Tag Archives | String Theory

Physicist Discovers Computer Code Embedded Within the Equations of String Theory

By on May 30, 2013 in News 0

In an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, physicist James Gates describes a digitally-encoded error checking algorithm embedded within the fundamental equations of String Theory:

Gates’s ideas are laid out in more depth in a 2010 article for Physics World. He believes that these theoretical findings, if validated, may be evidence that we live in a simulation. However, if there are algorithms encoded in the fabric of reality, is it not also possible that they might have emerged as a result of some natural selective process–a kind of cosmic DNA, if you will?… Read the rest

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Is Bigfoot in the Process of Becoming Real?

By on December 9, 2012 in News 133

Picture: Patterson-Gimlin photo (C)

Bigfoot research reminds me of string theory. Like string theory, Bigfoot research is all based on inferences drawn from a pretty small data set, and as we observe these inferences, the creature seems to takes on a life of its own.

In many ways, string theory resembles a very esoteric form of philosophy rather than objective empirical science, but it may help make sense of the world. There is an aspect of it that is very creative. In a particular line of thinking, studying string theory is like creating reality. According to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, without a mind to observe it, “reality” remains in the realm of possibility as quantum superposition, collapsing into the real by the act of measuring.

Like the wise sage Mitch Hedberg once said “I think Bigfoot is blurry. That’s the problem“, but Bigfoot seems to become more real all the time as our minds have a chance to get our heads around him.… Read the rest

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String Theory and Black Holes Show Possible Path to Practical Superconductors

By on August 10, 2010 in News 0
The unit cell of high-temperature cuprate superconductor BSCCO-2212

The unit cell of high-temperature cuprate superconductor BSCCO-2212

Alasdair Wilkins writes on io9.com:

A leading candidate for room temperature superconductors is the copper compound cuprate, but no one knew how cuprates facilitated superconductivity … until some brave souls looked inside a black hole and broke out the string theory to explain how they work.

Superconductors that can transmit massive amounts of electricity with zero resistance at room temperature are pretty much the holy grail of applied physics (with good reason), but we’re still a long way away from actually building one.

Indeed, even figuring out the theoretical underpinnings of a room temperature superconductor has proven tremendously difficult, although a team of MIT physicists may have found an unlikely — and brilliant — way to learn more about how they would work. But first, a little backstory.

Currently, there are two types of superconductors. One group is the low temperature superconductors, which can only work at temperatures near absolute zero and thus require gigantically impractical amounts of coolants.

… Read the rest

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