Fine tuning

Here: The multitude of planetary systems seems to be yet another fact of our cosmic inconsequence, in which our corner of the universe is just like any other. But while planetary systems abound, astronomers are finding that in some respects, the solar system stands out. “It’s increasingly seeming that the solar system is something of an oddball,” says Gregory Laughlin, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the US. It’s still too soon to know for sure how odd the solar system is (odd like your quirky uncle, or odd like a leprechaun riding a unicorn?), but scientists are already trying to explain why it might be so. If it turns out to be a cosmological Read More ›

From Philip Ball at Nautilus: Ah, but isn’t all this wonder simply the product of the blind fumbling of Darwinian evolution, that mindless machine which takes random variation and sieves it by natural selection? Well, not quite. You don’t have to be a benighted creationist, nor even a believer in divine providence, to argue that Darwin’s astonishing theory doesn’t fully explain why nature is so marvelously, endlessly inventive. “Darwin’s theory surely is the most important intellectual achievement of his time, perhaps of all time,” says evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner of the University of Zurich. “But the biggest mystery about evolution eluded his theory. And he couldn’t even get close to solving it.” Hey, wait a minute. I put the obvious Read More ›

Here: For much of our existence on Earth, we humans thought of ourselves as a pretty big deal. Then along came science and taught us how utterly insignificant we are. We aren’t the centre of the universe. We aren’t special. We are just a species of ape living on a smallish planet orbiting an unremarkable star in one galaxy among billions in a universe that had been around for 13.8 billion years without us. … Science also teaches us that the laws of physics are ridiculously, almost unbelievably, “fine-tuned” for you and me. One must log in or subscribe to find out how they straighten it out. Huh? Isn’t the whole basis of New Scientist’s existence that it isn’t real? How Read More ›

From ScienceDaily: “If quantum gravity in a flat space allows for a holographic description by a standard quantum theory, then there must by physical quantities, which can be calculated in both theories — and the results must agree,” says Grumiller. Especially one key feature of quantum mechanics -quantum entanglement — has to appear in the gravitational theory. When quantum particles are entangled, they cannot be described individually. They form a single quantum object, even if they are located far apart. There is a measure for the amount of entanglement in a quantum system, called “entropy of entanglement.” Together with Arjun Bagchi, Rudranil Basu and Max Riegler, Daniel Grumiller managed to show that this entropy of entanglement takes the same value Read More ›

And they don’t like it: ‘The Principle,’ Delano’s latest film project, challenges the Copernican principle, the notion that humans are just an insignificant speck in the universe. Interviews with cosmologists, in depth studies and surveys will leave viewers wondering whether we are indeed a unique species. Yet, it seems this is exactly what liberal academics and the mainstream media don’t want. Actually, they haven’t seen it, but that wouldn’t matter. Anyway, so of course they engaged in respectful debate, right?: Some specific ways the media targeted the film was by contacting the cast and other people involved in the production and convincing them they had been tricked. “First of all, the actual media assault was the result of an attempt Read More ›