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Showing posts with label Theories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theories. Show all posts

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Theory: Is the universe really existant, or is it a hologram

Science delves on cold facts, theories, experiments, and explanations that cover all these. But sometimes, there are theories that are difficult to accept, although there are experiments that are equally difficult to understand. What do you make of an experiment that proves that under certain conditions, particles such as electrons are able to communicate with each other even though they are far away from each other; so, even though Einstein's theory says that nothing can move faster than the speed of light, this experiment seems to suggest that particles can communicate with each other instantly, much faster than light. One theory takes from this approach, and suggests that the universe in fact is just a hologram (link to site):


University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram.
To understand why Bohm makes this startling assertion, one must first understand a little about holograms. A hologram is a three- dimensional photograph made with the aid of a laser. To make a hologram, the object to be photographed is first bathed in the light of a laser beam. Then a second laser beam is bounced off the reflected light of the first and the resulting interference pattern (the area where the two laser beams commingle) is captured on film. When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Theory: We live in a compute simulation

I wonder how many people saw a Science Fiction movie called '13th Floor'. This was a movie about a later generation of more advanced people inventing a computer program that creates a simulation of people (seems like the Matrix as well), and that the current generation of people living are actually all living in the computer simulation.
Well, here's a paper by a scientist that seeks to justify this theory, and postulate that this is indeed the reality (link to article):


This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of other consequences of this result are also discussed.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

What makes us yawn ?

Everybody yawns — from unborn babies to the oldest great-grandparent. Yawning is an involuntary action that causes us to open our mouths wide and breathe in deeply. We know it's involuntary because we do it even before we are born. Research shows that 11-week-old fetuses yawn. Yawn is a reflex of inhalation and exhalation that draws more oxygen in bloodstream.

CAUSES OF YAWNING ?
- A long-standing theory behind yawning is that there was too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen in the blood. The brain stem was assumed to detect this and would trigger the yawn reflex. The mouth stretches wide and the lungs inhaled deeply, causing oxygen into the lungs and thence to the bloodstream. This is not certain however: a more recent theory is that it is a form of bodily temperature regulation.
- Yawns "seem to be caused by the same chemical compounds (neurotransmitters) in the brain that effect emotions, mood, appetite and more - serotonin, dopamine, glutamic acid and nitric oxide. The more of these compounds activated in the brain, the greater the frequency of yawns.
- Yawning is also said to be caused by boredom, fatigue or drowsiness. Although we do tend to yawn when bored or tired, this theory doesn't explain why Olympic athletes yawn right before they compete in their event. It's doubtful that they are bored with the world watching them.

IS YAWNING CONTAGIOUS ?
No one knows for sure, but a study published in a recent issue of the journal Cognitive Brain Research theorizes that yawning in response to someone else’s yawn may be an empathetic response, similar to laughter. “A yawn can be triggered not only by seeing a person yawn but also by hearing, reading about, or even just thinking about yawns,” says Steven Platek, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Drexel University, in Philadelphia, who directed the research. Platek and his colleagues believe that contagious yawning may be a primitive way of modeling our feelings after other people’s.
Between 40 and 60 percent of the population seems to find yawning contagious. Researchers at the State University of New York conducted a series of yawning experiments. They determined that being self-aware (the ability to recognize oneself) and having the ability to see things from someone else's viewpoint means a person is more likely to find yawning contagious.

Interesting Yawning Facts :
* The average yawn lasts about six seconds.
* Your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.
* 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.
* Blind people yawn more after hearing an audio tape of people yawning.
* Reading about yawning will make you yawn.
* Olympic athletes often yawn before competition.