Category Archives: Quantum Physics

In the ultrahigh vacuum of a scanning tunneling microscope, a hydrogen molecule is held between the silver tip and sample. Femtosecond bursts of a terahertz laser excite the molecule, turning it into a quantum sensor. Credit: Wilson Ho Lab, UCI

New technique enables precise measurement of electrostatic properties of materials.

Physicists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have demonstrated the use of a hydrogen molecule as a quantum sensor in a terahertz laser-equipped scanning tunneling microscope, a technique that can measure the chemical properties of materials at unprecedented time and spatial resolutions.

This novel technique can also be applied to the analysis of two-dimensional materials which have the potential to play a role in advanced energy systems, electronics, and quantum computers.

On April 21, 2022, in the journal Science, the researchers in UCIs Department of Physics & Astronomy and Department of Chemistry describe how they positioned two bound atoms of hydrogen in between the silver tip of the STM and a sample composed of a flat copper surface arrayed with small islands of copper nitride. With pulses of the laser lasting just trillionths of a second, the scientists were able to excite the hydrogen molecule and detect changes in its quantum states at cryogenic temperatures and in the ultrahigh vacuum environment of the instrument, rendering atomic-scale, time-lapsed images of the sample.

This project represents an advance in both the measurement technique and the scientific question the approach allowed us to explore, says co-author Wilson Ho, UCI Donald Bren professor of physics & astronomy. Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI

This project represents an advance in both the measurement technique and the scientific question the approach allowed us to explore, said co-author Wilson Ho, Donald Bren Professor of physics & astronomy and chemistry. A quantum microscope that relies on probing the coherent superposition of states in a two-level system is much more sensitive than existing instruments that are not based on this quantum physics principle.

Ho said the hydrogen molecule is an example of a two-level system because its orientation shifts between two positions, up and down and slightly horizontally tilted. Through a laser pulse, the scientists can coax the system to go from a ground state to an excited state in a cyclical fashion resulting in a superposition of the two states. The duration of the cyclic oscillations is vanishingly brief lasting mere tens of picoseconds but by measuring this decoherence time and the cyclic periods the scientists were able to see how the hydrogen molecule was interacting with its environment.

The UCI team responsible for the assembly and use of the terahertz laser-equipped scanning tunneling microscope pictured here are, from left to right, Dan Bai, UCI Ph.D. student in physics & astronomy; Wilson Ho, Bren Professor of physics & astronomy and chemistry; Yunpeng Xia, Ph.D. student in physics & astronomy; and Likun Wang and Ph.D. candidate in chemistry. Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI

The hydrogen molecule became part of the quantum microscope in the sense that wherever the microscope scanned, the hydrogen was there in between the tip and the sample, said Ho. It makes for an extremely sensitive probe, allowing us to see variations down to 0.1 angstrom. At this resolution, we could see how the charge distributions change on the sample.

The space between the STM tip and the sample is almost unimaginably small, about six angstroms or 0.6 nanometers. The STM that Ho and his team assembled is equipped to detect minute electrical current flowing in this space and produce spectroscopic readings proving the presence of the hydrogen molecule and sample elements. Ho said this experiment represents the first demonstration of a chemically sensitive spectroscopy based on terahertz-induced rectification current through a single molecule.

The ability to characterize materials at this level of detail based on hydrogens quantum coherence can be of great use in the science and engineering of catalysts, since their functioning often depends on surface imperfections at the scale of single atoms, according to Ho.

As long as hydrogen can be adsorbed onto a material, in principle, you can use hydrogen as a sensor to characterize the material itself through observations of their electrostatic field distribution, said study lead author Likun Wang, UCI graduate student in physics & astronomy.

Joining Ho and Wang on this project, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, was Yunpeng Xia, UCI graduate student in physics & astronomy.

Reference: Atomic-scale quantum sensing based on the ultrafast coherence of an H2 molecule in an STM cavity by Likun Wang, Yunpeng Xia and W. Ho, 21 April 2022, Science.DOI: 10.1126/science.abn9220

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Hydrogen Molecule Turned Into a Quantum Sensor With Unprecedented Time and Spatial Resolutions - SciTechDaily

Speaking over Zoom, the Daniels proclaimed themselves devoted fans of pop science and cosmology. They sent me a copy of A Vast Pointless Gyration of Radioactive Rocks and Gas in Which You Happen to Occur (A24 LLC), a collection of science and speculative writing by authors including Jorge Luis Borges and Carl Sagan, which they edited.

Needless to say, there is not just one theory of the multiverse but many, depending on the physics you adopt. For instance, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that whenever you make a decision say, to turn left out of your driveway instead of right the universe splits in two and continues branching at every intersection. There is a universe for every way you could turn, every way a ball could come off Aaron Judges bat, every way a cookie could crumble.

Another version of the multiverse arises from string theory, the purported theory of everything that describes elementary particles as vibrating strings of energy. Theory of Anything might be a better moniker; it turns out that the theory has at least 10^500 solutions in 11 different dimensions, each of which represents an alternate universe, perhaps with its own laws.

Still another multiverse springs from the prevailing, though not fully confirmed, theory of cosmic inflation. Thanks to a violent whoosh fueled by negative gravity at the dawn of time, an endless array of bubble or pocket universes are branching off from one another at a dizzying, exponentially increasing rate.

The Daniels described their multiverse as a combination of Many Worlds and the cosmic bubble bath implied by inflation theory. Its fun to imagine both versions, Mr. Kwan said. Both of them are pointing toward infinity or just pointing toward the unknown.

But, they added, their film is less about physics than about how physics makes you feel. If you could see alternate lives, that would be that would send you spiraling, Mr. Scheinert said. It would send any of us kind of spiraling about, like, lives you could have led and choices you could have made.

The multiverse, they said, could also be a metaphor for the attention-deficient lives weve embraced in our bubbles of social-media truth. I think our stories have to constantly be looking for ways to calm us down again or to bring us back to another version of being centered and grounded again, Mr. Kwan said.

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Tripping Through the Universes - The New York Times

When President Grover Cleveland pushed a button to light the 100,000 incandescent lamps at the 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago, the luminous glow, which left attendees awestruck in the face of modernity, finally shined the world from the proverbial dark ages toward the future. In Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzmans Showtime limited series The Man Who Fell to Earth, a slew of tech royalty look out windows at a London skyline dazzlingly lit by quantum fusion power, capturing a similar sense of promise and wonder. This show understands the tricky balance between mystery and intrigue, madness and lucidity, progress and heartbreak. It doesnt always set its own world ablaze in the same way, but it manages to offer a hearty spark.

Based on Walter Tevis 1963 science fiction novel of the same name, the shows titular character, Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor), crashes from the heavens, naked, in search of water. Police pick him up, and he requests the presence of Justin Falls (Naomie Harris), a disgraced MIT graduate in quantum physics now shoveling manure in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Faraday can barely speak. He learns by listening, then regurgitating what he hears in a spatter of phrases and obscenities that worries everyone around him. Its not the first time hell face the police. And if theres one major failing of the series, its the color-blind scenarios of Black characters interacting with cops (particularly when Faraday is acting unhinged) but surviving mostly unscathed and ignored, which requires a real suspension of disbelief.

Faraday is on a mission ordered by Thomas Newton (Bill Nighy), a once-great inventor, presently gone and barely remembered except by his heirs. Before Spencer Clay (Jimmi Simpson), a needling CIA agent, can stop him, Faraday must find Justin, the worlds expert in quantum fusion technology, so they might build a machine thatll save his planet and Earth from the ravages of climate change. But departing with Faraday on a globetrotting adventure isnt easy for Justin. For one, she doesnt know him except as a troubled stranger without personal boundaries; Faraday often says exactly whats on his mind, no matter how casually cruel or weird he sounds. She also has a young daughter, Molly (Annelle Olaleye), and an arthritic father in constant need of care and medicine, Josiah (a delightful Clarke Peters).

The Man Who Fell to Earth initially subsists on Faradays quirkiness. Ejiofor delivers a torrent of accents in a William Shatner cadence. His spasms and kinetic physical energy offer a full range of emotions that at once dole out laughs and heartache if given the chance, he wouldve made a great Doctor in Doctor Who. Simply put, this show isnt afraid to be silly: In one scene Faraday, searching for water, sticks a few feet of garden hose down his throat. In another he vomits a mountain of gold rings to pawn.

Similar to the 1976 film starring David Bowie (who was always like an alien in his own right), Lumet and Kurtzman lean toward Tevis meditations on apocalypses and human error. Enter Harris Justin, a brilliant woman hiding her genius because of a mistake she committed long ago. The emotive Harris usually provides major wattage, and she doesnt disappoint here, as she crumbles and rebuilds to craft a character whose strength resides not in her anger but her admittedly shaky moral center. Together, she and Ejiofor add immeasurable potency to a series that sometimes slows to a crawl as it dissects the various apocalyptic scenarios around us.

The adaptations themes can often leave a bad taste in your mouth too. At one point, it resorts to ableism, pitching one characters disability as a burden for their family, leading to a moment reminiscent of The Green Mile. The writers, admirably, want to make The Man Who Fell to Earth a commentary on refugees. The series, in fact, begins in the future, with a successful Faraday as a Steve Jobs-style tech master talking to an auditorium filled with fans. He proclaims himself an immigrant who will tell his story. But what are the key elements to an immigrants story? Certainly, theres the fish-out-of-water element of being a traveler in a strange land with odd customs and a difficult language barrier. But the series fails to address the political element of it in a series featuring several strata of American law enforcement. Admittedly, only four of the shows 10 episodes were screened for review, but so far, the immigrant component is reedy at best.

For all the thematic holes, the series does offer visual wonderment. Wide vistas of desert landscapes, emphasizing the repetition of desolation, imbues the rough terrain with the spirit of the unexplainable. The cinematic lighting in particular, as it cuts sharp beams through austere compositions, emphasizes the series tinge of thriller, as does the thrumming score. Tranquil waters do flow through some episodes, such as Ejiofor and Peters dueting on Papa Was a Rollin Stone (its as adorable as it sounds) as well as Faraday and Falls supporting the other, even when everyone doubts them.

An unmistakable urgency pushes The Man Who Fell to Earth not just in Faradays mission and his belief in the ends justifying the means, but the environmental criticism guiding his journey and ours. Our planet is dying. And the people in power care very little about that fact. Sooner than we think, the damage will be irreversible. Faraday comes from a world where the only way to turn back the hands of time requires him to literally travel through space and time. Why are we letting petty rivalries and grievances destroy our collective future? Most likely because were human. Its our flaw and our strength. We can reach for the future when the light shines clearest, and then smash the switch when the light reveals an uncomfortable truth.

The Man Who Fell to Earth is filled with those truths but doesnt necessarily smash the switch or even reinvent it. A narrative universe exists where the show could be weirder, more boundary-pushing. Instead, the series needs more fortifying before its thematic investments yield any firm results, but good performances melded with an eccentric tone rife for tantalizing storytelling opportunities makes it worth exploring.

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The Man Who Fell to Earth review: a 2022 remake that almost sees a future - Polygon

Even without superhuman enhancements, many Marvel characters have a base-level intelligence that far exceeds any mere mortal mind. Some are physicists, others are surgeons, whereas many are just brilliantly gifted. Marvel has its fair share of brainiacs, but without the advantage of godly status or otherworldly influence, who can be named the smartest human being in the universe?

Providing the choice between Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Hank Pym, Shuri, Doctor Octavius and Norman Osborn, Reddit user DrDreidel82 took to the internet in search of answers as to who the most intelligent human in the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be.

When comparing so many candidates, the decision becomes an extremely difficult one. Do you prioritize scientific smarts, technological smarts, or generalized genius? Many fans (presumably) would nominate Tony Stark at first thought, but according to Reddit, the opinions are fairly evenly split. Judging by the unanimous agreement, it seems that Reed Richards is the victor.

However, despite the resounding opinions leaning towards Richards, it comes as no surprise that Stark takes the close second. In the vast majority of comments, there seems to be a huge divide between Richards and Stark as the main favorites.

There seems to be one or two comments that sway more towards Shuri and Hank Pym as close seconds to Richards and Stark. Especially given Shuris age, she may have the edge over the older geniuses, who may have slowed in their later years. Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo stated during a 2018 interview withWired that Shuri (Letitia Wright) fromBlack Pantheroutranks all others.

Ultimately, it all boils down to personal opinions and individual analyses of each candidates achievements in comparison with others. One could argue that Stark is resourceful and persistent, but Hank Pym created Pym Particles that enable time travel and the quantum tunnel to access the quantum realm. Likewise, Shuri created bulletproof armor, Banner (accidentally) created the Hulk, Osborn essentially invented the Green Golbin (including his gear and weapons), Octavius invented octopus arms instilled with artificial intelligence, Strange is a qualified neurosurgeon and mastered the mystic arts and Richards has created several advanced machines.

Like many debates, it all relies on perspective. If quantum physics is conceivably a more significant and impressive achievement than designing bulletproof armor, then naturally Hank Pym would have Shuri beat and so on and so forth.

Clearly, not even an official word from Marvel can quell such a debate, so expect it to rage on until the end of time (or MCU). Whichever comes first.

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Marvel Fans Debate Who's the Smartest Human in the MCU - We Got This Covered

This past weekend, a couple of my friends and I went to see Everything Everywhere All at Once. I went in knowing two things about it: The first was that the very talented and fantastic Michelle Yeoh was in it; and the second was that it involved the multiverse.

As the credits rolled, with tears trickling into my mask, I had a hard time discerning what was making me emotional. I say emotional because it wasnt just one feeling, but a strange mix of several: joy, wistfulness, catharsis, yearning, hope.

Without giving too much away, the very simple gist of this maximalist, fantastic tornado of a movie is about the choice to exist, to fully live within the present moment. Its about finding the beauty in our small, odd lives, even as we constantly compare what we have to our unfulfilled fantasies. The movie also examines how we take solace in the personal disasters weve narrowly avoided. But what makes Everything Everywhere All at Once so powerful is the multiverse, a dazzling antidote to the fact that real life these days feels like its been designed to blur and pummel our emotions into dullness.

What is the multiverse? A world full of endless potential; multiple parallel universes spinning in synchronicity; and the possibility of alternate, powerful, seemingly better versions of ourselves. At a time when a pandemic, wars, and political cruelty have become constant, inevitable presences in our daily lives, its the ultimate fantasy for this moment. And thats not just because Marvel, the most powerful entertainment company in the world, has gone all-in and made the multiverse a cornerstone of its current storytelling.

Rather, Marvel is just one take, one depiction of a limitless and alluring fantasy thats impossible to pin down. Movies like Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future, Sliding Doors, About Time and even Its a Wonderful Life have all played with the idea of alternate or parallel timelines and futures.

In an attempt to better understand why I was so moved by Everything Everywhere All at Once and also ascertain just how realistic the idea of the multiverse is (and ostensibly how invested I should be in the idea of a better, more successful me existing in a non-pandemic timeline), I reached out to Spyridon Spiros Michalakis, a mathematical physicist at the California Institute of Technology. He studies how the universe works at a quantum level, and actually served as the science consultant for Marvels Ant-Man, a movie about a man who can shrink, and who can also affect space and time.

Which is to say, Michalakiss scientific knowledge informed Marvels multiverse. While he possesses a vast understanding of physics that dwarfs mine at several points in our chat I told him he was absolutely blowing my mind it was his very human understanding of the multiverse and the hope it presents to worn down, burned out humans that made me understand it, and, I think, my own post-movie delirium, better.

Thanks for speaking with me. I know youre busy and have World Quantum Day tomorrow!

Absolutely! The multiverse is my bread and butter. In fact, I may be responsible for it.

Wait, elaborate what do you mean responsible?

Im the science consultant for Ant-Man and I introduced the quantum realm there. Then it was also in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and then Avengers: Endgame and everything else. So youre talking to the right person.

Perfect! Wow, look how that worked out.

So as you know, the multiverse in Marvel is based in the idea that theres a central timeline, but every decision made more or less sprouts off new timelines. Everything is constantly breaking off from that central timeline. Could you talk a little bit about your initial ideas of the concept, and how you infused what you know from science into it?

The irony of all of this, is that the multiverse may have emerged literally from the tiniest of places. When I consulted with Paul Rudd and Peyton Reed, they wanted to know what happens when you shrink.

I think if you really shrink this gets really interesting you get to the source code of reality itself. Thats what the quantum realm is. Space and time just dont operate the same way at that level. I tried to infuse the movies with as much actual science as possible. At some point, the writers were more excited about the real science than the hocus pocus-like stuff.

No offense to Doctor Strange.

Yes! No offense!

The multiverse emerged from there, from the fact that you have a very basic concept in quantum physics known as quantum superposition. Quantum superposition basically says that what we think of as a single universe, the quantum superposition, is the interference of an infinite number of universes. Each one of them has different things that are happening at some microscopic level. When you zoom out from our microscopic human perspective, we get to see certain patterns like space and time and matter emerge, and particles that have some more definite positions, in both space and time.

Marvel took to heart the idea that we can use the quantum realm to reverse-engineer that single universe and split it apart into threads, and then explore each of these timelines individually, for dramatic effect.

I want to ask you about real science. Is it super silly for me to think that theres a different Alex in another alternate universe? Or is that a leap too far?

I really do think that this is absolutely what is going on.

Oh no! What if theres a better Alex somewhere?

No, youre the very best version of every Alex ever.

Wait. How do we know that? Are you just being nice?

Because I just said so, and thats all that matters.

But I do want to know what we see on screen is one thing, but whats the actual science like? Can you please explain it to me in the simplest way possible?

Have you heard about the double slit experiment, one of the famous quantum experiments?

I majored in English. I most definitely have not.

This is one of the famous quantum experiments, before quantum was even a thing. This gave us an inkling for the first time in human history that something was amiss with the way we thought about the universe.

We thought you could shoot single electrons or photons, just single particles, toward a wall where you had put two slits. They could go either on the left side or the right side, through the slit, and then hit a wall behind it.

Got it.

You can imagine, like bullets or billiard balls, a bunch of them would either go through the right slit or through the left slit. Then you would see, on the back wall, a bunch of them hitting the right or the left. They actually tried to do that experiment, and what they saw was that on the back wall, you did not have the pattern you expected.

You had waves you had the electron or the photon going through both slits at the same time, interfering with itself behind that wall, and then hitting the other wall as if it was a wave.

Think about it like you have water waves going through these two slits, and then you can see the crests rising and falling, depending on how the interference flows. Thats what was happening with actual physical particles, one at a time.

I think I got it the outcome wasnt expected, and everything, including the probability, was off. Full disclosure: The last time I took physics was in college.

So, theyre thinking: How the hell is it possible that one thing was going through two places at the same time?

Then, [Nobel Prize-winning physicist] Richard Feynman was like, Wait a minute, what if we had a third slit, and the fourth one, and the fifth one?

Sure enough, you would see an even more complex pattern in the back as if the electron was going through all four or five of them at the same time. He realized, wait a minute, if you keep making slits, at some point, the wall with all the slits disappears and becomes just the empty space through which light and matter travels anyway.

It travels through everything it takes every path, at all times. Its actually a perfect analogy to the title of the movie. Like, the title of the movie is scientifically accurate.

Everything Everywhere All at Once?

That is exactly how the universe works. Space and time are one single, singular construct. Theres not like you have space and then time; its space x time. Moreover, quantum space time is a superposition: a quantum superposition of an infinite number of space times, all happening at the same time.

This illusion basic physical reality is the fact that human beings have very specific points of view, ways of observing the superposition.

We all agree that, like, theres a car in front of us, or a screen were looking at, or that somebodys talking. Other points of view, though, you can access using quantum computers. Were developing those things, at places like CalTech, where you tease that apart, where you get to see underneath the hood of reality.

I think I got it!

You get it? Thats impressive.

I mean, I get it in very broad terms. Basically, if we all have the same perspective, we share a view on reality and how we see the world. But, based on your perspective or point of view, that could easily change. Like that wall with the slits!

Exactly. Exactly.

And you wouldnt know about those other perspectives, right? Thats the beauty of this. You wouldnt know, unless youre also flickering between two different realities. Which can happen also, because again, the frame rate of the human mind is so low relative to the frame rate of the universe, right?

Holy shit. What? Frame rate? So, like humans are missing an entire sequence?

Lets say we only perceive 100 frames per second, something like that. We can be aware of our lives and choices we make, but then the frame rate of the universe where you could be flickering between different timelines is 40 orders of magnitude above that. Its one with 40 zeros.

Then we make the best approximation.

Were all trying to figure out the plot of the universe by just watching the beginning and the end of the movie, the first and last frame. Were just reconstructing the in-between the best we can. Thats where the multiverse hides; it hides there in between frames. Honestly, I think that the frame rate of the universe truly is infinite, not even finite, very, very large. And were so far away from that.

That missing movie comparison my mind is absolutely blown.

The whole point, and what weve seen, is that our intuition just breaks so badly, so badly at every scale. Were just missing most of it. But we try to make the best theories about it as we can.

Whats fascinating to me, listening to this, is that were all essentially blind-guessing and again, Im not a physicist so this could be way off. Obviously this is all relative, but I have my intuitions or guesses about how the universe works. You do too, and your knowledge dwarfs mine exponentially because of quantum physics. But then yours your frame rate, intuition, your knowledge is dwarfed by the infinite magnitude of the entire universe.

The universe is going like 100 million billion frames exactly. Making fun of all of us.

I want to ask you, and I think you may have answered this implicitly, but why do you think everyones so fascinated with this concept?

First of all, from a franchise point of view, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been probably the most successful movie franchise of all time.

And the multiverse is, at its foundation, its essence, a fresh perspective: What if I had made a different choice? What if time itself is not one-dimensional? What if it is a million-dimensional? What if you can jump left and right and up and down or just back and forth in time? And if you can do that, then it means youre basically going to other realities that may look very much like yours, or different.

For scientists, weve become better at explaining concepts to our friends across the aisle on the entertainment and the Hollywood side. They feel more empowered to tell good stories, based on time travel and things in fiction like that, like the multiverse. They have the GPUs and now render these beautiful things: the multiverse, quantum realm, everything in between.

You know, being able to hop in the multiverse is also a superpower. Its such a powerful visualization, to not just break the laws of physics in this universe, but to have almost infinite choice of who you are. To escape yourself and become someone else.

I think the key word here might be fate. A lot of storytelling wrestles with the idea of destiny and our choices, and whether we have control of our future. The multiverse seems like it offers a freedom from that, in that your fate could be anything that you choose, or whatever your quantum superposition is.

Its the idea that you may not be aware of it, but there is a power of choice that you have at some microscopic level that defines your identity as a citizen of this reality, versus a parallel one: where your most important choices you made are kind of your fingerprint. This is what separates you from this other version of yourself. You made a different choice, and maybe you made the best of that other choice.

But the thing that is also pretty powerful is the possibility that you could learn from the other versions of you. What if you could meet them, and all of a sudden, you realize that you have all these latent powers, potential within you, that were actually explored? And they flourished in this other reality.

What if you were a spy over there, or a fantastic cook, or an amazing writer? Or all the things you may have wanted to become, or even better what if you could be all these things you thought you would never be good at? Its a fantasy of your best self.

The reason why this is so important, and why I was trying to introduce these ideas, is that the dream of these possibilities makes such a huge difference when everything is going to shit around the world. Im not gonna go political, but you know what I mean: everything in the pandemic, and now whats happening in Ukraine.

At some point, theres a really tempting choice to just be cynical and say theres nothing I can do and that no version of me makes a difference here.

I want people to know especially young people trying to figure out where they fit in this world that they have power to make anything happen, and make that world where they can do amazing things. They can really take control and become that version of themselves that unlocks their true potential.

I get that. I feel like the buzz phrase over the past two years has been existential crisis. Theres been a general feeling of like, I dont know why this matters. What does it even matter if I exist?

The multiverse fantasy, to me, feels like the inverse of that. Theres something beautiful in the idea of existing everywhere all at one time. The idea that this life, your life, everything everywhere matters so much right now.

There is something very powerful about just knowing, even though you may not know how, but just knowing that something is possible. Often its heroes that are the ones that first believed something was possible, and that fate was not set. Just knowing, or at least believing so strongly that something is possible, then allows you to mess around and experiment and figure out how to actually make it possible.

Thats what science tries to really do. It takes a science-fiction idea, something humanity would love to be true, and then says, lets try to understand. First, we have to believe its possible, then try to understand what we need to tweak in our understanding to get to this new point.

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Everything Everywhere All at Once, explained by a quantum physicist - Vox.com

Our universe is a ridiculous place. Its where all the silliest things were aware of happen. And chief among the silliness is the wacky idea of time.

Dont get me wrong, the metaverse is a strong second. Especially Facebooks Metas agonizingly dysfunctional approach to building it.

But times even stranger than changing the name of the worlds most widely-known technology company to something that literally means self-referential.

Time is the opposite of self-referential. If it exists in a tangible, physical form, then we might be living in a simulated universe our own bespoke layer in the metaverse. This might sound weird, but its actually pretty intuitive.

In this scenario, for whatever reason, someone or something created a simulated reality and put us in it. This reality is made of discrete chunks of spacetime. From our point of view, this spacetime is the bedrock of our universe. From the creators, its the bits that make up our data.

This all begs the question: what if time doesnt exist? What if time is just a measurement and were living in base reality? If that were true, wed have to figure out what reality is actually made of.

And thats where physics concepts such as string theory, parallel universes, and dark matter come in. Theyre all theoretical ways of explaining away the need to describe the universe in the kinds of terms we can intuit and recreate.

Its a much more interesting article, however, if we take a leap and assume that time does exist.

Weve covered the concept of timespace as discrete chunks extensively here at Neural.

Heres some recent articles touching on the subject:

However, lets suffice in saying that theres no empirical definition of time that would satisfy our desire to determine its place in our universe.

Well have to view the concept of time from a more measurable frame of reference.

Lets imagine a one-second video of a dandelion swaying in the breeze.

Even though one second is a very short duration, its still plenty of time for our eyes and brains to pick up on any motion and figure out exactly whats going on.

Go ahead, try it: close your eyes and try to picture a swaying dandelion as you count a full one-one thousand in your head. See? Its doable.

If your imagination were a standard, typical HD TV, it would be displaying that video at a refresh rate of 60hz. And if the video were recorded under the most common settings it would either display at 24 frames-per-second (FPS) or 30.

Lets add two more facts to the mix before we bring it all together and explain what these numbers mean.

If we assume the universe is made up of discrete chunks of spacetime, we can theorize a maximum frame-rate.

Unfortunately we dont currently have any way of estimating how many FPS the universe or base reality runs at. We can talk in terms of measurements, such as the speed of light or the size of a Planck unit, but we cant be sure either of those perceived extremes represent true limits in the universe.

No matter what, were stuck dealing with assumptions because of our limited perspective.

Were fish in an aquarium trying to understand our relative position to the outside world. From our point of view, the universe follows at least two different sets of rules Newtonian physics and quantum physics. But what if were only seeing a tiny fraction of the whole picture?

Spyridon Michalakis, the physicist who consulted on Marvels Ant-Man films, recently discussed the concept with Voxs Alex Abad-Santos:

Lets say we only perceive 100 frames per second, something like that. We can be aware of our lives and choices we make, but then the frame rate of the universe where you could be flickering between different timelines is 40 orders of magnitude above that. Its one with 40 zeros.

Then we make the best approximation.

Were all trying to figure out the plot of the universe by just watching the beginning and the end of the movie, the first and last frame. Were just reconstructing the in-between the best we can. Thats where the multiverse hides; it hides there in between frames. Honestly, I think that the frame rate of the universe truly is infinite, not even finite, very, very large. And were so far away from that.

Its the last line that piqued my interest: And were so far away from that. How far away is so far?

Because I remember when video games looked like this:

Now they look nearly photo-realistic. Have you seen some of the early Unreal Engine 5 demos? Theyre breathtaking.

In another 30 years, it could be impossible to differentiate between VR and reality without some form of buffer to indicate which one youre perceiving.

Right now, millions of gamers pay premium prices for displays and graphics cards capable of running games at frame-rates in excess of 120FPS and at refresh rates in excess of 120hz, despite the fact that theres no indication the human eye or brain can perceive motion at these rates.

Why? Because we can. Someone probably demonstrated some sort of secondary benefit to increasing frame-rates that made it easy enough to market these gonzo systems to overeager gamers.

At some point, if we keep pushing the limits of FPS and refresh rates, well be developing systems capable of displaying graphics at resolutions and frame-rates no human could ever perceive which seems a lot like recording an entire music album in tones and frequencies we cant hear.

But these systems could be useful in teaching AI to detect nuances at the quantum level (or in the quantum realm as Ant-Man would say) that humans couldnt even if they shrunk themselves down.

Heres the payoff: one day, maybe 30 years from now maybe 300 its possible our endeavor to build the most robust metaverse possible an immersive experience that goes far beyond merely fooling the human visual cortex will provide us with the ground truth about base reality.

If time is indeed discrete chunks, the architects of the metaverse could eventually train an AI to dial in the universes frame-rate and literally see the individual chunks.

And, by then re-building the metaverse out of digital chunks that emulate the universes timespace chunks in size, speed, and mass, we would be creating a one-for-one model of our universe, inside our universe.

This would almost certainly indicate that our universe is either part of a physical multiverse, or that its a simulation. And the multiverse we created? It would be a simulation inside of a simulation. You can see where this is going.

Then again, maybe time isnt discrete. If thats the case, then all this talk of FPS and resolution is moot. If there are no chunks, there cant be gaps between them. And that means there cant be any frames.

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How the metaverse (and quantum physics) could prove our universe is a fake - The Next Web

A team of scientists recently conducted an exciting quantum physics experiment allowing them to demonstrate that reality might actually be real.

Well, dont everybody applaud all at once. Its actually an amazing feat of science.

Lets start with a simple question. How do you demonstrate that reality is real? You can pinch yourself. But that only demonstrates that youre capable of perceiving pain.

Fictional characters can experience pain, so that doesnt give us anything to go on.

In fact, as I wrote in a recent Neural newsletter, we cant be 100% sure we dont live in a doppelganger universe or a simulation. And, because of that, theres no way for us to be certain that were not fictional characters ourselves.

However, for the sake of argument, lets just assume we are real and that our universe actually exists. If thats true, we should be able to demonstrate in some way, no matter how strange that our reality is, in fact, objective.

The problem is that reality isnt so simple as our ability to perceive it. What you or I experience as objective reality can differ significantly.

In order to truly determine whether theres an objective reality, we have to devise a way in which to demonstrate its existence without relying on our observations.

Weve already established that our senses are meaningless here. What we need are measurements.

And thats exactly what the aforementioned team of scientists, who were led by Brazilian physicist Pedro Dieguez, set out to do when they conducted the experiment that, one day, could be referred to as a keystone in our quest to define and demonstrate objective physical realism.

According to the teams research paper:

We show that, in disparity with previous proposals, our setup ensures a formal link between the output visibility and elements of reality within the interferometer.

An experimental proof-of-principle is provided for a two-spin-1/2 system in an interferometric setup implemented in a nuclear magnetic resonance platform.

We discuss how our results validate, to a great extent, Bohrs original formulation of the complementarity principle and unveil morphing reality states.

Okay, lets back up a bit and have some fun figuring out what all that means.

Measuring reality is a tricky endeavor. We cant step outside of reality to grab a snapshot of what ground-truth looks like. Were essentially like fish in a sealed aquarium trying to figure out whats beyond the confines of our perception.

Thats where quantum mechanics and Nobel laureate Niels Bohr come in.

We can imagine our universe as encompassing every physical object in existence, including us.

Quantum physics tells us that, if we zoom in on anything in our universe, well eventually unveil a complex world made up of tiny objects that interact in ways we cant observe in our everyday reality.

But heres the thing: if we can sort out how objects act at very, very small scales, we should be able to sort out how the universe works at very, very massive scales.

Bohr seemed to believe there wasnt as much difference between the two as Newtonian physics would lead us to believe.

One of the most important discoveries weve made concerning quantum physics is the fact that certain objects can function as both waves and particles at the same time.

The easiest way to visualize this is to imagine the famous double-slit experiment. Essentially, you shoot a beam of light at a piece of cardboard with two slits in it. Since the beam is bigger than the slits, the photons the tiny things light is made of have to figure out how to squeeze through the slits so they can shine on the other side.

If light was made solely of particles, wed expect it to blast through the slits and display a solid image on a background behind the cardboard. And if it was made solely of waves, we wouldnt be able to measure individual photons as discrete particles.

As my colleague Napier Lopez puts it:

Thanks to Thomas Youngsdouble-slitexperiment, we definitely know that light behaves like a wave. If you point a beam of light at a piece of paper with two slits of a particular size, itll demonstrate an interference pattern on the other side. That behavior can only happen if light behaves like a wave, as the pattern is caused by the constructive and destructive interference you expect when when waves interact.

On the other hand, Einsteins seminal 1905 paper on thephotoelectric effectmathematically proved that light comes in discrete packets: particles. That threw a curveball into physics, considering the double-slit experiment had been replicated for over a hundred years at that point.

As it turns out, later experiments showed that even if you shoot single particles through a double-slit, they will still show an interference pattern on the other side. The only explanation is that the fundamental building blocks of the universe show the properties of both particles and waves.

This has led to a lot of scientists believing in something called wave function collapse. This, essentially, says that quantum potential the moment when something can be either one thing or another collapses into what it will eventually become.

If you flip a coin, it has the potential to land on heads or tails until you observe its landing and determine the actual result. The landing, in this case, would be somewhat analogous to waveform collapse.

But our pal Niels Bohr had a slightly different view called the complementarity principle. He never mentioned anything about quantum collapse; instead, he believed objects had pairs of complementary principles that could never be measured simultaneously. This explained away the need for two different sets of physics, but it didnt solve the problem of bringing classical and quantum measurements together.

The scientists who conducted the modern experiment may have validated Bohrs principle using a clever workaround something thats never been done before while also alluding to objective reality.

We know that we cannot currently view objective reality from the perspective of an outsider. And Bohr tells us we cant measure the particle and wave function of a quantum object at the same time.

But what we can do is reverse-engineer a quantum outcome in order to demonstrate a facet of reality that confirms wave and particle function simultaneously without observation. At least, thats the premise put forth by Dieguezs team.

Per the teams paper:

Our experimental demonstration arguably show, for the first time (to the best of our knowledge), the possibility of genuinely superposing wave and particle elements of reality to an arbitrary degree.

By employing the figures of merit RW,P(), which lies solely on the time-local context defined by the composite state and observables {W,P}, thus respecting premises of standard quantum mechanics, our model avoids retro-causal inferences and suitably describe the whole.

Dieguez and their team essentially forced a quantum system to validate a portion of Bohrs principle. We can say with near total certainty that its possible to demonstrate classical outcomes through quantum measurements.

And, from there, physicists should be able to design further experiments to blur the lines between quantum and classical physics.

This could potentially lead to a grand unified theory that fills in the blanks between the quantum world, where things can teleport, be in two places at once, and cycle between states of matter without using energy, and the classical one where what goes up must come down.

This unification isnt just the most important problem in physics, its the holy grail of science.

If we can apply our ability to observe quantum effects to the cosmos at large, and square such observations with our classical reality, we may be able to figure out exactly what the universe is made of, how much of it there is, and what our true relative position in it is.

This work could be a stepping stone on the path to that enlightenment. We may yet one day figure out exactly whats outside of the aquarium were swimming in.

Original post:

New experiment demonstrates that reality might actually be real - The Next Web

Credit: B. Hayes/NIST

WASHINGTON Laurie E. Locascio was sworn in today as the fourth Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the 17th director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. As one of the nations oldest physical science laboratories, NIST conducts research and standards development activities that support innovation in a wide array of disciplines, including cybersecurity, manufacturing, health care, greenhouse gas measurement, and quantum physics and computing. Locascio was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2022.

We are so fortunate to have Laurie Locascio assume the leadership of NIST, said Secretary Raimondo. She is an accomplished scientist, leader and mentor. I know she will help the Department of Commerce meet its goals by ensuring the cutting-edge science and public-private partnerships that are so vital to U.S. innovation and economic security.

I am excited to return to NIST an agency with such an impactful mission filled with brilliant, dedicated public servants, said Locascio. It is an honor to be nominated by President Biden to serve in this role, and I look forward to supporting Secretary Raimondo in promoting and strengthening U.S. competitiveness at this critical time for our nation.

Locascio most recently served as vice president for research at the University of Maryland College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore, where she focused on the development of large interdisciplinary research programs, technology commercialization, innovation and economic development efforts, and strategic partnerships with industry, federal, academic and nonprofit collaborators. She also served as a professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine.

We are so fortunate to have Laurie Locascio assume the leadership of NIST. She is an accomplished scientist, leader and mentor. I know she will help the Department of Commerce meet its goals by ensuring the cutting-edge science and public-private partnerships that are so vital to U.S. innovation and economic security. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo

Before joining the University of Maryland, Locascio worked at NIST for 31 years, rising from a research biomedical engineer to eventually leading the agencys Material Measurement Laboratory. She also served as the acting associate director for laboratory programs, the No. 2 position at NIST, providing direction and operational guidance for NISTs lab research programs.

As director, Locascio will guide NISTs collaborative efforts with industry, academia and other government agencies to develop and apply the technology, measurements and standards needed for innovative products and services. She will also oversee NISTs work on two ongoing National Construction Safety Team investigations, into the June 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, and the impacts of 2017s Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico.

Locascios most recent honors and awards include the 2021 induction as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the 2017 American Chemical Society Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management, and the 2017 Washington Academy of Sciences Special Award in Scientific Leadership. She has published 115 scientific papers and has received 12 patents in the fields of bioengineering and analytical chemistry. Her honors and awards also include the Department of Commerce Silver and Bronze Medal Awards, the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award, the NIST Safety Award and the NIST Applied Research Award. She is also a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Locascio has a B.S. in chemistry from James Madison University, an M.S. in bioengineering from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Maryland Baltimore.

NIST was established in 1901 and since then has carried out its mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by making essential contributions to industry, science, public safety and national security.

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Laurie Locascio Confirmed as the 17th NIST Director - NIST

Imdeeply cracked from a combination of Talmud and LSD, says Natasha Lyonne, flicking a cigarette in her hand from the couch of her Los Angeles home, where shes been chatting by Zoom for over an hour. She is attempting to explain the underpinnings of her show Russian Doll, a metaphysical mindfuck she writes, produces, and stars in, whose second season recently dropped on Netflix. Based on a character Lyonne had long imagined essentially a hard-partying, alternate-reality version of herself named Nadia the series explores the nature of life and death, goodness and regret, of memory, ghosts, family, and the New York City she loves. It is both extremely personal and universal. And also, because its Lyonne, its fucking hilarious.

Without Lyonnes vast swath of experiences an intense early education at a Jewish yeshiva, where she learned about the Torah and the Talmud; time as an East Village junkie, seeing how much of that education she could forget she probably wouldnt have had the range for, or the interest in, building such an intricate, multi-planed universe. In fact, it was in rehab that she became deeply interested in the metaphysical aspects of existence. The thing that was most challenging for me, getting clean, is that youre supposed to rearrange your relationship to earthly things, so that youre not constantly being like, Oh, let me go smoke dope, she says. Where a lot of people find comfort in church, I started reading a lot of science books, and finding comfort there. She devoured Bill Brysons A Short History of Nearly Everything and Thomas Pynchons Against the Day. It just made me walk into the world differently and think about all the things that I didnt know, which felt very grounding.

In Russian Doll, Lyonne revisits these themes with the help of a very qualified writers room (these fucking brilliant women, just fucking Ivy League geniuses), creating a show that questions not only the world but also our place within it. If Season One was largely based on the cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadters I Am a Strange Loop, the time travel that defines the new episodes comes from physicist Carlo Rovellis The Order of Time. Its really smacking wide open this idea of What if the nature of time is not as we experience it? Lyonne explains. Its just fun as hell.

With all her accumulated expertise, we asked Lyonne to drop some knowledge on building the shows world and understanding ours.

How Time Travel Works (or Doesnt)Its really just asking the question of What is this thing that I would go and change? What is that butterfly-effect event that Im looking for? We [in the writers room] thought a lot about, what would the rules be? Is it just a kill Hitler season? And its like, well, of course, we all want to kill Hitler. But assuming we could make that machine, would you actually be able to do things like that? Nadias not actually the center of the universe, shes just another bozo on the bus. For her and [fellow time looper] Alan, it really feels like the most you want to have them be able to do is handle their own case in a way, or at least try and fail to handle their own case but come away with a deeper understanding of what it is to be alive on the other side, having walked through that epigenetic footprint that was mapped onto them in a way where now they see their own trip differently, so that they can possibly be set up to enjoy the ride. It is pretty philosophical therapeutic by way of quantum physics and high concept and multiverse, and time travel, and death loops and all these things.

Addressing the Big QuestionsHow do we know we exist? I think the bigger question is Does it matter if we dont? That sort of speaks to [the idea of us living in a] multiverse simulation as well, which is where, as a storyteller, I philosophically deviate from something that truly ends in magic. Because in a way it doesnt matter; it doesnt matter if the concept of karma is not real. Does it not seem that it would still be a life better lived to do unto others [as they would do to you]? Is it not helpful to think that its better to not be a total fucking piece of shit in your daily dealings, and expect to have a lovely life and people that care about you? Probably wise to show up with some empathy in a life, even if life has no meaning. Even if none of this is anything, weve still got to go through it.

Essentially, I guess the questions that Im always talking to my friends about, or in the books or movies that Im curious about, are what is the game? And do we have the game all wrong? And why does it cause us suffering? And its, of course, because we live in this material world I dont mean financial; I mean, we actually are of this world. Whether we can see past it or beyond it or whatever doesnt change the fact that we all have bills, and relationships, parents, and weve got these weird bodies that we carry around and stuff. So there is no idea that actually will take you past all those things in the day [youre] in. So, I think its a show that wants to pose those big questions without getting into full magic. Because if [the characters] stay in their lives, hopefully altered in some tangible way that they can actually do something with them, thats not full magic, you know?

More Than Soup for the SoulIm 42. I dont know if exercising is really going to make much impact on my vibe. Im just big hair and sunglasses. Its not [like] Im running marathons or something, Im doing low-level calisthenics. [But] not doing that for a solid week, it makes my body feel rickety. And if I just stand up and do these stretches and a little fucking jog or whatever, Im going to have a better nights sleep and wake up the next day and be like, Guess whose pants fit?

I think that the condition of ones soul is not dissimilar. The less I treat that thing and the more I say, Do I even exist?... [If Im like,] Well, fuck it, Im not participating at all, fuck this whole thing they call life, I still have to be alive and have an experience that is increasingly disconnected and dejected and nihilistic. And I might feel really cool doing it like, Boy, is this a tough aesthetic but ultimately, in my experience, somewhat sadder and [more] lonely for it. At the age I am, I dont find that aesthetic to be quite so hip as I used to anymore.

Probably wise to show up with some empathy in a life, even if life has no meaning. Even if none of this is anything, weve still got to go through it.

Evidence Theres a MetaverseMaybe I come at all of this from more of a spiritual level. In my experience, if Im in a really shady mood, I come out of the house, Im in a rush, and I go to hail a taxi, and its raining, and theres no taxis there; and now Im walking in the middle of the street, turned backwards to traffic, just looking for taxis, and Im getting poured on; and I pull out my phone, and I try to click on Uber, but the account just doesnt work; I ordered the car, but it didnt even come, and so now Im on my way to the subway; but theres fucking yellow tape there for some reason, that [entrance] is closed, [so I have to] walk three blocks over here. Now, I may as well just walk the full distance. I dont know what happened, but its officially a shitty fucking day. Another day, I justwalk outside. Everythings there, Immaking the deli guy laugh while Im ordering my coffee. I walk out the deli, boom, theres a taxi. I actually get [to where Im going] a little bit early, and something funny happens outside the building right before I walk in. I dont know what that is, but I do think that its curious. It seems like at any moment theres multiple universes you can tap into and thats going to shift how your day goes.

String Theory Explained, Sort OfIts possible that were just not seeing things correctly, and that our entire sense of the history of the universe is incorrect. I think that [string theory] really is, essentially, opening up a possibility that the world as we know it is not quite so limited. From there, it becomes a question of what we can do with all that information, what its going to mean for the future of existence as we know it. Theres a lot of questions now about building quantum computers and stuff, which would be a measure of fallout. I mean, Im ultimately the wrong person to be asking about these things. Youd be better off asking scientists.

On Where We Go When We DieIm some schnook from the block or whatever, but Im collaborating with people who can really wrap themselves around these concepts more tangibly. Do you have to fucking sit with some angel of death and play chess? Is it [like] Albert Brooks [in Defending Your Life] and youre going to be looking down at your fucking mistakes? Do you have to run into your fucking parents in the afterlife? I am genuinely spooked by a lot of these concepts, so Im just curious to go swimming around in them and see whats what.

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Do We Have the Game All Wrong?: Natasha Lyonnes Cosmic Journey Into Russian Doll Season 2 - Rolling Stone

Posted on Apr 17, 2022 in Alien Life, Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Black Holes, Cosmology, Dark Energy, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial Life, Gravitational Waves, Hubble Space Telescope, Milky Way Galaxy, quantum physics, Science, Technology, Universe

Todays stories range from Astronomers Spot Most Distant Galaxy Yet, 13.5 Billion Light-Years from Earth to The Physics of Consciousness to A Bizarre, Evolutionary Missing Link Uncovered in Hubble Deep Survey of Galaxies, and, and much more. The Galaxy Report brings you news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and adds a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.

Chinas Alternative To NASAs $10B James Webb Telescope Is Helping Beijing Rival The US In Deep Space Exploration, reports The EurAsian Times The space race between the United States (US) and China is set for a new and exciting turn as the latter is geared to challenge the mammoth American telescope with its fleet of tiny satellites as they dive into deep space. Chinas scientists are creating a fleet of small satellites to conduct cutting-edge astronomical investigations that were previously only possible with massive and costly space telescopes.

Princeton researchers find 10 new black hole mergers hiding in the data from LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors. an international group of astrophysicists re-examined the data and found 10 additional black hole mergers, all outside the detection threshold of the original analysis. The new mergers hint at exotic astrophysical scenarios that, for now, are only possible to study using gravitational wave astronomy.

Why is the Universe electrically neutral? For some reason, the charges on the electron and proton are equal and opposite, and their numbers are equal, too On all cosmic scales in the Universe, from planets to the cosmic web, its the gravitational force that determines the structures we get, not the electromagnetic or nuclear forces. But why is this so? asks Ethan Siegel for Big Think.

4 Billion-Year-Old Oort-Cloud Comet 1000x Mass of the Impactor that Caused the Extinction of the Dinosaurs, reports Maxwell Moe for The Daily Galaxy While Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (C/2014 UN271) is far too small to blast a Moon out of Earth, it is big enough that it would cause a global catastrophe if it hit Earth. It probably has about 1000x the mass of the impactor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. But Comet BB is definitely not going to hit Earth!, astrophysicist Gary Bernstein wrote in an email to The Daily Galaxy.

Astronomers Spot Most Distant Galaxy Yet, 13.5 Billion Light-Years from Earth The surprisingly bright galaxy, called HD1, may contain some of the universes first stars, as well as a supermassive black hole reports Scientific American.

Imagine Another World. Now Imagine 5,000 More. NASA recently announced that it had detected more than 5,000 exoplanets including Poltergeist and Phobetor, the first confirmed exoplanets ever spotted. Alexander Wolszczan and Dale Frail detected the planets orbiting a neutron star, a type of dead star, using the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico. The New York Times asked astronomers, actors and an astronaut to share their favorite worlds orbiting distant stars.

Einsteins Spooky Action at a Distance Becomes even Spookier: Quantum Physicists Create a New Universe, reports The Daily Galaxy Albert Einstein was fond of saying that Imagination is everything. It is the preview of lifes coming attractions. What if our world, our universe, following Einsteins insight, is the result of a quantum-physics experiment performed by some ancient hyper-advanced alien civilization. A civilization that, as astrophysicist Paul Davies speculates, may exist beyond matter.

How Many Aliens Are in the Milky Way? Astronomers Turn to Statistics for Answers -The tenets of Thomas Bayes, an 18th-century statistician and minister, underpin the latest estimates of the prevalence of extraterrestrial life, reports Scientific American.

Dark matter could be a cosmic relic from extra dimensions, reports Robert Lea for Live Science. Massive gravitons may have formed a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang, in abundances great enough to account for dark matter

Bizarre, Evolutionary Missing Link Uncovered in Hubble Deep Survey of Galaxies, reports SciTechDaily The universe is so saturated with galaxies that even the weirdest things can go unnoticed for years after Hubble Space Telescope deep-exposure observations are taken. In sort of an intergalactic Wheres Waldo, an international team of astronomers uncovered in Hubble archival data a mysterious red dot nearly in the middle of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-North).

Astronomers Describe Discovery of a Distant Cosmic Laser: Thousands of Times More Powerful Than Our Sun, reports Maxwell Moe for The Daily Galaxy. Forget about the hand-held laser guns used in Star Trek. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image above shows a megamaser, IRAS 16399-0937, located over 370 million light-years from Earth. The entire galaxy essentially acts as a cosmic laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light.

Dark Energy Vs. Modified Gravity: NASAs Roman Mission Will Test Competing Cosmic Acceleration Theories, reports SciTech Daily Roman will explore this mystery using multiple methods, including spectroscopy the study of the color information in light. This technique will allow scientists to precisely measure how fast the universe expanded in different cosmic eras and trace how the universe has evolved.

The Galaxy Report newsletter brings you twice-weekly news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and add a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.

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Quantum Physicists Create a New Universe to What Might Exist On the 5000 Discovered Alien Worlds? (The Galaxy Report) - The Daily Galaxy --Great...