A giant doorway to another universe may exist at the centre of the Milky Way, and it could be large enough to swallow spaceships whole.
This is according to a recent study which claims it would be possible to travel through a wormhole in a similar way to moving through the space-time tunnel in the film Interstellar.
Wormholes, allowing instantaneous travel between distant points in space and time, are allowed under Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
A doorway to another universe, large enough to swallow a spaceship, may exist at the centre of the Milky Way. Wormholes (artists's impression pictured) are thought to allow travel between distant points in space and time
A doorway to another universe, large enough to swallow a spaceship, may exist at the centre of the Milky Way. Wormholes (artists's impression pictured) are thought to allow travel between distant points in space and time
But most scientists dismiss the idea of ever building one large and stable enough to pass through, and no natural examples have been detected.
The extraordinary new theory, published in the journal Annals of Physics, follows the discovery of what appears to be a super-massive black hole at the centre of our galaxy.
According to the Italian authors, the black hole - a region of concentrated gravity that distorts space-time - may be a wormhole in disguise.
The scientists, who base their conclusion on complex mathematical models, say the portal could be constructed from dark matter.
This is invisible and mysterious material making up around 26 per cent of the universe. A recent study claims it would be possible to travel through a wormhole, in a similar way to moving through the space-time tunnel (right) in the film Interstellar. Pictured on the left is the spaceship from the film A recent study claims it would be possible to travel through a wormhole, in a similar way to moving through the space-time tunnel (right) in the film Interstellar. Pictured on the left is the spaceship from the film
A recent study claims it would be possible to travel through a wormhole in a similar way to moving through the space-time tunnel (right) in the film Interstellar. Pictured on the left is the spaceship from the film
The researchers combined the map of the dark matter in the Milky Way with the most recent Big Bang model to explain the universe. WHAT ARE WORMHOLES?
Space-time can be warped and distorted. It takes an enormous amount of matter or energy to create such distortions, but theoretically, distortions are possible.
In the case of the wormhole, a shortcut is made by warping the fabric of space-time. Imagine folding a piece of paper with two pencil marks drawn on it to represent two points in space-time.
The line between them shows the distance from one point to the other in normal space-time.
If the paper is now bent and folded over almost double - the equivalent to warping space-time - then poking the pencil through the paper provides a much shorter way of linking the two points, in the same way a wormhole would create a shortcut.
The problem with using wormholes to travel in space or time is that they are inherently unstable. When a particle enters a wormhole, it also creates fluctuations that cause the structure to collapse in on it.
'What we get is that our galaxy could really contain one of these tunnels, and that the tunnel could even be the size of the galaxy itself,' said Professor Paulo Salucci, from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy.
'But there's more. We could even travel through this tunnel, since, based on our calculations, it could be navigable. Just like the one we've all seen in the recent film 'Interstellar''.
He said the research was surprisingly close to what was depicted in director Christopher Nolan's movie, for which theoretical physicist Kip Thorne provided technical assistance.
'What we tried to do in our study was to solve the very equation that the astrophysicist 'Murph' was working on,' said Prof Salucci. 'Clearly we did it long before the film came out.'
Any wormholes existing in nature have previously been assumed to be microscopic rips in the fabric of space-time.
But the one possibly lying at the centre of the Milky Way would be large enough to swallow up a spaceship.
Professor Salucci added: 'Obviously we're not claiming that our galaxy is definitely a wormhole, but simply that, according to theoretical models, this hypothesis is a possibility.'
Other 'spiral' galaxies similar to the Milky Way - like its neighbour Andromeda - may also contain wormholes, the scientists believe.
Theoretically it might be possible to test the idea by comparing the Milky Way with a different type of nearby galaxy, such as one of the irregular Magellanic Clouds. Any wormholes existing in nature have previously been assumed to be microscopic rips in the fabric of space-time. But the one possibly lying at the centre of the Milky Way would be large enough to swallow up a spaceship, according to the latest study. Pictured is an artist's impression
Any wormholes existing in nature have previously been assumed to be microscopic rips in the fabric of space-time. But the one possibly lying at the centre of the Milky Way would be large enough to swallow up a spaceship, according to the latest study. Pictured is an artist's impression
In their paper, the scientists write: 'Our result is very important because it confirms the possible existence of wormholes in most of the spiral galaxies ..
'Dark matter may supply the fuel for constructing and sustaining a wormhole.
'Hence, wormholes could be found in nature and our study may encourage scientists to seek observational evidence for wormholes in the galactic halo region.'
The study follows similar research last year in which physicists at Cambridge University arguedthat some wormholes are capable of staying open long enough to send messages backwards and forwards through time.
‘My calculations showed that if a wormhole is very long compared to how wide it is, you can get negative energy created in the centre of the wormhole,' said Professor Luke Butcher
‘It’s not quite the right sort to keep the wormhole stable – which is what I’d hoped - but it does mean the wormhole collapses very slowly'
The wormhole would be open just long enough, Dr Butcher suggests, to send a photon through to the center.
Because the ends of a wormhole can exist at different points in time, if Professor Butcher’s theory proves correct, a message could be sent through time. Space-time can be warped and distorted. It takes an enormous amount of matter or energy to create such distortions, but theoretically, distortions are possible. In the case of the wormhole, a shortcut is made by warping the fabric of space-time (artist's impression pictured)
Space-time can be warped and distorted. It takes an enormous amount of matter or energy to create such distortions, but theoretically, distortions are possible.In the case of the wormhole, a shortcut is made by warping the fabric of space-time.
Sci-fi fans who hope humanity can one day zoom to distant corners of
the universe via wormholes, as astronauts do in the recent film
"Interstellar," shouldn't hold their breath.
Wormholes are theoretical tunnels through the fabric of space-time that
could potentially allow rapid travel between widely separated points —
from one galaxy to another, for example, as depicted in Christopher
Nolan's "Interstellar," which opened in theaters around the world earlier this month.
While wormholes are possible according to Einstein's theory of general
relativity, such exotic voyages will likely remain in the realm of
science fiction, said renowned astrophysicist Kip Thorne of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who served as an adviser
and executive producer on "Interstellar." ['Interstellar': A Space Epic in Pictures]
"The jury is not in, so we just don't know," Thorne, one of the world's leading authorities on relativity, black holes
and wormholes, told Space.com. "But there are very strong indications
that wormholes that a human could travel through are forbidden by the
laws of physics. That's sad, that's unfortunate, but that's the
direction in which things are pointing."
The major barrier has to do with a wormhole's instability, he said.
"Wormholes —
if you don't have something threading through them to hold them open —
the walls will basically collapse so fast that nothing can go through
them," Thorne said.
Holding wormholes open would require the insertion of something that
anti-gravitates — namely, negative energy. Negative energy has been
created in the lab via quantum effects, Thorne said: One region of space
borrows energy from another region that didn't have any to begin with,
creating a deficit.
Credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist
"So it does happen in physics," he said. "But we have very strong, but
not firm, indications that you can never get enough negative energy that
repels and keeps the wormhole's walls open; you can never get enough to
do that."
Furthermore, traversable wormholes — if they can exist at all — almost
certainly cannot occur naturally, Thorne added. That is, they must be
created by an advanced civilization.
And that's exactly what happens in "Interstellar": Mysterious beings
construct a wormhole near Saturn, allowing a small band of pioneers, led
by a former farmer named Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) to
journey far afield in search of a new home for humanity, whose existence
on Earth is threatened by global crop failures.
Anyone interested in learning more about the science of "Interstellar"
— which also features gravitational time dilation and depictions of
several alien planets orbiting close to a supermassive black hole — can
check out Thorne's new book, which is called, appropriately enough, "The Science of 'Interstellar.'"
Further, the California-based Kavli Foundation will host a webcast Wednesday (Nov. 26) in which physicists discuss the movie's science.
Wormholes have been a staple of science fiction for decades.
Interestingly, Thorne said that one of the genre's most famous titles
helped inspire scientists to try to better understand the hypothetical
structures.
"The modern research on the physics of wormholes largely stems from the
movie 'Contact,' from conversations I had with [renowned late
scientist] Carl Sagan — actually, when he was writing his novel
'Contact,'" Thorne said.
"Contact" features traversable wormholes. The novel came out in 1985,
while the movie (which also stars Matthew McConaughey, apparently a
wormhole connoisseur) was released in 1997.
For at least ten thousand years, human beings have been plotting the
movement of the stars, studying the heavens, constructing calendars, and
erecting monuments to track the procession of the constellations and
heavenly bodies across the night sky.
Many ancient cultures shared the belief that we came from the stars.
Perhaps this is why so much time, effort, and energy has been put into
the study of the celestial bodies from ancient times right up through
today.
Several constellations and stars have played an important role in
ancient mysteries and mythology surrounding the celestial origins of our
species. In the places where these legends emerge, we find structures
that correlate with the position of these stars and constellations in
the sky.
What were our ancient predecessors trying to tell us with this information?
Orion
The constellation of Orion is one of the most prominent and
recognizable constellations in the sky, as its location on the celestial
equator allows it to be seen all over the planet. It was of central
importance to many ancient cultures, as alignment with the position of
the stars matches up precisely to various ancient structures, from the
pyramids at Giza to those found at Teotihuacán in Central Mexico.
Orion’s Belt and the Giza Plateau
We know from The Pyramid Texts, which are among the oldest religious
writings in the world, that the ancient Egyptians believed that the gods
descended from the belt of Orion and from Sirius (the brightest star in
the sky) in the form of human beings. This is critically important to
Egyptian cosmology, as Orion was associated with the god Osiris and
Sirius was associated with the goddess Isis, who together are said to
have created the whole of human civilization.
The three pyramids at Giza are some of the most mysterious,
perplexing, and magnificent ancient structures in the world. Together
they demonstrate the concept of sacred alignment, as they form a precise
three dimensional map of the stars in the belt of Orion onto the
ground. Their size and placement also takes into account both the
visible brightness and location of the stars within Orion’s belt, as the
two larger pyramids are lined up perfectly in comparison to the smaller
offset pyramid of Menkuare.
Additionally, the Giza plateau is located at the geographical center
of the Earth, which means that it is positioned exactly in the center of
the Earth’s landmass. The central pyramid, Khufu, is not only the last
remaining of The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, but is more aligned to true North than the Greenwich observatory in London.
Teotihuacán
Located in the highlands of central Mexico, 35 miles northeast of
present day Mexico City, lies the ruins of the ancient city of
Teotihuacán, another marvel of the ancient world with ties to star
constellations. Archaeologists and scholars debate the age of the site,
although it is generally agreed upon that the city flourished for at
least 500 years before it completely collapsed by the 7th century of the
common era.
The city was one of the largest in the world at its peak, with an
approximate population of 150,000-200,000 people. Despite the fact that
the city predated the Aztecs by several centuries, they called it
Teotihuacán, meaning the “Place of the Gods”, as they believed that it
was the place where the current world was created.
Like many sacred sites from the ancient world, the observatories,
pyramids, and structures at Teotihuacán are constructed mirroring
celestial alignments. The complex at Teotihuacán contains three
pyramids, two larger and one smaller, boasting a similarity to the
layout of the pyramids at Giza and forming another correlation to the
belt of Orion. The Pyramid of the Sun is said to be aligned with the
Pleiades, another constellation of great importance in myth and lore
that is often connected to the constellation of Orion.
Sacred Alignment of the Hopi
The Hopi are a Native American tribe whose cosmology, monuments, and
landscape have a deep connection with the constellation of Orion. For
many generations, they built and abandoned villages before settling on
an area comprised of three mesas in the northeastern part of Arizona,
where they have been for over a thousand years.
The natural structure of the three mesas mirrors the three stars in
the belt of Orion, and it is said that this is why the Hopi chose to
settle in this location. They believe this place to be the center of
their universe, where they can make contact with the gods. Furthermore,
when connected to other Hopi monuments and landmarks around the
southwest, the collective sites are said to map the entire constellation
of Orion.
Interesting
info and beautiful images. Thanks for this. But as to the Giza plateau
being “situated at the geographical center of the Earth,” this may be
possible if you are talking about it lying exactly half way between the
north and soul poles, which I have not examined so don’t know, and maybe
you’ve researched this. But it can’t be true on an east/west continuum,
for east and west have no beginning or ending place on a globe. On the
flat earth model, the north pole is the geographical center of the
earth’s landmass.
Bridging the Ancient and Modern
Pachamama Alliance's 2-Hour online course, Awakening the Dreamer, is
a transformative educational program that explores the challenges
facing humanity at this critical moment in time and the opportunities we
as a human family have to create a new future.
Section 1: Get to know the Four Questions that are the framework of the course.
Section 2: Examine the environmental, social, and spiritual crises that humanity now faces.
Section 3: Recognize the powerful, unconscious assumptions of the modern world.
The co-founder of the firm behind the anti-Trump
‘dossier’ told House investigators Tuesday that he personally discussed
with members of the media allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, though
he did not speak to the sources behind the claims, a source told Fox
News.
According to a source familiar with
the matter, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson refused to answer key
questions during his seven-hour, closed-door appearance before the House
Intelligence Committee. The source said he would not answer questions
on his relationship with specific journalists or ties to the Democratic
National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign, which financed the
anti-Trump research via the law firm Perkins Coie.
But the source said Simpson acknowledged he did not
personally look into certain aspects of the dossier -- which was
authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and
contained salacious allegations about the Trump team’s ties to Russia.
Simpson told investigators he never spoke to the
underlying sources of the document, never traveled to Russia and did not
verify the dossier beyond comparing the claims to “open source” media
reporting.
The source said Simpson also told investigators he was
“upset” when then FBI Director James Comey re-opened the Hillary Clinton
email investigation in late October 2016, and Simpson wanted to push
back.
Simpson’s appearance was arranged last week in coordination with his attorneys.
The committee initially sought to subpoena Simpson, but withdrew it in exchange for his voluntary testimony.
“Throughout this entire year, the White House and its
allies on the Hill and elsewhere have attempted at every turn to smear
Fusion GPS because of its connection to the Steele Dossier,” Simpson’s
attorney Joshua Levy said Tuesday.
He said Steele and Simpson briefed reporters on the
dossier, but neither Simpson nor Fusion GPS paid members of the media to
publish stories of any kind. The House Intelligence Committee is back
in court Wednesday as Fusion tries to prevent the release of its bank
records.
Levy, however, said the dossier is solid.
“What they did do is they contracted with Christopher
Steele. … This experienced British intelligence official came back with a
report. That now in hindsight looks quite accurate,” Levy said. Fox News reported earlier this month that
Simpson met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya before and after
the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and others. Fox News reported that,
during that period, bank records show Fusion GPS was paid by a law firm
for work on behalf of a Kremlin-linked oligarch while also paying
Steele to dig up dirt on Trump.
But Levy said his client was “shocked and surprised”
when he learned in media accounts about the Trump Tower meeting and her
presence.
t could be argued that GameStop's (GME - Get Report) mixed-to-grim earnings report released Thursday was beyond its control.
A technology expert told TheStreet
in early March that it's the beginning of the end for packaged video
games. Its customer base is leaving in droves from it and other
companies that sell in-store video games, in favor of online outlets,
and that tide is highly unlikely to turn back.
But
that may not soothe the pain of investors, who saw GameStop shares
crash 12% to $21.01 on Friday. The video game retailer earned $2.38 a
share in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2017, which ended in January,
which exceeded analyst expectations for $2.28 a share. Same-store sales
dived 16.3%. Revenue plummeted 13% year over year to $3.05 billion, and
fell short of the consensus analyst estimate.
"2016
proved to be a more difficult year than we originally forecast, while
our strategic transformation drove record gross margins of 35% and
earnings came in within our revised guidance of $3.77 a share, we
encountered stiff headwinds as we completed the third year of the
console cycle," said CEO Paul Raines during an earnings call Thursday.
"As a result, the physical games category declined 15% and our GameStop
brand lost a small amount of market share during the holiday period due
to deep discounting."
For
the year ahead, the company sees earnings of $3.10 to $3.40 a share,
far short of analysts estimates for $3.70 a share. At the same time,
revenue is expected to be in the range of $8.44 billion to $8.78
billion, which falls between a 2% decline to 2% growth over the previous
year.
GameStop isn't a alone in having trouble selling video games. Its competitor Best Buy (BBY - Get Report) noted in its latest earnings report that video game sales were down. A kid buying video games
"We
expected some decline in gaming sales heading into the quarter, but the
level of industry softness across both gaming hardware and software was
much steeper than anticipated," said Best Buy Chairman and CEO Hubert
Joly on a conference call.
"We're
seeing more games being sold digitally, as 25% of the games are sold as
full-game download. Full-game downloads are increasing by 5% to 10%
points per year," Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson told TheStreet in early March. He said then that he has seen the amount of packaged games sold at stores drop in the last three years.
Olson
said the trend is being fueled by convenience for the consumer and
accelerated by faster internet speeds and greater storage capacity on
gaming consoles. And that change is very good news for games publishers
such as Electronic Arts (EA - Get Report) and Activision Blizzard (ATVI - Get Report)
as well as video game console makers, because the newer landscape is
much more lucrative: profit margins on sales of a packaged game are 60%
versus 80% on a full-game download.
Both Microsoft (MSFT - Get Report) and Sony (SNE - Get Report)
have introduced the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, respectively, which
feature video game subscriptions, but for now their offerings aren't as
current as gamers would like, said Olson. He expects the companies to
offer more popular games over time.
"Eventually,
we expect all games will be 100% download and streaming," he added. He
said also that retailers who may be missing sales of packaged video
games, "can benefit from the retail sales of the consoles."
Microsoft
recently took a big step toward that digital download only environment.
The company hatched a program where Xbox One owners can pay $10 per
month to have unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and
backward-compatible Xbox 360 games. The news sent shares of GameStop
into free-fall at the time.
To be sure, packaged games, both at GameStop and Best Buy, have their days numbered.
An electrolaser is a type of electroshock weapon that is also a directed-energy weapon. It uses lasers to form an electrically conductive laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC). A fraction of a second later, a powerful electric current is sent down this plasma channel and delivered to the target, thus functioning overall as a large-scale, high energy, long-distance version of the Taserelectroshock gun. Alternating current is sent through a series of step-up transformers, increasing the voltage and decreasing the current. The final voltage may be between 108 and 109 volts.[citation needed] This current is fed into the plasma channel created by the laser beam.
The laser beam rapidly heats and ionizes surrounding gases to form plasma.
The plasma forms an electrically conductive plasma channel.
Because a laser-induced plasma channel relies on ionization, gas must
exist between the electrolaser weapon and its target. If a laser-beam
is intense enough, its electromagnetic field is strong enough to rip
electrons off of air molecules, or whatever gas happens to be in
between, creating plasma.[1] Similar to lightning, the rapid heating also creates a sonic boom.[citation needed]
Uses
Methods of use:
To kill or incapacitate a living target through electric shock.
To seriously damage, disable, or destroy any electric or electronic devices in the target.
As electrolasers and natural lightning both use plasma channels to conduct electric current, an electrolaser can set up a light-induced plasma channel for uses such as:
As a weapon, to make a thunderhead deliver a precise lightning strike onto a target from an aircraft; in this case, the aircraft and laser can be compared to a triggered spark gap,
in that the relatively minor amount of initial input from the laser
allows a large amount of energy to flow between the cloud and the
ground.
Because of the plasma channel, an electrolaser may cause an accident if there is a thunderstorm (or other electricity sources such as overhead powerlines) about.[citation needed] (SeeTaserfor more information – principles of operation, controversies, etc.)
An electrolaser is not presently practical for wireless energy transfer due to danger and low efficiency.[citation needed]
Examples of electrolasers
Applied Energetics / Ionatron
Publicly traded company Applied Energetics (formerly Ionatron) develops directed-energy weapons for the United StatesMilitary. The company has produced a device called the Joint IED Neutralizer (JIN) which was deemed unfit for field use in 2006.[3] The JIN is intended for safely detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Future designs include weapons mounted on land, air and sea vehicles and as a hand-held infantry version.
Applied Energetics said that the weapons will be able to be used as a
non-lethal alternative to current weaponry, but will be able to deliver
a high enough voltage jolt to kill. Applied Energetics / Ionatron say that they are working on an electrolaser system, called LGE (Laser Guided Energy).[citation needed]
They are also studying a laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC) as a way
to stop people from going through a corridor or passageway.[4]
Phoenix
There was an unconfirmed report that in 1985 the U.S. Navy tested an electrolaser.[citation needed] Its targets were missiles and aircraft. This device was known as the Phoenix project within the Strategic Defense Initiative
research program. It was first proved by experiment at long range in
1985, but this report may have referred to an early test of MIRACL, which is or was a high-powered chemical laser.[citation needed]
HSV Technologies
HSV
Technologies, Inc. (Stood for the last names of the original founders,
Herr, Schlesinger and Vernon; this is NOT the same company as Holden
Special Vehicles), formerly of San Diego, California, USA, then Port Orchard, WA, designed a non-lethal device which was profiled in the 2002 TIME magazine article "Beyond the Rubber Bullet". It is an electrolaser using ultravioletlaser
beams of 193 nm, and promises to immobilize living targets at a
distance without contact. There is plan for an engine-disabling
variation for use against the electronic ignitions of cars using a
248 nm laser. The lead inventor, Eric Herr, died in 2008 and the company
appears to have been dissolved, as their website now hosts an unrelated
business (as of 9/2015) [5]
Picatinny Arsenal
Scientists and engineers from Picatinny Arsenal
have demonstrated that an electric discharge can go through a laser
beam. The laser beam is self-focusing due to the high laser intensity of
50 gigawatts, which changes the speed of light in air.[6] The laser was reportedly successfully tested in January 2012.[7]
Section 1: Get to know the Four Questions that are the framework of the course.
Section 2: Examine the environmental, social, and spiritual crises that humanity now faces.
Section 3: Recognize the powerful, unconscious assumptions of the modern world.