9 Mindblowing theories about the universe.

9 Mindblowing theories about the universe.

1. The universe is a giant supercomputer

It is one thing to assume that everything surrounding us is a computer simulation but not the same to say that the universe itself represents a supercomputer. A theory like this exists and it holds that galaxies, stars and black holes are parts of this supercomputer. This theory has been introduced and scrupulously analyzed by an Oxford professor of quantum informatics Vlatko Vedral. He believes that the main building blocks from which everything is built are not particles of matter but bits, the same building blocks of information used by conventional computers. Each bit can be a combination of 2 values, 1 or 0 meaning yes or no. The scientist is convinced that even subatomic particles are made up of trillions of these values and the interaction within matter happens when bits transmit logical combinations between each other. A similar view is supported by Seth Lloyd and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who had invented the world's first quantum computer, which relies on atoms and electrons instead of microchips. According to Lloyd, the universe constantly adjusts the dynamics of its own restructuring.

2. Bullet time theory

Many of us can recall scenes from movies, when a bullet or a falling glass in motion suddenly stops and we are able to see the object from every angle. Something similar may just as well be occurring to humankind. The Big Bang event occurred approximately fourteen billion years ago but the speed at which the universe is expanding is still increasing, defying all laws of physics even though the forces of gravity would probably slow down the process. Then why does the universe expand? Many scientists make a reference to anti-gravity which actually pushes galaxies apart. Spanish scientists Jose Senovilla, Marc Mars and Raul Vera have developed an alternative theory, which states that the rate at which the universe expands is not accelerating but the time is gradually slowing down. This theory can explain to us why galaxies move faster. The light has traveled for so long that we are not observing their present state but something that has happened a long time in the past. If the Spanish scientists are correct in their findings, there may be time in the future when for a hypothetical outside observer, our time continuum will have to come to a complete halt.

3. The Ekpyrotic universe

The Ekpyrotic scenario provides an alternative to the widely accepted Big Bang Theory. It suggests that unlike the Big Bang that began from singularity, our universe is one of a pair of universes that collided. The effect of the collision resets the universe. From there it expands for billions of light years the way we imagine the Big Bang occurring, until it contracts back to the Big Crunch. The speed and energy of that reduction creates another massive collision and the universe is reborn. This cycle continues for infinity. This theory states that there's another universe out there. That's not too strange considering we accept the possibility of parallel universes, but if the Ekpyrotic scenario is correct, our twin universe is right next to us in another dimension, separated by a distance less than the diameter of an atom.

4.White holes

White holes, unlike their black hole counterparts have not been studied because they only exist in an extremely hypothetical situation. But if there are black holes, why not white holes too? In fact there's not even a clear understanding what a white hole could be. Is it the other end of a black hole? Is it a wormhole? It is something else entirely. Generally white holes are thought to spit out matter much like black holes eat matter. For this to happen, the matter that passes through a black hole would have to be protected during the voyage avoiding the process of merging into singularity. No white holes have ever been to detected up to this point and no black holes have been seen without an event horizon that may show us just how matter passes through. The event horizon is the guarding force around a black hole that prevents us from seeing them. To do that white holes would have to break a few laws of physics and reinstitute some ideas that have been discarded which is kind of asking a lot until then white holes are best left for hypothetical ideas.

5. Simulation theories

When Elon Musk is an outlining plans to use his massive rocket to leave a decaying planet Earth and colonize Mars. He sometimes talks about his belief that earth isn't even real and we probably live in a computer simulation. Musk is just one of the people in Silicon Valley to take a keen interest in the simulation hypothesis, which argues that what we experience as reality is actually a giant computer simulation created by a more sophisticated intelligence. If it sounds a lot like the matrix that's because it is. One popular argument for the simulation hypothesis outside of acid trips came from Oxford University's Nick Bostrom in 2003. Although the idea dates back as far as the 17th century philosopher Rene Descarte in a paper titled Are you living in a simulation? Bostrom suggested that members of an advanced post human civilization with vast computing power might choose to run simulations of their ancestors in the universe. This argument is extrapolated from observing current trends in technology including the rise of virtual reality and efforts to map the human brain. How can the hypothesis be put to the test? Well neuroscientists and artificial intelligence researchers can check whether it's possible to simulate the human mind. So far machines have proven to be good at playing chess and go and putting captions on images. The counting machine achieved consciousness? We don't know yet.

6. The universe is just one big hologram

Maybe our universe is just one big holographic picture show projected onto a 2d surface. String theorists believe that everything we perceive as reality could be no more than the vibration of these 2D strings and the scientists presenting the theory of a holographic universe take that one step further. Our entire existence could be a 3d projection on a 2d plane of information but we can't perceive that 2d surface because of its scale. Craig hogan a physicist in illinois is building two hollow meters that could prove or disprove this outlandish theory. The hollow meters monitor the smallest spaces in our universe to look for the smallest possible unit in the universe called Planck units, 10 billion times smaller than the width of a proton. Initially stacked on top of each other, the hollow meters will scan for Planck noise and once it's detected they'll be separated and the experiment will be run again. If the noise isn't correlated between the two machines that could indicate a limit to space-time resolution. The physics community is skeptical that Hogan will actually be able to measure anything but if he did it would have a huge impact on fundamental physics. The first proof that space-time is quantized.

7. Alchemy

Gold isn't just about vanity. It has all manner of uses from dentistry to electronics to monetary exchange. But long before we knew just what the stuff was truly capable of the human fascination with gold helped kick off a scientific revolution. You see we can thank the alchemists and their kooky gold-laden experiments for the ascendancy of chemistry in the 1600s. Medieval alchemists placed so much value in gold that they worked tirelessly to somehow transform base metals such as iron into it, but to do so they need to first discover the Philosopher's Stone, the substance capable not only of initiating this transformation, but of bestowing man with immortality. Alchemy was about perfection, gold being the perfect element and immortality being pretty sweet as well and the discipline was serious business. Alchemists wrote in code lest their successive escape the lab. None ever did, but not because they were coated. In 1601, an alchemist under the patronage of Friedrich the first of Ruttenberg promised the Duke he could extract gold from silver which it turns out is impossible. So he faked it, got caught and was hanged. Even Isaac Newton dabbled in the art and by dabble I mean he wrote more about it than he did physics. I'm asking thousands of pages of notes over three decades of research. For millennia alchemy involves decidedly unscientific things like magic and spirituality but it was the methods alchemists use that grew increasingly sophisticated. In the 17th century this silly superstitious aspects finally began to fall away as chemistry always a part of alchemy emerged as a dominant discipline, which is just as well since now we know exactly why Mentos and Diet Coke don't get along.

8. Living inside a black hole

Perhaps everyone has some knowledge about black holes for instance that they have enormous gravity forces and density which do not even allow the light to escape. But it hardly ever occurs to us that we could be living inside a black hole at this particular moment, but this idea has boggles the mind of the scientist from the University of Indiana, doctor of theoretical physics Nikodem Poplawski. He argues that hypothetically our world can already be swallowed by a black hole leading to a thought that we exist in a new universe. After all, it is still unknown what happens with objects trapped in this gigantic funnel. The calculations performed by the physicists lead to a conclusion that acquisition of matter by a black hole is somewhat similar to the big bang and can lead to a completely new reality. Compression of space on the one hand may lead to the expansion on the other hand it can mean that each black hole can represent a gateway to something still unexplored or unknown.

9. Biological SETI

The biological SETI theory is an interesting pairing of two profound questions about human life. How did humans come into existence and are we alone in the universe? After all, life developing to this point is quite miraculous, conditions had to be just right for present-day humans to exist, also the idea that there are other beings living on space has fascinated people for centuries. However, what if we weren't meant to look to the skies for proof of alien life? What if it was written into our own DNA? That is what Vladimir I Shcherbak of alfarabi Kazakh National University of Kazakhstan and Maxima Makuhkaff of the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute are saying. Their theory is that DNA is one of the most durable constructs in the universe. If intelligent life were sending a message it would be more effective to code it in our DNA rather than send something like radio transmissions. Essentially they are arguing that if there are cells in the human genome that cannot be explained by Darwinian evolution that it is possible those cells are a signature or a designer tag. They also point out how amazingly logical the human genome is. They believe that something as straightforward and logical probably came from an advanced being somewhere outside of the solar system. If their theory is correct then it could possibly answer both questions posed in the opening of this entry. There could be other life in the universe and they could be the reason we exist.