"...I'm here to present to you - not lectures that are part of some curriculum; but in fact, I've combed the universe for my favorite subjects, and I'm going to spend twelve lectures bringing those favorite subjects to you." Renowned astrophysicist and television host
Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the various aspects of our universe in twelve separate half-hour long lectures (MLYT).
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posted by Evernix
on Nov 26, 2011 -
40 comments
Parallel universes Alternate universes may exist besides our own in some ghostly manner. Various science-fiction series explore
parallel universes, but what do serious physicists think? Hugh Everett III's doctoral thesis outlines a controversial theory in which the universe at every instant branches into
countless parallel worlds. Physicist Andrei Linde's theory of
self-reproducing universes implies that new universes are being created all the time through a budding process. Stephen Hawking's
quantum cosmology also suggests the possibility of other universes connected by wormholes. Some scientists feel that the famous photon
double slit experiments proves the existence of parallel universes in which a photon from one universe interacts with a photon from another. Black hole theory suggests that black holes may be portals to
parallel universes.
Science-fiction stories about parallel universes always delight the mind. Two of my favorite SF novels on parallel universes are Heinlein's
Job and
Number of the Beast. Several others intrigue me, such as
The Neoreality Series,
Diaspora, and
Parallelities. Science books on the subject include a
famous book by David Deutsch.
Do you have any favorite books on parallel universes or parallel realities, fiction or nonfiction?
What do you think? No doubt, scientists and
science-fiction authors will continue to explore the concept in the decades to come.
posted by Morphic
on Oct 21, 2002 -
64 comments
So you think the expansion of the universe is accelerating?
Think again! (Contains links to full paper in .pdf etc.)
posted by stuporJIX
on Dec 21, 2001 -
2 comments
Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science - From the publisher's summary, "Starting from a collection of simple computer experiments — illustrated in the book by striking computer graphics — Wolfram shows how their unexpected results force a whole new way of looking at the operation of our universe." May be big. Thoughts?
posted by paladin
on Oct 29, 2001 -
26 comments
The Big Re-run? "In the first millionth of a second after the universe’s
beginning, the entire cosmos consisted of this ultradense,
ultrahot brew, scientists say." And now scientists are trying to re-enact the Big Bang. Too big of a task to take on?
posted by Zosia Blue
on Jun 1, 2000 -
3 comments