Spontaneous Creation or The Big Splat

Image licensed under Creative Commons by MikeLicht, NotionsCapital

Spontaneous Creation or The Big Splat: According to the great Dr. Stephen Hawking, the creation of the universe occurred absent the presence of a god or goddess*. Therefore, (not sure if we are quoting him or the BBC News) the creation of the universe was spontaneous. We also (here at the AZD) now refer to it as "The Big Splat" (relative to the Big Bang) - kind of like a paintball or an egg being splattered against the fabric of space time. And, there you have it! But the godless creation of the universe seems somehow meaningless and purposeless. One can only imagine a cartoonish god (like the Seth McFarlane god of 'Family Guy' or the Terry Gilliam god of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail') splattering a great egg against the wall. And where did the wall come from?








However, the argument could be made that absence of a Creator at the beginning does not rule out the existence of the same...






Incidentally, we can't wait for the great Stephen Colbert's take on this in his hilarious "Stephen Hawking is Such an *ssh#l@" segment.


Please note: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary


FOM: *Stephen Hawking: God Did Not Create the Universe (from BBC News), REUTERS News Agency on the subject,  Anti-Time and Searchedu.com on Spontaneous Creation

Anti-Time

Image licensed under Creative Commons by pt



Updated: Thursday, September 2, 2010* (See Below)



Anti-Time: Is the unfortunate proposal that time will eventually come to a stop - and could even be due to consequences from human activity, engineering and science. We got this idea from at least two sources: Ray Kurzweil and Star Trek: TNG Last Episodes(!). (Yes, yes we were big fans of the TV series and occasionally view a repeat every now and then.)






Our main reference is to the book by Ray Kurzweil - The Singularity is Near. One of the propositions seems to be that computer speeds will continue to increase at an accelerated pace.






One wonders if the pace will continue to the point where computations will literally exceed "light speed". What if they continue to accelerate to the point where computations will become instantaneous? At which point, time will become unnecessary (who ever thought that time was necessary?). At which point, time's reality becomes obvious and even stops. This might be the true singularity.






At which, point time itself could implode upon itself and reverse. Thus creating the phenomenon of "anti-time"? Everything affected by time (the universe) would then reverse in time. Except, of course, for certain sub-atomic particles! The universe would literally implode upon itself in this gigantic reversal. A sort of a "Reverse Big Bang" would then be created. Could the universe start all over again?






FOM: The Singularity is Near (on Google Books), The Singularity is Near (BookTV link - no video!), Wikipedia Link on Arrow of Time, Wikipedia Link on Ray Kurzweil, Glenn Beck's Interview of Kurzweil (!),US Military to Attack Moore's Law for Future Computers (from BBC News), *Stephen Hawking: God Did Not Create the Universe (from BBC News) and Time's Arrow from Google Books

Please Note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Lunar Reduction or Lunduction

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Mike Baird











Lunar Reduction or Lunduction: Is the unfortunate conflation of lunar and reduction. That's it, the Moon seems to be shrinking in size. ABC News reported that it appears to have shrunk by the length of 2 football fields (American). That's right - the moon appears to be shrinking.





FOM: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals 'Incredible Shrinking Moon'.


Please note: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

The Dione Belt

The Dione Belt: A new astronomical term - not one of ours. Given name for the new, transient radiation belt found circling Saturn. Exact origin of the radiation belt is not yet known, but guesses have been made by the professionals. Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/1dDofZ



For Pronunciation and origin of the name see: Dione.


References: New Transient Radiation Belt Around Saturn, Saturn, Cassini-Huygens and Radiation Belt.

NB: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.

For Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Helix Nebula image licensed under Creative Commons by jeffmcneill

China opens bidding on moon probe technology

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre51o1pz-us-china-moon/

New search mounted for cosmic inflation

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29376391/

Cosmic inflation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_inflation

Watching Venus Glow In The Dark

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224133735.htm

Venus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus

Turbulence May Promote Birth Of Massive Stars

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223221608.htm

Ex-Supernova Now Dust Factory Around Dead Star

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224133503.htm

Cassiopeia A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_A

Into The Eye Of The Helix

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090225073359.htm

Helix Nebula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_Nebula

UFO'S = Sprites? and More for Tuesday, February 24, 2009

40-year Mystery Revisited: Newtonian System Mimics 'Baldness' Of Rotating Black Holes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223221439.htm

Dark energy to erase Big Bang's fading signal

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29353276/

Comet's heart may have struck Earth

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29351284/

Bolide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolide#Bolide

Quark star may hold secret to early universe

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126964.700-quark-star-may-hold-secret-to-early-universe.html

SN 1987A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A

Do gravity holes harbour planetary assassins?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126962.000-do-gravity-holes-harbour-planetary-assassins.html

Sprightly Explanation For UFO Sightings?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223131119.htm

Sprites (lightning)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprites_(lightning)

Rocket Aims For Cheaper Nudges In Space; Plasma Thruster Is Small, Runs On Inexpensive Gases

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223221524.htm

For Monday, February 23, 2009

Gravitational lens image licensed under Creative Commons by rmforall@comcast.net

Cosmological Simulations Key To Understanding The Universe

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217092750.htm

Gravitational Lensing: Astronomers Harness Einstein’s Telescope

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090220172053.htm

Gravitational lensing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lensing

Largest Ever GRB for Friday, February 20, 2009

Gigantic explosion in space

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1032944

Most Extreme Gamma-ray Blast Ever, Seen By Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090219141458.htm

Gamma-ray burst

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst

For Thursday, February 19, 2009

Huge Pressures Melt Diamonds On Planet Neptune

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218091937.htm

Neptune

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune

Dwarf Galaxies Formed Out Of Leftover Gas

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218132145.htm

Double Star Captured By 'Virtual' Telescope

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218103517.htm

Bold missions to Jupiter and Saturn planned

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29258733/

Jupiter in space agencies' sights

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7897585.stm

Saturn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(astronomy)

Jupiter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter

Europa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon)

NASA Mission To Seek Water Ice On Moon Heads To Florida For Launch

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218133019.htm

Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/overview/index.html


Texas astronomers say they found samples of meteor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/ap_on_re_us/falling_debris;_ylt=AvCV6uBe5SQOs_8Q4qa1ITsPLBIF


Skylon spaceplane gets cash boost

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7898434.stm

Skylon spaceplane

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Engines_Skylon

For Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Cosmologists 'See' The Cosmic Dawn

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211082359.htm

Fireworks From A Flaring Gamma-ray Star

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210125422.htm

SGR J1550-5418

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGR_J1550-5418

Antarctic Expedition Prepared Researchers For Mars Project

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090205141509.htm

Mars mission has some seeing red

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29134295/

For Tuesday February 11, 2009

How Many Dimensions In Holographic Universe?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090203081609.htm

How Cosmic Matter Jets Stream Out Of Stars

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090209152422.htm

Space Spotlight: New stars in the Milky Way

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/10/space.spotlight/index.html

Scientists unravelling mysteries of Saskatchewan meteorite

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/02/09/meteorite.html

Unmanned Russian cargo ship heads to space station

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_sc/eu_russia_space;_ylt=AnGyFtR12zWrvTKjLpmwD2ms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZnZmY2J2BHBvcwMxMDcEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9zY2llbmNlBHNsawN1bm1hbm5lZHJ1c3M-