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RECENT ARTICLES
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A View From the Top
Thinking of causation as a "two-way street"—along which the passage of information can be inverted—could have implications for the origin of life.
Classic Article: Black Holes, Paradox Regained
In 2004, Stephen Hawking famously conceded that black holes do not devour all information when they swallow matter—seemingly resolving the "black hole information paradox" that had perplexed physicists for decades. But some argue that the paradox remains open, and we must abandon our simple picture of spacetime to unravel it.
Quantum Biology: Making Waves in the Natural World
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Have we been fooled into seeing one form of reality, with particular fundamental forces and laws, based on the peculiar way that we have chosen to measure time?
The Cosmic Hologram
Is our universe an illusion projected backward in time from the future?
T H Ray: "Lev, I wasn't thinking in terms of nodes and labels. If you say " ...the..." in After the Transition...
John Merryman: "Paul, Having to run, but it's not that I don't see the need for..." in What is Information by...
John Merryman: "Paul, Yes, within your view of time as a sequence of distinct event,..." in THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING...
Patrick Tonin: "Hi James, L is the dimension of Length T is the dimension of Time I..." in Definitely It from Bit !...
Leo Vuyk: "Quantum FFF theory is a combination of a holistic and a reductionist..." in Hubble Redshift Despite...
Leo Vuyk: "Thank you Robert, Of course you are right, dark matter black holes as..." in Hubble Redshift Despite...
Cristinel Stoica: "Dear Vladimir, Thank you for your kind comments. There are some points..." in The Tao of It and Bit by...
Satyavarapu Gupta: "Dear Robert Bennett, Your earlier statement. . . . . If It=material..." in Information, Reality and...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
A View From the Top
Thinking of causation as a "two-way street"—along which the passage of information can be inverted—could have implications for the origin of life.
Classic Article: Black Holes, Paradox Regained
In 2004, Stephen Hawking famously conceded that black holes do not devour all information when they swallow matter—seemingly resolving the "black hole information paradox" that had perplexed physicists for decades. But some argue that the paradox remains open, and we must abandon our simple picture of spacetime to unravel it.
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Could quantum effects explain the mechanisms behind smell, photosynthesis and bird navigation?
The Accidental Universe
Have we been fooled into seeing one form of reality, with particular fundamental forces and laws, based on the peculiar way that we have chosen to measure time?
The Cosmic Hologram
Is our universe an illusion projected backward in time from the future?
FQXi BLOGS
May 22, 2013
 |
| Credit: R. G. Clowes / UCLan |
The cluster has been dubbed the “Huge-LQG” (Huge-large-quasar-group), and neighbors another large clump, the “CCLQG” (where the CC stands for the names of its discoverers, Clowes (again) and Campusano). This corner of the sky is apparently where all fashionable quasars want to hang out, and that’s a problem for modern cosmology, which is founded on the “cosmological principle” that
the universe should look pretty much the same in every direction, on large scales.
The image shows the occurrence of quasars (darker colors indicate more quasars) in the region. The HUGE-LQG is marked by the chain of black circles, while the red crosses mark its smaller neighbor. The map covers an impressive 29.4 by 24 degrees on the sky. (Credit: R. G. Clowes / UCLan.)
The story has been reported a lot in the news, and you can listen to a nice NPR podcast about it here. Taken alone, it’s a nice story about a puzzling thing that seems to defy our current theories of cosmology. But there’s a wider question: Cosmology is a relatively new science (there’ll be a bit more about that in this month’s forthcoming podcast, which I am about to upload). Cosmologists and astronomers don’t have the luxury of being able to carry out experiments to test their theories and so models are built based on the relatively small amount of data available at the time. So should we be surprised that as we push the observational boundaries, the data calls our models into question? Or do you think that each apparently startling result will eventually be brought into the fold?
Please feel free to add in other links to recent results that have been puzzling astronomers and cosmologists and to discuss what they ultimately mean for our standard model of cosmology.
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"Galaxy Clusters Back Up Einstein's Theory of Relativity. (...) The researchers, led by Radek Wojtak of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, set out to test a classic prediction of general relativity: that light will lose energy as it is escaping a gravitational field. The stronger the field, the greater the energy loss suffered by the light. As a result, photons emitted from the center of a galaxy cluster - a massive object containing thousands of galaxies - should lose more energy than photons coming from the edge of the cluster because gravity is strongest in the center. (...) The effect is known as gravitational redshifting."
Does "light will lose energy as it is escaping a gravitational field" mean "light will lose SPEED as it is escaping a gravitational field"? In other words, is the gravitational redshift a measure of the reduction in the speed of light? In 1911 Einstein said light loses speed just as cannonballs do, then in 1916, in the final version of general relativity, he informed the world that light loses speed even faster than cannonballs.
Pentcho Valev
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Does "light will lose energy as it is escaping a gravitational field" mean "light will lose SPEED as it is escaping a gravitational field"? In other words, is the gravitational redshift a measure of the reduction in the speed of light? In 1911 Einstein said light loses speed just as cannonballs do, then in 1916, in the final version of general relativity, he informed the world that light loses speed even faster than cannonballs.
Pentcho Valev
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Photons slowed down by the gravitational field of the emitter:
"In 2005 a quasar with redshift z = 2.11 was discovered near the core of active galaxy NGC 7319 which is a low redshift galaxy (z = 0.0225) in Stephen's Quintet that is located about 360 million light years away. As noted in a UC San Diego news release, this presents a problem for standard theory which customarily places a...
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"In 2005 a quasar with redshift z = 2.11 was discovered near the core of active galaxy NGC 7319 which is a low redshift galaxy (z = 0.0225) in Stephen's Quintet that is located about 360 million light years away. As noted in a UC San Diego news release, this presents a problem for standard theory which customarily places a...
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Pentcho,
I don't think it's an issue whether light slows in various mediums and fields. The argument is that since ultimately any clock is composed of light, it will also slow in the same situation and so the measure will remain equal. The issue, as I see it, is that measures of time and space/distance are considered equivalent and are part of some foundational mathematical geometry that...
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I don't think it's an issue whether light slows in various mediums and fields. The argument is that since ultimately any clock is composed of light, it will also slow in the same situation and so the measure will remain equal. The issue, as I see it, is that measures of time and space/distance are considered equivalent and are part of some foundational mathematical geometry that...
view entire post
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If the Universe wave function is a continuous function, then the variation of the wave function on a small scale (in terms of Universe) is small: I think that the Universe of the simultanei events is locally homogeneous: it is weaker than the cosmological principle but it is certainly valid.
Saluti
Domenico
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Saluti
Domenico
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John,
It's not quite true that no theory predicts these findings, including the high z quasar and complex CMB anisotropies.
Those who read my last two essays, particularly '2020 vision' (2011) may recall the simple cyclic model proposed, which predicts an axial flow in the CMBR, no great attractor but a 'great emitter' in the other direction, the helical morphology found (also in the paper I've endlessly posted links to here) and also indeed the full suite of anisotropies identified by Smoot and in this very comprehensive analysis;
Copi C. J., et al. Large-Angle Anomalies in the CMB., Adv. Astron.2010; 2010:847541. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aa/2010/847541/fig4/
http://m
nras.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/01/07/mnras.sts49
7.full#ref-5
I've just posted some lovely recent quotes on my essay blog, explained the basics and invited falsifications. The problem is that, as Joy has found, although all claim that major changes are needed, as soon as any are proposed all, even in supposedly fundamental forums, run and hide or group together like the 3 monkeys shouting; "nonsense - it must be wrong as it's not what we learnt at school!"
In the above essay I estimated it would be around 2020 before the reactionaries died off or matured, so physics could finally release the chains and move on. I haven't yet changed that estimate. How DO we get people to think differently? And if fQXi has now reverted to reactionary old boy 'science by beleif' what hope is there?
Peter
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It's not quite true that no theory predicts these findings, including the high z quasar and complex CMB anisotropies.
Those who read my last two essays, particularly '2020 vision' (2011) may recall the simple cyclic model proposed, which predicts an axial flow in the CMBR, no great attractor but a 'great emitter' in the other direction, the helical morphology found (also in the paper I've endlessly posted links to here) and also indeed the full suite of anisotropies identified by Smoot and in this very comprehensive analysis;
Copi C. J., et al. Large-Angle Anomalies in the CMB., Adv. Astron.2010; 2010:847541. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aa/2010/847541/fig4/
http://m
nras.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/01/07/mnras.sts49
7.full#ref-5
I've just posted some lovely recent quotes on my essay blog, explained the basics and invited falsifications. The problem is that, as Joy has found, although all claim that major changes are needed, as soon as any are proposed all, even in supposedly fundamental forums, run and hide or group together like the 3 monkeys shouting; "nonsense - it must be wrong as it's not what we learnt at school!"
In the above essay I estimated it would be around 2020 before the reactionaries died off or matured, so physics could finally release the chains and move on. I haven't yet changed that estimate. How DO we get people to think differently? And if fQXi has now reverted to reactionary old boy 'science by beleif' what hope is there?
Peter
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Peter,
I think it's evident in this forum the extent to which social and political realities are very much a factor in what happens. The best I can say is to keep chipping away at the foundations of the ivory tower. Maybe it might fall one day. Maybe we are just scratching graffiti. Maybe both. There are so many bubbles in the world today, that seem ready to burst, but only keep getting bigger, that I've learned to not get emotional about any of them. Just keep scratching away at whatever catches my attention. The world doesn't take us too serious, so don't take the world too seriously.
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I think it's evident in this forum the extent to which social and political realities are very much a factor in what happens. The best I can say is to keep chipping away at the foundations of the ivory tower. Maybe it might fall one day. Maybe we are just scratching graffiti. Maybe both. There are so many bubbles in the world today, that seem ready to burst, but only keep getting bigger, that I've learned to not get emotional about any of them. Just keep scratching away at whatever catches my attention. The world doesn't take us too serious, so don't take the world too seriously.
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John,
Gold is one of the things you must bite to test but still don't have to swallow. Yet people seem too afraid to bite. So here we are, finally found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - but nobody's interested.
I now picture myself at a dusty market sitting on the pot with a pile of gold on the table as people pass and turn away whispering their belief that the pot's cracked and the wares just fools gold.
Few bite it to test, and even those that do back off and wander away as they're not familiar with such wares so don't trust what they find.!. It's human nature really. Our current state of evolution.
No worries. Most will be grabbing at it eventually. My seat's comfortable, the sun's shining, I have a good book half written and the people are very interesting to study. If you need a hand with the mallet and chisel, or perhaps the odd nugget, just let me know.
Best wishes
Peter
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Gold is one of the things you must bite to test but still don't have to swallow. Yet people seem too afraid to bite. So here we are, finally found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - but nobody's interested.
I now picture myself at a dusty market sitting on the pot with a pile of gold on the table as people pass and turn away whispering their belief that the pot's cracked and the wares just fools gold.
Few bite it to test, and even those that do back off and wander away as they're not familiar with such wares so don't trust what they find.!. It's human nature really. Our current state of evolution.
No worries. Most will be grabbing at it eventually. My seat's comfortable, the sun's shining, I have a good book half written and the people are very interesting to study. If you need a hand with the mallet and chisel, or perhaps the odd nugget, just let me know.
Best wishes
Peter
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Peter,
Gold is a bit like a quantum particle. Its value is generally a function of context, rather than absolute. The point you make is valid, but is it one more symptom of a deeper disconnect? For example, how much of the current dust up over non-locality, that seems to be going on over Joy's disproof of Bell would be moot, if physics considered the wave as fundamental and the particle as simply a property of it, like a wave crest, as opposed to the current belief that particles are fundamental and waves are just statistical? Then the "entangled particles" are different crests of the same wave. Even the Higgs seems to have some extension, given the two detectors measure it at slightly different energies.
I keep making my point that time is not a vector from past to future, but the changing configuration of what is, that turns future into past and I think it is fairly foundational to why we misinterpret physics, but it doesn't get much notice from others equally convinced their particular views are more foundational. It's as much a matter of the physics of subjective knowledge as anything. We are observers of the circus.
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Gold is a bit like a quantum particle. Its value is generally a function of context, rather than absolute. The point you make is valid, but is it one more symptom of a deeper disconnect? For example, how much of the current dust up over non-locality, that seems to be going on over Joy's disproof of Bell would be moot, if physics considered the wave as fundamental and the particle as simply a property of it, like a wave crest, as opposed to the current belief that particles are fundamental and waves are just statistical? Then the "entangled particles" are different crests of the same wave. Even the Higgs seems to have some extension, given the two detectors measure it at slightly different energies.
I keep making my point that time is not a vector from past to future, but the changing configuration of what is, that turns future into past and I think it is fairly foundational to why we misinterpret physics, but it doesn't get much notice from others equally convinced their particular views are more foundational. It's as much a matter of the physics of subjective knowledge as anything. We are observers of the circus.
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John,
"We are observers of the circus." So it seems, but I'm a 'do'er not a spectator. I don't expect or live off applause either.
Presenting more evidence of an AGN based recycling model, this today; Black Holes Grow Faster than Predicted
This lenticular galaxy should be about to start jetting on it's perpendicular axis any moment now (in astronomical terms, which means it probably did so about 20 million years ago and the light from that will reach us in just another 8 million years time).
It also of course derived our pre 'big bang' state, pretty well as the picture.
Considered along with the CMB anisotropy data link I posted, Does that really sound so ridiculous?
Peter
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"We are observers of the circus." So it seems, but I'm a 'do'er not a spectator. I don't expect or live off applause either.
Presenting more evidence of an AGN based recycling model, this today; Black Holes Grow Faster than Predicted
This lenticular galaxy should be about to start jetting on it's perpendicular axis any moment now (in astronomical terms, which means it probably did so about 20 million years ago and the light from that will reach us in just another 8 million years time).
It also of course derived our pre 'big bang' state, pretty well as the picture.
Considered along with the CMB anisotropy data link I posted, Does that really sound so ridiculous?
Peter
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Decreasing Speed of Light in a Non-Empty Vacuum
NATURE: "The speed of light in a vacuum is constant, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, but its speed passing through any given material depends on a property of that substance known as its index of refraction."
The hint made by the journal NATURE leads to an extremely dangerous (for both relativity and cosmology) conclusion: since the vacuum is filled with some material, the speed of light coming to us from distant astronomical objects may not be constant, and this explains the cosmological redshift:
"Shine a light through a piece of glass, a swimming pool or any other medium and it slows down ever so slightly, it's why a plunged part way into the surface of a pool appears to be bent. So, what about the space in between those distant astronomical objects and our earthly telescopes? COULDN'T IT BE THAT THE SUPPOSED VACUUM OF SPACE IS ACTING AS AN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TO LOWER THE SPEED OF LIGHT like some cosmic swimming pool?"
"At present it is ascertained that vacuum is not an "empty space" - rather, it is a certain material continuum with quite definite although still unknown properties. This has been confirmed by observation of vacuum effects such as "zero-oscillations", vacuum polarization, particle generation by electromagnetic interactions. Therefore it is reasonable to suggest that physical vacuum could have internal friction due to its own small but real viscosity, which in the end produces redshift. (...) ...the differential equation for the speed of light dc/dt=-Ho*c(t)"
Pentcho Valev
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NATURE: "The speed of light in a vacuum is constant, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, but its speed passing through any given material depends on a property of that substance known as its index of refraction."
The hint made by the journal NATURE leads to an extremely dangerous (for both relativity and cosmology) conclusion: since the vacuum is filled with some material, the speed of light coming to us from distant astronomical objects may not be constant, and this explains the cosmological redshift:
"Shine a light through a piece of glass, a swimming pool or any other medium and it slows down ever so slightly, it's why a plunged part way into the surface of a pool appears to be bent. So, what about the space in between those distant astronomical objects and our earthly telescopes? COULDN'T IT BE THAT THE SUPPOSED VACUUM OF SPACE IS ACTING AS AN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TO LOWER THE SPEED OF LIGHT like some cosmic swimming pool?"
"At present it is ascertained that vacuum is not an "empty space" - rather, it is a certain material continuum with quite definite although still unknown properties. This has been confirmed by observation of vacuum effects such as "zero-oscillations", vacuum polarization, particle generation by electromagnetic interactions. Therefore it is reasonable to suggest that physical vacuum could have internal friction due to its own small but real viscosity, which in the end produces redshift. (...) ...the differential equation for the speed of light dc/dt=-Ho*c(t)"
Pentcho Valev
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New Scientist: "Vacuum has friction after all"
"...even frigid intergalactic space is awash in microwave photons that would gradually slow a drifting space traveler. The friction occurs because the moving object absorbs more photons at its front surface than at its rear. The object slows from the flow of photons, just as a cyclist is slowed by the wind she feels in her face. (...) In intergalactic space, the slowing of a macroscopic object would only be noticeable over billions of years. In a 1000-degree-Kelvin oven, on the other hand, a water molecule would need less than five months to slow to a standstill, assuming it started out at the oven's temperature."
How about a photon emitted by a distant astronomical object and travelling towards Earth? Will it be gradually slowed down by vacuum friction? Yes it will, and this explains the cosmological redshift. Any redshift or blueshift is due to a shift in the speed of light.
Pentcho Valev
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"...even frigid intergalactic space is awash in microwave photons that would gradually slow a drifting space traveler. The friction occurs because the moving object absorbs more photons at its front surface than at its rear. The object slows from the flow of photons, just as a cyclist is slowed by the wind she feels in her face. (...) In intergalactic space, the slowing of a macroscopic object would only be noticeable over billions of years. In a 1000-degree-Kelvin oven, on the other hand, a water molecule would need less than five months to slow to a standstill, assuming it started out at the oven's temperature."
How about a photon emitted by a distant astronomical object and travelling towards Earth? Will it be gradually slowed down by vacuum friction? Yes it will, and this explains the cosmological redshift. Any redshift or blueshift is due to a shift in the speed of light.
Pentcho Valev
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Pentcho,
It seems you've derived cosmological blue shift. Unfortunately there isn't any. The effect you cite is the reverse of what is found. If photons (or waves) slowed down approaching the Milky Way they would 'close up' giving shorter wavelength (higher observed frequency) which is the inverse of z.
There are of course real mechanisms able to give the cosmological redshift which are not currently allowed for. In fact I've recently found one of Eckards favourites Shtyrkov guilty of anticipatory plagourism by copying one (of 5) I derived and termed expansion shift, and publishing it in Russian 10 years before I even thought of it! Link below, as recently translated (I'm writing to him to complain!).
In Coherent Forward Scattering, which is how light is transmitted by electrons, the energy of propagation comes from the particles, all re-emitting at local c, not from the emitter! Massive bodies are slowed down by interactions, as the report says, light is not.
Shtyrkov. E.I., The Evolved-Vacuum Model of Redshifts. 1999( 2008).
Best wishes.
Peter
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It seems you've derived cosmological blue shift. Unfortunately there isn't any. The effect you cite is the reverse of what is found. If photons (or waves) slowed down approaching the Milky Way they would 'close up' giving shorter wavelength (higher observed frequency) which is the inverse of z.
There are of course real mechanisms able to give the cosmological redshift which are not currently allowed for. In fact I've recently found one of Eckards favourites Shtyrkov guilty of anticipatory plagourism by copying one (of 5) I derived and termed expansion shift, and publishing it in Russian 10 years before I even thought of it! Link below, as recently translated (I'm writing to him to complain!).
In Coherent Forward Scattering, which is how light is transmitted by electrons, the energy of propagation comes from the particles, all re-emitting at local c, not from the emitter! Massive bodies are slowed down by interactions, as the report says, light is not.
Shtyrkov. E.I., The Evolved-Vacuum Model of Redshifts. 1999( 2008).
Best wishes.
Peter
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"...even frigid intergalactic space is awash in microwave photons that would gradually slow a drifting space traveler. The friction occurs because the moving object absorbs more photons at its front surface than at its rear. The object slows from the flow of photons, just as a cyclist is slowed by the wind she feels in her face. (...) In intergalactic space, the slowing of a macroscopic object would only be noticeable over billions of years. In a 1000-degree-Kelvin oven, on the other hand, a water molecule would need less than five months to slow to a standstill, assuming it started out at the oven's temperature."
Note that the concept of vacuum friction implicitly introduces an absolute reference frame. This has nothing to do with the old absolute reference frame based on the concept of ether. Friction presupposes a particular case in which the traveler experiences no friction, that is, the speed of the traveler relative to what causes the friction is zero. In that case the traveler belongs to a special reference frame which can be called "absolute".
Pentcho Valev
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Note that the concept of vacuum friction implicitly introduces an absolute reference frame. This has nothing to do with the old absolute reference frame based on the concept of ether. Friction presupposes a particular case in which the traveler experiences no friction, that is, the speed of the traveler relative to what causes the friction is zero. In that case the traveler belongs to a special reference frame which can be called "absolute".
Pentcho Valev
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The Dark Matter halo surrounding Huge-LQG should be darker than the halo of smaller surrounding galaxies, as the gravitational pullback on light in Huge-LQG slows it down to a greater degree than the smaller galaxies will, and it therefore the newly created space manifests itself as denser "New Heavy Dark Matter Space". Is the technology avaialble to confirm this?
CIG allows for the quasar cluster as it offers a vaying cosmological non-constant. These occurences (i.e. the grouping of large galaxies) are no different than the presence of a large molecule in a sea of hydrogen.
THX
doug
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CIG allows for the quasar cluster as it offers a vaying cosmological non-constant. These occurences (i.e. the grouping of large galaxies) are no different than the presence of a large molecule in a sea of hydrogen.
THX
doug
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Paul Davies: "As pointed out by DeWitt, the quantum vacuum is in some respects reminiscent of the aether, and in what follows it may be helpful to think of space-time as filled with a type of invisible fluid medium, representing a seething background of vacuum fluctuations. Although the mechanical properties of this medium can be strange, and the image should not be pushed too far, it is sometimes helpful to envisage this "quantum aether" as possessing a type of viscosity."
"Shine a light through a piece of glass, a swimming pool or any other medium and it slows down ever so slightly, it's why a plunged part way into the surface of a pool appears to be bent. So, what about the space in between those distant astronomical objects and our earthly telescopes? COULDN'T IT BE THAT THE SUPPOSED VACUUM OF SPACE IS ACTING AS AN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TO LOWER THE SPEED OF LIGHT like some cosmic swimming pool?"
Desperate Einsteinians refuse to answer the question.
Pentcho Valev
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"Shine a light through a piece of glass, a swimming pool or any other medium and it slows down ever so slightly, it's why a plunged part way into the surface of a pool appears to be bent. So, what about the space in between those distant astronomical objects and our earthly telescopes? COULDN'T IT BE THAT THE SUPPOSED VACUUM OF SPACE IS ACTING AS AN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TO LOWER THE SPEED OF LIGHT like some cosmic swimming pool?"
Desperate Einsteinians refuse to answer the question.
Pentcho Valev
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Pentcho,
Does the water in a spa pool move? of course. So as c/n for water is a constant; For an observer outside the pool, is the speed of a light pulse c/n passing through water flowing one way not DIFFERENT to the speed c/n through the water in flow heading the OTHER way?
Think carefully. Here be the pot of gold to defrock thine enemy. Yet this Holy Grail can only be seen and understood by the intelligent (and Harrison Ford).
Space as a medium was indeed the theme of my essay, and then with discrete 'fields,' each with states of motion (DFM).
Much ado about nothing. Consequences Assumption of space as a medium
Peter
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Does the water in a spa pool move? of course. So as c/n for water is a constant; For an observer outside the pool, is the speed of a light pulse c/n passing through water flowing one way not DIFFERENT to the speed c/n through the water in flow heading the OTHER way?
Think carefully. Here be the pot of gold to defrock thine enemy. Yet this Holy Grail can only be seen and understood by the intelligent (and Harrison Ford).
Space as a medium was indeed the theme of my essay, and then with discrete 'fields,' each with states of motion (DFM).
Much ado about nothing. Consequences Assumption of space as a medium
Peter
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One more "anomaly;"
"With a better handle on the star's brightness Bond's team refined the star's age by applying contemporary theories about the star's burn rate, chemical abundances, and internal structure. New ideas are that leftover helium diffuses deeper into the core and so the star has less hydrogen to burn via nuclear fusion. This means it uses fuel faster and that correspondingly lowers the age. Also, the star has a higher than predicted oxygen-to-iron ratio, and this too lowers the age. Bond thinks that further oxygen measurement could reduce the star's age even more, because the star would have formed at a slightly later time when the universe was richer in oxygen abundance. Lowering the upper age limit would make the star unequivocally younger than the universe. "Put all of those ingredients together and you get an age of 14.5 billion years, with a residual uncertainty that makes the star's age compatible with the age of the universe," said Bond. "This is the best star in the sky to do precision age calculations by virtue of its closeness and brightness."
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-hubble-birth-certificate-oldest
-star.html
They are unabashed about skewing every parameter toward a younger age. The power of belief is very strong. Objectivity can't get in the way.
While it isn't mentioned, the ages presented seem to refer to how long a star has been burning, not how long it took to coalesce out of cosmic gases. Not to mention this is a second generation star(metals) and those first generation stars had to coalesce as well. According to inflation theory, the universe expanded to larger than what is visible, in the inflationary stage, so the process of enough gases being gravitationally accumulated wasn't something that could have happened in the week or two these theories seem to allot for it.
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"With a better handle on the star's brightness Bond's team refined the star's age by applying contemporary theories about the star's burn rate, chemical abundances, and internal structure. New ideas are that leftover helium diffuses deeper into the core and so the star has less hydrogen to burn via nuclear fusion. This means it uses fuel faster and that correspondingly lowers the age. Also, the star has a higher than predicted oxygen-to-iron ratio, and this too lowers the age. Bond thinks that further oxygen measurement could reduce the star's age even more, because the star would have formed at a slightly later time when the universe was richer in oxygen abundance. Lowering the upper age limit would make the star unequivocally younger than the universe. "Put all of those ingredients together and you get an age of 14.5 billion years, with a residual uncertainty that makes the star's age compatible with the age of the universe," said Bond. "This is the best star in the sky to do precision age calculations by virtue of its closeness and brightness."
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-hubble-birth-certificate-oldest
-star.html
They are unabashed about skewing every parameter toward a younger age. The power of belief is very strong. Objectivity can't get in the way.
While it isn't mentioned, the ages presented seem to refer to how long a star has been burning, not how long it took to coalesce out of cosmic gases. Not to mention this is a second generation star(metals) and those first generation stars had to coalesce as well. According to inflation theory, the universe expanded to larger than what is visible, in the inflationary stage, so the process of enough gases being gravitationally accumulated wasn't something that could have happened in the week or two these theories seem to allot for it.
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another
"Marrone, who is the principal investigator of the gravitational lensing portion of the project, explained that because only those super-distant galaxies can be discovered that happen to lie in perfect alignment with another galaxy that can act as a lens and the Earth, it is likely that they are much more abundant than previously thought. "It has been thrilling to be among the first to use ALMA to study the very early universe," added Spilker. "We are now trying to use the molecules we see to explain how and why these galaxies were so active, so soon after the Big Bang."
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-alma-monster-starburst-galaxies
-early.html
With ALMA fully up and running, this should get interesting.
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"Marrone, who is the principal investigator of the gravitational lensing portion of the project, explained that because only those super-distant galaxies can be discovered that happen to lie in perfect alignment with another galaxy that can act as a lens and the Earth, it is likely that they are much more abundant than previously thought. "It has been thrilling to be among the first to use ALMA to study the very early universe," added Spilker. "We are now trying to use the molecules we see to explain how and why these galaxies were so active, so soon after the Big Bang."
http://phys.org/news/2013-03-alma-monster-starburst-galaxies
-early.html
With ALMA fully up and running, this should get interesting.
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I realize I'm beating a dead horse or a very stubborn mule here, but reading through the various postings on the Planck results, I can't help but comment on the primordial thermodynamic processes at work here and how time is a function of how they evolve. Thus if we insist on some form of blocktime reality, while it provides a necessary narrative structure to our ability to comprehend, it also has to somehow freeze the very processes at work here. Now most people/physicists considering this seem to compartmentalize this divergence quite instinctively, but it sticks out like a sore thumb to me and all the browbeating I get for raising the issue hasn't cured my skepticism. To quote Galileo, "Yet it moves!"
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John,
Planks findings; "challenge the very foundations of cosmology." You're not shouting in the dark. Things move. but only ever relatively.
I paste my post from the IOP Computational Astronomy & Astrophysics blog below;
And ~20% more Dark matter than assumed!!
This has greater implications as it finally proves or fundamental assumptions and the concordance...
view entire post
Planks findings; "challenge the very foundations of cosmology." You're not shouting in the dark. Things move. but only ever relatively.
I paste my post from the IOP Computational Astronomy & Astrophysics blog below;
And ~20% more Dark matter than assumed!!
This has greater implications as it finally proves or fundamental assumptions and the concordance...
view entire post
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Peter,
That seems a long way off, but in reality it might still be too quick. Unfortunately.
It's not that their heads are buried in the sand, but in the math. There seems to be a quote of Hawking, floating around various conversation, about what "breathes fire into the equations." The foundational belief being in the Platonic/deistic nature of the math, with the physical reality as a redheaded step-child, rather than the math emerging from the "fire."
In my more pessimistic thoughts, it occurs to me that epicycles might not have lasted for 2000 years, had the dark ages not occurred. Given the eventual implosion of this current historic financial bubble, the current physics might end up being locked in place until long after our generation is gone.
As for the current round of anomalies, I'd like to think there is one to break the camel's back, but considering the patches already applied, these will only take a dab or two of plaster.
I'd like to be more optimistic, but the psychological realities are as unforgiving as the physical realities.
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That seems a long way off, but in reality it might still be too quick. Unfortunately.
It's not that their heads are buried in the sand, but in the math. There seems to be a quote of Hawking, floating around various conversation, about what "breathes fire into the equations." The foundational belief being in the Platonic/deistic nature of the math, with the physical reality as a redheaded step-child, rather than the math emerging from the "fire."
In my more pessimistic thoughts, it occurs to me that epicycles might not have lasted for 2000 years, had the dark ages not occurred. Given the eventual implosion of this current historic financial bubble, the current physics might end up being locked in place until long after our generation is gone.
As for the current round of anomalies, I'd like to think there is one to break the camel's back, but considering the patches already applied, these will only take a dab or two of plaster.
I'd like to be more optimistic, but the psychological realities are as unforgiving as the physical realities.
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The idea that light interacts with the "vacuum" and so its speed changes is getting more and more popular:
"Speed of Light May Not be Constant (...) Two separate studies by scientists from the University of Paris-Sud in France and from the Max Planck Institutes for the Physics of Light in Germany are disputing the long established belief concerning the nature of a vacuum. (...) A vacuum,...
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"Speed of Light May Not be Constant (...) Two separate studies by scientists from the University of Paris-Sud in France and from the Max Planck Institutes for the Physics of Light in Germany are disputing the long established belief concerning the nature of a vacuum. (...) A vacuum,...
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"Speed of Light is Not Constant, Say Scientists. According to two new studies, speed of light referred by Albert Einstein as a constant in vacuum is not actually a constant. The speed of light in vacuum was said to be 299,792,458 meters per second, or 186, 282 miles per second, back in 1975. However, the studies say that the vacuum is not actually a vacuum as it comprises ephemeral particles with...
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Lubos Motl comment:
Speed of light is variable: only in junk media
http://motls.blogspot.com/2013/03/speed-of-light-is-var
iable-only-in-junk.htm
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Speed of light is variable: only in junk media
http://motls.blogspot.com/2013/03/speed-of-light-is-var
iable-only-in-junk.htm
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The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light, M. Urban, F. Couchot, X. Sarazin and A. Djannati-Atai: "When a real photon propagates in vacuum, it interacts with and is temporarily captured by an ephemeral pair. As soon as the pair disappears, it releases the photon to its initial energy and momentum state. The photon continues to propagate with an infinite bare velocity. Then the photon interacts again with another ephemeral pair and so on. The delay on the photon propagation produced by these successive interactions implies a renormalisation of this bare velocity to a finite value."
This is not very reasonable but still it may generate an extremely heretical thought:
If photons coming to Earth from distant astronomical objects constantly bump into vacuum constituents and slow down as a result, this could explain the Hubble redshift without recourse to universe expansion, Big Bang etc.
Pentcho Valev
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This is not very reasonable but still it may generate an extremely heretical thought:
If photons coming to Earth from distant astronomical objects constantly bump into vacuum constituents and slow down as a result, this could explain the Hubble redshift without recourse to universe expansion, Big Bang etc.
Pentcho Valev
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Decreasing Speed of Light in a Non-Empty Vacuum
Prof. E. I. Shtyrkov: "At present, vacuum has been experimentally established to be not a void but it is some material medium with definite but not so far investigated features. It was really confirmed by observation of several vacuum effects, for instance, zero oscillations and polarization of vacuum, generating the particles in vacuum due to electromagnetic interaction. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that this real matter-physical vacuum can possess internal friction due to its small but a real viscosity to result in variation of light-matter interaction. That is, vacuum can affect on the light wave because of certain resistance. This may be a reason for the redshifts observed. (...) The electromagnetic wave is gradually slowing down... (...) The frequency perceived by observers at any point on the light path depends on the light velocity being at the observation time."
"Paradoxalement, Hubble n'admit jamais cette théorie du Big-Bang et de l'expansion de l'univers. Il défendit la théorie de "la lumière fatiguée" reprise par Pecker, Vigier et Alton Arp. Dans cette théorie, la lumière en parcourant de longues distances perd une partie de son énergie ET DE SA VITESSE, et se décalent vers le rouge."
Einsteinians and cosmologists.
Clever Einsteinians and clever cosmologists.
Pentcho Valev
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Prof. E. I. Shtyrkov: "At present, vacuum has been experimentally established to be not a void but it is some material medium with definite but not so far investigated features. It was really confirmed by observation of several vacuum effects, for instance, zero oscillations and polarization of vacuum, generating the particles in vacuum due to electromagnetic interaction. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that this real matter-physical vacuum can possess internal friction due to its small but a real viscosity to result in variation of light-matter interaction. That is, vacuum can affect on the light wave because of certain resistance. This may be a reason for the redshifts observed. (...) The electromagnetic wave is gradually slowing down... (...) The frequency perceived by observers at any point on the light path depends on the light velocity being at the observation time."
"Paradoxalement, Hubble n'admit jamais cette théorie du Big-Bang et de l'expansion de l'univers. Il défendit la théorie de "la lumière fatiguée" reprise par Pecker, Vigier et Alton Arp. Dans cette théorie, la lumière en parcourant de longues distances perd une partie de son énergie ET DE SA VITESSE, et se décalent vers le rouge."
Einsteinians and cosmologists.
Clever Einsteinians and clever cosmologists.
Pentcho Valev
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Decreasing Speed of Light in a Non-Empty Vacuum (II)
E. I. Shtyrkov: "That is, vacuum can affect on the light wave because of certain resistance. This may be a reason for the redshifts observed. (...) The electromagnetic wave is gradually slowing down..."
Paul Davies: "The quantum vacuum may in certain circumstances be regarded as a type of fluid medium, or aether, exhibiting energy...
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E. I. Shtyrkov: "That is, vacuum can affect on the light wave because of certain resistance. This may be a reason for the redshifts observed. (...) The electromagnetic wave is gradually slowing down..."
Paul Davies: "The quantum vacuum may in certain circumstances be regarded as a type of fluid medium, or aether, exhibiting energy...
view entire post
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The gravitational redshift has nothing to do with the expansion of the universe but mainstream cosmologists are not very impressed:
"The researchers, led by Radek Wojtak of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, set out to test a classic prediction of general relativity: that light will lose energy as it is escaping a gravitational field. The stronger the field, the greater the energy loss suffered by the light. As a result, photons emitted from the center of a galaxy cluster - a massive object containing thousands of galaxies - should lose more energy than photons coming from the edge of the cluster because gravity is strongest in the center. (...) The effect is known as gravitational redshifting."
In contrast, the anomalous quasar redshift acts like the face of Medusa the Gorgon - on seeing it, mainstream cosmologists get petrified and remain in that state for long periods:
Cosmology Quest - Debunking Quackademic Cosmology - Part 1 of 4
Pentcho Valev
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"The researchers, led by Radek Wojtak of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, set out to test a classic prediction of general relativity: that light will lose energy as it is escaping a gravitational field. The stronger the field, the greater the energy loss suffered by the light. As a result, photons emitted from the center of a galaxy cluster - a massive object containing thousands of galaxies - should lose more energy than photons coming from the edge of the cluster because gravity is strongest in the center. (...) The effect is known as gravitational redshifting."
In contrast, the anomalous quasar redshift acts like the face of Medusa the Gorgon - on seeing it, mainstream cosmologists get petrified and remain in that state for long periods:
Cosmology Quest - Debunking Quackademic Cosmology - Part 1 of 4
Pentcho Valev
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Another "anomaly;
""Massive, intense starburst galaxies are expected to only appear at later cosmic times," says Dominik Riechers, who led the research while a senior research fellow at Caltech. "Yet, we have discovered this colossal starburst just 880 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was at little more than 6 percent of its current age." Now an assistant professor at Cornell, Riechers is the first author of the paper describing the findings in the April 18 issue of the journal Nature.
While the discovery of this single galaxy isn't enough to overturn current theories of galaxy formation, finding more galaxies like this one could challenge those theories, the astronomers say. At the very least, theories will have to be modified to explain how this galaxy, dubbed HFLS3, formed, Riechers says."
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-04-massive-galaxy-intense-star-for
mation.html#jCp
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""Massive, intense starburst galaxies are expected to only appear at later cosmic times," says Dominik Riechers, who led the research while a senior research fellow at Caltech. "Yet, we have discovered this colossal starburst just 880 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was at little more than 6 percent of its current age." Now an assistant professor at Cornell, Riechers is the first author of the paper describing the findings in the April 18 issue of the journal Nature.
While the discovery of this single galaxy isn't enough to overturn current theories of galaxy formation, finding more galaxies like this one could challenge those theories, the astronomers say. At the very least, theories will have to be modified to explain how this galaxy, dubbed HFLS3, formed, Riechers says."
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-04-massive-galaxy-intense-star-for
mation.html#jCp
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