Is structure of the Universe psychedelic? A new scientific breakthrough

[hajimumtaz]

Apparently a theory promoted by a "surfer dude (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml)" (a quote from the Telgraph; I wonder if he uses psychedelics) has the potential to attain the "Holy Grail" of modern physics -- a workable Theory of Everything.

Not only does the theory avoid some of the more esoteric (and imho, terribly unlikely) predictions of contenders like Super String Theory (eg, 10+n spatial dimensions, micro-black-holes, etc), but the structure of the Universe is expected to look like this!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/graphics/2007/03/19/ecpattern19.jpg

Best! haji

Further reading:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml;jsessionid=AXRQYGUUVKBXHQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQ UIV0?xml=/connected/2007/03/19/ecpattern19.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml

[psygnisfive]

1: Untested theory
2: Higher dimensional renderings in 2 dimensions now means "psychedelic"? Let's not abuse the word.

[hajimumtaz]

1. Relative to most theories in vogue today, it is more falsifiable! By physics' own standards, that is a win.

2. You wouldn't experience even a tiny degree of pleasure or satisfaction if the fabric of our cosmos looks like psychedelic art when rendered in 2-dimensions? To each his own...

[psygnisfive]

1. Relative to most theories in vogue today, it is more falsifiable! By physics' own standards, that is a win.

Yes, this is true. Falsifiability is the cornerstone of a scientific theory, as opposed to a faith. But that's not the same thing as having _survived_ tests.

2. You wouldn't experience even a tiny degree of pleasure or satisfaction if the fabric of our cosmos looks like psychedelic art when rendered in 2-dimensions? To each his own...

I don't think it looks like psychedelic art at all is my point. It looks like a boring network graph .

[hajimumtaz]

Ah well that makes more sense. Bear in mind I did see this one first, though I don't know how/why they colored it the way they did.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/graphics/2007/11/14/scisurf114.jpg

I used the other since it was the only image I could find where E8 was depicted without the other images.

Aaaanyways... :)

[psygnisfive]

They colored it that way to represent the different layers of the structure. Furthermore, I don't think they're saying that the topography of the universe is mappable to E8 but rather that the elementary particles/forces occupy specific relationships to one another that can be described in terms of E8. Similar to how you can describe the relationship of space and time to one another by using a right triangle with a a constant length hypotenuse, where the ratio of one leg to the other is the same as the relationship between time and space as depends on velocity, which can be seen as represented by the angle of the hypotenuse. This wouldn't suggest that space-time is structured like a right triangle, just that the right triangle is an elegantly simple geometric representation of what's going on.

[Manila_Housecat]

I don't know what it all means but i'm impressed! :eek:

[Szifers]

Yeah, scientific models are becoming more and more psychedelic.

There are even some theories that propose that everything that's possible actually happens all the time, constantly creating multitudes over multitudes of new paralell universes, and that practically anything is possible. Which in practical terms would mean that anyone can travel to any parallel universe simply by changing his or her mind into a state that is very probable in the destination universe: positive thinking changes the World to the better.

[psygnisfive]

I don't know what it all means but i'm impressed! :eek:

What exactly are you impressed by?

[Manila_Housecat]

They colored it that way to represent the different layers of the structure. Furthermore, I don't think they're saying that the topography of the universe is mappable to E8 but rather that the elementary particles/forces occupy specific relationships to one another that can be described in terms of E8. Similar to how you can describe the relationship of space and time to one another by using a right triangle with a a constant length hypotenuse, where the ratio of one leg to the other is the same as the relationship between time and space as depends on velocity, which can be seen as represented by the angle of the hypotenuse. This wouldn't suggest that space-time is structured like a right triangle, just that the right triangle is an elegantly simple geometric representation of what's going on.

All of this! Sounds like a lot of knowledge/theory!

[psygnisfive]

On second thought, maybe the guy's full of shit. (click me click me!) (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071117-upon-further-review-surfers-new-theory-of-everything-severely-deficient.html)

[hajimumtaz]

Maybe, but if so blame reddit and New Scientist :-p

[psygnisfive]

Maybe, but if so blame reddit and New Scientist :-p

;)

Reddit — feh. New Scientist — unreliable.

[scaredstraight]

The tool to explain everything was in my hands all along!