An Ever-Changing Universe

A few weeks ago, news came out that some constants of Nature were not always the same across different regions of the Cosmos. Apparently, the fine-structure constant--a number that is written into the very behavior of atoms, actually changes!

The variability of this "constant" violates Einstein's equivalence principle, a fundamental tenet of physics that says that the constants of nature must remain the same no matter where or when in the universe.

A team of scientists found that the fine-structure constant appeared to have been smaller in one part of the universe--but larger in another, billions of years ago.

Upon hearing of this, I was dumbstruck. Sure, the universe changed as the fundamental forces of nature fragmented from one single unified force. But I thought that after everything has "unfurled" and settled on to this state that we are familiar with--that was it. As everything settled down, every constant of nature must then be, well...constant!

Or so it seemed.

Again and again, the things i’ve known may be wrong all along. I had to unlearn the familiar concept of a homogenous and isotropic universe.

And if found to be true, a variable fine-structure "constant" has big ramifications to many deeper things that may not seem apparent in our mundane way of life.

And I could not grasp it at all. The symmetry-breaking concept of different realities in different regions of the universe hovered in my mind for several days. I wrote a short story entitled "Phase Change" to help me make sense of this finding, to try to get a glimpse of what it could mean to me personally, and eventually to a wider scope of things.

In the process, my story ended up hinting at a speculative answer to Fermi’s Paradox. Perhaps, an ever-changing universe could be one reason why civilizations never get the chance to come in contact with other civilizations. A universe that has different properties at different times in different regions could pose an “isolation” problem for regional inhabitants.

My story also indirectly refers to the concept of the Phase Transition in the early universe, where the force(s) of nature were still fragmenting. Perhaps the changing values of the fine-structure is an indicator of a weaker form of "Phase Transition" that may still be occuring in many other regions of the universe.

What does it all mean? Well, only then did i realize that it was so simple. Ours is truly an ever-changing universe. And the cliche remains ever so true: Nothing is permanent, except change itself.

Links:
Phase Change (The Short Story)
When Fundamental Constants Change
Was Einstein Wrong?

Hello Worlds!

I've now been using "Hello Worlds!" rather than the proverbial "Hello World!" in Java programming. I have adopted that practice to remind myself of the "Plurality of Worlds" that is right before our very eyes. In my opinion, the new generation will wake up to the continued proliferation of Worlds - in the real, virtual, imaginary and theoretical domains.
Let me expound upon this idea by noting the growing discovery of new exoplanets - other planets outside our Solar System. Thanks to the new field of Exoplanetology, we are uncovering new worlds that have now begun to enter the thought-sphere of humanity. Our Earth is just one among billions and billions of other worlds in outer space.
On the other realm, we have Virtual Worlds that may yet still seem crude and "artificial" at this point in time, but nevertheless can be considered as "Worlds" in their own right. We have the Metaverse, as best represented by Second Life. And we have Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMORPG) best exemplified by World of Warcraft. And as of this writing, I am awaiting the release of Spore, which might introduce a new genre, that between an MMO and a networked game.
We have the so-called "Parallel Worlds" in theoretical physics that seems far-fetched and inaccessible. They are a favorite in Sci-Fi, but who knows what a few decades could have in store for us? Our future progenitors may be crossing them to visit other worlds not only in space, but in time as well.
And last but not the least, I recognize the infinite worlds that are powered by human imagination. Not to mention the wondrous Worlds that privately exist within each human mind, it is time to recognize these beautiful "Worlds" of fiction - as produced by the mind and the collective consciousness of the human race. Why should the digital worlds and the modern new worlds get all the credit?
Hence, 2008 is the year I mark as the "Era of Worlds". And I recognize it as such to introduce "Hello Worlds!" in programming java (at least to start from my own little world of coding). After all, all Worlds - real and imaginary - may not be possible without programming, right? Even our very own universe had to have its Cosmic Laws "programmed".
Who knows, the fractal property of the universe to spawn "worlds within worlds" may be encoded deep within the Laws of the Cosmos.
Well, perhaps in line 777 of The cosmic source code, we may find "Hello Worlds!"

Eternity in an Hour....of jogging

While jogging this morning, I felt the cool wind in my face and as I looked up to enjoy it's refreshing touch, I saw the magnificent blue sky. And I thanked God for that moment.

From Flickr, this is the closest photo that I could find to the clouds I saw on that windy day. Photo Credit: High Cirrus Clouds by jackatlargs

The Large Magellanic Cloud. Photo Credit: NASA

And then I gazed upon the clouds, and i noticed they looked similar to NASA's photo of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Although they have some differences, such as color and hues - white clouds against a perfectly blue sky, whereas LMC are rendered in black background. They also differ in scale - individual water vapor or ice crystals that make up clouds correspond to individual stars - yet their "cloud" formation is very similar.
The provision to "see" a bigger scale of things from a smaller subset reminds me of the fractal or self-similar property of the universe.
And then I had an amazing thought: What if our whole universe is just another "sub-particle" of another universe? Certainly others have thought of it, but now that the Large Hadron Collider is set to operate in a few days (May 2008), its almost like we're going to spew out billions and gazillions of worlds using a man-made contraption. Although these elementary particles (and mini-blackholes) that LHC will produce will decay almost instantaneously (from our perspective), it would still be an eternity relative to the particles for they travel at the speed of light. Remember, photons experience no "time".
What an overwhelming thought if each elementary particle has a universe within it, as what William Blake expresses in that poetic line "...world in a grain of sand". Then in the grand scheme of things, sentient life that emerges in any world - in any universe - would never fail to ask, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" And on a personal note, wonder "Why am I here?"
And as I jogged onwards, I uttered, "..to see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour..."

The Search for Meaning Beyond Patterns

I just realized that almost immediately after recognizing a pattern, I tend to find meaning in that new discovery. I often ask "why is it so?" like how I asked "Why is the universe fractal?"
Part and parcel of the Archetyper Blog and website is to detect, describe and then document these patterns, seek the truth behind it, and now, in an epiphany of realization - to find meaning in them.
This is the reason why I have changed the byline of Archetyper into "Seeking Meaning Beyond Patterns". For what good is it if we find out something and yet totally miss out on the meaning behind it? Lets look, for example, at the discovery that the universe is expanding. So what if the universe is expanding? It seems incomplete just knowing it as such. There has to be something more than such a mere fact, specially for the sentient beings who just found out about it! Now different people will find different meanings in such a finding. For example, some will say we are bound for a very lonely universe later on (so we must party now while we have the chance), or some will remark that the future and the universe is wide open for anyone to leave a mark. This blog will encourage such cogitations, aside from inspiring others to hunt for patterns.
Because the search for patterns is already an awesome adventure. Yet the search for meaning beyond patterns makes it all the more fun!

Archetyper: To know the Program and the Programmer of Everything

I have just come across another definition of an Archetype from this site:

"An archetype is an unlearned tendency to experience things in a certain way. The archetype has no form of its own, but it acts as an "organising principle" on the things we see or do."

How could something that has no form act as an organizing principle? A formless function?

Surely there is something very elusive here. If its some kind of "algorithm" or function that runs the universe, then I want to know the "programmer" as much as I want to know the "program".

As you can see, the Archetyper Blog is an account of the search for that primal essence, that fabric of truth behind the universe we experience.
This is an adventure of the mind. Join me in the journey. We might just get there!

Eureka: It Fits The Pattern!

Eureka! I just can't help but get intrigued by the news title of this discovery in exoplanetology: 2 Planets Seem to Fit Our Pattern. The discovery of these two planets that are similar to Saturn and Jupiter would seem to imply that they belong to Solar System similar to ours. Other interesting similarities are listed below:

—The ratio between the masses of the two worlds is about 3:1, similar to the Jupiter/Saturn ratio.

—The smaller planet is about twice as far from its star as the larger one, just as Saturn is roughly twice as far away from the sun as Jupiter.

—The two worlds orbit their star in 5 and 14 years, similar to the 2:5 orbit ratio of Jupiter and Saturn.

Another article mentions that the newly-found Solar System could be a "true analog".
As a pattern-hunter, news like these are music to my ears, specially that this discovery comes after I recently blogged that the Laws of the Universe are inherently life-friendly.

It only gets us closer and closer to an impending verification of this idea that if the configuration of our Solar System is not unique, then a rocky Earth-like exoplanet must be in the habitable zone of a similar Solar System. And once this particular habitable exoplanet is detected soon, we all know what's next - There Could Be Life!

We are at the fringes of a very exciting point in history, a turning point in human thought perhaps as great as the Copernican revolution when humanity realized that the earth is not the center of the world. This time however, it will even be a bigger realization: Humanity is not the center of the Universe.

When the actual discovery of life in other parts of the universe finally comes, humanity will be shaken to the core. The best is yet to come.

Awesome Fractals! Feast for the Eyes!

If I've only known, I would have entered this contest too. For anyone who loves fractals as much as I do, here's a feast for your eyes. The link below shows all the entries to the contest. Each of them has its own particular mod that evokes a unique mood within me. Pretty much like how the universe (a fractal in its own right) does to each of us - as living fractals.

I do wish they'd show the algorithm that generated these fractals though.

Link: http://www.fractalartcontests.com/2007/entries.php

The Cosmic Law is Life-Friendly : Exoplanetary Life Will Shake Humanity

What better way to welcome the new year with a thought about Life in other parts of the universe. This is the question whose answer will shake all major religions and belief systems : Is There Life on Other Planets?
The patterns tell us that there might be life in other places other than earth. Exoplanetology will someday tell us that some other creatures are living in an extrasolar planet a few light-years away.
Individually we are all special, but as collective inhabitants of this universe, we are not at all specially unique than we'd like to think.
One example to consider are Extremophiles - organisms who can thrive in 'hostile' conditions and inhospitable environments such as super-hot, high-pressure underwater bedrocks.
Astrobiologists can tell you additional reasons why life is likely to arise in other places other than Earth, but as an Archetyper, we look at the deeper patterns embedded within the mechanism or fabric of the universe itself to get a glimpse about Life's characteristics.
There is an underlying law that dictates how the whole universe runs and it tells us that the Laws itself is inherently Life-Friendly. Well, we are here aren't we?! Yes but I am not too quick to use the Anthropic Principle! That reasoning is not adequate at all. Rather, it's simply that the Life-Giving essence is somehow embedded deep in the Universal Law itself. Hence life will arise inevitably because the rules and properties of the basic infrastructure of the universe is inherently conducive for life.
Unfortunately at this point in time, all the point of all these clues cannot yet be proven other than by the fact that life arose on our planet. But It is my opinion that Life will be discovered in another exoplanet sometime soon, and it may even be not Earth-Like. But this event will support the idea that the Universal Laws are Life-Friendly.
For now, the clues I can point to is the metaphor of how Cellular Automata (CA) can create the analog of 'life' from simple rules. Our universe is one gigantic CA. The Laws of our universe may not be that simple but the central idea is that Life can arise from "The Law". Another clue is the increasing Complex Order that is apparent even in non-living systems such as chemical reactions, star-births, planet-formation or even the development of a tornado. Another arrow runs counter to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, and that arrow is the force of life. Inevitably, ordered complexity brings forth the emergence of processes we call life.
Consider the Symmetry of the Law ( the rules are the same in all parts of the universe) plus its consistency, and its fractal properties where the law manifests itself in all epiphenomenal levels, then you have a universe that will naturally spawn life not only in one planet but in other places as well, plus it will be not only in one platform (the organic carbon-based life that we know of) but perhaps in other substrates as well such as ammonia, sulfur or silicon.
It is an exciting time in our era. With more powerful telescopes to be deployed this year to hunt for exoplanets, the discovery of life in other worlds will shake humanity to the core. There might be initial turmoils in major religious circles such as Christianity, but everything will settle and adapt. Then we will all finally realize that we are not members of any tribe, country, race or religion. Rather, humanity will realize that mankind is a Citizen of the Cosmos. And that Life is precious no matter how rare, or common it is.

Symmetry and Archetypes: Its a Small Universe !

Carl Sagan said that "there's something terribly beautiful, austere, glorious, majestic about the fact that the same laws apply everywhere". This is called Symmetry - a property of our universe where the laws of nature are the same in all parts of the cosmos (except inside the singularity, perhaps).
This post mainly shows the connection between the laws of nature and universal concepts. The Laws of Nature include the laws of physics, atomic laws, chemical laws, and so on. And the universal concepts are the archetypes.
Cosmic Laws and Universal Concepts are linked via Emergence. Let us follow the chain of emergence: The laws that govern the most basic elementary 'particles' give way to the behavior of atoms which follow atomic laws, producing molecules that follow chemical laws, which made possible the emergence of biological life, animals and ecosystems, which supported the evolution of conscious beings - able to perceive and ponder itself via concepts and paradigms. These concepts and archetypes are very similar to Plato's Forms, and they will be perceived by any intelligent and sentient being in another part of the universe, by way of symmetry.
There will be a difference in language, of course, but nevertheless, these Archetypes or Platonic "Forms" will be understood, in one way or another. Like Mathematics, there will be a common ground between us and sentient beings that live thousands of light-years away in another galaxy. If its just distance that separates us from extra-terrestrials, but they are only a "thought" away, then it means that Symmetry makes the universe seem smaller. Its a small world universe after all. :)

So what if our universe is fractal?

Do a search on 'fractal universe' and numerous resources will come up speculating that the universe is fractal in nature.
It must be too obvious. Even children would notice the visible spirals apparent in tiny objects as well as in large ones. Notice the patterns in sunflowers and seashells, or take a look at satellite photos of typhoons and pictures of galaxies.
The spiral pattern appears in both small and gargantuan objects which signify that the universe has an inherent fractal property. The spiral, the sphere, are just a few basic clues that denote that our world has the property of "self-similarity". Take a closer look at a fern's leaf, it is an exact replica of the whole fern including it's leaves! The patterns are just too overwhelming to ignore that it spawned a whole new science of Fractal Cosmology to investigate such a conjecture.
So what if the universe is a fractal? What are the implications if the cosmos is self-similar? What would it mean for us anyways?
Everyone would probably have a different answer but in context with this site, having a fractal universe would mean that 'archetyping' (a term I coined for pattern-seeking) is a wonderfully fruitful activity. It means that there is so much to be discovered out there. It means that there is an awesome landscape of adventure for the mind, such that a pattern - or an archetypal concept, discovered in one observational level can be used to unravel new knowledge in another.
And because fractals are the result of an 'algorithm' that dictates how the pattern appears (as exemplified by Mandelbrot Sets), it means that there is an ultimate cosmic algorithm, or 'archetypal functions' waiting to be tapped into.
And so, the answer to the question "So what if our universe is fractal?" is a resounding, "It is Fun!"