this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
1136 points (98.7% liked)

Science Memes

10647 readers
3516 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 219 points 4 days ago (4 children)

"Ultimately it increases entropy... let me tell you about the heat death of the universe..."

"No, Mom! I'm still afraid of the False Vacuum monster laying underneath my ground state!"

[–] [email protected] 62 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

If those were likely to happen during our lifetime then they would have already. Now prion disease...

Good night!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Scare me with prion disease?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Yes, this answer, the kid fucked around (asked questions), now it's time to find out.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

🎼
Elect-ro-weak and Higgs field
Staying in a false staaaate
Tun-nel, tun-nel, it alllll falls dowwwwwn

Then there are no mass-es
And, more, no inter-act-ions
Mass-less, mass-less, no a-toms nowwww

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I listened to this in my head, where did it go?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A̷̙͂̀̐̾̋̌̒̉̀̿̃͘̚L̴̡̬͓̩͕̭̱̻̹͚̦͉̱͉̪̾͑̾̈͘Ļ̸̢̛̤̯̦͇͉̭̱͚̜̰́̂́̃͐͛́͗͊̾́͗̑̏̄͘͜ ̷̢͈̏̈́̀̈́̀̀̆B̶̢̡͙͉̖̰͓̯͎͉̣͇͆̅̄͛̅̈̌̉̑͘͝Ę̴̨̖̜̺̮̟̻̱̬̮͉̯͕͇̰̺͌̐̓̐̍̇̆̄̔Ĉ̸̢̢̡̧̛͉̩̭̭͇̞͇͇̲͙̺̱͆̑̊͊̌͑̚̚͘͝͠ͅÖ̷̢̫̐͌M̵̨̼͚̝̝̳̿̏̈́̈́̐̽͘͝ͅE̵̡̼̖̺̩̪̥͖̣̻̺̎͌̾̈̈̂͆͒̕S̸̼̒͛̈ ̶̠͙̦̰͕̻̪͕̟̻̮̹̰͎̣̅̊̀̌̋̐̀̏̽̎̇͑̄͘͘͠T̴̨̤̲͉̟̞̙̫͉͂͆̔͊͛͌̍̈͊̈́̈́̽̕͜ͅH̵̱̬̭͖̙̜̲̘͔̬͆͊̈̏ͅĘ̵̧̳̮̤͖̫̪͍̦͖̖̯̥͈̦̈́̈́͋͐͆̒̆̈́͊̾͘̕͠ ̵̖̜̫͇͙͐̿̃́͊͑̀́̈́̀̉͋͌͒̓͝V̴̡̭̺̻͊͑̿́͒O̸̡͕̫̦̞̫̘͈̻͎̳̊Ḯ̷̖̥̫͖͉̖̜͚͕̹̣̙͚̯̯́̊̉̄́͛͑͌̃̄́̓̈͜͜D̵̨̢̛̳̻͓̘͙̞͍̠̺͖͓̟̳͌̊͋̿̀͑̈́̏̆̀̒̒̈̄̇́

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I was curious, what that looks like when he does come

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What the fuck am I looking at

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in latent space for the phrase you just said. Er if that was you that I replied to.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

if that was you that I replied to.

It was not. I'm just a disturbed onlooker.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (2 children)

So scientists are not entirely certain about the heat death of the universe. The heat death is the most reasonable prediction given what we know but there could be a force acting across the universe that may very slowly reverse the expansion of the universe that we have yet to discover and cause a big crunch over a ridiculously large amount of time. The fact is predictions that far in the future aren't really very useful.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Does quantum foam occasionally spawn a new big bang

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't know enough to answer that, sorry.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I asked chatgpt and the answer is inconclusive

Does quantum foam occasionally spawn a new big bang ?

The idea of "quantum foam" occasionally spawning a new Big Bang is an intriguing concept, but it belongs more to speculative physics than established science, at least with our current understanding of cosmology. Quantum Foam:

Quantum foam (or spacetime foam) refers to a concept derived from quantum mechanics and general relativity. It was first proposed by physicist John Wheeler in the 1950s. The basic idea is that on extremely small scales, close to the Planck length (~1.6 × 10⁻³⁵ meters), spacetime is not smooth but fluctuates wildly due to quantum uncertainty. This is because, in quantum theory, at these incredibly small scales, particles and even spacetime itself undergo constant, random fluctuations, resulting in a "foamy" structure. Quantum Foam and Big Bangs:

The speculation that quantum foam might give rise to new universes or Big Bang-like events is tied to broader ideas in theoretical physics, including concepts like quantum cosmology, eternal inflation, and multiverse theories.

Quantum Fluctuations and Universe Creation: In some models of the universe, it is proposed that quantum fluctuations could give rise to entire universes. This is somewhat similar to how quantum fluctuations in energy can spontaneously create particles for brief moments (due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle). Some cosmologists have extended this thinking, suggesting that a fluctuation in the quantum foam could create a new region of spacetime that expands and becomes a new universe—a new Big Bang, in essence. This is related to the idea of the multiverse, where new universes are constantly being generated through different mechanisms, including quantum fluctuations.

Eternal Inflation: Another theory that links the idea of new Big Bangs with quantum processes is the theory of eternal inflation, which proposes that our universe is just one "bubble" in a larger multiverse. In this model, the universe experiences a rapid expansion (inflation) in its early stages, and in some regions, this inflation never stops. Small regions of spacetime can "bubble off" from this eternally inflating space and form new universes with their own Big Bang events.

Cyclic or Bounce Models: There are also cyclic models of the universe (such as the ekpyrotic universe or conformal cyclic cosmology) where a universe goes through repeated cycles of expansion and contraction. In these models, the quantum foam might play a role in transitioning from one cycle to the next, though these are still speculative ideas.

Does Quantum Foam Directly Spawn Big Bangs?

Currently, the connection between quantum foam and the creation of new Big Bangs remains speculative and unproven. Our understanding of quantum gravity—the theory that would fully unify quantum mechanics and general relativity—is still incomplete. Many of the ideas related to the quantum foam, multiverses, or eternal inflation remain theoretical and lack direct empirical evidence.

While quantum foam might offer an intriguing arena for considering the birth of new universes, there is no definitive evidence that quantum foam occasionally spawns new Big Bangs, at least according to current mainstream physics. In Summary:

Quantum foam describes the hypothetical, fluctuating nature of spacetime on extremely small scales. Some speculative theories in physics suggest that quantum foam or related processes could, in principle, give rise to new universes (possibly via quantum fluctuations or other mechanisms). These ideas are part of multiverse theories or eternal inflation models but remain speculative and are not established as fact. The idea of quantum foam spawning Big Bangs is fascinating but is still in the realm of theoretical and speculative physics.

Scientific advancement, especially in quantum gravity and cosmology, might eventually give us more insights into whether such processes could occur.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I read a SciFi book where there was a group in the world that does general science in the name of averting the heat death of the universe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ah yes, the ol' "If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?" approach to preventing the death of the universe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't quite understand. Care to elaborate?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Existence is in the eye of the beholder. For something to exist it must be observed.

It sounds like in the book you read performing general science would go towards observing the universe preventing its heat death?

I dunno if fully applicable, but that's what I got out of it :D