What does multi-dimensions look like? (Calabi-Yau Model)
There are scientific discoveries and then there are scientific discoveries that rock our reality. Some of the major scientific discoveries that changed our perception of reality are listed below more or less chronologically.
- Fire sure it probably just gave you a good chuckle mentioning fire but for the first time man could control a tiny sliver of nature for light, warmth, protection and cooking food.
- Early math including Euclidean geometry and algebra which were the basis for all modern architecture.
- Discovering the planet was round was not the center of the universe thanks to Kepler, Galileo and many others.
- Newtonian physics and calculus where humankind discovered that everything on earth and in the heavens worked in a beautiful symphony of clockwork type movement.
- Freud who was the first to develop the science around human behavior and motivations.
- Darwin’s theory of Evolution which for the first time gave us a path to how humans and other species develop.
- Electricity and magnetism that not only fuel the industrial revolution to this day but established the first science of the unseen. While Edison gets the most credit by inventing the light bulb for applied electronics Tesla was the real genius that gave us alternating current that we use today.
Einstein’s theories of general and special relativity that set in motion modern astrophysics and was the first highly anti-intuitive scientific theory which predicted things thought to be crazy before like black holes.- Einstein’s most famous equation of all E=mc2 which first predicted the tremendous power in the atom.
- Hubble whose work in modern astronomy discovered the red shift and lead the way to Big Bang Theory first proposed by Georges Lemaître which gave us the first idea of how the universe came into being.
- Heisenberg’s and Schrödinger’s discovery of quantum mechanics which just turned the world of classical physics on it’s head saying anything is possible but nothing is certain.
- Watson and Crick who discovered DNA which is the basis of most life on this planet.
- Plate tectonics that is now the basis for all global geology theory discovered by Wegener when he discovered that the Atlantic Ocean was getting larger.
- String and M-theory where multiple dimensions are seen not only as possibilities but required to explain things like the relatively weak force of gravity.
- Mapping the human genome. I was simple ecstatic when President Obama chose the head of the genome project Francis Collins to head up the NIH because gene therapies (like stem cell treatment) are the next big advances in medical technology.
The mountain of scientific understanding that the last five major advancements in physics opened up are simply incredible because once the boundaries of determinist and intuitive physics were broken the possibilities literally remain endless. Quantum field theory, Steven Hawking’s microscopic black holes, the unification of electromagnetism and the nuclear forces, variable gravity and speed of light, multiverses, super conductors, wormholes, chaos theory, nanotechnology, etc. Humanities understanding of science is growing exponentially and projects like the Hubble even though it’s coming to an end, the JET plasma induced fusion reactor and the new LHC at CERN will continue to fuel new discoveries.
My list is probably skewed towards physics discoveries so please feel free to add to my list of discoveries that you think changed our perceptions of reality.
One of the THCs just because I can.
Nanotechnology and immunology are two areas that I think are going provide major contributions to our quality of life and deeper understanding of previous theories. For example, immunology may put Darwinian evolution in conflict with the Lamarckian evolutionary theory of yore. The environment may actually imprint itself on an organism and via the organism’s immunological response, change can be effected on the cellular level; be transferred to the level of the gamete.
Wow that definitely changes your perception of reality. That fits in well with the holistic Gaia theory of well that everything is tied to the environment.
One thing I almost put on the list but has not been fully understood yet is the concept of directed evolution. I attended a seminar given by Novo Nordisk the wolds largest enzyme manufacturer about directed evolution and some of the possibilities were amazing. The one example I remember was research where they were trying to get a bacteria to be active in 10% of a toxic solvent, I may have been methylene chloride. Basically they would take a given concentration of solvent add these bacteria, take the “survivors” and then add them to a higher concentration of solvent. So each generation was tolerant to higher and higher concentrations of the solvent. The bacteria actually broke down the solvent to non-toxic metabolites to clean the byproducts of a particular fine chemical reaction. The did end up making a strain of bacteria that could work under those harsh condition.
The scientist that gave the seminar said if direct evolution research works the way they think it could biotechnology could be used to produce every organic chemical in the next 50 years. This is important because now we get the vast majority of our fine chemicals, surfactants and polymers you name it from oil and biotechnology can be used to make final products like plastics from other renewable source.
Bacteria ROCK!! Fascinating. Any idea which bacteria? Aerobes, anaerobes?
I want to say anaerobic because most of these reactions can’t run in the presents of air.
I must be such a nerd because I love thinking and reading about these kinds of things.
I just didn’t know that multi-dimensions looke dlike a pop art version of my intestines. Or else was designed by Frank Gehry.
The dichotomy is that we are living in a society in which science and technology surrounds us in nearly every moment of our day and yet we have a huge chunk of our society that believes in people turning to salt and that cavemen rode dinosaurs.
I’ve said it before, I wish that there was a way to only supply each person with the amount of science they believe in.
Then we would have more than enough money for Universal Health Insurance…for those that believe in medical science.
Didn’t you know God picked Frank Gehry over Rem Koolhaas to re-design the universe?
The previous designer, God thought, was too steeped in neo-Roccoco.
Alas sometimes I am too sheltered. I actually had to wiki Frank Gehry.
That mentality fits into my strained chain of humanity theory. Like income disparity we have a knowledge disparity in our country and in our world today that is stretched beyond measure. The difference between the state of the art of our culture’s technology and the basic level of understand the vast majority of people have is an added stress on our society. I think this leads to much of the woo woo mentality we see today were everyone tries to oversimplify our problems. But when the previous technology leader in the world is has an only 70% high school graduation that problem will be with us unless something drastically changes.
At least you knew Rem Koolhaas!
LOL only because I saw part of a documentary about the building of the China Central Television Headquarters building. In elementary school and junior high I was actually on track to become an architect because I liked it and I had high test scores regarding spacial relations. Unfortunately I could not draw for shit even with the proper guides. But alas I was saved by organic chemistry that requires the same type visualization skills.