Intro Is there a pattern to the universe?
For millennia, humanity has sought to find order in the chaos.
But nature is actually more organized than it appears
Can looking at patterns in nature help us to better understand the universe and our
place in it?
You’re watching Matter, and today we’re talking about the insane similarities between
space and life.
Life Imitates the Universe
As astronomers have explored the cosmos, they have continually come across objects and phenomena
that have echoes of something familiar.
Everything was born from stars.
The first element to form in the universe were simple hydrogen atoms with a single proton
and electron.
It was not until stars began to burn and nuclear fusion kicked off in their cores that turned
hydrogen atoms into helium and then into the heavier elements up to iron as this fusion
kept going.
When stars with enough mass run out of fuel, the fusion in the cores stops and the star
ends its life in massive supernovas that produce enough power to cause the heavier elements
above iron to form.
So maybe it is not so crazy that there keeps being similarities found between the structure
of the cosmos and the structures that have allowed life to flourish on Earth.
It seems no matter where we look in the universe, we will find parallels between what’s out
there and life here on Earth.
Every element in the universe heavier than hydrogen exists because of nuclear fusion
in stars as well as the fusion power of supernovas.
The Human Eye and Nebulae
One of the most defining steps in the evolution of animals on Earth was the slow development
of complex eyes.
Over millions of years eyes have evolved from simple light sensing organs to the vast array
of specialized eyes we see today.
Imagine the shock of astronomers when they peered out into the cosmos and the universe
was staring back.
Peppered throughout the vastness of space are nebulae, the leftovers from massive stars
exploding in supernovae.
These nebulae come in many shapes and colors and there have been many found that appear
as images of eyes staring back at us.
Look at the similarity in the structure of the eye to these nebulae.
Not only do nebulae form in a similar structure to the eye, they can also mimic the colors
and complexity of our irises with the variety and density of the gas that makes up nebulae.
Human eyes are said to be the windows of the souls and they are the lens that we see the
world from.
Could the universe be looking back at us?
There are nebulae out in the cosmos that greatly resemble a human eye.
Nebulae come in many varieties and colors depending on what molecules make up the gas
and its density . DNA Double Helix and Nebulae
One shape that is essential to life on Earth and allows for the diversity of life is the
double helix, the shape of DNA.
This shape allows our cells to store the incredibly massive amount of information that makes up
our genetic code in compact and efficient packaging.
There is debate on how long DNA has been functioning as the main storage for life’s genetic code
and where the building blocks of DNA even came from.
Astronomers have found this same shape out in the cosmos being formed by nebulae, quasars,
and more.
Astronomers do not know what makes astronomical objects form in this shape but no one can
deny the striking resemblance to the shape of our own DNA.
The double helix shape allows DNA to store a massive amount of genetic information in
a compact package.
This shape has also been found in nebulae, quasars, and more.
Bruises and Nebulae
These similarities between life and what astronomers find in the cosmos show up in many unexpected
places as well.
Think about the last time you hit your arm or leg on something and developed a nasty
bruise.
As bruises grow on our skin they can show up in many different shades.
We can see this image mirrored out in the cosmos in many different nebulae.
These nebulae are beautiful clouds of gas that shine magnificent colors that can often
be reminiscent of the colors of a bruise.
Sometimes purple, darker shades of blue, with yellow, and green mixed in.
The colors of nebulae are determined by the material that makes up the gas which can vary
in temperatures to nearly absolute zero to over ten thousand degrees celsius.
Bruises spread out from the point of the initial injury as they age, sometimes diffusing the
color much like debris from supernovas spread out from the initial explosion.
Bruises and nebulae can also share many similarities in shape and colors.
Nebulae are born from large supernovae that spread their mass out in massive clouds of
gas and dust.
The Veins of Leaves and Hands vs Rivers and Deltas on Other Planets
There have often been comparisons made between the way human veins are structured to the
way the veins of a plant’s leaf are structured.
The veins of our hands branch out creating a web-like structure beneath our skin that
runs throughout our entire bodies.
Astronomers have begun to find structures that mimic these within our own solar system.
When viewed from the sky the rivers of Mars and Saturn's moon Titan are nearly identical
to the rivers on our own planet which also share similarities in structure to our own
veins.
Astronomers have also found similarities between the structure of our veins and rivers found
on Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan Black Holes and Cells
Astronomers have even found cosmic objects that mimic the structures of cells.
We know from biology that a human cell is made up of a central nucleus surrounded by
all the components that make that particular cell perform its function enclosed in an outer
membrane.
The cosmic mirror of this structure came from an unusually dark place, a black hole.
A black hole is the leftover of massive stars many times larger than our sun exploding in
a brilliant supernova while its core collapses on itself to form the dense object in the
universe whose gravitational pull is so great that not even light can escape it.
The core collapses until it forms a singularity which resembles the nucleus of the cell.
Densest part of the black hole, the “hole” in space time.
The singularity is surrounded by a massive shell that represents the region at which
nothing can escape the black hole’s gravitational force.
This shell is reminiscent of a cellular membrane that keeps all the components of a cell from
escaping out.
The structure of black holes is similar to the structure of cells.
The singularity at the center of a black hole represents the nucleus of the cell while the
event horizon represents the cell membrane which no parts of the cell can cross.
Matter Distribution and Neuronal Bodies in the Cerebellum
Astronomers in twenty seventeen set out to map the distribution of matter throughout
the observable universe.
When they ran their models and compiled all of the data, they were met with an image that
matched up with another image found in our own brains.
The neuronal bodies from the cerebellum are visible when dyed and put under a microscope.
When the scientists took a snapshot of the dyed neuronal bodies’ structure, they found
a shockingly similar image.
When viewed side by side the similarities between the two seem almost too close.
Is it a crazy coincidence that the structure and distribution of these neuronal bodies
in our own brains are so similar to that of matter in the universe?
One scientist was so struck by this that they were determined to calculate the spectral
density of the structure of the neuronal bodies and of the universal matter distribution.
Once the two were mapped and studied, they found that the distribution of fluctuations
within the neuronal network follows the same distribution of matter when viewed in the
cosmic web on a much more massive scale bringing the correlations between the two even closer.
Astronomers in 2017 mapped the distribution of matter throughout the observable universe
and came out with what essentially is a map of matter.
Scientists took dyed neuronal bodies from the cerebellum and took a snapshot of their
structure.
When set side by side the structure of the two is strikingly similar.
One scientist wanted to test how similar they were, so they decided to calculate the spectral
density of the neuronal bodies as well as for the distribution of matter.
They found that the distribution of fluctuations in the neuronal network was the same distribution
of matter in the universe.
The Number of Neurons Matches the Number of Galaxies
The universe is colossal, so big that astronomers can not even see a large portion of it because
it is too far away from us.
The current estimates put the universe around eighty nine billion light years across.
And within this universe there exists an enormous number of galaxies each with billions and
billions of stars.
Scientists now are not only getting better at looking out and modeling the cosmos, they
are also getting better at understanding and mapping our brains.
Studies looking into the human brain have shown a complex structure of neurons sending
and receiving information constantly allowing our bodies to function as we expect them to.
When looking at the numbers, the number of neurons that make up our brains is in the
same order of magnitude as the number of galaxies that astronomers believe are out there.
The universe is estimated to be 89 billion light years across and contain hundreds of
billions of stars.
The number of neurons in the human brain is in the same order of magnitude as the number
of galaxies in the observable universe.
Brain Cells and Dark Matter
One of the greatest breakthroughs in the understanding of our universe was the discovery that matter
only makes up less than five percent of the universe’s mass.
The remaining ninety five percent are dark energy, generating the force driving the expansion
of the universe, which makes up sixty eight percent and dark matter which makes up twenty
eight percent.
Dark matter, much like ordinary matter, produces a gravitational force proportional to its
mass.
Even though dark matter cannot be directly detected using modern instruments, astronomers
were able to find it.
By mapping the cosmos and calculating the gravitational force necessary to keep everything
together, they were able to build a map that shows the structure of matter and dark matter
that hold the universe together.
When we take this map of the universe’s matter and dark matter and compare it to the
structure of neurons in the brain, we can see that they are eerily similar to each other.
The web of dark matter looks almost identical to the connection between neurons.
Some scientists have gone so far as to say that the universe and brain may be self-similar
across scales to the order of a billion billion billion.
The overall structure of neurons in the brain is eerily similar to the over structure of
matter and dark matter throughout the universe.
Much like neurons connect to be a 3d web in the brain, complex webs of dark matter and
ordinary matter form the structure of the universe.
Outro
Finding similarities between our own bodies and the massive structures out in the cosmos
can be a little mind boggling.
But as astronomers continue to dive deeper into the cosmos, they keep finding similarities
between what they find out there and life here on Earth.
Maybe one day astronomers will have an answer to why these similarities exist.
Why do you think there are so many similarities found between life on Earth and what we see
in the cosmos?
Is there a larger connection there that science has yet to find?
Be sure to join us next time when we explore more that our universe has to offer.
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