Physicists Discover ‘Clearest Evidence Yet’ That The Universe Is A Hologram James Vincent Independent.co.uk December 13, 2013
A team of physicists have provided what has been described by the journal Nature as the “clearest evidence yet” that our universe is a hologram. The new research could help reconcile one of modern physics' most enduring problems : the apparent inconsistencies between the different models of the universe as explained by quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of gravity. The two new scientific papers are the culmination of years’ work led by Yoshifumi Hyakutake of Ibaraki University in Japan, and deal with hypothetical calculations of the energies of black holes in different universes. The idea of the universe existing as a ‘hologram’ doesn’t refer to a Matrix-like illusion, but the theory that the three dimensions we perceive are actually just “painted” onto the cosmological horizon - the boundary of the known universe. If this sounds paradoxical, try to imagine a holographic picture that changes as you move it. Although the picture is two dimensional, observing it from different locations creates the illusion that it is 3D. This model of the universe helps explain some inconsistencies between general relativity (Einstein’s theory) and quantum physics. Although Einstein’s work underpins much of modern physics, at certain
extremes (such as in the middle of a black hole) the principles he outlined break down and the laws of quantum physics take over. The traditional method of reconciling these two models has come from the 1997 work of theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena, whose ideas built upon string theory. This is one of the most well respected ‘theories of everything’ (Stephen Hawking is a fan) and it posits that one-dimensional vibrating objects known as 'strings' are the elementary particles of the universe. Maldacena has welcomed the new research by Hyakutake and his team, telling the journal Nature that the findings are “an interesting way to test many ideas in quantum gravity and string theory.” Leonard Susskind, a theoretical physicist regarded as one of the fathers of string theory, added that the work by the Japanese team “numerically confirmed, perhaps for the first time, something we were fairly sure had to be true, but was still a conjecture.”
Beneath Yellowstone, A Volcano That Could Wipe Out The U.S. James Seidel New York Post December 13, 2013
Modal Trigger Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest in the United States and third largest in the world. Photo: Reuters It’s the awe-inspiring pride of the United States – and it harbors a deadly power that could kill us all. Yellowstone National Park is pristine wilderness, full of scenic landscape and iconic hot-pools and geysers that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. But it’s what lies beneath that has scientists scurrying. We’ve long known that Yellowstone is merely the skin on top of a supervolcano – a giant pool of magma sitting just under the Earth’s surface. Exactly how giant has been the subject of much speculation. Until now. A team from the University of Utah have told the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco that Yellowstone’s magama chamber is 2.5 times larger than previously thought. It is an underground cavern measuring some 55 miles by 20 miles and containing between 125 and 185 billion cubic miles of molten rock. If it blows it will wipe out America – and have enormous impacts on the rest of the world. The university researchers described their discovery as “astounding.” Professor Bob Smith told the BBC: “We’ve been working there for a long time, and we’ve always thought it would be bigger … but this finding is astounding.” The research is part of an ongoing effort to assess the true threat the molten beast represents. Modal Trigger The Grand Prismatic Spring is beautiful but it sits just above a dangerous supervolcano.Photo: Reuters
What is a supervolcano? The common picture of a volcano being a mountainous cone of ash and lava does not apply to the supervolcanos like Yellowstone. These are vast spaces of collapsed crust that formed pools – known as calderas – under a seemingly normal surface. Only mapping reveals the gentle swell, over a space of hundreds of square kilometres, that contains the cauldron of molten magma below. Modal Trigger
The “Crested Pool” hot spring at Yellowstone is world famous, but the thermal heat that creates it could be deadly.Photo: Getty Images
Eruption ‘due’ From analysis of rock and sediment layers, scientists say another eruption is almost due – at least by geological standards. It appears the supervolcano explodes roughly once every 700,000 years. Three such eruptions are known: One was 2.1 million years ago. Another was 1.3 million years ago. The most recent was 640,0000 years ago. Modal Trigger
Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Iceland. If the supervolcano at Yellowstone erupted it would be like Armageddon.Photo: Reuters
Big Bang So what would happen if Yellowstone was to erupt? Something close to Armageddon. Soil samples reveal that the last time it happened the whole of North America was smothered by ash. The lava flow was almost as great. The streams of molten rock were hundreds of miles long, and miles thick. Such was the extent of the smoke and debris cloud generated by the eruption that the climate of the entire world was affected for several centuries. Modal Trigger
The Abyss geothermal pool is beauty created by a potential world-destroying supervolcano.
Measuring the beast The ongoing rumbles caused by earthquakes in and around Yellowstone National Park provided the means by which the full extent of the magma chamber was revealed. As the seismic waves moved through the ground, the different speeds of their travel was recorded by a network of seismometers. “The waves travel slower through hot and partially molten material … with this, we can measure what’s beneath.” Dr. Jamie Farrell, from the University of Utah, said. Modal Trigger
Tourists walk beside a hot spring and the partially frozen Yellowstone Lake.Photo: Getty Images
But wait: There’s more Twenty “smaller” supervolcanoes have been found nearby, on the Utah/Nevada state border. The new study published in the journal Geosphere shows that these volcanoes are not active today. But, 30 million years ago, they spilt more than 5500 cubic kilometres of magma during a one-week period. “In southern Utah, deposits from this single eruption are 4km thick. Imagine the devastation – it would have been catastrophic to anything living within hundreds of miles,” Dr. Eric Christiansen of Brigham Young University said.
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