Why we may never want to use this technology
The truth is that teleportation already exists. It was theorized in a 1935 paper written by Einstein and two of his colleagues, Podolsky and Rosen. It was later proven in experiments during the 1990’s. For decades we have known that it is possible, at the quantum level, to teleport particles from one location to another. There are no laws of physics which prevent human beings and objects from dematerializing in a surreal cloud of particles in one location and rematerializing somewhere very distant, somewhere like the slick moon-white ice fields of the Arctic or among the pollen-dusted flowers of the European countryside. Nature does not prevent us from traveling to a different point in space in a short amount of time. …
But we can’t use it to save us from the future
How strange it is to think that some part of us exists online. Who we are no longer has a purely physical answer. Our work, thoughts, relationships, and obsessions exist online, extensions of ourselves that make it possible for people to get to know us without ever having to occupy the same rooms as us. Or even the same country. This is the transition of the human to the cyborg — we are starting to shift more and more of our lives onto our machines.
Encrypting our messages, then, is about more than just protecting our money. It’s about protecting some aspect of our humanity as well. And up until now we thought our information was very well protected. Cryptographers have come up with clever ways to keep our text messages and bank information safe from criminals and agencies. But all of that will someday change. As a seemingly inevitable computer revolution looms on the horizon, it casts an uncertain shadow on the privacy of our lives. …
And we have no way to figure it out
The speed of light is an assumption, not a certainty. It’s an assumption in that we have never experimentally measured the one-way speed of light. The best we have been able to do, even with our most sophisticated modern technology, is measure the roundtrip speed of light and assume that the speed is the same in both directions. This is what’s known as being isotropic — a value is uniform no matter the direction. To be anisotropic, then, means that a value varies depending on the direction. Einstein’s theory of special relativity assumes that the one-way speed of light is constant and isotropic. So what happens if the one-way speed of light is anisotropic? …
Despite a ruined reputation, the idea is scientifically sound
Cold fusion is a subject that’s as extraordinary as it is taboo. Despite a history full of fraudulent researchers and unaccepted experimental evidence, some scientists maintain the idea close to their hearts. And it’s easy to see why. The world of fusion energy is suffused with allure— it would introduce a revolution across the face of our planet. Its creators would no doubt become influential members of modern society with their names forever affixed as important figures in the advancement of mankind.
Yet as we recently explored in my last article, it seems impossible that anything like cold fusion could even exist. Fusion in nature happens at temperatures millions of degrees high, involving the formation of a blistering hot plasma soup bubbling with free-roaming nuclei and electrons. Fusion laboratories here on Earth surpass even the core temperature of stars, climbing higher than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius). The heat and pressure of these environments allows less massive elements to fuse into heavier elements, releasing a huge amount of energy in the process. …
Fraud, humiliation, and an idea that could change the world
The large majority of the scientific community won’t even talk about this idea. Any scientist who brings it up or, worse, dedicates any of their time testing the idea risks not only being isolated from their peers but also ruining their academic reputation. Of the over 5,000 scientific journals in existence less than 1% are willing to publish any related content. So ridiculed and looked-down upon is it that the only people willing to openly speak about it are older scientists with tenure, or those which are retired and no longer fear damaging their career. Yet hundreds of experiments — much of the time involving respected scientists and universities — have already been conducted to test the hypothesis. …
Imagine, for a moment, our primitive planet. It’s over 4 billion years ago and Earth is swathed in carbon dioxide. The CO2 rich atmosphere gives way to carbonate rich water which, after evaporation, is left briny and alkaline. Carbon dioxide dissolved in the water allows a special chemical to escape from submerged rocks. This uncommon little chemical goes on to do something extraordinary — it proceeds to play an indispensable role in the emergence of life. Sighting of this chemical in the year 2020 leads scientists to believe, just for a moment, that there may be alien organisms on a nearby world. …
A simulation shows the results of this destructive event
The largest ocean in the Solar System exists in an unexpected place. It is unlike any ocean on Earth, or even like those on a promising lunar world like Europa. This ocean resides somewhere beneath the soft bitten-peach atmosphere of Jupiter, vaporous and crystal-colored, made not of water but of liquid hydrogen. The hydrogen becomes a liquid as both temperatures and pressures mount beneath Jupiter’s atmosphere. Like the sun, Jupiter is made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
This composition is what sets the four Jovian planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — apart from the four inner rocky planets. Enormous, billowing layers of gas surround small but dense cores. As dreamy as it would be to visit a planet like Saturn, any traveler would find that there is no surface on which to land their craft. Neither can they fly through the atmospheres of gas giants since the intense environment would lead to fatal malfunctions. Spacecraft entering would be melted and crushed, then inevitably vaporized before much time had passed. …
How it will change the future of space exploration
Nothing excites us quite like the discovery of water on another world. We marvel at the channels and alcoves on Mars, or sit daydreaming about the alien life that may crowd beneath Europa’s sinister and mysterious covering of ice. Even our own planet’s water is a precious resource tied closely to the emergence of all organisms. Yet the discovery of water on the moon excites us for a different reason. It’s not necessarily because the moon may share an Earth-like history as is the case with Mars. Nor is it because we believe alien organisms slink across those shadowy poles. …
I don’t believe, especially as an aspiring scientist, that I can call myself an atheist. At most I can claim to be agnostic for there is no way to prove that God doesn’t exist. Having grown up in the Southeastern United States, I was introduced at a young age to Christianity. It remains the religion with which I am most familiar. The argument I make here is specifically in regards to this Christian God but I believe it is an argument that could be made for any of the thousands of gods that have existed throughout human history. …
The race for the world’s next-generation computer intensifies
There were many doubts as to whether or not quantum computing could ever become a reality. The circuitry relies on tricky manipulation of ions and photons, or otherwise requires temperatures near absolute zero. It is, by all means and purposes, an immense test of mankind’s cleverness and aptitude for innovation. Yet just 3 days ago a machine in a provincial part of what is an ambitious and newly-empowered China has, for the second time in human history, shown quantum supremacy.
Quantum supremacy is a demonstration that a quantum computer can achieve something which would otherwise be impossible for a classical computer. The first instance of this occurred in 2019 when Google’s Sycamore processor was able to complete a calculation in just over 3 minutes; the same calculation would have taken a classical computer 10,000 years to complete. The claim was later disputed by rival company IBM, stating that it wouldn’t have taken one of their supercomputers more than 3 days — not 10,000 years — to get the same result. No one has yet come forward to dispute China’s newest claim to quantum supremacy, however. …
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