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musiclover420
psychonaut



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Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' 2
#24027282 - 01/21/17 02:19 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/physicists-may-have-just-manipulated-pure-nothingness
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It's one of those philosophical questions we occasionally ponder: What is nothing? Can nothing be something? If not, then how can something come from nothing?
If there's one scientific field on the forefront of such conceptual paradoxes, it's quantum theory. And in quantum theory, nothing actually is something ... sort of.
See, according to quantum mechanics, even an empty vacuum is not really empty. It's filled with strange virtual particles that blink in and out of existence in timespans too short to observe. Nothingness, on the quantum level, exists on a level of intuitive absurdity; a kind of existence that is paradoxical but, in some conceptual sense, necessary.
Science isn't usually comfortable dealing with phenomena that can't be observed. That's what makes this latest breakthrough, from physicists at University of Konstanz in Germany, so very profound and important. According to their research, recently published in the journal Nature, the nothingness that exists on the quantum level is not only something, but its fluctuations can be grasped, manipulated, and perhaps even observed.
That's not supposed to be possible on the quantum level. One of the truly mind-bending axioms of quantum mechanics relates to something called Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Basically, it's the idea that you can't measure something on the quantum level without fundamentally altering it. In other words, as soon as you attempt to observe some quantum system, the very act of observing it destroys it.
What the University of Konstanz researchers are claiming goes against this fundamental principle. They claim to have peered directly into the darkness and to have seen it for what it truly is. Or at least, they believe they have uncovered a method for actually observing things on the quantum level without destroying it. Getting a handle on nothingness
How did they do this? Their method essentially involves firing a super short laser pulse lasting only a few femtoseconds (which, if you're counting, is measured on the level of millionths of a billionths of a second) into a "squeezed" vacuum. As the light fires through this vacuum, subtle changes in the polarization of the light can be analyzed to reveal a map, of sorts, of the quantum nothingness.
The "squeezing" of the vacuum is the real magic of this method. Perhaps the easiest way to think about it relates to what happens when you squeeze a balloon. The balloon expands and tightens in some areas and feels depleted in others.
This principle is charted on the graphic seen at the top of this article. As the vacuum is squeezed, quantum fluctuations peak in some parts of the vacuum while other parts actually drop to below the background noise level. If the method proves to be sound, it's a game-changer.
"As the new measurement technique neither has to absorb the photons to be measured nor amplify them, it is possible to directly detect the electromagnetic background noise of the vacuum and thus also the controlled deviations from this ground state, created by the researchers," explains a press release from the university.
The study still has its limitations. At best, it merely represents our first foray into the something that mysteriously permeates the void. It's an encouraging first step, however; one that promises to peer deeper at the philosophical absurdities of existence than ever before.
What is there to see when you squint into the heart of darkness? We may soon find out.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Shroomopotamus
Happy Mushrooming



Registered: 09/27/09
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: musiclover420]
#24027291 - 01/21/17 02:34 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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I can do that too
-------------------- * Live by the mushroom, die by the mushroom
    This is a trap! A trap! You are all busted! Busted! You fools!
If a time comes where I fail to appear I've been abducted and I will miss you all Please smile and pet puppies as often as possible Be happy Be nice (<3);}
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Niffla



Registered: 06/09/08
Posts: 46,494
Loc: Texas
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: Shroomopotamus] 1
#24027298 - 01/21/17 02:45 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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Shroomopotamus said: I can do that too
whoa
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HAIL OUR NEW OTD KING
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Mad_Larkin
Registered: 11/29/07
Posts: 18,606
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: musiclover420] 2
#24027314 - 01/21/17 03:10 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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science is really jerking itself off into incomprehensibility with all this quantum bollocks
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SunnyD
WiZarD oF LoVe



Registered: 04/29/13
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: musiclover420]
#24027356 - 01/21/17 04:22 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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Over half of the universe is Dark matter or energy
That we can't observe fully , but this is a interesting article thanks for sharing
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        And to everyone who thinks life is just a game, Do you like the part you are playing? This is the time in life I am living! And I face each day with a smile My music Library of Synthesizer goodness
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Konyap

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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: SunnyD]
#24027416 - 01/21/17 06:09 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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'String theory'
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Midnight_Toker
Gone Fishin'


Registered: 09/26/10
Posts: 11,589
Loc: Canada
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: Mad_Larkin] 2
#24027502 - 01/21/17 07:57 AM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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Quote:
Mad_Larkin said: science is really jerking itself off into incomprehensibility with all this quantum bollocks
Quantum field theory is the best predicting scientific theory that has ever existed, so unfortunately even though parts of it really are incomprehensible to us, it seems to be the way the universe works.
Perhaps something deeper will come out of quantum theory and make it coincide with how we feel the world should truly work, but us comprehending it - it making intuitive sense to us - is not an inherent necessity to the theory.
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musiclover420
psychonaut



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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: Midnight_Toker]
#24028356 - 01/21/17 02:35 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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SunnyD said: Over half of the universe is Dark matter or energy
That we can't observe fully , but this is a interesting article thanks for sharing
I thought it was mostly dark matter, with visible matter making up a fraction of the universe.
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Overall, dark energy is thought to contribute 73 percent of all the mass and energy in the universe. Another 23 percent is dark matter, which leaves only 4 percent of the universe composed of regular matter, such as stars, planets and people.

This is why it is so fascinating and I hope I live to see more of the mystery unravel 
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Midnight_Toker said:
Quote:
Mad_Larkin said: science is really jerking itself off into incomprehensibility with all this quantum bollocks
Quantum field theory is the best predicting scientific theory that has ever existed, so unfortunately even though parts of it really are incomprehensible to us, it seems to be the way the universe works.
Perhaps something deeper will come out of quantum theory and make it coincide with how we feel the world should truly work, but us comprehending it - it making intuitive sense to us - is not an inherent necessity to the theory.
I think it is perfect that life/ the universe and psychedelics all abide by such complex/ ineffable quantum mechanics. So many amazing possibilities.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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ModestMouse
IM WALKIN ON SUNSHINE



Registered: 05/06/13
Posts: 19,227
Loc: Upstate
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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: musiclover420]
#24028455 - 01/21/17 03:24 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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This is a bunch of hot air. I read the article twice and still believe that they have essentially achieved nothing of value.
What was the expectation of the experiment?
-------------------- Anyone got a lowpass filter in this biiiiash?
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musiclover420
psychonaut



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Re: Physicists may have just manipulated 'pure nothingness' [Re: ModestMouse]
#24028475 - 01/21/17 03:33 PM (7 years, 9 days ago) |
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Quote:
ModestMouse said: This is a bunch of hot air. I read the article twice and still believe that they have essentially achieved nothing of value.
What was the expectation of the experiment?
Read the comments of the article. The one I posted is a poorly summed up version of another article that goes into more detail.
They didn't claim to have achieved anything persay, it is more they are getting close to starting to achieve something.
Quantum physics is very complex and "illogical" in many ways so it should be expected it will take time for us to crack if we even ever figure it out.
What this experiment proved from my understanding at least is that dark matter/ "nothingness" is actually something that can be observed and interacted with possibly.
A good comparison would be air. Before people discovered gasses molecules primitive people probably assumed it was just an empty void of sorts. Then eventually through science we learned about what it really is and that we couldn't live without it. Perhaps the same will be true of dark matter/ the void. It could be a sort of ineffable "air" that allows matter to exist the way it does. One day we may be able to view and interact with it using new technologies.
This article reinforced a lot of my various beliefs about life and the universe and possibilities vs reality, I can't wait to see where this goes.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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