Monday 21 August 2023

Astonishing Physics Facts

 































People keep currently posting above in Facebook saying essentially, wow, isn't physics amazing.

1. And apparently we never ever see anything "now". Even when talking to someone just in front of you, they're appearing as they were an incredibly small fraction of a second ago. So, in a sense, everything we ever see is non-existent if the past doesn't exist. But I think people always take the scientific story too seriously. Perhaps we should re-consider what is meant by "now"? Perhaps "now" should be defined by what the speed of light conveys. So we're not seeing a star 100 light years away as it was 100 years ago, but rather "now".

2. So at the singularity (the centre) of a black hole, in a split second the whole of eternity flashes by in the rest of the Universe. Or perhaps Einstein's equations break down in such extreme conditions! 

3. Refers to dark matter. Translation -- the galaxies exhibit motions not currently accommodated by our current understanding of gravity. Or, in other words, our theories in physics don't currently describe everything. But putting it this way is less likely to exhibit the wow! from people...

4 & 5. Takes our theories in physics as depicting a literal state of affairs. Ignores underdetermination of theories that suggest physics is merely engaged in describing the world via mathematical equations, not saying what its ultimate nature is.

6. What is amazing is that reality exhibits patterns that we can mathematically describe. But 6 seems to suggest that gravity is a real thing with causal powers, which like 4 and 5, is a metaphysical interpretation.

7. Meaningless blather, but sounds cool to say it. 

8. Or observation (as in a perceptual experience) defines reality.

Whodunit

People constantly boast about anticipating the "big reveals" or "whodunnits" in novels and films. But, these big reveals...