- Included in the Other Scientific Posts List.
- You know, Carl Sagan used to talk like this also; but at least back when he was dazzling us all with Cosmos, scientists “knew” a lot more than they do now.
Martin Winfree via Space.com
April 18, 2013 ·
See below. I hate to disagree with the great man, but I have the following to say. You know, Carl Sagan used to talk like this also; but at least back when he was dazzling us all with Cosmos, scientists “knew” a lot more than they do now: Matter is made of atoms, there are four basic forces, the standard model of particles that explains it all just needed a little tweaking, and the only real mystery about the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe that it started is whether or not there is enough gravity to reverse the expansion. Today, it is a lot more complicated. The existence of “dark matter” has been conclusively proved; all science knows about it is that there is a lot more of it than regular matter – but it is not made out of any of the particles that we know about. “Dark energy” is just a tag at this point, in lieu of an explanation for why the expansion of the universe is accelerating rather than slowing; but if it also exists, there is a lot more of that than dark matter. At the big atom smasher in Switzerland, scientists discovered that the long-sought Higgs boson does in fact exist; though again, that’s all they know about it – the Higgs boson is the so-called “God particle” that keeps the entire universe from being weightless. We are not exactly back to the “earth, air, fire and water” days, but you would think that scientists would be exhibiting a little more humility now that 95% of the universe is completely unknown.
Julie Winfree Kovasckitz actually I have no idea what you just said “Sheldon” – but my Father does, and I know He would appreciate a little humility 🙂