all energies within the universe, the resulting number must be zero. Bodies not requiring any energy to assemble can appear entirely at random.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 w8p8bv

Inside a sufficiently inflated universe, space is locally stable. This dictates that any isolated body surrounded by empty space must have a positive energy total. In other words: To assemble this body, work has to be done.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366331061 llvqqc

In the very early universe, there were four dimensions of space and none of time. Time is a modified space dimension. To ask what came before the beginning of the universe is as meaningless as asking what is south of the South Pole.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1nbz2tg

General theory of relativity illustrates that time and space are not independant. Once quantum effects are taken into account, time can be warped to an extent that it behaves identical to another space dimension. This requires an extreme scenario, e.g. the big bang.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366356898 7bxc5o

Moving clocks run more slowly than unmoved clocks ('Time dilation'). This also applies to biological clocks, making moving people age more slowly. However, this effect is only noticeable at extremely high velocities, such as 50% of light speed.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366337660 hafbep

The strong anthropic principle suggests that our existence imposes not only constraints on the environment we live in, but also on the utmost fundamental form and content of the laws of nature themselves.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366337660 l8ncq1

Not only planet Earth, but also the configuration of our solar system and the design of the fundamental laws of nature of our universe seem oddly conductive to human life. The tiniest variation in any law of nature would lead to an entirely inanimate universe.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366337660 17sy4c8

1. GravityThe weakest of the four forces. Its long range implies that all objects in the universe attract each other. For large bodies, gravitational forces can dominate over all other forces because they are additive.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 jqg64c

2. ElectromagnetismThis force is much stronger than gravity while also operating at long range. It requires affected particles to be electrically charged. Biology and chemistry are the result of electromagnetic interactions.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 1yu9vcq

3. Weak nuclear forceThis force causes radioactivity. It played a central role in the formation of elements in stars during the early stages of the universe. There is no contact with this force in everyday life.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 lpuwnk

4. Strong nuclear forceThis force binds the components of atomic nuclei together. The strong nuclear force is the energy source for stars and nuclear power facilities. As with the weak force, we experience no direct contact with it.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366329554 1jii77d

M-Theory is a network of domain specific theories to explain every aspect of the universe. Whenever there is overlap, overlapping theories have to agree on observations made. Hence, M-Theory can be treated as a single theory.

Simon Steiger

Facebook:113123053025366338924 ymdeak

Now, [...] faced with scientific claims like [...] the multiverse hypothesis [...], the Catholic Church will again defend human nature by proclaiming that the immanent design in nature is real.

Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna

Facebook:113123053025366338924 12ovxuo

The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.

Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

Facebook:113123053025366338924 15xhhr9

On an atomic scale, all particles exhibit features known from the wave/particle duality of light. Everyday Newtonian physics can not explain observations on a microscopic scale but approximate results on macroscopic scales.

Simon Steiger

I was so happy to go to prom so I could have a mental break because I've been working so hard. It felt so good to feel normal for once, and then the next day, I was in the gym again.

Aly Raisman

In the Eucharist a communion takes place that corresponds to the union of man and woman in marriage. Just as they become one flesh so in Communion we all become one spirit one person with Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI

My husband says he wants to have the best hay field in Britain. I can't wait.

Jasmine Guinness

I got in trouble my whole life for having a big mouth.

Steven Tyler

I never felt I had the kind of relationship with Magic that I could just pick up the phone and call him at home.

Karl Malone

Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Awareness is the greatest agent for change.

Eckhart Tolle

I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they're running the asylum.

Robert De Niro

I get along very well with the cast of '30 Rock.' I guess I bring a certain quirkiness to the show as well. I'm just thankful they keep asking me. I didn't think I was going to be asked back so every time they say, 'We want you back,' I'm screaming. I'm jumping up and down and screaming.

Sherri Shepherd

The future of Windows is to let the computer see, listen and even learn.

Bill Gates

Reading is a form of prayer, a guided meditation that briefly makes us believe we're someone else, disrupting the delusion that we're permanent and at the center of the universe. Suddenly (we're saved!) other people are real again, and we're fond of them.

George Saunders

There are many people making a difference. I mean, Dr. King never held an office. Gandhi never held an office. There are people who are archetypes in our society who have never held office and made a difference.

Dennis Kucinich

We are not seeking... and looking for war with any nations. We are seeking peace and stability among all the nations in the region.

Hassan Rouhani

I feel my role is to push boundaries. I don't like things to be safe and sedentary. So controversy is the cross I have to bear.

Jeremy Scott

Before you begin on the journey of revenge dig two graves.

Proverb

I'd say Jon Stewart has remained funny the entire time. Jon always makes it funny first. And he's just, he's talking about serious things, but in a funny way. Other comedians will talk about serious things in a serious way, and then you don't know what's going on.

Norm MacDonald

It is better to prevent than to cure.

Peruvian

Health care costs are eating the Defense Department alive.

Robert M. Gates

Maybe I am not very human - what I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house.

Edward Hopper

Two people happy with themselves can be exceptionally happy together.

Albert Hammond, Jr.