THE UNIVERSE MAY BE REVEALING IT'S SHAPE, new findings suggest
Oct. 6, 2004
Special to World Science
For centuries, scientists, philosophers and ordinary people have wondered whether the universe is infinite, and what its shape might be. In two recent studies, scientists say signals from the explosion that gave rise to the universe may be leading them to answers to both questions.
Some researchers say the universe may be shaped like a dodecahedron, in which objects that go out one side come back in the opposite. As for whether the universe is infinite, these signals point to "no," the researchers say.
As for its shape, if ever a shape could be at once hauntingly beautiful, yet impossible to draw or visualize exactly, this one might be it. But roughly, it would resemble a dodecahedron, a 12-sided box similar to some dice used in the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Some researchers disagree with the findings. "I'd be happy to wager a bottle of scotch against the dodecahedral universe," wrote cosmologist Ned Wright, of the University of California at Los Angeles, in a recent email.
The dodecahedral universe claims are based on observations of the furthest reaches of our universe. Since light takes time to travel, the further we peer out into space with telescopes, the further back in time we see. If we look far enough, we can see the aftermath of the "Big Bang," a tremendous explosion that astronomers believe created our universe.
The radiation from this explosion tells us some things about the early universe. In particular, it reveals the approximate density of different areas of the universe during that early time. Slight variations in the density of different parts of the early universe result in corresponding variations in the radiation's temperature.
These variations follow patterns in space that, mathematically, are identical to the vibration patterns of a musical instrument as it's being played.
Such vibrations that they normally come at many size scales, depending on the size of the instrument. When a bell rings, there are large ripples that span its whole surface, and tiny ones, but none bigger than the bell itself. The size of the largest ripples would reveal the size of the bell. The universe is thought to work similarly: the size of the biggest ripples could give astronomers some idea of the size of the universe.
In the case of the universe, ripples could conceivably be found in a very wide range of sizes. But they're not found in all these sizes; ripples larger than a certain size aren't seen. The most natural explanation of this seems to be that space is finite, say Jean-Pierre Luminet of the Paris Observatory, France, and colleagues. This is because only a universe of limited size could easily explain why the ripples are also limited in size. "Just as the vibrations of a bell cannot be larger than the bell itself, the density fluctuations in space cannot be larger than space itself," he wrote in the research journal Nature last fall.
This leftover light from the Big Bang – called the cosmic microwave background – may also reveal the shape of the universe, Luminet and colleagues argue. They claim that the details of the ripples point to a universe with a dodecahedral form described by the 19th- and early 20th- century French mathematician Henri Poincaré.
A peculiar aspect of this structure is that if we look out to one side of the dodecahedron, we see not a boundary, but our own universe all over again, as seen from the other side. It's like a hall of mirrors, except that instead of seeing your face, you see the back of your head. In addition, you would see the images partially rotated.
In the September 2004 issue of the research journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, a group of researchers write that they has found "hints" of the structure Luminet described. If space is structured this way, researchers believe that the cosmic microwave background should exhibit a specific pattern called "matched circles." This means that as we peer into space, certain areas of the radiation should look the same as other areas.
In the paper, Boudewijn F. Roukema of Copernicus University, Torun, Poland, and colleagues wrote that the patterns they found "correlate unusually well" with the matched-circles pattern required by Luminet's theory. However, at present it's hard to prove that this is not a coincidence, they wrote.
Wright is skeptical. The researchers "presented no evidence that this result was statistically significant," he points out on his website. Luminet agrees: "Their result has to be confirmed by further statistical analysis," he writes in an email. "The question remains open."
If the findings turn out to be correct, professors may be kept busy for years explaining the shape of the universe to students. This is because the dodecahedron picture is an oversimplification. The actual theory has several strange twists.
In some video games, you can fly your spaceship off the edge of the screen and it comes back in from the opposite edge. A creature dwelling in the world of the video game would have the illusion of living in an infinite space, at least until it started moving around and realizing that things were repeating themselves everywhere.
In the same way, we may have the illusion of living in a much bigger universe than the real one, Luminet argues. This is because as we look far enough out with our telescopes, we begin to see the same objects repeatedly. However, we would see them partially rotated each time.
The reason for this rotation is that it allows our dodecahedral universe to fit into a bizarre mathematical creation called a hypersphere – a concept that requires some explanation.
Most people would consider a circle two-dimensional, and a ball three-dimensional. In fact, a ball is sort of a three-dimensional version of a circle. In the same way, mathematicians have invented "balls" that exist in four or more dimensions. These objects are impossible to picture, but they are perfectly real in a mathematical sense; in other words, one can do calculations with them, just as with a circle and a ball.
Now, the surface of a normal ball, or sphere, is two-dimensional. Thus it makes sense that the "surface" of a four-dimensional ball would be three-dimensional. This surface of a four-dimensional ball is just as impossible to visualize as the four-dimensional ball itself, but nonetheless, mathematicians have given a name to this type of surface: a hypersphere.
"A hypersphere is the 3-dimensional surface of a 4-dimensional ball," wrote Luminet. Nineteenth-century mathematicians first devised the hypersphere as a possible shape of the universe. This served as a way to explain how space might be finite, yet have no boundary – just as the surface of a sphere has no boundary, yet doesn't go on forever.
Understanding the hypersphere is first step toward understanding what, according to some researchers, is the shape of the universe. There is also another step or two.
Consider a soccer ball (or as non-Americans call it, a football). Its surface is covered with five-sided shapes, colored black and white. These shapes are basically pentagons, but not quite normal pentagons. Their edges are slightly bent, and their corner angles slightly different, compared to regular pentagons. These alterations allow these "modified pentagons" to fit snugly together on the surface of a ball. Otherwise, it couldn't be a ball, but a shape like that of 12-sided die.
Now, return to the concept of a hypersphere. Remember, a hypersphere is the three-dimensional "surface" of a four-dimensional ball. If pentagons – which are basically two-dimensional – tile a three-dimensional soccer ball, it makes sense that some sort of three-dimensional objects can be said to tile the surface of a four-dimensional ball. It also makes sense that these would be three-dimensional versions of the "modified pentagons" described above.
These bizarre new objects are modified dodecahedrons: in other words, that 12-sided die shape again, but with slightly "bent edges." It takes 120 of them to fill a hypersphere, the same way it takes 12 modified pentagons to cover a soccer ball. In the case of the universe, however, 119 of these dodecahedrons would be illusory, because they are all repeating images of a single one. Nonetheless, the hypersphere containing them is real – real enough to serve as a framework that determines the details of the shape and angles of the dodecahedron.
One outcome of the hypersphere framework is that objects leaving one face of the dodecahedron come back in the opposite face, but rotated partially. To be exact, the amount of the rotation is 36 degrees, which also happens to be the angle by which your direction would change if you turned a corner while walking along the edge of a pentagon.
Luminet admits that the accuracy of this whole theory remains to be confirmed. The claim that the universe is finite remains unproven, he says; its confirmation will require a more precise measurement of the density of the universe today. If the density is above a critical level, it will prove the universe is finite, he says. A better measurement of the density could come from the Planck Surveyor, a European spacecraft planned for launch in 2007 to study the birth of the universe.
"Since antiquity humans have wondered whether our universe is finite or infinite," Luminet writes. "Now, after more than two millennia of speculation, observational data might finally settle this ancient question once and for all."
The Dodecahedron Universe (Calabash) of a 'Matrix' thence leads one to the Holographic Universe of a 'Simulation.'
HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE: Discovery Could Herald New Era In Fundamental Physics
"ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2009) — Cardiff University researchers, who are part of a British-German team searching the depths of space to study gravitational waves, may have stumbled on one of the most important discoveries in physics, according to an American physicist.
Craig Hogan, a physicist at Fermilab Centre for Particle Astrophysics in Illinois is convinced that he has found proof in the data of the gravitational wave detector GEO600 of a holographic Universe – and that his ideas could explain mysterious noise in the detector data that has not been explained so far.
The British-German team behind the GEO600, which includes scientists from the School of Physics and Astronomy's Gravitational Physics Group, will now carry out new experiments in the coming months to yield more evidence about Craig Hogan's assumptions. If proved correct, it could help in the quest to bring together quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of gravity.
In order to test the theory of holographic noise, the frequency of GEO600´s maximum sensitivity will be shifted towards ever higher frequencies. The frequency of maximum sensitivity is the tone that the detector can hear best. It is normally adjusted to offer the best chance for hearing exploding stars or merging black holes.
Even if it turns out that the mysterious noise is the same at high frequencies as at the lower ones, this will not constitute proof for Hogan's hypothesis. It would, however, provide a strong motivation for further study. The sensitivity of GEO600 will then be significantly improved by using 'squeezed vacuum' and by the installation of a mode filter in a new vacuum chamber. The technology of 'squeezed vacuum' was particularly refined in Hannover and would be used in a gravitational wave detector for the first time.
Professor Jim Hough of Glasgow University, one of the pioneer developers of gravitational wave detectors, says: 'Craig Hogan made a very interesting prediction. It may be the first of a number of unexpected possibilities to be investigated as gravitational wave detectors become more sensitive.'
Professor Bernard Schutz, Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy, member of the Gravitational Physics Group at the School, and recently elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society said: "It would be truly remarkable if GEO600 is sensitive to the quantum nature of space and time. The only way to confirm that would be to carry out controlled experiments, the results of which can be solely attributed to holographic noise. Such an experiment would herald a new era in fundamental physics".
Professor Dr. Karsten Danzmann, director of the Hannover Albert-Einstein-Institute, said: "We are very eager to find out what we can learn about the possible holographic noise over the course of the coming year. GEO600 is the only experiment in the world able to test this controversial theory at this time. Unlike the other large laser interferometers, GEO600 reacts particularly sensitively to lateral movement of the beam splitter because it is constructed using the principle of signal recycling. Normally this is inconvenient, but we need the signal recycling to compensate for the shorter arm lengths compared to other detectors. The holographic noise, however, produces exactly such a lateral signal and so the disadvantage becomes an advantage in this case. You could say that this has placed us in the very centre of a tornado in fundamental research!
Searching for the graininess of space
The smallest possible fraction of distance is called the 'Planck length" by physicists. Its value is 1.6 x 10-35 m – this is impossible to measure by itself. The established physical theories cease to function at this scale. GEO600 scientists are testing a theory by US physicist Craig Hogan, who is convinced he can hear the noise of space quanta in the data of the gravitational wave detector GEO600. Hogan suggests that the mirrors in an interferometer wander relative to one another in very rapid steps of the tiny Planck amount, that accumulate during the time of a measurement into something as large as a gravitational wave would produce. Hogan and the GEO600 scientists are following up the question whether a certain 'noise signal' in the data recorded by the detector can be traced back to the graininess of space and time.
GEO600
Because of its innovative and reliable technology, GEO 600 has gained an excellent worldwide reputation and is considered a think-tank for international gravitational wave observation. It was here that the most modern lasers in the world were developed which are being used in all the gravitational wave observatories in the world today. Researchers at GEO600 are taking technology a step further with 'squeezed vacuum'. This technology is designated for use in the third generation of gravitational wave detectors.
GEO600 is a joint project of scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, or AEI), Leibniz Universität Hannover, Cardiff University, the University of Glasgow and the University of Birmingham. It is funded jointly by the Max Planck Society in Germany and the Science and Technology Facilities Council in UK."
Further information:
•Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute): http://www.aei.mpg.de
•GEO600: http://www.geo600.de
Take Care
Mark
Sent: Mon, 26 July, 2010 8:45:44
Subject: Re: MAYA AND THE REALITY SIMULATION
Thanks for this Mark.
Dear ToyinAs one has probably discerned I am attempting to verify to my self that we are existing in what the Hindu's and Buddhist's call Maya, which Nick Bostrom would term as being a Simulation. At a personal level I have had experiences, which indicate that one can consciously engineer Synchronicities whose process could be applied to the bigger 'Picture.'The conscious engineering of a Synchronicity requires one to Focus upon a Symbol in order to implant into the Microcosmic Dream to make Lucid of Awareness from whence the Macrocosmic Synchronicity is generated. This is usually done automatically without ones conscious awareness being involved. If the process is applicable in regards to the collective of many Minds one has to then determine what the collective Focus is and whether it has generated an observable Synchronicity.The example of a collective Synchronicity, which I often utilise is that of the present conflict in Iraq from whose land Abraham to have stemmed from where one can also find Edom, which is otherwise known as Eden as well as Babylon of a Babalon. The events leading up to the conflict have Symbolic parallels with the material communicated by the book of Revelations in regards to the four horsemen of the Apocolypse, whence one has four planes hitting America.However, many would say it is sheer madness to assume that the very real events have anything to do with a collective Synchronicity; although the Symbolism its self is quite apparent and somewhat obvious. If one is not dealing with a collective Synchronicity then the events have been planned and orchestrated over a long period of time; others would say otherwise, that said events had happened purely by a series of accidental situations or that they had been ordained by their shared deity, whether it be called YHVH, God or Allah; such perspectives are not really applicable since one is dealing with a number of inter-connected events over a long period of time, which have a clear pattern to them and should one have a deity involved it is very much entwined with intolerant Centralist Religious Politics, Imperialistic Colonialism and that of a New-World-Order of Fascist leanings.The New-World-Order is very much tied up with numerous conspiracy theories, which those of a sceptical perspective have understandebly indicated have no foundation in fact, since one would have to keep the ball rolling over a long period of time; this would be nigh impossible for a shadowy group of Illuminati to sustain over the generations. However, the sceptics quaintly ignore the fact that the ball has been kept rolling on for a great length of time in regards to a Centralist Religious Focus, which is very much entwined with Politics whose Symbolism permeates all levels of society. One has Three books of 'Script,' Torah, Bible and Koran, which have determined the Words and Actions of many an individual from one generation to another whereupon one has a sustained Focus on Symbolic material and that of a geographic locale whereby one has a world-wide conspiracy staring all in the face.If one does not have an example of a collective Synchronicity, which has been generated by a sustained Focus upon Symbolic Religious material, one thereby has a world-wide conspiracy instead whose Religious agenda and ulterior Political motives is personified of Symbol as a very Jealous deity of Centralist Religous Politics, which is seeking to usher in a New-World-Order.One can of course merge the two perspectives together, whereupon one has a collective Evocation of a Synchronicity and that of an ongoing materialised conspiracy; hence one is living within an engineered 'Simulation.'Take CareMark
From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>
Subject: Re: BENIN OLOKUN SYMBOLISM AND THE UNITY OF BEING
To: "MARK DUNN" <sleipnirdrum@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tuesday, 6 July, 2010, 10:16
Thank you brother,as you take me deeper into the Womb Waters of knowledgetoyin
On 6 July 2010 09:55, MARK DUNN <sleipnirdrum@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Dear ToyinThe symbolism could be interpreted by some as representing the Christian 'Crucifixtion,' whereupon the arch of the diagram is the hill of Calvary upon which Christ was Crucified along with a Thief and a Murderer on either side of him. Christ would then be associated with the Jacob's Ladder, while the Thief and Murderer are the poles to the left and right of the Ladder. Others may also point out that one also has the association with the Cabbala where the Middle-Path is that of the Ladder while the arch intersects the throat area sphere of 'Daath' in relation to ones Reptilian-Brain-stem.However, the practice of Yoga far predates Christianity let alone that of Judaism whose philosphy investigates areas where Christianity nor that of Judaism touch upon to cover, hence I utilised the symbolism one to find in Kundalini Yoga, which in turn equates with the Kalihari Busmen's experience of the Num.The practice of Yoga in its self is derived from ancient Shamanic practices, which appears to have influenced the symbolism utilised by Judaism and Christianity. But alas Judaism and more so that of Christianity tends to negate the Magickal side of their respective symbolism, whereby the Cabbala and that of the Crucifixtion have become fused as a symbol of Focus for many.One can interpret the present situation of Religious Politics in the Middle-East as being an Evoked 'Manifestation' of the ongoing Focus where one has a Land Thief of a David Star Sun symbol and a Sickle Moon Murderer of a Suicide Bomber on either side of a Roman Christ whose Senate of Jacob Ladder Heirarchy has been duly Crucified.When one has a collective Mind Focus cohered by a Microcosmic symbol one will invariably find that the symbol will manifest into Macrocosmic material flesh. One then has to ask the question, what be the nature of the arousal of the Kundalini Shakti and that of the Num in this regard since Judaism, Christianity and Islam have negated the feminine principle in all their works? But then one has the fixation of many Minds upon the Whore of Babylon riding the Great Beast arising from the Waters; hence one has Baghdad built upon Babylon near unto Abraham's Ur while the Waters are that of the Euphrates from which the Great Beast of a WMD Atomic Mushroom cloud arises from as ones Kundalini Shakti Fire Snake. The Blind sought to materialise their Great Beast after the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse hit the Lightening Struck Towers of twinned Pylons, but it all turned out to be a total Lie not questioned.When many Minds are cohered by Microcosmic symbols assumed by a Religion one can manifest Macrocosmic concordant material events, let alone that of engineering events so as to manipulate the Religious beliefs of the many to thereby accept situations as being Prophesied out of their scripts.Humanity are symbolically driven by their Myths, whereby in order to control them one has to have them all Blindly focussing upon the same Myth via symbols. In order to negate the control one has to understand the symbolism; the symbolism is not owned by a particular Religion or culture, but by the many whose source is ancient, which at one time was world-wide of a differing understanding for ones ancestors knew how to consciously enter the Womb waters of the Dream!Take CareMarkSubject: Re: BENIN OLOKUN SYMBOLISM AND THE UNITY OF BEING
To: "MARK DUNN" <sleipnirdrum@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tuesday, 6 July, 2010, 2:53
Adept!I salute you.Thank you,thank you,thank you.I am thinking carefully of how to integrate your priceless interpretations into my presentation of these symbols.Please forgive my not responding yet to your interpretations of the others.I will do so soon.I will also respond to any mails you have sent me which I have not responded to yet.Your mails are invaluable mines of knowledge.May the Inorganic Feminine Intelligence be with youamentoyin
On 5 July 2010 21:25, MARK DUNN <sleipnirdrum@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Dear Toyin"Example of a chalk pattern drawn on thefloor at the exit from the initiate's seclusion room. The curvilinear designs represent Water Snakes-Olokun's messengers." (Two poles on either side, Left and Right = Ida & Pingala Nerve Channels/Autonomic-Nervous-System. Serpentine designs Three in number either side made up of Nine lines each: Eighteen reduced down to Nine/Ennead - Seven visionary states & the Primary White Light of Ego loss & the Secondary White Light. The two poles topped top and bottom by circles, which can be equated with the Perenium and Bregma. The Circles are made up of Three circles each, which can be associated with the Three Worlds: Underworld, Middle-world, Upper-world.)"The central ladder of seven rungs suggests the route for passing messages between spiritual and physical realms." (Seven Chakras/ Central Nerve Channel/Sushumna = arousal of the Num - Kundalini Shakti)"The X marks indicate points of contact between the two realms as well as the obstacles the initiate undergoes during her period of transformation." (Both X's [Cross-Bones] on both poles-Nerve Channels are part of the 'Rainbow' Arch design crossing over the ladder to intersect the Fifth Chakra, which correlates with the Throat area of the 'Reptilian Brain-stem.' Ones Reptilian-Brain-stem determines the level of ones Awareness and the depth of ones [little Death = Skull] Trance and Dream states.)Take CareMark
From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>
Subject: BENIN OLOKUN SYMBOLISM AND THE UNITY OF BEING
To: "WoleSoyinkaSociety" <WoleSoyinkaSociety@yahoogroups.com>, "usaafricadialogue" <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>, "krazitivity" <krazitivity@yahoogroups.com>, "Edo-nationality" <edo-nationality@yahoogroups.com>, naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com, "nigerianworldforum" <NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com>, "nai" <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>, "Nidoa" <nidoa@yahoogroups.com>, "Odua" <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>, "Yoruba Affairs" <yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com>, ifaorunmila@yahoogroups.com, followersofifaorunmila@yahoogroups.com, Multidimensionalman@yahoogroups.com, philosophical_writers@yahoogroups.com, philosophyforum2@yahoogroups.com, SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "abolo" <tonbole@yahoo.com>, "MARK DUNN" <sleipnirdrum@yahoo.co.uk>, "Iro Eweka" <iro_eweka01@hotmail.com>Date: Monday, 5 July, 2010, 20:37
Here I am,one with the water;I think and feel like the river,my blood flows like the river,to the rhythm of its waves,otherwise the trees and the animals wouldn't be such allies.
I am here in the trees,in the river,in my creative phase not only when I am here physically,but forever,even when I happen to be travelling-hidden beyond time and suffering,in the Spiritual Entities which,beceause they are Real in many ways,present ever new features.I feel sheltered with them -in them- beceause I am so very fond of trees and running water - and all the gods of the world are trees and animals long,long before they entrust their sancrosanct magnificence to a human figure.
Susanne Wenger from Adunni: A Portrait of Susanne Wenger by Rolf Brockmann and Gerd Hotter.Machart:Hamburg,1994.Back cover.
Image above:Rendition by Norma Rosen of representation of initiatory process and context in Benin Olokun initiation of Norma Rosen by a Benin Olokun ohen (priest or priestess)
"Example of a chalk pattern drawn on thefloor at the exit from the initiate's seclusion room. The curvilinear designs represent water snakes-Olokun's messengers. The central ladder of seven rungs suggests the route for passing messages between spiritual and physical realms. The X marks indicate points of contact between the two realms as well as the obstacles the initiate undergoes during her period of transformation.
(Graphic by Norma Rosen)"
from
"The Initiation of a Priestess: Performance and Imagery in Olokun Ritual" by Joseph Nevadomsky and Norma Rosen. TDR (1988-), Vol. 32, No. 2 (Summer, 1988), pp. 186-207.
Also blogged at Olokun Waters
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