Scott Forward > Recent Status Updates

I definitely need to re-read a few sections, notably the section on quantum fluctuations, inflation, and a flat universe; I attempted to explain it and was having a lot of difficulty. All and all, it was a really interesting read, a mix between science and social commentary, and definitely brisk in its pace. I would recommend it to any interested in astronomy or astrophysics.

I can understand at time, the idea that science feels compelled to comment on theology and philosophy. After all, the discussion of "something from nothing" has been a central theme in much philosophy, as is evidenced from subjects like the un-moved mover or first cause, but claims like "theology has made no new contributions to knowledge in the past 500 years" are arrogant and will invite epistemological bickering.

We have no deep understanding of how it originates and why it takes the value it has. We therefore hav no idea of why it has begun to dominate the expansion of the universe and only relatively recently, in the past five billion years or so, or whether that is a complete accident. It is natural to suspect its nature is tied in some basic way to the origin of the universe.

"As long as this time period during this "switchback" is so short that we cannot measure all the particles directly, quantum mechanics and relativity imply that not only is this weird situation allowed, it is required. The Particles that appear and disappear in timescales too short to measure are called virtual particles."

Dear Physics, you crazy.