Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Complicated and interesting things that fascinate me.


The Universe - I have been watching countless shows on TV about the universe. Solar flares, supernovas, black holes, event horizons and our search for Earth two. Future plans for space exploration and the long term implications that it would have on the human body. Solar radiation, landing on the moon and the concept of wormholes. Thoughts on how Mars may have once been and how Earth could once be. The concept of how galaxies are built, how they move and how they sometimes crash into one another. How with each passing year things become even further out of our reach then before. Our obsession with finding life on other planets, no matter how miniscule. The slow demise of our own sun and how once its runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will collapse and life as we know it will die. How dark matter and dark energy make up over 95% of the universe. How we are literally made of stardust. The theory of the Big Crunch and a new Big Bang or the opposite, which is the never ending expansion of it all.


And why Dr. Michio Kaku is somehow involved on every single show about the Universe. MICHIIIOOOOOOO IS KING!


The concept of Parallel Universes and the M String Theory - I will not even attempt to explain this in great detail because I doubt I could do it justice. So I will try to keep it simple, if that is even possible. This is the notion that an electron is not a dot, but a rubber band which, if vibrated enough times, can turn into every single sub-atomic particle in the universe. It either explains everything, or it explains nothing. The new M string theory operates out of 11 dimensions, meaning that Parallel Universes would indeed exist, if proven. Every time I listen to Michio, each sentence makes sense. It's only when you get to the end of the show that you realize you're still hopelessly lost. Wrapping my brain around it all is not something I'm capable of doing. I want to grasp it, but the more I read on it and the more shows I see on TV, the more questions I have and the more confused I become. MICHIO, you're one insane puppy!


Immortality and advances in science - If the death of normal cells is inevitable, why do cancer cells live indefinitely? While studying cancer cells and the prevention of their growth, we at the same time are beginning to explore the possibility of human immortality. Will the next generation be the one to live forever? Some say it's possible. Our aging cells are always under attack by free radicals in our environment. We survive because our cells have the ability to duplicate before being killed by these natural causes. Each time our cells duplicate, the DNA molecule which resembles a spiral ladder splits. Each half of this spiral ladder then rebuilds the missing half making two new DNA molecules. However, each time this process happens, a very small portion of the DNA molecule "telomere", which are at the ends of the DNA molecule, are lost and not copied, making the spiral ladder shorter. The effect is very insignificant, but the shorter the ladder gets, the older we get and the closer we come to death. Scientists are now looking at the possibility of increasing "telomerase" activity in normal cells, which might stop the biological clock of aging. Isn't Science amazing? Would this be like a preventative daily pill? A onetime injection? A SUPER JUICE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH COCTAIL? Oh the endless stupid possibilities! Now the question is, if in the future, you had to option to live to be 250 or forever, would you actually want to? Would it be available to everyone? Who would get to choose?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

 

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