Is it true that the Universe is too complex and it is useless to study it: astrophysicist dispels popular myths

Many inhabitants of our planet do not understand why it is necessary to study galaxies that are tens of millions of light years away. They believe that it would be much more productive to deal with earthly problems - for example, the diagnosis of cancer.

Are these pragmatists right and why is it necessary to study the Universe at all, told at the forum "Scientists against myths" astrophysicist Sergei Pilipenko. Forum organizers - ANTROPOGENESIS.RU - posted a recording of his lecture on their YouTube channel, and Lifehacker made a summary.

Ordinary people hear very little about the new discoveries of astrophysicists. Maybe that's why there are so many myths about the universe and its origin. And also about the helplessness of scientists in front of the vast cosmos. Let's try to separate the myths from the truth and talk about cosmology - the science of the universe.

Myth 1. The universe is too complex for humans to figure out how it works

On the one hand, this statement sounds logical. People have been exploring the Earth for thousands of years and had no idea what was happening away from their home planet.

And then they invented telescopes. And it turned out that explosions occur in the Universe, in which more energy is released than the Sun can give out in ten billion years. And that the solar system is a tiny part of the galaxy with more than 100 billion stars. There are many such galaxies. Moreover, they are not located randomly, but form a clear cellular structure, which from afar looks like foam. And the entire space of space is filled with this foam from billions of galaxies.

Moreover, people have learned that the universe is constantly changing and evolving over time. For example, now it is expanding. It seems that it is difficult to formulate the laws that determine the existence and development of huge space worlds. But actually it is not.

There are several ways to prove that physical laws are the same for the entire universe. Let's consider two of them:

1. Let's compare the speed of clocks that operate on different physical principles. Let's take old walkers with a swinging pendulum. The period of its oscillation depends on the force of gravity. That is, here the main acting force is gravity. Electronic wristwatches also have a pendulum. But it oscillates due to the action of the spring. Gravity has nothing to do with it, and electromagnetic forces act.

The speed of all these clocks is determined by completely different fundamental physical laws and different basic constants. The scientists compared the behavior of the mechanisms over the course of a year to see if the fundamental physical constants were changing relative to each other. It turned out that they remain the same - up to 16 decimal places. That is, physical laws do not depend on time. To consolidate the result, scientists examined a natural nuclear reactor, which was located in Africa and was active two billion years ago.

2. Let's explore the spectrum of distant space objects. Each atom of the periodic system Mendeleev there is a spectrum by which you can accurately determine what kind of substance it is. It also depends on basic physical constants.

To explore the spectrum of distant bodies, astronomers have studied quasars, some of the brightest objects in the universe. At a distance of about 10 billion light years, the constants turned out to be the same with high accuracy as on Earth. And since the light from these quasars has been traveling to us for 10 billion years, scientists have received one more proof that the basic laws do not change with time.

It turns out that they can build models of the development of the Universe with sufficient accuracy. Neither huge distances nor gigantic time intervals can prevent this.

Myth 2. The Big Bang Theory confirms or refutes hypotheses about the creation of the world

When scientists discovered in the early 20th century that the universe was expanding, the Big Bang theory was born. She claims that at the very beginning of the development of the Universe there was a certain zero moment. That is, at first the entire mass was compressed into a point, and then an explosion occurred. He started the countdown, and the matter began to scatter. Thus was born the universe, which continues to expand.

Many philosophers immediately declared: The Big Bang is the moment of creation! An almighty creator placed a point with an infinitely high density and temperature in space, and he also made an explosion!

Nice theory. But today it is clear to scientists that this is an oversimplified model. If it turned out to be true and at first there was only one point, then today the Universe would turn out to be homogeneous. In any place it would have the same density.

But in fact, the matter in the world is distributed very unevenly. For example, the density of ordinary water differs from the average of the Universe by 28 orders of magnitude. It's too much.

Well, now about the evidence and refutation of the creation process. World religions say that the creator of our world is omnipotent. Therefore, he, of course, could create a Universe in which all the physical laws discovered by scientists operate. Therefore, it develops in strict accordance with scientific hypotheses.

But the fact is that it is absolutely impossible to verify the fact of creation, being in this Universe and looking at it from the inside. That is, researchers can neither confirm this fact nor deny it. And a hypothesis that cannot be tested by the methods available to scientists is considered unscientific. It is beyond research and conclusions.

There are several other theories of the origin of the world:

1. Computer. According to this hypothesis, our entire world is a huge simulation, and we live in a virtual model created by someone. Interestingly, it turns out to be a little more scientific. That is, we can at least partially check it. The fact is that any computer, no matter how powerful it may be, has limitations. For example, sequences of digits in it have a finite length. And we can look for these numerical effects in observations. So, we will search and check. And find out if this is true theory.

2. inflationary. A very popular hypothesis. She claims that the Universe was born in the process of transition of the primary vacuum to another state. This process is often referred to as inflation. The theory explains why the Universe is not homogeneous, and the parameters of unevenness are surprisingly similar to those observed today by physicists and astronomers. It accurately describes the distribution of galaxies in the form of foam. Predicts both the birth of multiple universes and the existence of gravitational waves in space. Scientists are now actively looking for these waves, and maybe they will find them in the next 30 years. So, they can test this hypothesis.

3. Multidimensional. It assumes that universes are born when some multidimensional surfaces collide, which are immersed in space with a larger number of dimensions than ours. For example, in 11-dimensional. In this model, too, there must be many universes.

The hypothesis can be tested by measuring gravity at microscopic scales. Scientists believe that extra dimensions must necessarily change the gravitational parameters, and they are trying to find these deviations.

4. The theory of the birth of universes in black holes. Asserts that universes are born inside objects, gravitational field which is so strong that even light cannot leave it. And this theory can be tested. If we live inside a black hole, then the properties of our universe should change depending on the direction in space. These deviations, too, will sooner or later be detected. So far, scientists have not found anything like this, but maybe the point is the accuracy of modern measurement methods.

Myth 3. We will never know if there are other universes

Many hypotheses predict the emergence of a large number of universes. But skeptics say: what's the point in these theories, if we still can never know for sure whether multiple worlds really exist? It turns out we can. The so-called "wormholes" will help us with this.

Through such a short course, you can very quickly get from one end of the universe to the other. Scientists believe that such "holes" can connect two different universes.

The theory says that to observers from the side of the hole should look very similar to black holes. And scientists have already learned to detect these objects. Moreover, the pictures taken by the radio telescope are very similar to models that are built using theoretical calculations.

According to scientists, inside black holes we should see concentric circles of light. They appear because strong gravity causes light to "wind in circles" and describe other complex trajectories.

Approximately the same picture should be at the wormhole. Inside the dark spot, we should see rings of light. But they should be slightly different sizes and differently located than black holes.

The telescopes that astronomers have today do not yet allow us to see such rings. Need more detailed pictures. A new space telescope, the Millimetron, which is now being developed by Russian scientists, should receive them.

Myth 4. Studying the Universe is useless from a practical point of view

Skeptics say: well, let's say we found out that there is a wormhole at a distance of 60 million light years, and it may lead to another universe. But this discovery will not change our lives in any way, and for ordinary people it is simply useless! Therefore, scientists should not engage in unnecessary research. Better to join forces and focus on something really worthwhile. For example, looking for a cure for cancer.

The fact is that all areas of science are interconnected.

Cosmology is really concerned with the study of the universe, not earthly affairs. But research results astronomers and physicists find application in the lives of ordinary people.

For example, scientists have been developing and testing the MUSE spectrometer for a long time. It is highly sensitive and allows you to study the spectrum of a large area of ​​the sky, where there are dozens of galaxies. And then doctors turned to them and said that they also really needed a highly sensitive spectrometer. It will help to obtain accurate data on the parameters of human skin, and this is necessary for the diagnosis of certain types of cancer.

Astronomers, together with doctors, have conducted tests, and now, based on MUSE, they are developing a cheaper and more compact device that can be used directly in clinics.

It turns out that life is a very important factor that changes a lot in the Universe.

Scientists have calculated the specific power of various space objects. For example, the Sun has a colossal luminosity, but also a very solid mass. Therefore, the amount of energy released per unit mass is small. It is not more than the energy of heat, which in the same unit of time is released by a bunch of autumn decaying leaves.

But if we take a living plant, it turns out that in the process of photosynthesis it stores ten thousand times more energy than the specific power of the Sun.

However, we observe the highest value of this parameter for brain animals and humans. This means that living, and especially intelligent beings can very actively influence inanimate nature. What we see on our planet.