But no, this end is not the one that would pave way for another beginning. Yet if you really persist on one not existing without the other (the end without a beginning and vice versa), call it the beginning of an eternal void? Whose end are we discussing and why does it sound so depressing? The quietus of our entire existence...physical, for those with faith in the alternate forms of existence. No, not just life...that would be so human of us, the conclusion of everything there ever was and will be, the grand stage...our universe (and all others perhaps?)

Of course, there are many around the world that have, do and will devote their lives to unraveling the early expansion of the Universe popularly known as the Big-Bang! That indeed, is a topic worthy enough of catching the imagination of young and old scientists alike. But, little thought is given or at least publicized on what awaits all of it at the end, what is the final fate? 

Inherently, we favor the availability of options, and just like the menu of a restaurant, we can choose from many available options to end things for good (haha?!) What would you like to treat yourself with today, sir? How about a Big Crunch or a Big Rip, perhaps a Big Freeze...I think you'd enjoy a Big Bounce! As appetizing as these may sound, with enough understanding, you'd want to get rid of them from your thoughts because they are the hypothesized endings of all of existence. Take, for example, the Big Freeze..ironically, it is nicknamed- heat death. Now, don't worry it is not death by heat...but rather, the death of heat itself. For what it's worth, the ambient temperature will be just 0K!

Geometry & Scale

What in fact is a Closed or an Open Universe? Alexander Friedmann, a Russian Physicist, introduced the Density Parameter denoted by Omega () which is the ratio of observed to critical density as determined from the Friedmann Universe (spatially homogeneous and isotropic). The value of omega determines the geometry of the Universe. For values larger than 1, the Universe is closed like the surface of a sphere and for ratios less than 1, the Universe is open like the surface of a saddle. The critical value of 1 is a Universe that is flat. 

NASA's WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) confirmed that the Universe is flat indeed, with less than a percent of margin of error. Are you think how can the Universe be considered flat when we clearly argue against Flat Earth! How is it so when you can see the spatial difference between the seas and the mountain peaks, the streets and the skyscrapers...the planets, the suns and the moons. It all is a matter of perspective after all! No it does not mean that the Earth is flat, that one's still a big NO. But, these measurements hold true for scales ~100 Mpc (mega parsec, it's a HUGE distance). To put things into further perspective, a parsec is about 3.26 light-years which is 31 trillion km's. Do the calculations for 100 Mpc (mind=blown?). The existence of dark energy plays a trivial role, and that has made the fate of Universe more inclined towards that with an Open Universe geometry (Big Freeze, Big Rip).

Sometimes, to understand the macro, it becomes essential to study the micro scale. In either cases of Big Freeze and Big Rip, what's left for the finale is either the exhaustion of Black Holes by Hawking Radiation or the disintegration of everything to the smallest of particles and their further decay.

Now that the grand scale has been covered, let's dive into the grandeur of...time.

Content hereafter inspired by: Sophia Nasr

About Time

This is an atom, helium to be exact. Two protons, two neutrons and two electrons. As opposed to humans, elementary particles tend not to go rogue when required to confine themselves to a group for stability. While the atom itself is stable, the elementary particles that make up, this and infinite other combinations of atoms and molecular compounds, are not always stable on their own. This phenomenon of transformation of the free elementary particle, is termed as decay. How is the decay of subatomic entities pertinent the end of the Universe or the grandeur of time? If the Big Rip and Big Freeze do indeed happen, what will be left? These elementary particles, and only they shall live to see the end of it all. Their decay is perhaps the last event to mark the finale. And that will be a long and slow one! Better than a slow death to the conscious mind, eh?

Let's take a free neutron, if you'd been reading carefully, we know what's going to happen next- decay. A neutron, slightly heavier than the proton, is not as stable as a proton can be. Nature strives for stability with far more determination than we do, but then again, we are a microcosm of all that we see. A neutron (neutral), to attain a more stable state, decays into a proton (positive charge). But wait, as do the Lannisters, chemical reactions also always pay their debts...to Thermodynamics. THE LAW OF CONSERVATION. Mass must always be conserved in any transformation and so, along with the generation of a slightly lighter proton, an electron (negative) and an electron anti-neutrino is formed. Now, there is balance!

So, we started with a neutron and ended up with proton, electron and electron anti-neutrino. Not only was the mass conserved but also the charge (n0 → 
p+ + 
e− + 
ν
e). It is essential also to know how long this process takes. The concept of Half-Life explains the time it requires for a particle to decay to half the amount it started with. For a free neutron, this half-life is 10 minutes 11 seconds and it completely decays in 14 minutes 42 seconds (it is a logarithmic function).

But this is just the beginning.


The Big Rip scenario concludes with the disintegration of all matter to its most elementary form. Let's assume that we end up with a bunch of stable protons. Combining this with Big Freeze, we also have quite many Black Holes floating around the Cosmos. We can't just stop here. The quest of Science does not end at answers, it really also begins questioning those answers. What happens once we have stable protons? Do they NOT decay?  Of course they do! And how do we find that? Calculating its half life! Nothing is invincible.

Proton's have a half-life of 10³² years. To give some perspective, the estimated age of our Universe is ~10¹⁰ years. Did it ever occur to you reading this, why don't we decay, we're made out of protons?! Yes, we do have protons, every atom has a proton at its center, the nucleus. But, the game is all about the stability. Life is made from carbon compounds, these are variations on the arrangement of molecules of carbon and other atoms. But they are stable! And we need not worry about their decay (TGIM- thank god its mortality).

Fast-forward 10⁵⁰ years, we have reached the period where all the protons have decayed. Nothing to make up matter anymore, what's left now? BLACK HOLES (which aren't black really, but does it matter if you can't see them?) A Universe full of giant black holes BUT they die too. As we learned earlier, Hawking Radiation at the event horizon of a black hole is responsible for its death. How long would it take for a Black Hole to disappear? For a Black Hole the mass of our Sun (~10³⁰ kg), it would evaporate by the radiation in 10⁷⁴ seconds. Knowing that a year has ~ 10⁷ seconds, it will take approximately 10⁶⁷ years. But black holes are rarely as small as our Sun. How about a Black Hole that is 10 billion times more massive than Sun? That's an enormous 10¹⁰⁴ seconds or 10⁹⁷ years!

That's it then, first the protons decay and then the Black Holes evaporate. Darkness shall prevail. No.

...until its over.

There is an elephant in this cosmic ballet that has elusively pirouetted swiftly across our vision. 

Let's see the composition of our Universe. You would be surprised to know, all that we can see around us and through our ginormous telescopes, matter- makes up only 4.6% of the observable Universe. Dark Matter (responsible for gravitational effects) constitutes 24%. Although it has never been directly observed, the effects are measurable on its surrounding. But that still leaves 71.4% of unexplained composition of the Universe. And this is Dark Energy. The 'dark' reflecting its mysterious nature, yet to be known. Don't be surprised, we have had encounters with Dark Energy many times in this post. Remember the Flat Universe, resulting in the same fate as an Open Universe. All thanks to the effects of Dark Energy. The extreme expansion in the Big Rip, that's also a consequence of Dark Energy. And finally the Big Freeze situation, I believe you know it, yes, Dark Energy.

a pursuit beyond the equations.

That is exactly the nature of the pursuit of science. Questions lead you to answers only to lead you to many more questions! What must Dark Energy be? How gravely could it alter the fate of our Universe. Is this where after-life is, or the higher dimension? We are witnessing less than 1/25th of the Universe, how can we then assume we have all the answers based on observations of limited facts.  How do we pretend to be so sure of existence and why do we believe in absolutism. Is this our naivety or unbending conviction? It is everywhere around us, yet nowhere in our existence, nowhere in our thoughts. Can we afford to neglect what makes up more than three quarters of our Universe and expect our truths and facts to be the ultimate answers? Astronomy is indeed a humbling experience. 

What is real and what is not? What can be classified as truth and false? Can anything be universally called 'real' or is it just human perception? After all, our tiny brain can be so easily deceived. So what makes something real? Or is there no reality at all? Consider the book next to you, it will always be there if you don't move it right? So that is the reality! Well, is it? Honestly, I don't know the answer. But here are some phenomenons and theories in Physics which would certainly befuddle you and question REALITY....

Let's start with something simple. For those who understand some basic science are aware of the fact that similar charges always repel each other. For those who're not familiar with this. Consider the charges as the two north or south poles of a different magnet who're kept very close to each other, naturally, they will try to reach a position as far as possible. Now that we've understood this basic principle, let's apply it to everything around us. We all are made up of atoms. Atoms, irrespective of the element, have a positively charged nucleus and negatively charged electron(s). Now try to bring two atoms close, keeping in mind the principle we just read about. It would be impossible to make any kind of contact between the two atoms due to the electrostatic repulsion between them. I won't complicate things now. So the fact is, that whenever you touch someone or hold something in your hand, you are never actually touching it because the laws of physics, actually the laws nature do not allow you to do so! If you're not touching it, then how do you feel it? In simple words, it the resistance you're feeling, and not the substance itself. There breaks your bubble of reality, doesn't it? 

Who would have thought that the sense or the feeling of touching your pet or your loved ones was not the soft fur or skin or the fresh food you just baked but the resistive forces between the atoms? If you think about it, your bodies were refusing to come in contact 'for real'. Just kidding, except I'm not!

From what we've understood, everything that we considered as 'implied reality' (which does not require explanation) until now was never real at all?

Here's a good ol' Einstein quote to keep you interested (not that I admit this is going to get too complicated)


There are a few theories in Physics proposed by distinguished scientists namely the Theory of Relativity, Quantum Entanglement, Matter Wave Theory and the list just goes on. Well, we all must admit that Physics has always been mind boggling!

Lets talk about the The Theory of Relativity proposed by Albert Einstein for which he received the Nobel Prize (Nobel Prize is a really big deal people!). Einstein proposed the concept called 'Time Dilation'. And it is just what it means. Time can actually change! This means that time may be flowing slower for you or faster than the time for me. Basically, time is not universal but a very personal thing. It may be a bit to wrap your head around this, possibly because a lot of us don't perhaps have the same understanding of 'time' as the scientist do. Allow me to quote The Doctor from Doctor Who, it is 'wibbly wobbly time-wimey" stuff. Time does not just flow, it is a part of the fabric of space. A second on earth does not have to be the same duration in some nearby galaxy. Pretty crazy when you don't have 'time' as a standard of reference right? Einstein proposed that time and space are not different but the same and he called it 'space-time' which is omnipresent(at least in our own universe). What Einstein said was that acceleration decreases the flow of time for you. The faster you go, the slower the time is for you. But you won't know it as time is what we always use as a reference because we consider is the same for everyone. We always use it as a standard of reference but if time itself has slowed down for you, how could you possibly know that? Is it because the constant flow of time is what makes you feel real? And this is why, the duration of a jiffy may not be a jiffy but a whole week for someone out there. But that does complicate things for that person, because as I said, time is personal. As long as you know it's a jiffy, there is no denying. This does not have an effect on anything unless there's an observer having his own reference of time. This also proves that time is relative. What if time was to stop for you and then start again and then stop, how would you possibly realize that? Because everything basically ceases to exist without the flow of time. Who knew time could be such an important factor for our existence. But could there be something that does not need time?

I know it's a bit complicated but this video offers a much better explanation with a different example:


Now let's talk about Quantum Entanglement. Quantum Physics is a relatively new branch of Physics going back to only a couple of decades. If you were to ask me what's the most fascinating field of Physics, it would be Quantum Physics and the theory would be Quantum Entanglement(at least for now)! Everything about this is both wonderful and stupid at the same time. What quantum entanglement teaches us is that when you have two particles which are 'identical' in every aspect, then they both will go through the same changes irrespective of their position in space. Consider a pair of subatomic particles with a negative charge having some definite spin. If you somehow separate these two particles and place them on two different ends of the Earth and then change the spin of only one of the two particles, the other one on the other side of the planet would immediately change its spin by the same magnitude and sign! Just imagine what the science behind this would be? Consider that the two particles were separated and taken to two different galaxies a few light years away and one of them was to be changed. According to quantum entanglement theory, the other particle would have to show that change. But now listen to this, nothing can travel faster than light, not even information! And the speed of light is 299,792,458 km/sec. How can this be possible at all? Well, that's quantum physics for you. If we could get a breakthrough in this, transfer of information across the universe to its very edge would literally take not time! Ponder over the possibilities and  keep the flame of curiosity burning inside you! Theories like these compel you to question reality. They make everything you supposed to be true as a mere illusion!



What if you were never human but only a brain in a laboratory somewhere? What if you were just a part of a computer simulation (Matrix lovers, are you here?) or just a character of a video game with an evolved conscience? Or even worse, just a dream?



Don't worry, these questions won't be left unanswered but that doesn't imply that I know the answers to them, or maybe I do but the computer simulation restricts me from that? Wait for the next blog post!

.....................................................................................TO BE CONTINUED

India's name was engraved in the history books when Indian Space Research Organization's Mars Orbiter Mission was successful in it's maiden voyage to enter into Mars' orbit. India also became the first every Asian country and the fourth country on the globe to reach Mars. A key feature of this mission was its cost efficiency. India was able to successfully launch this mission at a cost of just $72 million! This amount is relatively less as compared to the $672 million MAVEN Mars Orbiter launched by NASA and even less than the Hollywood Oscar-Winning film Gravity which costed a $100 million. Not only this, India's Mars mission was completely indigenous. The entry into Mars' atmosphere was India's first attempt to enter into the Elite Space Club which included powerful space organizations like NASA, ESA and Soviet Space Program. 

This achievement of the developing nation and largest democracy in the word - India was acknowledged all of the world. India also has plans of sending an Indian-Astronaut on the Moon in the year 2020. 

The Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM is special as well as incredibly important for India in order to march towards becoming a developed nation. MOM was launched on 5th November 2014 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre situated in Sriharikota, India. The scientists at ISRO were successful in entered the orbiter into Mars' orbit on 24th September 2014. It was a historic moment for all the Indians as well the whole world. India became the first every country on the planet to be successful in its first ever mission. This also proved that developing countries like India with with not-so-modern technological equipment's and a tight budget and can send indigenous spacecrafts to Mars!

The Mars Orbiter even started tweeting after its insertion into Mars' orbit. 

The orbiter's first tweet? "What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit?"

Second tweet? "I'll be back after breakfast. Good ol' sunlight. It's good for your battery."

The Orbiter also tweet to NASA's Curiosity Rover:

"Howdy @MarsCuriosity ? Keep in touch. I'll be around."

 

The Rover replied: "Namaste, @MarsOrbiter! Congratulations to @ISRO and India's first interplanetary mission upon achieving Mars orbit."

The Mars Orbiter also sent back some high definition pictures of Mars from its orbit:

How Far We Have Come

Cosmic Microwave Background (Source:Wikipedia)

Destruction of Earth by Humans

Today, the whole world runs by the tick of the clock. Each and every second, thousands of millions of dollars worth transaction takes place, lives change, economies build up, societies change,etc. We live in this chaotic world where everything seems so well organized. But wait, we didn't start like this. At the beginning, it was just a bunch of tribes living their lives with the only aim being survival. It is clear, over the period of time, which is not very long on the Cosmic scale, that we've CHANGED the game "nature" planned out for us. I think it's fair to say that we've really come quite far for where we once started... but the journey's not over yet...it will never be...

Life is present anywhere and everywhere we see; in the trees, the plants, the birds, the animals and even in the most remote places on this planet. It can survive the greatest of destruction's, the grandest of explosions and still continue to thrive. Such an amazing thing life is! While "some" humans are trying to find out whether "life" is present only on our planet Earth, we might be closing in to finding the origin of life on this pale blue dot.  

ESA's Rosetta Spacecraft :

Rosetta Spacecraft Model

 The ESA or the European Space Agency launched a space probe named Rosetta more than a decade ago on 2 March 2004. Rosetta was sent to perform a detailed study of its target, a comet named 67P/Churyumove-Gerasimenko. Rosetta space probe has been racing towards the comet since 10 years and has traveled a whooping 4 billion miles. The spacecraft after its launch has orbited our planet Earth thrice and the red planet Mars once as part of its trajectory. The purpose of this winding path around the two planets was to use the gravity of these two planets for a speed boost. Along with that, during its 10 year period before closing in on the target comet, Rosetta also flew by asteroids - Steins and Lutetia. During its decade long journey, the spacecraft also went into Deep Space Hibernation for 31 months and then woke up from hibernation to finally get into orbit around its prey comet - 67P/C-G or Cherry-Gerry(its nickname). 

Rosetta is the first ever space probe to rendezvous with a comet. The probe inserted itself into the orbit around 67P on the 6th of August'14 and will continue to do so for some time. The probe has now reduced the relative velocity between itself and the comet to just 1 m/s which I believe is itself a great achievement for those controlling Rosetta from our home planet. The probe won't itself land on the comet but will deploy a lander named "Philae Lander" on the surface of the comet 67P. The lander is equipped with ice screws on its legs and harpoons as the comet's gravity isn't strong enough to hold the Philae on its surface. The lander weighs 100 kg and is the most important part of the mission. The lander will collect samples of water vapor, dust surface of the comet, analyse it and send the data back to the Space Agency on Earth. One of its objective is to study the chemical composition of hydrogen in the water on the comet. If it is the same as that to the hydrogen here on Earth, it will suggest that comets might have filled up our Oceans when they smashed into our planet many billion years ago. The Philae Lander has been scheduled to land on 67P in November 2014 if everything goes well.  

      

First Pictures sent by Rosetta when it approached comet 67P/C-G to enter into its orbit :

"Rosetta Spacecraft has created history as it is the first EVER probe to orbit a comet and hopefully land on it. There are endless possibilities to what the Philae Lander after landing on the comet may reveal to us here on Earth. Whatever it may be, I think we humans should be prepared to be amazed! Since its origin, man has only looked around and has had the curiosity to find out why does something exist and how it got there. I think its time we find out how WE got here......"


EDIT(08/20/2014) : Comparison of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to the City of Los Angeles.

Comet 67P comparison to Los Angeles Source : All Science, All the Time(FB)

It's been almost 100 hundred years since the one of the greatest theoretical-physicist, Albert Einstein published his Theory Of General Relativity(1916) which laid the foundation of modern physics. Before I write further, here's what General Relativity means :

The Theory Of General Relativity helps explain the force of gravity in terms of a four dimensional space-time. It was based on the idea that the laws of science should be the same for any observer irrespective of their velocity.



The BOSS(Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) studied more than 600,000 galaxies(only a small fraction of whats out there) to measure the interaction of their gravity. These are said to be the most precise calculations of the gravitational interaction between galaxies. This was the toughest test that the theory of relativity had to face due to its scale of observation and precision. That's what makes it special, because the General Theory of Relativity has succeeded in explaining this phenomenon too! 

Credit - BOSS / Univ. of Portsmouth

"Lets remember the man, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers to ever walk this planet and shape modern-physics thereby helping us open one of the many uncharted doors to this Wonderful Universe! "

Voyager 1 is a space probe drifting through the vast, dark and never ending realm in the heavens. One cannot imagine the distance it has traveled,the silence it has observed and how lonely it has been for the past 36 years. YES! 36 YEARS...  

Why would you want to know about it? NASA has sent out so many probes... how'd you be benefited from knowing about Voyager 1 ? Basically, what makes Voyager so special? 

• THE STORY OF VOYAGER 1  

Speaking on it's "importance"... Voyager isn't just any ordinary probe which collects information and sends it back to our Planet Earth. It is an element of our presence in this universe(at least the Solar System). The probe is out there to make our presence felt! That there are HUMANS living somewhere, that we are more than just curious to know what's out there and that we want to know if we humans have any "neighbor(s)". The probe has provided us with such valuable information and some mind-boggling images that will make you ponder about our EXISTENCE! 

• The Pale Blue Dot

That is "us"! Everything around you, and on this planet,is that hardly visible point in the frame! That is OUR Planet Earth.... Feel very small right? Voyager 1 took this AMAZING picture on 14th February 1990 from a staggering distance of about 6 Billion Kilometers(3.7 billion miles) Orbiting our star , the Sun within the deep darkness of the space. But the "pond-creatures" I wrote about in my first post still don't care to THINK about it, our existence and our uniqueness! This isn't the view from outside our Solar System or some very far-away place. If we're so "insignificant" on this scale, what would our importance be on a galactic level? HOW much there is to explore! The million dollars you possess is nowhere compared to this spectacle. Now think how small our sphere of thought is?!