The Scientific Worldview

This is a blog that takes the name of my magnum opus on scientific philosophy called "The Scientific Worldview." Reviewers have called it “revolutionary,” “exhilarating,” “magnificent,” “fascinating,” and even “a breathtaking synthesis of all understanding.” There is very little math in it, no religion, no politics, no psycho-babble, and no BS. It provides the first outline of the philosophical perspective that will develop during the last half of the Industrial-Social Revolution.

20190227

Defending the Big Bang paradigm by name calling

PSI Blog 20190227 Defending the Big Bang paradigm by name calling

Readers are familiar with the durable marriage between the Big Bang Theory and relativity. Without Einstein’s massless light particle and its perpetual motion the universal expansion interpretation and the BBT would be toast. Anyone who objects to the absurdity must be denigrated and any suggestions for change must be rejected out of hand.

In what eventually will be a classical opinion piece, the editor of Physics Today, published by the American Physical Society, summed up the situation:

“Column: Sorry, crackpots: A Physics Today editor explains why we’re never going to publish your cockamamie theories.”

The editor mentions letters from those “who believe they’ve arrived at some startling new insight heretofore unknown to the professional physics community, often about how the work of Albert Einstein was all wrong.”

And goes on to restate a familiar defense of the great man:

“If some error were to come to light in, say, the theory of general relativity, the discovery would almost certainly be based on a similarly sophisticated level of understanding. The theory has withstood all the tests experimenters have thrown at it. What’s more, every measurement by GPS device requires a general relativistic correction to account for the slightly different speeds of clocks on satellites and on Earth’s surface. If it somehow turned out that the theory was nevertheless flawed, and the accuracy of GPS was all just a coincidence, that would be a big deal.”

Astute readers know that much of relativity (except for the E=mc² equation borrowed from Maxwell) involves Einsteinisms (predictions right for the wrong reasons). GPS does not use General Relativity Theory.[1] It does require a correction for altitude. In Aether Deceleration Theory I explain the altitude effect as a result of increasing aether pressure and decreasing aether density with distance from Earth.[2] Like the atmosphere, entrained, decelerated aether forms a halo around Earth. This is the physical reason for what is claimed to be curved empty space in relativity. Not only is the increase in aether pressure responsible for gravitation, but it also causes clocks to run faster.[3] Again, in General Relativity Theory, these effects were claimed by Einstein to be a result of curved empty space and time dilation. Because light velocity is a function of aetherial pressure, the waves from any source are stretched out slightly. Each detection of the resulting so-called “gravitational redshift” is claimed as a confirmation of relativity and the magical “space-time curvature” and “time dilation.” Einstein was right—but for the wrong reason.

Readers also know there are over 9,000 dissidents opposed to various claims of relativity and its birthright, the Big Bang Theory.[4] I know of no other discipline having such great opposition from so many angles. True, most of the suggested reforms are no better than relativity itself. It would be overwhelming for the editor of a news magazine like Physics Today to choose among them. It is much easier to assume “Einstein is always right.” Any mention of him in a less than favorable light gets the circular file.

[1] Hatch, Ronald R., 1995, Relativity and GPS, 3rd Natural Philosophy Alliance Conference: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, p. 1-26 [https://go.glennborchardt.com/Hatch-GPS].

[2] Borchardt, Glenn, 2017, Infinite Universe Theory: Berkeley, California, Progressive Science Institute, p. 242 [http://go.glennborchardt.com/IUTebook].

[3] Borchardt, Glenn, 2018, The Physical Cause of Gravitation: viXra:1806.0165.

[4] de Climont, Jean, 2018, The worldwide list of alternative theories and critics [http://go.glennborchardt.com/declimont16dissidentlist].

20190220

What is the cosmological redshift?

PSI Blog 20190220 What is the cosmological redshift?

I explained this many times, but apparently did not do a very good job of it, because the question still appears to be on the table.

As mentioned in Infinite Universe Theory[1], there are many types of redshift found in astronomy. Here, we are concerned only with the one responsible for the erroneous idea that the universe is expanding. Light from all sources loses energy as a function of distance (Figure 1). Note that the dimmest sources, farthest away, have the highest redshifts (Figure 2). The cosmological redshift also is termed the “Hubble redshift” for the astronomer who first discovered it.

The velocity of a particle or wave is determined strictly by the medium through which it travels. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that perpetual motion is impossible. No microcosm or motion can go on its own from point A to point B without losing energy. You can observe this when standing under active electrical transmission lines. The hum you hear is indicative of the energy losses that are inevitable during the transmission.

Figure 1. Cosmological redshift showing spectral lines for various elements being shifted to the red, long wavelength, low energy end of the spectrum. Credit: Georg Wiora.[2]

Figure 2. Typical redshift vs. distance plots calculated as erroneously assumed recessional speeds. This is part of an animation prepared by the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Science, Western Kentucky University.[3]

With the velocity of the waves being controlled by the aether medium, the Second Law losses must show up as increases in wavelength. This is the “tired light” effect favored by Hubble in his opposition to the expanding universe interpretation commonly misattributed to him.

The current view, however, was adopted from Einstein. I have termed it his “Untired Light Theory.[4]” The theory requires eight ad hocs, highlighted by the assumption that light is a massless particle traveling through perfectly empty space. The hypothesized light travels from galaxy to eyeball with no loss of energy. Amazingly, regressives still appear to accept this illogic without question. It is responsible for the Big Bang Theory and many of the associated absurdities so prevalent in mainstream journals today.

[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 2017, Infinite Universe Theory: Berkeley, California, Progressive Science Institute, 349 p. [http://go.glennborchardt.com/IUTebook].

[2] http://go.glennborchardt.com/Wikiredshift. Georg Wiora (Dr. Schorsch) created this image from the original JPG. Derivative work:Kes47 (File:Redshift.png) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5), GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.] [Figure 53 in IUT.]

[3] http://go.glennborchardt.com/Hubble-Law [Figure 11 in IUT.]

[4] Ibid. p. 53.

20190213

Why is there something rather than nothing redux?

PSI Blog 20190213 Why is there something rather than nothing redux?

Here is a heads up from George Coyne:

Glenn: This BBC article titled “Why is there something rather than nothing?” sums up the orthodox view in physics and cosmology. In that article, they say:

“Their admittedly controversial answer is that the entire universe, from the fireball of the Big Bang to the star-studded cosmos we now inhabit, popped into existence from nothing at all. It had to happen, they say, because "nothing" is inherently unstable.”

I prefer your answer to this question, which is the universe exists because "nothing" would not be a possible alternative.

The author also writes:

"Linde offers a simple but mind-bending answer. He thinks universes have always been springing into existence, and that this process will continue forever. When a new universe stops inflating, says Linde, it is still surrounded by space that is continuing to inflate. That inflating space can spawn more universes, with yet more inflating space around them. So once inflation starts it should make an endless cascade of universes, which Linde calls eternal inflation. Our universe may be just one grain of sand on an endless beach."

For many years you have logically and properly contested this idea. You may want to rationally critique the many dubious concepts in the article:

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141106-why-does-anything-exist-at-all

[GB: Thanks for the easy one George. At least these regressives are consistent. Remember “nothing,” that is, “perfectly empty space” is an idealization. Like all idealizations, it cannot possibly exist. It is one of the ideal end members of the “empty space-solid matter” continuum. The empty space idea, however, has been a favorite of religious idealists for millennia. Despite claiming to be an atheist, Einstein was one of these. That is where he got his “there is no aether” and the empty space needed for his erroneous theory that light was a particle that therefore could travel from galaxy to eyeball without losing energy.

Enter Hubble’s discovery that light from distant galaxies was redshifted. There are many ways this could happen, but regressives grabbed onto the Doppler Shift as the reason for that. Magically, everything in the cosmos supposedly was going away from us (species egocentrism anyone?). The alternative was some sort of “tired light effect,” which commonly befalls classical particles after their initial acceleration. That is what happens to a football or baseball after it is thrown. Only former patent officer Einstein could be the first to claim perpetual motion and get away with it. The result, of course, was the “expanding universe” interpretation that became the foundation of the Big Bang Theory.

Now, the folks you quote are reformists trying to handle data implying the universe is much larger than the one containing the 2 trillion galaxies we observe (e.g., see the previous two PSI Blogs and Kashlinsky[1]). Still, they dare not immediately abandon the cosmogonic expanding universe idea, so they invent “multiverses” or “parallel universes.” Each explodes out of empty space just like the “nothingness” through which Einstein’s light is assumed to travel. As mentioned, “empty space,” that is, “nothingness” is dear to the hearts of religious folks raised on the ubiquitous propaganda that the universe had a beginning.

All this is an excellent example of why the switch to Infinite Universe Theory will amount to the Last Cosmological Revolution. The radical switch from the assumption of finity to the assumption of infinity is a one-time, momentous event for humanity. Either there is empty space, nothingness, and possibility of nonexistence or there is not. Once the empty space notion is gone, the expanding universe notion will be gone too. The Big Bang Theory and cosmogony will meet their timely deaths.]

[1] Kashlinsky, A., Atrio-Barandela, F., Ebeling, H., Edge, A., and Kocevski, D., 2010, A New Measurement of the Bulk Flow of X-Ray Luminous Clusters of Galaxies: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, v. 712, no. 1, p. L81-L85. [doi:10.1088/2041-8205/712/1/L81].

20190206

“Still more light found at the ‘end of the universe’” gets a video

PSI Blog 20190206 “Still more light found at the ‘end of the universe’” gets a video

Thanks to David de Hilster who just did a wonderful video on my previous blog:

https://youtu.be/ay_j8ozivJ8”

You might want to subscribe to his YouTube channel on which he often critically reviews the “junk science” in support of cosmogony these days.

“The new version of Hubble's deep image. In dark grey is the new light that has been found around the galaxies in this field. That light corresponds to the brightness of more than 100 billion suns. Credit: A. S. Borlaff and others, 2019.” (Courtesy Mike Wall, Space.com).[1]

Below I give the complete list of authors. The article is 34 pages and obviously took a lot of work. Note also that the authors are from Spain, Denmark, and France—not the U.S. The paper cited is the latest breakthrough in cosmology, having been published on 20190121. Although it provides only a minor dig against cosmogony, it has not received much publicity in the U.S. Does this mean that the U.S. support for the Big Bang Theory is causing it to lose its preeminence in cosmology?

[1] Borlaff, Alejandro, Trujillo, Ignacio, Román, Javier, Beckman, John E., Eliche-Moral, M. Carmen, Infante-Sáinz, Raúl, Lumbreras-Calle, Alejandro, de Almagro, Rodrigo Takuro Sato Martín, Gómez-Guijarro, Carlos, Cebrián, María, Dorta, Antonio, Cardiel, Nicolás, Akhlaghi, Mohammad, and Martínez-Lombilla, Cristina, 2019, The missing light of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Astronomy and Astrophysics, v. 621, no. A133, p. 1-34.