I'd
just like to take this opportunity to say hello to the infinite number of other
James Dawsons who are at this very moment gearing up to blow the infinite
number of minds of the infinite number of The Space Academy readers. I say this because,
according to science, there are an infinite number of parallel universes that
contain infinite versions of ourselves.
Woah,
man, woah.
It
might sound like the kind of thing you think about after you've taken a bong
hit, but apparently in one universe you might be Prime Minister, while in
another you could be made of Nutella and at this very moment be facing the
prospect of being spread onto a pancake.In the science community, this is known
as the theory of the 'multiverse', and a new study has found that a mysterious
'Cold Spot' in space could prove our universe is just one of an everlasting
string of realities.
The
Cold Spot was formed when the universe formed more than 13 billion years ago.
It was first spotted by NASA's WMAP satellite in 2004, a sighting that was
confirmed by the ESA's Planck mission in 2013. By the sound of it, when aliens
head over to that neck of the universe they have to put a jumper on, as they
reckon that the Cold Spot is colder than its surroundings by 0.00015 degrees
Celsius.
Researchers
had previously suggested that the spot was cooler simply because it contained
fewer galaxies than comparable areas of space, but a new study has shown that
this 'massive supervoid' could not possibly exist. This has opened up other
lines of scientific inquiry, including the suggestion that it is proof of the
'multiverse'.
"We
can't entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation
explained by the standard model [of particle physics]," said study
co-author Professor Tom Shanks, an astronomer at Durham University.
"But
if that isn't the answer, then there are more exotic explanations. Perhaps the
most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between
our universe and another bubble universe. If further, more detailed, analysis
... proves this to be the case then the Cold Spot might be taken as the first
evidence for the multiverse."
Not
only is this blowing my mind, it's blowing the mind of the infinite number of
me out there, too.
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