Tag Archives: science

New Podcast: Joseph Truss – “The Tetraverse… It’s all about resolution!”

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After a 4 year hiatus, I’ve just published another podcast. Unfortunately, my link isn’t updating to my podcast hosting app or to Apple iTunes right now, and so the best place to listen is on my podcasting blog.

Description: 

Join me on a trip in to Haliburton, Ontario, where Joseph Truss and I discuss the building blocks of the universe. This conversation assumes the conjecture that “We Live in a Tetraverse,” (the first video in a series called, “Book of Codes”). Watch this video first, to appreciate the premise of our conversation.

A conjecture is defined as: “an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information.” Joe is challenging the way Mathematicians and Physicists look at the universe today. Most perspectives put us in a three dimensional world based on three axis: X, Y, and Z. Joe says these are “necessary but not sufficient“, and that while we can do calculations based on this model of the universe, it will always require us to work with irrational numbers and rounding errors… but it’s all a question of resolution. Go deeper than the perspective of X,Y, Z and you encounter a universe built on triangles, or more specifically tetrahedrons. In a way, his premise is that working in a cube-based, X, Y, Z, universe is conjecture… it is working ‘on the basis of incomplete information.’

If we recognize that the smallest possible object in the universe (at the Planck length) is a tetrahedron and not a cube, (again see We Live in a Tetraverse to gain this insight), this doesn’t dismiss any calculations done in a cube universe, it simply allows greater resolution… and maybe eliminates the need to work with irrational numbers and rounding of decimals.

A simple metaphor for this would be moving from the imperial system of measurement to the metric system… measuring in millimetres instead of 16th’s of an inch.

Admittedly, this is a bit of a challenging conversation to follow, first because we start talking about waves as seen drawn in 2 dimensions on paper, and so the conversation is lacking some visual descriptions we discuss. Secondly because we have discussed these ideas at length previously, we are quite comfortable describing shapes and making connections that are not so easy to visualize when you haven’t had the same background conversations we’ve had. And yet, I felt the need to share this conversation, to bring to light some of the brilliant insights of Joseph Truss. One specific topic we discuss, that I haven’t seen anywhere else, is the idea that infinity is a fractal. The infinity conversation begins at 21:08 of the podcast and if you only listen to one segment, that’s the one to listen to. If you want to follow the full conversation, I’d suggest watching the video first.

 

Joe and I had walked down to a slow-moving river that adjoins his back yard. Joe, a musician as well as geometer, brought a drum with him and after playing a bit we started this conversation. I realized that this was worth recording and so I went back to to the house to get my phone. The podcast starts and ends with Joe playing the drums, and there is a drum interlude in the middle as well. So, pull up a seat next to us and enjoy this riverside conversation.

Show Notes: [Listen Now: Joseph Truss on Podcasting Pair-a-Dimes – Slower loading here than on my podcasting blog.]

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Please subscribe to Podcasting Pair-a-Dimes with iTunes, Android, Email, or get the  RSS feed. And if you like what you hear, please rate and comment on iTunes or leave a comment below.

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Opening Music: Solar Flares by Silent Partner
Drums by Joseph Truss

Flight Time Machine

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Yesterday I wrote ‘Flight time’ and said, “Planes are time machines. I can spend 10 days visiting Toronto from Vancouver after a 4.5 hour flight, or I could spend 8-9 days days travelling there and back and less than 2 days in Toronto. Planes don’t just save time, they create it.”

In a conversation with Joe Truss this morning he mentioned that according to Albert Einstein I was speaking literally as well as metaphorically. The faster I move, the slower time goes for me, and so airplanes are actually time machines.

To me this exaggerates the point, it makes the point more poignant. Every time we speed things up, or whenever we ‘save time’, we are essentially creating little time machines… although we can’t actually travel back in time, we can only speed up and slow down our experience of time.

So, airplanes really are time machines, and I just got in one. I’ll see you 5 hours into my future… though I can’t tell you how long that will be for you. 😆

Certainty Versus Evidence

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We are living through an epidemic of certainly at the expense of evidence.

Selectively chosen facts are sprinkled on emboldened ideas that sit like concrete, embedded deep in the minds of people who are certain they are right. Contrary evidence is tossed aside. If it doesn’t fit my truth or my world view then, it’s wrong, it’s misinterpreted, it’s fake news.

When scientists discover galaxies that are too large for the age that they are, considering when they were born, early in the development of the universe… it makes them ponder the theories they hold. Scientists are excited by this puzzle. What’s at play here? Is it a challenge of our evidence collection or are there other theories that may be better? This is the thrill of being at the forefront of science. It’s the idea that we continue to learn and reformulate our theories and make them better.

But to certainty focused, evidence lacking, non-scientific ‘experts’ (in their own minds), this new data is a chance to mock scientists; To emphasize that ‘they don’t know anything’ about the universe. This new evidence isn’t scientific evidence but rather proof that all science is wrong. These new galaxies are evidence of a higher power, or worse, a flat world.

We have people selling water bottles that make hydrogen water that’s somehow supposed to be better than just drinking water. Every commercial for supplements or diets or exercise plans tell you how the evidence is clear and this is the product that will transform your life.

I recently saw this fascinating video about a bug that shoots acid from its butt as a defensive mechanism. It was a totally interesting and engaging video for over 2 minutes, then it started into an unexpected conclusion of Intelligent Design and became an anti-evolution propaganda video that I had to stop watching. But I did wonder how many people bought into this, and I peeked at the comments which were filled with comments like, ‘God is amazing’.

‘Follow your own Truth’, with a capital ‘T’. Cherry pick your evidence and strengthen your certainty. That’s what it seems more and more people are doing these days. The certainty epidemic is growing and it’s getting harder and harder to sift through the BS, and actually know what evidence to follow.

The only anecdote is to stay curious and ask questions. Seek out wise people who are smart enough to be humble, and uncertain, and as curious as you are… And don’t let yourself get stuck in concrete thinking.

Ancient Wisdom

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Watch this video about tomorrow’s solar eclipse.

@welchlabs

How rare is the April 2024 #eclipse?

♬ original sound – Welch Labs

Predicting the next total eclipse is not a simple math problem, having several independent factors. Yet as the video mentions, an ancient Babylonian tablet tracked all the solar eclipses from 347 to 258 BCE.

It makes me wonder about the wisdom of some ancient civilizations. What did they know, that has been lost to us? From medicines to space to science, what intelligence was previously discovered and has since needed to be rediscovered, relearned.

And what did the ancients know that we still don’t know?

The sci-fi try

I don’t usually listen to fictional books during the school year. I usually wait for the breaks, in summer, winter, and March, to pick up a ‘fun’ book. But I started a sci-fi that is about the moon breaking up from a mysterious and sudden catastrophic event. The earth then has roughly 2 years to get as large a community into space before being destroyed by moon debris crashing into earth at a rate that makes earth a fiery hell.

The technical aspects of the book are great. It’s easy to nerd out on the science and to imagine the challenges the survivors must face. The only issue I’m having with the book is that it doesn’t share the loss of life in a compassionate way. The story lacks heart.

It tries, but fails to put loss of life in a way that lets the reader feel grief over the loss. The author is more interested in the science than the humanity. He makes attempts but they aren’t great. Yet the book is still good. I’m only 1/3 of the way through and it will be the Christmas break before I get through it. I’ll let the shortcomings go and enjoy nerding out on the science and the idea of the future of humanity and civilization resting on an ad hoc space colony.

Not all stories need to be perfect to be enjoyable. Sometimes you have to make choices. This book lets me geek out without getting too heavy into the devastation of the entire earth… and I’m just one generation in. From what I understand the story spans a few thousand years. I won’t be putting the story down just because it feels a little clinical in how it deals with death. Because ultimately (so far) it’s a story about survival in desperate times, and under dire circumstances, and I’m hooked on finding out what this dystopian future holds.

I chose a science fiction, not a romance novel, and I’m getting a good dose of both science and fiction. For those interested, the book is Neil Stephenson’s Seveneves.

Geology, Astrology, and Prophecy

There are some major geological disturbances and volcano eruptions in Italy, Japan, and at any moment potentially Iceland. We live on a volatile planet with harsh weather conditions, earthquakes, and occasionally tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Right now there is a lot of geologic activity. This happens in cycles, and it seems that we are on a very active cycle right now. That’s geology. That’s science.

What it’s not is ‘the end of times’, it’s not the end of the world as we know it as a human race, although it may feel like so to anyone living near one of these eruptions. And I don’t mean to downplay worst case scenarios. One of the volcanoes in Italy that is active is what’s known as a super volcano, like the one under Yellowstone National Park. A large eruption of a super volcano can devastate vast areas of land and upset the weather of the world for years.

It could get really ugly.

But this isn’t some biblical prophecy. It’s not an angry God upset with the failings of humanity, and it’s not the coming of the apocalypse.

It’s science. It’s Mother Earth doing what Mother Earth has done for millions of years. It’s cyclical, but on a geological scale that spans chunks of time that extend far longer than civilizations tend to survive.

Tying these geological events to ancient scripture is like tying your dating life to tarot cards, or waiting for the alignment of stars to make a career move… foolish. The earth isn’t angry, it’s seismically active. It isn’t punishing mankind, it is going through natural processes.

We build houses and cities on flood plains, and in tornado zones, and on the sides, and potential lava flows, of volcanoes. If harsh weather systems or major geological disturbances happen in these danger zones, it is disruptive to the lives of those living close by. If a super volcano erupts the whole world could be affected. Again, that’s science.

This could end up being a series of small eruptions, and it could be a massive global disruption… What it’s not is written in scriptures, holy texts, or the result of the alignment of stars. I’d hope that we have evolved past superstitious caveman and can recognize the difference.

1.5 billion beats

I just started a new audio book, Scale, by Geoffrey West. I learned that almost all life forms have an average of about 1.5 billion heartbeats in their lives. Mice have faster heart rates, and die sooner as a result. Turtles and whales live over 100 years with their slower heartbeats. But fast or slow, it seems animals end up with about the same number of beats if they live a full life.

I find statistics like this fascinating. How is it that this is a constant when so many other factors come into play, and when so many evolutionary traits went in different directions? Trunks, blow holes, shells, horns, fins, arms, wings, marsupial tails, all evolve with different purposes, but our many sized hearts all give our different species the same amount of beats.

We may not have the same appendages, we may be all different sizes and shapes, and we all have different amount of time on this planet… but all our mechanical clocks tick the same number of times. Amazing!

Asimov’s Robot Visions

I’m listening to Isaac Asimov’s book, Robot Visions on Audible. Short stories that center around his Three Laws of Robotics (Asimov’s 3 Laws).

• The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

• The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

• The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These short stories all focus on ways that these laws can go wrong, or perhaps awry is the better term. There are a few things that make these stories insightful but they are also very dated. The early ones were written in the 1940’s and the conventions of the time, including conversational language and sexist undertones, are blatantly exposed as ‘olde’.

It also seems that Asimov made 2 assumptions worth thinking about: First that all robots and Artificial Intelligence would be constructed with the 3 laws at the core of all intelligence built into these machines. Many, many science fiction stories that followed also use these laws. However creators of Large Language Models like Chat GPT are struggling to figure out what guard rails to put on their AI to prevent it from acting maliciously when meeting sometimes scrupulous human requests.

Secondly, a few of the stories include a Robopsychologist, that’s right, a person (always female) who is an expert in the psychology of robots. There would be psychologists whose sole purpose would be to get inside the minds of robots.

Asimov was openly concerned with AI, specifically robots, acting badly, endangering humans, and even following our instructors too literally and with undesirable consequences. But he thought his 3 laws was a good start. Perhaps they are but they are just a start. And with new AI’s coming out with more computing power, more training, and less restrictions, I think Asimov’s concerns may prove prophetic.

The guard rails are off and there is no telling what unexpected consequences and results we will see in the coming months and years.

Blind spot

I saw a Neil deGrasse Tyson video where he described our galaxy as thinner than a pancake. He said it is more like a crepe. Our galaxy is more than 100 times long as it is wide. One result of this is that it limits our ability to see the universe.

We can’t look beyond our galaxy along its length. There are so many stars in our own galaxy that they prevent us from seeing anything beyond it along this thin plane. Essentially our galaxy creates a blind spot for our visible universe.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to see along this axis. We can look at our closest neighbouring solar systems and explore our own galaxy, we just can’t see beyond our galaxy nearly as well and as clearly as when we view the universe from an angle other than along the plane of our flat crepe galaxy.

It’s interesting because while this flat shape creates a bit of a blind spot for us, it also makes a lot of the universe easier to see, because our galaxy does not get in the way of a lot of the sky. If our universe was more spherical, it would be a greater impairment to the universe beyond. Our blind spot creates an advantage elsewhere.

There is a metaphor there for our own personal blind spots. Blind spots might limit what we see in some areas, but how do they allow us to see more in others? We observe our world from eye level. We can learn more about our surroundings by seeing a bird’s eye view, but it wouldn’t be an advantage for us if that was the only view we had.

We all have blind spots, I just wonder what insightful perspectives they give us compared to if we didn’t have them?

Bad questions

One of the dumbest tropes in education is that, ‘There is no such thing as a bad question’. Yes, yes there is. Yes there are. There are many bad questions. We live in a world filled with bad questions.

Why are people still asking if climate change is real? Why do people still question if the world is flat? Why do people still question evolution and want creationism taught in classrooms?

Because we live in a world where bad questions are asked and people respond to them. With each justification there is a rebuttal, and when millions of people hear the dumb, illogical, misleading, and inaccurate rebuttals some of them will believe these bad ideas.

Bad ideas spread from debating bad questions.

Good questions deserve debate. Bad questions should be ignored… or redirected. ‘Is climate change real’ is a dumb question based on a bad idea. A better question is, ‘We know humans are impacting the climate, what can be done to reduce that impact?’ Spending time rationalizing the first question is literally giving the question too much power, and the ignorant responses an opportunity to be shared.

It’s worth saying this again, it’s the problem we face today across many fields, spreading through news and social media… and when we participate, we are part of the problem:

Bad ideas spread from debating bad questions.

So the next time someone tells you there is no such thing as a bad question, you might want to disagree, just don’t waste too much time debating the point.