Basic facts of our world leading to faith.
Our world is made up of atoms. They make up the air we breath,and all else of our world. But atoms are small enough that it takes a hundred thousand of them to stretch across the width of a human hair.
Each atom is made up of smaller particles, as far as we know it is protons and neutrons. These are orbited by electrons.
Atoms are mostly empty space because the particles are so small that if this dot "." were a proton the size of the dot, it would be one half mile to an electron on each side.
But electrons are even smaller. If you blew up a proton to the size of a bowling ball the electron would be a speck beside it. Some insist that the electron really does not have a size, as it so far known, the subatomic particles do not have a definite size or shape.
NOW HERE COMES THE STUFF OF FAITH.
Tim Folger, a contributing editor based in New Mexico to the Discovery magazine writes: "Tweak the laws of physics in just about any way and --in this universe in anyway whatsoever - life as we know it would not and could not exist.
Two possible changes.
Atoms consist of protons,neutrons,and electrons as I have said. If those protons were just 0.2 percent more massive than they actually are, they would be unstable and would decay into simpler particles. He goes on to say "Atoms wouldn't exist; and neither would we. If gravity were slightly more powerful, the consequences would be nearly as grave. A beefed up gravitational force would compress stars more tightly, making them smaller, hotter, and denser. Rather than surviving for billions of years, stars would burn through their fuel in a few million years, sputtering out long before life had a chance to evolve. There are many such examples of the universe life-friendly properties --so many in fact that physicists can't dismiss them all as mere accidents."
"life, it seems, is not an incidental component of the universe, burped up out of a random chemical brew on a lonely planet to endure for a few fleeting ticks of the cosmic clock. In some strange sense, it appears that we are not adapted to the universe; the universe has adapted to us."
His further point is that if you double the mass of the electron, life as we know it will disappear.
If we change the strength of the interaction between protons and electrons, life will disappear.
Why are there three space dimensions and one time dimension?
If we had four space dimensions and one time dimension, then planetary systems would be unstable and our version of life would be impossible. If we had two space dimensions and one time dimension, we would not exist states physicist Andrei Linde of Standford University.
OK HERE IS THE HEART OF IT ALL.
Stars like the sun produce energy by fusing two hydrogen atoms into a single helium atom. During that reaction, 0.007 percent of the mass of the hydrogen atom is converted into energy, via Einstein's famous e=MC2 EQUATION.
BUT IF THAT PERCENTAGE WERE, SAY 0.006 or 0.008, the universe would be far more hostile to life. The lower number would result in a universe filled only with hydrogen; the higher number would leave a universe with no hydrogen (and therefor no water)AND NO Stars like the sun.
The early universe is thought by most to have been balanced between runaway expansion and terminal collapse. Had the universe contained much more matter, additional gravity would have made it implode. If it had contained less, the universe would have expanded too quickly for galaxies to form.
Had matter in the universe been more evenly distributed, it would not have clumped together to form galaxies. Had matter been clumpier, it would have condensed into black holes.
Last, atomic nuclei are bound together by the so called strong force. If that force were slightly more powerful, all the protons in the early universe would have paired off and there would be no hydrogen which fuels long lived stares. Water would not exist, nor could there or would there be any known form of life on this or any planet.
I see the hand of the Creator in awesome wonmder of this our world.
Each atom is made up of smaller particles, as far as we know it is protons and neutrons. These are orbited by electrons.
Atoms are mostly empty space because the particles are so small that if this dot "." were a proton the size of the dot, it would be one half mile to an electron on each side.
But electrons are even smaller. If you blew up a proton to the size of a bowling ball the electron would be a speck beside it. Some insist that the electron really does not have a size, as it so far known, the subatomic particles do not have a definite size or shape.
NOW HERE COMES THE STUFF OF FAITH.
Tim Folger, a contributing editor based in New Mexico to the Discovery magazine writes: "Tweak the laws of physics in just about any way and --in this universe in anyway whatsoever - life as we know it would not and could not exist.
Two possible changes.
Atoms consist of protons,neutrons,and electrons as I have said. If those protons were just 0.2 percent more massive than they actually are, they would be unstable and would decay into simpler particles. He goes on to say "Atoms wouldn't exist; and neither would we. If gravity were slightly more powerful, the consequences would be nearly as grave. A beefed up gravitational force would compress stars more tightly, making them smaller, hotter, and denser. Rather than surviving for billions of years, stars would burn through their fuel in a few million years, sputtering out long before life had a chance to evolve. There are many such examples of the universe life-friendly properties --so many in fact that physicists can't dismiss them all as mere accidents."
"life, it seems, is not an incidental component of the universe, burped up out of a random chemical brew on a lonely planet to endure for a few fleeting ticks of the cosmic clock. In some strange sense, it appears that we are not adapted to the universe; the universe has adapted to us."
His further point is that if you double the mass of the electron, life as we know it will disappear.
If we change the strength of the interaction between protons and electrons, life will disappear.
Why are there three space dimensions and one time dimension?
If we had four space dimensions and one time dimension, then planetary systems would be unstable and our version of life would be impossible. If we had two space dimensions and one time dimension, we would not exist states physicist Andrei Linde of Standford University.
OK HERE IS THE HEART OF IT ALL.
Stars like the sun produce energy by fusing two hydrogen atoms into a single helium atom. During that reaction, 0.007 percent of the mass of the hydrogen atom is converted into energy, via Einstein's famous e=MC2 EQUATION.
BUT IF THAT PERCENTAGE WERE, SAY 0.006 or 0.008, the universe would be far more hostile to life. The lower number would result in a universe filled only with hydrogen; the higher number would leave a universe with no hydrogen (and therefor no water)AND NO Stars like the sun.
The early universe is thought by most to have been balanced between runaway expansion and terminal collapse. Had the universe contained much more matter, additional gravity would have made it implode. If it had contained less, the universe would have expanded too quickly for galaxies to form.
Had matter in the universe been more evenly distributed, it would not have clumped together to form galaxies. Had matter been clumpier, it would have condensed into black holes.
Last, atomic nuclei are bound together by the so called strong force. If that force were slightly more powerful, all the protons in the early universe would have paired off and there would be no hydrogen which fuels long lived stares. Water would not exist, nor could there or would there be any known form of life on this or any planet.
I see the hand of the Creator in awesome wonmder of this our world.
posted by Lee Truman | 9:02 AM
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