“In science, everyone stands on level ground”. That is the opening thought of the 2004 Nobel Prize Awardee in Physics during the “Bridges – Dialogues towards a culture of peace” hosted through the international peace foundation held in University of San Carlos-Talamban on January 11, 2008.
Speaking to a jam-packed audience of physics teachers, students, engineers, Prof Gross spoke about three topics during his lecture; Physics, Cosmology and Biology.
He first spoke about scientific research and experiments as the absolute authority in scientific issues, by observation and experiment of the workings of nature, we define true science. Political and religious figures are not the authority of science like what happened in the past. (reminds me of geocentric theory)
What follows is a brief History in physics from the time of Galileo who discovered the regularities of motion. And one needs a language extension to mathematics to be able to model the basic motion and symmetries that govern all physical phenomena because it is the native language that nature speaks to us. Isaac Newton discovered the Universal Law of Gravitation, James Maxwell came up with Electromagnetic Theory. Neils Bohr contributes the idea that an electron could in fact drop from a higher-energy orbit to a lower one, emitting a photon (light quantum) of discrete energy (that explains light emitting diodes). Bohr, Planck, Dirac, Einstein and others are known for Atomic theory and Quantum Mechanics. By investigating the atomic structure, one can explain the behavior and properties of elements that make up matter. Einstein formulated the General Theory of Relativity where space and time is dynamical and proposed to be a new theory of gravitation in place of Newtonian gravitation. Many physics equations have had developed through decades and scientists are making efforts to unify all laws into one simple but not simpler law.
As Einstein has said, not unjustly, that “in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.” Scientist may not only sit in the pew and believe how we get here, they verify the workings of nature and perform experiments. Cosmology hopes to answer the questions such as; where did we come from? How the universe began? Scientists are making experiments and observations to understand ourselves and around us by studying our tiniest part - the atom and extends to the vast part of our universe. Dr Gross studies deep into the atom even to the quarks and was awarded the nobel prize for physics for discovering regarding the strong force – the nuclear force that binds together quarks (the smallest bulding blocks of matter) and holds together the nucleus of the atom. The prizewinning work of Prof David Gross arose from physics experiments with particle accelerators conducted in the early 1970s to study quarks and the force that acts on them. Particle accelerator is a facility that produces miniature big bangs in the hope of understanding the Big bang theory – the most popular theory of how our universe began, where particles are smashed head on (collision) and produces effects that can lead us to ideas of what really happened “in the beginning…” So we have Particle accelerators or colliders to study big bang in the laboratory and we have Hubble telescope to study the outside world – the vast universe.
Throughout the lecture, Dr Gross brought up issues that should concern everyone, issues that should enter into every conciousness of man. From the questions of how the universe began to how the universe will end (or will not end?), He mentioned Darwin’s theory of evolution where based on the Darwin’s tree of life, most species are extinct and we’re the last few million years old specie. By vast interconnection of neurons in our brain our memory and emotions arrived (we don’t know how it arrived). Human specie (or kind) began to go and multiply, Prof Gross showed an intersting grpah of how the world is growing in terms of world population. Plotting the World populaiton versus the time from 1 AD to 2001, the curve is rising faster (more rapid) than exponential. That means, more people will consume food, energy, fossil fuel. Fossil fuel will run out, energy consumption will rise. Education is the hope to stabilize the world popultaion or else it presents a terrible threat to the health of our planet. Global warming is very real, it has been predicted that world temperature will rise by 3-8 degrees Celcius within the century, seemingly not a lot. But for just one degree increase in temperature for the next 10-20 years - 20-30% of species will become extinct, most coral reefs will be dead, world will experience drought, heat waves and increase in mortality. Two Celcius degree increase will have major effect on our ecosystem, millions of people will be affected by floods. Polar ice caps will melt and submerged 30% of man’s land for a three degree increasde in temperature, health and food will be a heavy burden. At four degree increase, more than 30% of species will be extinct, and bleaching of corals severe and the sea level will increase to 13-15 feet. And scientists are predicting not just 3-4 Celcius degree increase but 3-8 degree celsius.
Therefore more science is needed to solve all thses problems that confronts every man today. Nanotechnology and solar technology is a promising help. We need a new system, economic and political system that is not dependent on unlimited consumption and growth or else our natural resources will be depleted. We need a better system than now is. More science is needed in all countries, what we do in one country affects the whole world. Science is the most international activity which is not closed because nature has no boundaries. Collaboration and competition is encouraged. We need more scientist to do research and innovations everywhere, efforts that will leave a living legacy to our upcoming generations - them.
Prof Gross encourage lifelong questioning of things (like Socrates method) because it is the questions that drive science. The most important product of knowledge is (intelligent) ignorance. Smart questions arrive in the boundaries of ignorance. As it has been said, “judge a man not by his answers but by his questions”, Prof Gross left some questions for the audience to judge.
1. How did the universe begin? (what happened a fraction of second after the BIG BANG!!)
2. What is dark matter? Dark energy that pulls on something?
3. How to unify the forces of nature? Is string theory the answer. Different forces - just different vibration of the same string?
4. How did consciousness arise from collection of neurons?
For deterministic models in science, we can predict the future with great accuracy, i.e., planets in motion. Kinematic equations can predict its path and position to a great accuracy in the future time. Prof Gross likewise gave his predictions about the future of our world in centuries.
1. 50-100 years from now all his four questions will be answered. (more questions to ask then)
2. Our scientific friends, i.e., the psychology, sociology, and other social/political/economic sciences (infant sciences) will become real sciences. They will then have models for real sciences which will study human behavior based on the experiments on the brain and consciousness.
3. The world will have one government (100-1000 years) where it has sustainable economic and social arrangements.
4. People will have increased lifespan. Ten times than the present. Because of medical advances to stop aging process and cure for diseases.
5. Speciation: creation of new specie. We are beginning to learn how to modify genome. We can speed up evolution or mutation.
6. Spread of life into other galaxies.
7. We will then have more problems to solve, political and social issues maybe more difficult than technological/scientific questions.
Question and answer time followed after the lecture. All in all, It was an insightful 3-hour adventure from quarks to the outside world with the 2004 Nobel Prize winer in Physics - Dr David Jonathan Gross.
No comments:
Post a Comment