Wired has a run-down on some big questions that remain unanswered (or partially answered). My favorites are: How can observation affect the outcome of an experiment? Why is fundamental physics so messy? How does the brain produce consciousness? Is the universe actually made of information? That last one is a good question to mull over […]

Wired has a run-down on some big questions that remain unanswered (or partially answered). My favorites are: How can observation affect the outcome of an experiment? Why is fundamental physics so messy? How does the brain produce consciousness? Is the universe actually made of information? That last one is a good question to mull over […]

Weirdest cosmology theories. Via GeekPress. Personally, I think they left off a really good one.

Because, hey — we believe in equal time: Here’s how to build a universe. Step one: start at the beginning of time. Step two: apply the laws of physics. Step three: sit back and watch the universe evolve. Step four: cross your fingers and hope that it comes out looking something like the one we […]

…would be an improvement. Left to my own devices, my philosophical speculations tend towards solipsism supported by the odd tautology. Instinctively, I’ve always sensed that that kind of thinking was wrong. Here, at last, is a graphical demonstration of what I believe the problem to be. Bonus: In the process of looking for this animation, […]

…if they found something, and it was Morse Code to the effect of “The Lutherans got it right, but only the Missouri Synod Lutherans. Everyone else, thanks for playing.” Carl Sagan had a similar idea in his novel Contact, where the signature was left (I believe) in… SPOILERS AHEAD

…if they found something, and it was Morse Code to the effect of “The Lutherans got it right, but only the Missouri Synod Lutherans. Everyone else, thanks for playing.” Carl Sagan had a similar idea in his novel Contact, where the signature was left (I believe) in… SPOILERS AHEAD

Here’s some interesting research: The physical constants of the Universe are thought to have remained unchanged since the Big Bang; many predictions made by cosmologists depend on it. An international team of researchers are using the National Science Foundation’s Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to see if things really have gone on unchanged […]

I think this idea sounds a lot like this one. Here’s my favorite part: String theory, according to Susskind, presents a compelling explanation of why the cosmological constant is so small, without invoking an intelligent designer. The answer lies in what Susskind calls “the Landscape,” which is the set of all possible universes that are […]