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Even worse is that some of our predictive theories about the nature of the universe can not be tested. Unlike string-theory that has no predictive power, these
by PartiallyTyped 3y ago
Even worse is that some of our predictive theories about the nature of the universe can not be tested. Unlike string-theory that has no predictive power, these theories make predictions on such extreme scales that are just impossible - with our current knowledge and tech - to verify, such as exotic forms of matter like strange matter [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_matter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_matter
- pmoriarty 3y agoWhat technical advances do we need in order to test them?
- Filligree 3y agoA Kardashev 2 to 3 civilization. Unless we're missing something big, the way to test it will involve light-year-sized particle accelerators.
- brabel 3y agoI am not sure about that. Observing astronomical events like black hole collisions, for example, which perhaps amplify quantum mechanics effects to phenomena we may be able to observe one day, even from light-years away... may be one way around this... Or creative ways of using large masses, like planets and even stars, to make measurements of tiny things - similar to how Earth-size telescopes can be approximated by much smaller ones, spread over a large area.
- PartiallyTyped 3y agoSpeaking of, some recent papers who that we can use pulsars to make galaxy scale gravitational measurements. By obseeving changes in pulse frequency and we can track whether a gravitational wave is going through it!
- nonameiguess 3y agoElectroweak theory was confirmed when we had large enough particle accelerators. I remember reading at some point that grand-unified theories that combine electroweak with strong force can be tested by a sufficiently high-energy accelerator, but the estimated size of such an accelerators would be around the orbit of Pluto.
- PartiallyTyped 3y agoIf we could bend gravity enough in the “opposite” direction (eg “negative energy” if such a thing even exists), and we could somehow manipulate magnetic fields enough to get all close and personal to neutron stars without getting sphaghettified and somehow could sample their inner core and see whether they are made of strange matter.. well we’d have an answer. But this for example is so freakishly absurd that it seems impossible even for scifi. A type 3 civ, if it exists, could potentially do that; but it’s one thing to extract energy off stars, type 2 and 3 and another thing to manipulate the inner core of neutron stars.
- Byamarro 3y agoThe question is also whether it's meaningful to polish our deeply mathematical models to scales so extreme that we may have troubles in reaching them. Keep in mind that this is just some model of reality, not necessarily how reality truly works. A true paradigm shift that would have implications in our scales would be much more meaningful.