Nahwe Imbwisk

E=mc2

The formula E=mc2 is translated as "In order for energy to be created,  mass must be exhalerated to the power of the speed of light". This poses two paradoxes, 1. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed 2. Matter cannot travel faster then the speed of light.

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that everything tends towards enthropy (dispersal). The best example is your house, which if you don't clean it becomes a mess. That is a common phenomenon throughout nature. Although energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it can be converted. For example, if you turn on the stove, the electrical energy with which the stove is powered is converted into thermal energy, or heat. Or even putting something on the table entails a transformation of the objects energy from kinetic to static. Einstein argued that if we were somehow able to propell a particle that has a mass to the power of the speed of light, we could create energy, which would be a truly supernatural act.

Einstein was famous for his Thought Experiments. Perhaps the most famous example of such an experiment is about a person flying off at the speed of light and coming back after a short time, only to find out that at the place he left much more time had passed. Physicists believe that as we approach the speed of light time slows down and mass increases. In theory it is possible to have an object with finite volume and an infinite surface.

If we are ever to travel faster then the speed of light, we would have to acquire a whole new understanding of physics.

String Theory

Einstein's Relativity Theory is excellent in predicting large scale events such as the movement of planets and stars, but it is of no use on a quantum level. The physics that deals with subatomic particles is called quantum physics.

In a graphic representation the energy on a quantum level is spiky while the energy on a cosmic level is smooth. Physics has the law of relativity for cosmic events and quantum physics for tiny events. Mixing these two is impossible, it is like trying to mix oil and water. String Theory aims at becoming an Unified Theory that could be used to explain both.

String Theory proposes that the tinniest particles are not quarks but strings that vibrate in different harmonies. The predictions of String Theory are remarkable. It would allow being at two places at the same time, and also bending space/time would become possible.

The 11 Dimensions that one of the branches of String Theory proposes are a central axis and the ten directions in which energy disperses. Besides offering us the possibility of an instrument with 1 ground tone and 10 whole notes, String Theory if perfected would allow for space and time travel.

Through a Black Hole

Parallel Universe: The Search for other Worlds, by Fred Alan Wolf is an excellent book on the Future of Physics. Not only is it accessible to the layman, but it is full of wonderful stories that illustrate the quirks of trying to unify Quantum Physics and Relativity Theory.

One of the stories is about what would happen if a person were to travel through a black hole. Wolf argues that as the astronaut is approaching the black hole, if he could survive the enormous gravity, s/he would experience slowing down of time, so that it would take the spaceship almost an eternity to reach the black hole. After emerging on the other side he would enter a Universe the same as ours, except that there time would flow backwards relative to ours - his past would become his future and vice versa.