Wednesday, April 27, 2016

W is for . . .

Image Source: Lee Davy

What if?

What if there were more than one universe out there? It's not a silly question.

About 300,000 years after the Big Bang, atoms formed and light began to move, an event known as recombination. This lead to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) or a glow across the sky.

By studying this glow, cosmologist Ranga-Ram Chary (California Institute of Technology) thinks he may have found a "bruise" where a parallel universe bumped into ours.

Image Source: Jose Maria Cuellar


Picture universes as a bubbles. If two bump, one can deposit some of its matter into the other, leaving a mark. In this case, the mark is a signal 4500 times brighter than it should be based on the amount of matter one would expect to find in this region of the CMB. According to Chary, this signal is more consistent with a Universe whose ratio of matter particles to photons is about 65 times greater than our own.

But don't expect to meet another universe's version of humanity just yet. Even Chary is quick to admit there could be other explanations. The brighter light could be from a distant galaxy or from clouds of dust surrounding our galaxy.

(Information adapted from Universe Today, Cosmologist Thinks a Strange Signal May Be Evidence Of A Parallel Universe by Vanessa Janek, Nov. 16, 2015)


Image Source: sea turtle

In her short story, Haunted, Melanie Schulz examines a pair of universes in which the difference is the existence of one person. Talk about a page-turner! This one will have you racing to discover the secret behind the parallel universes. Check it out in Parallels, Felix Was Here available May 3 on Amazon.


21 comments:

  1. I have always been of the opinion that there has to be more than just us and I suspect that there are life forms we simply cannot comprehend at present. I agree that they will not be like us--I wonder if we could even recognize them.

    @Kathleen01930
    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge

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  2. What if the stories some of us writers come up with are other universes out there????? #mindblown ;)

    ~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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  3. You know I really believe that there are more worlds out in space than we can ever imagine. I only hope that these worlds are not suffering the same hatred and mistrust that we are going through on this planet in this universe.

    Humanity as I see it has a long way to go. Heaven forbid that we make it to Mars and plant the same kind of fear, hatred, envy, jealousy and whatever there.

    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

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  4. I have heard this a few times now and in several universes. I know one theory is there are an infinite number of universes. This is fine but I have enough problems organizing myself in just the one or two I'm in at present, and one of the me's elsewhere is sulking and refuses to talk to me having complained about the state of my hair and general state of dishevelment. . . . . I will say the other me's are much better typists, but not as good looking. . . . . .

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  5. I could be comfortable with the existence of a second almost-identical universe IF I get to choose which one I want to be in AND have the option of moving back and forth between them. Could you make that happen for me please?

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  6. I say, why couldn’t there be. There so many unexplainables in this one.

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  7. I have a hard time seeing a parallel universe but other populated worlds, no problem. Haunted was haunting!

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  8. I completely believe in parallel universes. I think they're very plausible.

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  9. What if there's no universe out there and it's all an optical illusion? No, I don't think so either, but I love a good conspiracy theory!

    My A-Z story features 4 neglected W words

    My friend Rosey has had a go too - Wobbly Wosey!

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  10. Is it weird that I've always believed there are more universes than ours? And that maybe life has formed on one or more of them, just as it has on our planet?

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  11. As a child I believed there was a parallel universe on the other side of the mirror and I would be able to see it if I could just see what was out of sight through that doorway. I'm prepared to believe in parallel universes and just plain old other universes out there bumping into us at random moments. Not much I can do about it though.

    The book you mention up there with the one person difference sounds interesting.

    Finding Eliza

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  12. We're just a the edge of discovering universes. It has taken some centuries to realize that first man, then earth, then our universe is not the center of all. I'd love to be here when we go so far out into space that we wind up back where we started.

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  13. I like this. It's a fascinating area, and of course, one of the questions is, well, why should we be the only universe?
    Thanks for visiting my blog during the A2Z
    Jemima Pett

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  14. Parallel universes have always fascinated me, as I'm sure they do you:)

    Way to go, Melanie.

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  15. I just read a short story by Timothy Zahn (Cascade Point) where his main character's ship stumbles into a parallel universe and has to figure out how to get home. It was very interesting!

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  16. I'm not sure about their existence, but parallel universes are great for interesting stories in science fiction.

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  17. The idea of multiple universes is fascinating and there seem to be lots of different ideas about how they might exist too. The whole quantum computer idea using multiple universes is mind-bending :)
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  18. I'm absolutely sure there are multi-verses! I hallucinated some of them into being. Thanks, Tamara, for your visit to my blog so I could discover yours. I'm totally for "What ifs" and I have some personal theories that have nothing to do with science and everything to do with dreaming things into existence. Ranee (purplemangotree.blogspot.com)

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  19. You made my brain hurt again.

    Heather

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I will do everything in my power to visit commenter's blogs unless I've been abducted by aliens or my children get sick. (If my children get abducted by aliens, I will be very busy, of course, catching up on my sleep.)