THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING

BEFORE THE BIG BANG by Brian Clegg is quite the interesting science book, full of information regarding the scientific study of the universe by astrophysicists and cosmologists. He lets you know just where the study is today and how viable it all is.Good book.

I made up a conversation between two scientists discussing this very thing. It goes this way:

1st Scientist: The universe seems to be expanding! What do you think?
2nd Scientist: Which means that it all came from one singular source. Right?
1st S: Yes, I guess so.
2nd S: A singularity, a Big Bang.
1st S: Oh. Can it be proven?
2nd S: No. Not yet.
1st S: But where did all the matter come from?
2nd S: It was made in the stars. But there is so much lost matter---the math doesn't fit.
1st S: Lost matter? What is it?
2nd S: Dark Matter. It's all out there, we can't see it. But it all makes sense if you put Dark Matter there.
1st S: Can you prove it's there?
2nd S: No. But it has to be.
1st S: What's driving the Dark Matter?
2nd S: Dark Energy. We can't see it, but it has to be there.
1st S: Can you prove that there is dark energy there?
2nd S: No. We are working on it.
1st S: What's causing the galaxies to spin like that?
2nd S: Black Holes. We can't see them but we know they are there.
1st S: Can you prove that Black Holes are there?
2nd S: No. But they have to be.
1st S: So we can't prove that any of these thing actually exist?
2nd S: No, but we are working on them. They'll fit if have to doctor the math to make them fit.
1st S: I see.

A very learned professor at University once told me a very long time ago that once you go outside our immediate solar system, everything breaks down and nothing makes sense. It's a puzzle out there, best not to think about it. But scientists are determined to find out just what all this is, and why it's there. They are remarkable men and women and have a huge task in front of them.

It seems to me that if we could find out what exactly gravity is, we could unlock all this. We know how to use gravity; we can measure it and predict its outcome, but no one really knows what it is. The key may be there.

Nostradamus: I've read Nostradamus many years ago when I though that this man and his so-called predictions were authentic. They're tenuous at best. He writes in quatrains, and these are heavy with odd pairings, connections, and words---it makes no sense. Example: "It rained blood and milk..." The word "milk" will throw you, but some people interpret it as something that is close to our reality. In other words, it is all interpretive. I think it is a waste of time reading him, he says nothing. Oh, by the way, he said nothing about 2012.

2012 is suppose to be the end of the world. I've gone through this scenario so many times over the years. This time it is based on the Mayan calendar which is so accurate and ends on December 21, 2012. Well, it had to end somewhere, right? One comedian said on TV once that if the Mayans were so clever, why didn't they predict their own demise? Good question.

People do go on with all their foolishness. But 2012 will be an interesting year---it will make good television. I think we are all safe.

I told my wife that they think the world will end on 2012. I ask her what she thinks about this. She said, " Oh that's just great, that's when our new car is paid off!"

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