The known universe could be very thin in an extra dimension other than the familiar three dimensions of space.Posted on 09/16/2009 10:40:33 AM PDT by BGHater
In many ways, black holes are science’s answer to science fiction. As strange as anything from a novelist’s imagination, black holes warp the fabric of spacetime and imprison light and matter in a gravitational death grip. Their bizarre properties make black holes ideal candidates for fictional villainy. But now black holes are up for a different role: heroes helping physicists assess the real-world existence of another science fiction favorite — hidden extra dimensions of space.
Astrophysical giants several times the mass of the sun and midget black holes smaller than a subatomic particle could provide glimpses of an extra-dimensional existence.
Out in space, astrophysicists are looking hard to see if large black holes are shrinking on a time scale that might be detected by modern telescopes. If so, it might mean the black holes are evaporating into extra dimensions.
In the laboratory, black holes far smaller than anything that could be seen with a microscope might be produced in Europe’s Large Hadron Collider after it starts running again in November (SN: 7/19/08, p. 16). The detection of such a black hole, which would evaporate in a hail of subatomic particles in a tiny fraction of a second, would provide evidence that unseen dimensions of space exist.
What makes either of these ideas even plausible is a bold theory put forth just over 10 years ago that purports to explain the weakness of gravity by supposing that some of it is leaking out into extra dimensions.
The known universe could be very thin in an extra dimension other than the familiar three dimensions of space.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Gravity leaks actuall can explain alot of common occurences...
Figure out gravity, be feted for the rest of your life .
Hey, I'm a BIG lover of science, but it seems so amazing to me that physicists would be so worried about why all the other known forces of nature are 30 orders of magnitude stronger than gravity that they'd be willing to explain it by postulating the existence of an extra dimension that is 70 orders of magnitude smaller than any of the other known dimensions.
I mean, by all means, explain gravity. Very worthy goal. But you leave us laymen scratching our heads when you say we must explain it because it's 30 orders of magnitude weaker than the other known forces, then blithely try to explain it by introducing a new dimension that is 70 or so orders of magnitude smaller than any other known dimension. If gravity is so darned discrepant as a force, you've just introduced a dimension that is 40 orders of magnitude more discrepant than gravity was to begin with. With all due respect, and believe me, I have about a hundred orders of magnitude more respect for what science does than for what almost any other person in our society does.
Figure out gravity, be feted for the rest of your life .Figure out gravity -- and convince the physics establishment that you've figured out gravity -- and be feted for the rest of your life.
Yes, remarkable, eh? By trying to explain away 30 orders of magnitude, they introduce a total discrepancy of 100 orders of magnitude in two different realms.
Stories of modern science...From UPI
NEW TYPE OF BLACK HOLE FOUND
Using the X-ray telescope 'Chandra,' scientists at the University of Leicester have discovered a new type of black hole. Only two varieties had previously been known -- those that are similar in mass to stars, and much larger ones that can be a million or billion times more massive. Scanning the galaxy called M82, Martin Ward, a professor of astronomy at the University of Leicester and his colleagues found two stars orbiting around one another. The X-ray emissions produced by the system suggest they are revolving around a black hole of intermediate size. "This is an enormously powerful X-ray source and the only explanation is that it must be a black hole," says Ward. The scientists believe that this mid-sized black hole may have begun as a small black hole that cannibalized nearby stars to grow to its present mass.
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