The concept of extra dimensions, dismissed as nonsense even by one of its earliest proponents nearly nine decades ago, may soon help solve seemingly unrelated problems in particle physics, cosmology and gravitational physics, according to a panel of experts who will assemble from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 15 (Saturday) at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Denver. "It doesnt happen often that you get a confluence of ideas and experiments that come together and its something that obviously would change your whole way of looking at the universe," said one of the panelists, Joseph Lykken, Professor in Physics at the University of Chicago and a scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Even though scientists lack direct evidence of extra dimensions, "we have a number of hints from experiments and theoretical ideas that make us think theyre probably out there. Thats why were so excited about looking for them," Lykken said. On the theoretical side, string theory, developed over the past two decades, requires that space-time has extra dimensions if it is to include gravity. "Its just built into the way that string theory works," Lykken said. Experiments, meanwhile, have produced the standard model of physics to describe the most elementary particles and the forces that hold them together. Physicists have come to suspect that something is missing from the standard model.
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=10783
Popular Posts
-
...These measures, based on the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) give far too much power to publishers, at the expense of individu...
-
William Gibson's latest novel, Spook Country is awesome. Not as frantic or kinetic as Pattern Recognition or All Tomorrow's Parti...
-
This is not bad. A mix of 70s rock and 80s punk with some good lyrics. Songs range from boring to excellent. Id give it a B+. http://www.ama...
-
The challenge of having the United States as a neighbour was one of the topics discussed Tuesday during a meeting with Mexican President Vic...
-
Here's my (edited) journal entry for this event dated 12/01/98: Wow. I just sessioned and started reading "The Tao of Physics"...
-
nother bottle of the doublewood -- arguably one of my favorite scotches. Balvenie just doesnt make a bad blend. A fab birthday gift from my ...
-
Finally went out and picked up a Nintendo Wii. My god the thing is fun. Ridiculously, ludicrously fun. Hiyat and I had to tear ourselves...
-
"The International Space Station will have ultra-sensitive clocks on board, and it is a good place to test the theory," said Dr. A...
-
This is from a 1932 episode of The Little Rascals . Man, I've had jobs like that. http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/23/perpetually...
-
OK, if you have to go, this is the way to do it. Just like Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. I'm serious. http://www.eter...