I read a SciFi book where there was a group in the world that does general science in the name of averting the heat death of the universe.
Comment on Where does the music go?
InputZero@lemmy.world 5 weeks agoSo scientists are not entirely certain about the heat death of the universe. The heat death is the most reasonable prediction given what we know but there could be a force acting across the universe that may very slowly reverse the expansion of the universe that we have yet to discover and cause a big crunch over a ridiculously large amount of time. The fact is predictions that far in the future aren’t really very useful.
5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Lycist@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Ah yes, the ol’ “If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?” approach to preventing the death of the universe.
5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
I don’t quite understand. Care to elaborate?
Lycist@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Existence is in the eye of the beholder. For something to exist it must be observed.
It sounds like in the book you read performing general science would go towards observing the universe preventing its heat death?
I dunno if fully applicable, but that’s what I got out of it :D
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Does quantum foam occasionally spawn a new big bang
InputZero@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I don’t know enough to answer that, sorry.
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
I asked chatgpt and the answer is inconclusive
Does quantum foam occasionally spawn a new big bang ?
The idea of “quantum foam” occasionally spawning a new Big Bang is an intriguing concept, but it belongs more to speculative physics than established science, at least with our current understanding of cosmology. Quantum Foam:
Quantum foam (or spacetime foam) refers to a concept derived from quantum mechanics and general relativity. It was first proposed by physicist John Wheeler in the 1950s. The basic idea is that on extremely small scales, close to the Planck length (~1.6 × 10⁻³⁵ meters), spacetime is not smooth but fluctuates wildly due to quantum uncertainty. This is because, in quantum theory, at these incredibly small scales, particles and even spacetime itself undergo constant, random fluctuations, resulting in a “foamy” structure. Quantum Foam and Big Bangs:
The speculation that quantum foam might give rise to new universes or Big Bang-like events is tied to broader ideas in theoretical physics, including concepts like quantum cosmology, eternal inflation, and multiverse theories.
Does Quantum Foam Directly Spawn Big Bangs?
Currently, the connection between quantum foam and the creation of new Big Bangs remains speculative and unproven. Our understanding of quantum gravity—the theory that would fully unify quantum mechanics and general relativity—is still incomplete. Many of the ideas related to the quantum foam, multiverses, or eternal inflation remain theoretical and lack direct empirical evidence.
While quantum foam might offer an intriguing arena for considering the birth of new universes, there is no definitive evidence that quantum foam occasionally spawns new Big Bangs, at least according to current mainstream physics. In Summary:
Scientific advancement, especially in quantum gravity and cosmology, might eventually give us more insights into whether such processes could occur.