Nexus - 0905 - New Times Magazine-pages

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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE distances of such small scale as that of the our machines are more powerful, then..." spring of scientific "progress" (for "Star solar system, we are in a "non-relativist" But when there is a shortage of ideas, com- Wars" beam weapons). Mirrors of 100 configuration; the space curvature is puters do nothing but a constant, dismal __ metres in diameter are already in the blue- extremely feeble and the expansion of the _ patch-up; they do not compensate for a lack __ print stage; they will "see" 20 times farther universe insignificant. In these conditions, of epic inspiration. than the Palomar telescope can. In short, Einstein's equation boils down to a we shall look the confines of the cosmos Newtonian dynamic. A Disappointing Symposium straight in the eye with a magnifying glass, However, the measurements applied to Last June [2001], I attended an interna- which implies looking into its remotest the probes reveal that something is going _ tional scientific symposium. One Italian past, because looking far equals looking wrong. Everything, I tell you, has been astronomer showed us the latest large-scale "ancient". However, the explosively looked up, and yet, up to now, research has _ image of the structure of the universe. expanding technology does not always only concluded that we are in the presence As everyone knows, observations are imply an equal expansion of grey matter. of an "unmodelled acceleration"—in other progressing rapidly. Well done, At the symposium, the wonderful pic- words, the observed deceleration does not astronomers! Not so long ago, we had the _ tures of the large-scale structure of the uni- fit into the present model. This is not justa five-metre Mount Palomar telescope. verse displayed by the Italian revealed minor problem; it is one of the most impor- Today, the Keck is double that size and empty spaces. There is constant evidence tant problems we are up against today and _ there are 8.5-metre telescopes galore. In _ that galaxies cluster around void bubbles of it cannot be ignored. To find a flaw in Hawaii, the French and Canadians have set about 100 million light years in diameter. Newton's law is by no means trivial. up something splendid: the eyes of the | But computer simulations, though based on So, what am I suggesting? The universe world. Adaptive optics is the key to this cold dark matter, produce strands, like a has a "reverse side", a kind of invisible —_ technological breakthrough. kind of spider's web. double. Filled with what? With "twin mat- Formerly, mirrors had to be hewed and I said, "Dear colleague, aren't you trou- ter" similar to ours. The duality of "matter- polished, which took years; their shape _ bled by the fact that the result of simula- antimatter" exists also in that universe, our depended on their rigidity, hence their con- _ tions doesn't seem to match observations?" twin. And particles in that other universe — siderable weight. Grandpa's mirrors were Silence. also attract each other according to compartmentalised structures which had to Yet, simulations we have been conduct- Newton's law. I said that both universes be cooled down slowly to avoid splitting, ing since 1993 match perfectly with the interacted only through gravitation; but and polished many years until they were empty bubbles structure; and besides, this matter and twin matter repel each other, accurate to within a micron—and the result structure appears to remain stable over obeying a law which might be called "anti- could be a success or a failure. In about 10 billion years. Newton". This entails a number of conse- Zelentchouk, the Russians carved a six- But this is not the current fashion. quences, which are described in On a_ metre one—alas, rather a failure. People can accept “dark matter", but Perdu la Moitié de l'Univers. It also Today, large mirrors are equipped with "another universe" seems too complicated throws some light on the space probes’ _micro-jacks and they function like your eye. _ for today's theoreticians. behaviour. The shape of the crystalline lens of the eye During the symposium, an American If matter and twin matter repel each is constantly adapted by a complex set of woman showed attempts to simulate proto- other, they must share the available space, muscles. They are monitored by the retina galaxies—as usual, of course, on a "dark and this is then the case for the whole uni- until, by trial and error, the image is clear. matter" basis. Unfortunately, these galax- verse at any scale, as we shall see further The new telescopes are also adaptable and _ ies would not rotate. on. This means that between the stars, our can be gauged on a reference target. One of the participants remarked: "We Sun being one such, there is twin matter in And, by the way, who do you think fund- seem to have another problem here." a very rarefied state. The density is feeble, ed this? (Astronomers aren't talkative on The American had simply forgotten that but the temperature is very high—over _ this issue.) The military, as usual—main- ___ galaxies were probably formed at a time 160,000°C. And here we have a real model dark matter conglomerate our ownmatter confined in _ both universes superimposed with beautiful, predictive equations. residual space Here we no longer satisfy ourselves : with appearances, with tailor-made computer modellings such as those produced by a couple of researchers at the observatory where I work. They are both already going grey and have been tinkling away on their machines for the last 20 years with little or no result. They sprinkle "halos of dark matter" over our galaxies in an attempt empirically to take into account increasingly accu- empty bubble —_galaxy clusters rate incoming observational data. In the beginning, people said, "When the accepted hypothesis what we see what we don't see our machines are more powerful, then..." But when there is a shortage of ideas, com- puters do nothing but a constant, dismal patch-up; they do not compensate for a lack of epic inspiration. our machines are more powerful, then..." spring of scientific "progress" (for "Star But when there is a shortage of ideas, com- Wars" beam weapons). Mirrors of 100 puters do nothing but a constant, dismal _ metres in diameter are already in the blue- patch-up; they do not compensate for a lack _ print stage; they will "see" 20 times farther of epic inspiration. than the Palomar telescope can. In short, we shall look the confines of the cosmos A Disappointing Symposium straight in the eye with a magnifying glass, Last June [2001], I attended an interna- which implies looking into its remotest tional scientific symposium. One Italian past, because looking far equals looking astronomer showed us the latest large-scale "ancient". However, the explosively image of the structure of the universe. expanding technology does not always As everyone knows, observations are imply an equal expansion of grey matter. progressing rapidly. Well done, At the symposium, the wonderful pic- astronomers! Not so long ago, we had the _ tures of the large-scale structure of the uni- five-metre Mount Palomar telescope. verse displayed by the Italian revealed Today, the Keck is double that size and empty spaces. There is constant evidence there are 8.5-metre telescopes galore. In _ that galaxies cluster around void bubbles of Hawaii, the French and Canadians have set about 100 million light years in diameter. up something splendid: the eyes of the But computer simulations, though based on world. Adaptive optics is the key to this cold dark matter, produce strands, like a technological breakthrough. kind of spider's web. Formerly, mirrors had to be hewed and I said, "Dear colleague, aren't you trou- polished, which took years; their shape _ bled by the fact that the result of simula- depended on their rigidity, hence their con- _ tions doesn't seem to match observations?" siderable weight. Grandpa's mirrors were Silence. compartmentalised structures which had to Yet, simulations we have been conduct- be cooled down slowly to avoid splitting, ing since 1993 match perfectly with the and polished many years until they were empty bubbles structure; and besides, this accurate to within a micron—and the result structure appears to remain stable over could be a success or a failure. In about 10 billion years. Zelentchouk, the Russians carved a six- But this is not the current fashion. metre one—alas, rather a failure. People can accept “dark matter", but Today, large mirrors are equipped with "another universe" seems too complicated micro-jacks and they function like your eye. for today's theoreticians. The shape of the crystalline lens of the eye During the symposium, an American is constantly adapted by a complex set of | woman showed attempts to simulate proto- muscles. They are monitored by the retina galaxies—as usual, of course, on a "dark until, by trial and error, the image is clear. matter" basis. Unfortunately, these galax- The new telescopes are also adaptable and _ ies would not rotate. can be gauged on a reference target. One of the participants remarked: "We And, by the way, who do you think fund- seem to have another problem here." ed this? (Astronomers aren't talkative on The American had simply forgotten that this issue.) The military, as usual—main- galaxies were probably formed at a time what we see what we don't see NEXUS = 45 dark matter conglomerate the accepted hypothesis AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2002 www.nexusmagazine.com