Scientific Paradoxes are Omens of Advance

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” –Charles Darwin There are problems with science today, no doubt. With all the knowledge we’ve accumulated about the Universe, from the smallest subatomic scales to the farthest recesses of deep space, there are still realms and regimes where our best theories fail, where the predictions and the data don’t match, and where no known explanation is sufficient for the phenomena that shows up. Image credit: The Michelson-Morley interferometer, via University of Virginia. But this is where all the potential for scientific growth lives. Believe it or not, one of […] Read More

Are Parallel Universes Real?

Farnsworth: “There is it. The edge of the Universe!” Fry: “Far out. So there’s an infinite number of parallel Universes?” Farnsworth: “No, just the two.” Fry: “Oh, well, I’m sure that’s enough.” Bender: “I’m sick of parallel Bender lording his cowboy hat over me!” –Futurama Our existence here in this Universe is something that we know is rare, special, beautiful, and full of wonder. Image credit: Kelly Montgomery. Some things happen with amazing regularity and predictability: the occurrence of days-and-nights, the tides, the seasons, the motion of the heavenly bodies, and so much more. The physical laws that govern the Universe are very, very well understood, and that understanding has helped us construct a rather comprehensive view of exactly what our observable Universe consists […] Read More