Category: Science

Time Traveling? I don’t think so.

Do neutrinos really travel faster than the speed of light? Maybe. If you haven’t heard, check out some articles here, here, and here. The original study has been made public and is currently under peer review but if you’re interested, the PDF can be found here.

Many scholars in the field of astronomy and physics are challenging the merits of the study because neutral subatomic particles traveling faster than the speed of light would undermine Einstein’s theory of relativity, which would change the world of physics as we know it. Not that it hasn’t happened before (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and so on). Anyways, until further experiments are carried out at the CERN LHC, sci-fi fanatics should keep those pants on.

It’s like magic! Not!

I have been reading up on QFT and the M-theory for some time now, VERY interesting stuff (to me, anyway). The main difference between the two is that M-theory encompasses Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, namely, the force of gravity. As we all know, Sir Isaac Newton first discovered gravity and proposed his three famous laws over 300 years ago. Einstein expanded and built on Newton’s discovery and came up with the formula E=mc². Now, gravity is a tricky concept to understand when it interacts with other variables, which is the reason scientists are searching for a unified theory. This is where QFT and the M-theory come in. Check out this article.

Basically, a vacuum is not an empty space (contrary to popular beliefs) and the article talks about the research into, to put it simply, making something out of “nothing”. And no, it’s not magic.

—– Update

Check out The Holographic Universe and this youtube video (Ignore the warning part, so cheesy)

Is reality really an illusion? Does reality exist solely based on our perceptions?

The weather outside is frightful

It’s been really cold this past few days. It’s been raining constantly. Supposedly this is the coldest San Jose has experienced in 12 years. A cold front lingering due to low pressure on the Gulf Coast. Yes, it’s global warming people. We might not know the extent of human contributions (as many studies pointed out), but admit it, we’ve been taking from our medio ambiente and never giving anything back. We ARE destroying our environment. Love National Geographic.

Let’s get nerdy now. Remember how cool having the power to become invisible was? How Harry got away with so much under his cloak? How Casper can turn invisible? Well, a while back the first findings were documented. Now we’re closer than we think to making this amazing feat come true. Let’s start we the basics. What makes things visible? Well, why can’t we see anything in the dark (technically we can if our eyes are adjusted)? There’s no light! So, we see things because light reflects off of whatever things we’re seeing. To make things invisible, all we have to do is avoid being “hit” by light. Basically, they found a material that can bend light so that light won’t hit an object, but instead, goes around the object, rendering it invisible. Cool huh? Technology, it’s great.

There’s no gene for fate…

Or is there? That was one of the memorable quotes in the movie Gattaca that I loved (and still do). It was one of many that kept me on my toes.

Anywho, the reason I bring up that quote is because of this article. Basically, a Bio-Computer has been created and tested inside a living cell which allows the manipulation of molecules. Engineered RNA (Ribonucleic acid, different from DNA, RNA is single-stranded) Bio-Computer can ultimately be “commanded” to change genes. Read the article for details.

The thought of altering genes took me right back to the movie. Genetically engineered human beings (eventually). This brings up controversial issues like stem-cell research and human ethics (mostly). The thought of having the power to play God is scary because admit it, ambitions drive us to the edge sometimes, and people make bad choices. The ones who have power want more power. This desire is our most basic human instinct. It gave us the development of new technologies, it gave us new knowledge of our world, it took us to the Moon (There’s no conspiracy here people, we did go to the moon), it gave us so many of the conveniences we enjoy every day without even thinking about it.

Nature vs Nurture is also another issue that consists of so many variables that it’s simply impossible to determine a trait. When we think about it, altering genes is really against nature, it doesn’t occur naturally. We manipulate and ultimately control it. I’m sure we’ve all seen it in TV shows and movies: aliens, robots, robots that are biologically based, AI, etc. I mean, sure, it’s fictional, but it can happen given this exponential growth of scientific knowledge and advances.

In the end, how do we determine the limits of these advances? What’s good? What’s evil? Yes, these are all philosophical questions and there’s no definite answer, these are all clichés, important, nonetheless. So, if you can alter a gene for fate, would you do it?

Cheers for a headache!

When it is darkest, men see the stars

Ralph Waldo Emerson might have been right 200 years ago…

This past weekend we went to Cahuita and Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. The beaches were definitely the best part. Saturday night we went out onto the beach, brought our guitars, and played some great music. I looked up at the sky and recognized a few easy-to-spot constellations: Orion the Hunter to the East (which everyone knows – Orion’s belt), Rigel and Betelgeuse, Andromeda and Pegasus almost directly above, Cassiopeia to the North, and Cygnus to the Northwest. This is looking up from Costa Rica (and neighboring countries of course). It was interesting because even though the sky was clear as glass, it was still hard to spot some of these stars. It’s sad really. The main reason for this is mostly light pollution. When we think about pollution things like air and water pollution pop into the head. Light pollution? Most people don’t even know what it is.

The point is that human activities and development have had a profound effect on the environment. Modern society depends too much on these natural resources. We keep taking but not giving back, and soon, resources are going to run out. The environment can survive without us, but we can’t survive without it. Astronomy has had a long history going back to the Greek and Roman Empire, Egypt, and China. Imagine the night sky back then…no lights, not much pollution, and a view of the stars clear as night. How awesome is (well, was) that?

Many religions associate stars with gods and heaven. Most people would admit that stargazing on the beach with a loved one is perhaps one of the most romantic things to do. Well, soon there won’t be any stars to see because our atmosphere will be so polluted.

See for yourself

Hace mucho tiempo, cuando no había nada, eso es el tiempo que pueda ver claramente el mundo y el universo. Querría volver a eso tiempo.

So, look up to the sky, ponder about meanings, and enjoy the view while we still can.

Mind over matter

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – commonly known as ‘broken heart syndrome’ is a weakening of the heart muscle due to severe emotional stress. Our mind controls everything and our brain gives off magnitudes of electromagnetic waves triggered by the constant firing of neurons. All these signals are received and interpreted by the brain and the appropriate response occurs, from blinking our eyes to breathing to playing sports. I’m sure everyone knows this. What intrigues me is not the physical aspect of our body but the mental aspect. The physical can be seen, has been proven and there are certain natural laws and rules to it. The mental or emotional, however, does not follow any kind of rules.

True, there are studies and statistics but these only apply to that set of subjects and should not be used to generalize and make the same assumptions on others. Two patients have the same sickness, one has a reason to live, and the other does not. Both are given the same treatment, but more than likely, the one who doesn’t want to live will die. We’ve seen and heard about these instances from news to TV shows to our friends. Ultimately, it comes down to a person’s will to live, to survive, to persevere. Hence, ‘Mind over matter’.

Science is based on theories proven by evidence over and over. Whether we choose to believe it or not, everything is made out of atoms, The Moon rotates around the Earth, the Earth rotates around the Sun, and everything that we feel or think are chemical reactions within our cells tissues, and veins. Many people would beg to differ. Many people want to believe that there is something more, something more than just plain old scientific facts. Einstein said it best: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

I read this book a few years ago titled The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes by Dean H. Hamer. It was very interesting because Hamer hypothesized that religion and faith have a genetic component to it which we human beings inherit from our predecessors. Faith is a tricky concept that has different meanings to different people. Some put their faith in the government (insert sarcasm here), some in science, some in themselves, but others put their faith in ‘God’. I put that in quotation marks because I don’t believe there’s some sort of supreme being out there guiding us (no offense), but what I do believe is that this ‘God’ is more of an abstract concept that’s universal even though it’s interpreted differently in every religion (Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc). It represents an idea; it gives people hope; it lends us an invisible shoulder to lean on if you may, and believe me, many of us need that comfort.

So, after all that, what’s the point? I mean, there’s probably an answer out there but it will most likely be something that’s beyond our capacity of understanding. In the end, the only thing we do know is to believe in whatever we choose to believe and stick with it. Despite the myriad amount of clichés, there are of what I’m about to say, I’m still gonna say it: Just be yourself and everything will fall into place.

Good day.