Hey, wanna “get small” – like Steve Martin used to say?
(If you don’t know him, look him up, he’s really funny.)
Anyway, Science’s biggest mystery is one that’ll make you feel really, reeeally small.
I’m talking about multiple universes.
Yes, the idea that everything you thought you ever knew – our planet, the solar system,
our galaxy, that cutie-pie in the other apartment, all the other stars and galaxies out there
as far as our fancy telescopes can see – it’s just one itsy bitsy piece ofc an inconceivably
giant puzzle!
Okay now I feel small.
The theory of multiple or parallel universes is one that blurs the line between scientific
reality and science fiction.
You hear about this stuff in sci-fi movies, but is it possible?
Well, the customary answer is, nobody knows for sure.
But, hey, that’s why it’s called a theory!
Oh yeah, and it’s a pretty huge topic of debate in the scientific community, with big
names on both sides.
Like RumpelstiltskinNeilDeGrassTyson vs. LinusPaulingEinsteinStrudelmeyer.
Yeah those are big names, but I’m pulling your leg here.
If you believe that multiple universes exist, then maybe you can feel a little better about
having the great genius physicist Stephen Hawking in your camp!
He had a pretty spectacular theory on multiple universes, but I’ll get into that a bit
later!
For now, which side of the debate are you on?
Well, how can you believe in it if you’re still not sure what a “multiverse” or
“mirror-verse” really is?
Well not knowing what the “mirror-verse” will not “reflect” badly on you.
Ha ha.
So, let’s start with the basics.
Up until recent years, scientists were sure there was only one universe that contained
everything known to humankind – hence the whole “uni” thing.
Again, I’m talking EVERYTHING we know – Earth, galaxies, Minecraft, the whole shebang.
But one day back in 1954, a Princeton grad student by the name of Hugh Everett came up
with the first theory of multiverses.
He believed that the universe was constantly splitting and that each of these splits became
its own universe.
This is now known as the Multiple Worlds theory.
(Yeah, there are different views among all the proponents of multiverses, and Everett’s
is just one of many!)
So how does his work?
You can mostly visualize it like a flow chart that keeps branching off continuously.
Just remember any time you’ve ever made a decision or something happened to you.
Here, I’ll give you a personal one.
When I started college, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to major in.
I personally loved astronomy, but I was also obsessed with English and writing.
Well, I ended up choosing the latter, but what if I’d gone with astronomy?
Would I be looking through a gamma ray telescope and coming up with complex theories of my
own?
According to the Multiple Worlds theory, yeah!
There’s a version of me that went down that path and is living that life right now!
In fact, there are infinite me’s and you’s each in their own universe!
(Go ahead and get ready for plenty of mind blowing explosions today…)
Anyway, although Hugh Everett’s dissertation on his groundbreaking theory was impressive
enough to earn him his Ph.D., it was still too radical for the big wigs in the scientific
community at the time.
But over the years, scientists eventually kept coming back to it, adding their own versions,
and now we’ve got all kinds of models on how this multiverse would look.
Some believe these universes are like bubbles, totally unseen by each other because, well,
we just don’t have that kind of technology!
There’s also the model that shows universes looking kinda like sheets of paper stacked
on top of each other.
Yeah, I can’t imagine how that works either.
And still you’ve got the theory that combines them all!
Maybe with each decision you make, you add one more new universe “paper” to that
stack, and perhaps this stack is just one of many floating around in a little bubble!
Ow, my brain hurts…
I know, it sounds totally bizarre.
But it’s not like this is all a result of some smart people sitting around and saying
“Whoa man, check this out, what if the universe was, you know, like a bubble?!”
Ohh, that’s like gnarly, dude…These physicists do mathematical equations that actually check
out!
So, in theory and on paper, multiple universes really could exist… we just can’t see
them.
At least, not yet…
So, what would a parallel version of our world look like?
Well, some attributes of our universe may be different, while some are the same!
For example, perhaps this parallel version of our planet has grass and trees and birds
flying in the sky and whatnot.
Looks like nothing out of the ordinary to me!
But maybe the atoms that make up all that stuff are just slightly different.
The atoms in the atmosphere might reflect light a certain way, so the grass would be
orange and the sky green!
Perhaps in this world, birds didn’t evolve to look like they do here in our world.
Maybe they look more like little featherless dinosaurs flying around!
Hey, I don’t know, I’ve never been to a parallel universe!
What do you think or hope it’d look like?
Let me know down below!
Anyway, before we travel to these worlds, we have to know they’re actually real.
Proving or disproving their existence is no easy task, but science is close to taking
the abstract and making it physical.
That is, researchers from Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are currently putting
together some equipment that could prove the existence of a mirror universe, almost like
a reflection of our own.
So, what’s the plan?
The idea is to blast a handful of subatomic particles through a 50-foot tunnel, past a
really strong magnet, and into a wall at the end.
If some of those particles come out as a mirror image of themselves on the other side, that
means science has made a breakthrough of galactic proportions!
Yes, a few little particles getting all messed up in a magnet and coming out the other side
of a wall would be proof that multiverses can physically exist.
I know, I also didn’t catch the connection, but, hey, you can’t make this stuff up!
…But I can try to explain it!
(Mind you, this isn’t the parallel version of me that went into astronomy and astrophysics,
but I’ll give it my best!)
This experiment would prove that we can make mirrored copies of particles – and then,
hopefully from there, protons, neutrons, electrons, and morons (no please, let’s just have electrons):
you know, the things that make up the cells in our bodies and everything around you.
Therefore, other copies of ourselves could, in fact, exist in a parallel universe!
But did our world get blasted through a 50-foot shoot and smashed into a wall?
Possibly!
In theory, some scientists believe the Big Bang that started it all could’ve been two
universes colliding and forming a new one! (oh did your head just explode there?
Me too.)
So, what does this all mean?
Why is it so important to prove that multiple infinite universes exist out there?
Well, what about the fact that it’s so cool!?
Think about it: every decision you ever made created a new thread in time!
It might make you feel less regret when you feel like you chose the wrong alternative,
like only about every time I eat out with my friends.
“Ugh, man, your dish looks better!
Should’ve gone with the Pasta Carbonara instead…”
I’m kidding, the magnitude of this discovery is a lot bigger than that of course!
Remember, a parallel universe may contain elements and physics that we’ve never seen
before, and they could possibly be used in medicine and other fields.
Plus, I mean, there is the possibility that we could travel to another universe if ours
starts having some problems.
Ya know, global warming, the sun burning out in 5 billion years, YouTube going offline…
But the whole getting there is where the real problem lies.
How could you possibly travel to a different universe?
Of course, we’re talking theoretical physics here, so there are plenty of theories!
First off, there’s always wormholes!
To simplify the mumbo jumbo, the most common way to think of it is to imagine spacetime
as a piece of paper with a hole in each end.
Instead of going from point A to B in a straight line, you can bend the paper, create a tunnel
between the two points, and, basically, it’s like a giant space shortcut.
They say the same thing could work for two universes.
Although, call me a party-pooper here, but let’s say you have a certain universe in
mind.
Let’s go to that one with orange grass and dinosaur birds!
So, do I just pop the address into the navigator of my wormhole airplane?
What are the mechanics here??
Guess I’ll save it for the smart people to figure out…
And, well, there’s always Stephen Hawking’s theory of how you can travel to another universe:
all you have to do is jump into a black hole!
Yep, he theorized that black holes themselves could be the very wormholes connecting multiple
universes!
Hmm, but don’t those things spaghettify you as soon as you cross the point of no return?
I guess that’s technically just a theory too…
In any case, hopping universes might just be sci-fi talk for now, but remember: holograms
also were not too long ago!
So, anything’s possible!
Phew!
I don’t know about you, but I definitely learned something new today, and if you did
too, then give this video a like and share it with a friend!
But – hey! – don’t go hopping to another universe just yet!
We have our own multiverse of over 2,000 cool videos for you to check out.
All you have to do is pick the left or right video, click on it, and enjoy!
Stay on the Bright Side of life!