Who wouldn't want psychic powers? From moving objects with your mind and reading people's thoughts to even taking flight, psychic abilities have long fascinated human beings.



But are psychic abilities real? Let's dive into the showmanship, sensation — and possibly science — behind these mental marvels.



Fake It to Make It: The Power Paradox



Psychic powers don't just offer a new way to interact with the world around you; if you're smart and savvy, they make it possible to move massive amounts of money from other people's pockets into your own. Just ask Uri Geller, who spent decades convincing people he could bend spoons with his mind — and happily taking their money to watch him do it.



Or look at supposed psychics, such as the infamous Miss Cleo, who claimed to be a Jamaican shaman and advised viewers to, "Call me, now." Not only were calls answered by actors rather than mind-readers, but customers were also charged significant amounts of money for calls that were advertised as free. In 2002, the company responsible for the service was charged by the Federal Trade Commission.



In some cases, it's our own bias that leads us to believe in extraordinary abilities, and this is especially true when it comes to psychics. It works like this: A psychic says something vague enough to apply to a client's life and circumstance. The more the psychic talks, the more accurate they seem to be, and clients come to believe they have special knowledge. In actuality, this is the Forer Effect, also called the Barnum Effect. As human beings, we naturally see the world through the lens of our own experience. When supposed psychics offer generalized descriptions of personality traits or human experiences, we often believe they apply specifically to us.



Psychic projects, like MKUltra and Star Gate, both involved giving participants — sometimes without their knowledge or consent — doses of LSD to see what would happen. In the case of MKUltra, the goal was to develop mind-control techniques. For Star Gate, psychic powers were the priority. Both efforts came to naught, however, and as noted by Science Focus, the project records have been destroyed.



Put simply, people want powers. Whether to generate cash flow, supposedly help people or gain a tactical advantage, there's always interest in expanding our mental roadmap.



Are Psychic Abilities Real? What the Science Says



In short, no, at least not based on the data available.



For many of us, this isn't the answer we want: Who among us hasn't had the fleeting thought that if we concentrate hard enough we could move objects with our minds or figure out what someone was thinking?



Genetic testing, however, has shown no evidence of psychic abilities. A 2021 study of more than 3,000 global participants "did not yield significant results when probing coding sequences in DNA." Or consider the case of a famous 2011 experiment by Dr. Daryl Bem of Cornell University, which seemed to suggest that participants in a word memorization test were better at remembering words they would be told to recall in the future. It was a compelling, groundbreaking result — that was never effectively replicated.



This isn't to say there aren't scientists working on psychic research. Dr. Dean Radin, currently the Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Science, has argued that, instead of everything in the universe being made of matter or energy, including the mind, everything is made of mind, including matter. He's claimed that experiments with a random number generator have showed the human ability to influence the outcome and that psychic ability is distributed on a normal population curve, with some people having extraordinary talents, some having none and most of the population landing in the middle.



Mind Your Business



While scientific study hasn't turned up any evidence of psychic abilities, that doesn't make their discovery impossible. Consider the ongoing identification of smaller particle types, with each new layer seemingly the last until a new one was uncovered. While it's unlikely, new testing methods may pinpoint the origin and mechanisms of psychic powers.



Worth remembering, however, are the words of Carl Sagan: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." While one-off studies may show some indication that mental magic is real, the lack of research repeatability suggests that either we're not capable of measuring the right data — or the data doesn't exist.



Ultimately, the human fascination with psychic powers isn't going anywhere. From TV shows and movies that depict superpowered people to entrepreneurs who use their "powers" to move money from people's wallets into their pockets, we're endlessly fascinated with what our brains may hold beneath the surface.



Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.





Are Psychic Abilities Real? Exploring the Science of Superpowers

Key Takeaways  Parapsychology, the study of psychic powers and other extrasensory phenomena, began in the 1930s. Research has failed to prove the ability to influence objects (telekinesis) or people (psychokinesis) by the power of the mind. Although mind power may be not proven, new technologies offer a way for human minds to connect with and control the world around us.Are psychic abilities the next step on humans' evolutionary path? Brain research says this is an unlikely outcome.But it's not all bad news. Emerging technologies may pave the way for human telekinetic abilities, which — surprisingly — are different than their close cousins, psychokinetic powers. Here's a look at how these two techniques differ, what parapsychology has to say about human potential and how tech could make these powers possible.Mind Over MatterWhat is the difference between psychokinesis and telekinesis? For starters, both rely on the power of your mind to control the world around you. Where they differ, however, is in what exactly you're controlling. Put simply, in the case of psychokinesis, your powers influence someone's mind to take action. With telekinesis, you have the ability to manipulate objects directly.Here's an example to highlight the difference:It's been a long day, and you finally sit down on the couch to relax with your partner and watch some TV. The show you're watching ends, but you don't want to watch what's showing next — and wouldn't you know it, the remote is out of reach on the far side of your coffee table. Sure, you could get up, walk all the way over there, get the remote and walk back. Or, you could use your powers.If you've got psychokinesis, you introduce a small suggestion into your partner's mind: They should get the remote. And while they're at it, they may as well grab a snack.If you've got telekinesis, your power lets you directly manipulate the remote, levitating it off the table and into your hand. Then, you open the cupboard, bring out a bowl, fill it with snacks and gently float it over to the couch. In both cases, the outcome is the same, but the mental mechanism differs.A Parapsychology PrimerParapsychology is the study of psychic powers and other extrasensory phenomena, according to Psychology Today. Efforts to scientifically assess the human capacity for psychic powers began in the 1930s at Duke University with Joseph Banks Rhine. Along with his colleagues, Rhine conducted experiments with card-guessing and dice-rolling to see if it was possible for people to predict outcomes in advance.Common areas of study of parapsychologists include precognition (seeing the future), telepathy (communicating mind-to-mind) and clairvoyance (the ability to perceive things happening in distant locations), along with telekinesis and psychokinesis.Despite nearly a century of study, however, parapsychologists remain largely empty-handed when it comes to evidence. According to Psychology Today, some studies, such as Daryl Bem's experiments with word recall, suggested that people could "feel the future," but subsequent research could not replicate the results. This is a consistent problem for the discipline. Although one-off experiments often show promising data, repeated trials under the same conditions don't produce the same outcomes.Work on both telekinesis and psychokinesis has delivered similarly underwhelming results. While body language and emotional intelligence can help humans influence the minds of other humans nearby, this fits firmly into regular psychology rather than parapsychology. When it comes to moving objects with our minds, meanwhile, supposed magicians such as Uri Geller spent decades trying to convince audiences he could bend spoons with his mind. Spoiler alert: He could not.A piece from Medium points out that our thoughts themselves can be considered telekinetic in that the activation of neurons causes them to move. Since these neurons have mass, they affect other pieces of matter in your brain, meaning you've effectively "moved" something with your mind.Telekinesis Goes TechWhile there's no evidence for para-powered telekinesis, technology offers a way to make the dream of moving things with our minds a reality. Known as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), Scientific American explains that this tech relies on grids of electrodes implanted into the brain's cortex. These electrodes record the behavior of neurons as they fire and then translate this neuron behavior into thoughts and actions.This isn't just speculation: BCIs allow patients to interact with software applications or move prosthetic devices. New research from Caltech shows that advanced BCIs can predict a patient's internal monologue — the things we think but don't say — with a high degree of accuracy, which could help develop devices that let non-vocal patients speak.It's worth noting that BCIs are a work in progress. Consider that, currently, accurate BCI readings rely on cutting a portion of the skull to implant electrodes. Efforts are underway, however, to produce non-invasive alternatives capable of collecting brain data through layered materials, such as skin and hair. There are also concerns about the impact of BCI development on humankind at scale. While existing frameworks are highly specialized and training algorithm models take years, mass-produced alternatives could make limited telekinesis an option for almost anyone.In an article for The Conversation, philosophers John Kendall Hawkins and Sandy Boucher of the University of New England discuss the emergence of the "technological singularity," which sees AI technology and humans irrevocably intertwined. They contend that BCIs could be the first step on the road to this singularity — and that there's no going back.To sum up: While there's no evidence for latent psychic abilities that empower psycho- or telekinesis, new technologies may offer a way for human minds to connect with and control the world around us.Industry 4.0 gives the ability to interact with data and designs by extending a person's reality to interact in a completely immersive virtual environment. Learn how engineers can now examine designs in a virtual environment much earlier in the design life cycle.

What Is the Difference Between Psychokinesis and Telekinesis?

Key Takeaways Time travel to the future might be less complicated than going back to the past. Einstein's equation on special relativity articulates the interaction between energy and matter, and also governs the physics of time travel. Time travel's first travellers will most likely be information.We're all time travelers.Granted, we're not very good at it. We're only moving in one direction at a fixed rate — but we're never in the same moment twice. And while time's arrow seemingly puts spacetime second helpings out of reach, humans have a habit of breaking the rules.What if we could do an about-face and discover what came before? Or push past our present pace to see what comes next? Astrophysicist Ron Mallett from the University of Connecticut says he's got the theoretical receipts to take on time travel.Wondering how to build a time machine? It takes just 4e2Q=X easy steps! Simple, right?Future TenseNot all time travel is created equal. While heading back into the past poses a host of problems — such as changing the course of history by altering key events, or encountering your past self and making choices that could lead to your non-existence in the present — moving forward is less complicated. Relatively speaking.As with most things spacetime related, E=MC2 gets involved. Einstein's equation articulates the interaction between energy and matter: Put simply, if matter goes fast enough, it becomes energy. It also becomes much more massive the closer it gets to the speed of light, providing a hard stop for objects trying to surpass this universal limit. But the theoretical framework that gave rise to this famous function — special relativity — also includes the fundamentals of future time travel.Here's how it works: The faster you go, the greater your mass. And the greater your mass, the greater your disruption of local space — and time. As a result, time passes more slowly for someone traveling near the speed of light than those of us back on Earth. As noted by Scientific American, a spaceship accelerating continuously at one g — equal to the value of gravitational acceleration at Earth's surface, or 9.81 m/s2 — would approach the speed of light around the one-year mark. From the perspective of an astronaut on the ship, a trip to the center of our galaxy and back would take about 40 years. Upon returning home, however, our intrepid explorer might have trouble reporting their adventure to mission control, unless NASA was still up and running after 60,000 years.Of course, it's not quite that easy. The energy requirements for the acceleration described above would be "greater than a planetary mass," and steering the ship at near-light speed might be problematic. Still, the basic science is there, though it's worth mentioning a critical caveat: This isn't the flash-forward in time we're familiar with when Marty McFly hits 88 miles per hour in his DeLorean. Perceptually, both observer and actor see no change in the passage of time. Observationally, there's a significant difference.Fire Up the Flux CapacitorProfessor Mallet is looking the other direction, having spent the latter decades of his career looking for backward-facing loopholes. And while our equation for how to build a time machine is pure nonsense, he's created one that posits the potential physics of actual travel through time.By using a ring laser — what he describes as a "circulating beam of laser lights" — he believes its possible to bend both space and time. Do it right, and the machine should be able to bend time back on itself, creating a portal to the past. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is — Mallett's machine bears a striking similarity to the concept of spacetime wormholes: Theoretical tunnels of space and time that could let explorers travel across massive volumes of miles and moments in the blink of an eye. Professor Mallett has developed a prototype and hopes to conduct a feasibility study, even as he does more research into the potential mechanics of a time machine at scale.Keeping the Lights OnLet's get it out of the way right now: Professor Mallett's time travel technology won't head back into the past anytime soon. Information, rather than individuals, will make the trip and hopefully come out unscathed — but where? Or more accurately, when? This is another limitation of the Mallett machine: The farthest information can travel back in time is to the moment the machine was turned on. Turn it off, and you'd have to start over.There's also the issue of empirical verification. Let's say the device turns on this year. You'd want continuous monitoring to ensure that if information arrived you're ready to capture it and take appropriate action. But if it works, it makes sense that future scientists would send data back to the origin point — so information should arrive immediately after the device is turned on. Or should it?Physicist Richard Muller doesn't think so. He argues that the future doesn't exist — meaning there are no scientists to send data back — and the past is literally a foreign country. For Muller, the intertwined nature of spacetime is responsible: "Every moment, the universe gets a little bigger, and there is a little more time, and it is this leading edge of time that we refer to as now."Because we're on the leading edge of spacetime, nothing exists beyond it so there's no one to send data back. But it's all about perspective — what about the "us" of two years from now? If the machine is turned on in 2020, couldn't scientists in 2022 use the device? Muller says this also isn't possible because the machine doesn't simply exist in another time — it exists in another spacetime. "To reverse time you would have to decrease, at least locally, the amount of space in the universe." Not exactly an easy task.Time, and Time AgainWhether Professor Mallet's project works or not is worth watching, but it's hardly the final word on time travel theory. Human effort to adjust the aim — or outright avoid — the arrow of time won't stop just because the universe doesn't like the idea. From pushing particles to near-light speed in high-powered accelerators to work on wormholes, efforts to both backtrack and fast-forward are scientifically inevitable.Will time travel ever be a reality? In some form, probably. Are we on the road to a picnic in the past or a foray into the future? Don't pack your bags just yet.Discover how Northrop Grumman's Disruptive Concepts and Technologies (DC&T) organization is incorporating emerging developments in the quantum technology field to provide capabilities not found in the realm of classical physics.

How to Build a Time Machine in Just 4 
<em>e</em>²Q=X Easy Steps

Superpowered people. There's a collective human fascination about the possibility, from the scores of sci-fi-driven movies to the more rigorous scientific inquiry that aims to extend lifespans, cure diseases and enhance basic biological functions. When it comes to modern human evolution, have we reached the end of the line? Or could superpowered humans be our next iteration?
The Science of Modern Human Evolution
Humans with extraordinary powers already exist — depending on how you define "extraordinary" and how willing you are to suspend some disbelief. Some stories, like that of "Lightning Man" Roy Sullivan, don't require a great stretch of the imagination: Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times and survived. While it's not exactly riding the storm, it's certainly out of the ordinary. Or consider the tale of Vladimir Durov, an animal trainer who claimed a telepathic connection with his companions. According to ThoughtCo., Durov's "powers" were tested in several experiments and appeared to work as described.

Beyond the occurrence of natural "mutants," Futurism suggests the possibility that technology-driven transhumanism could be the next step in modern human evolution. There's some support for this idea; as noted by Science Focus, the Human Genome Project has identified all human genes, while the CRISPR/Cas system has the ability to slice existing DNA and insert new, modified strands. The missing ingredient? A mutant gene — one that could enable the more exciting powers of flight, telekinesis or lightning strikes. Still, we've laid the foundation, and the possibility of gene-based evolution now exists.
Potential Avenues
Because modern human evolution has no set form, multiple pathways offer their own unique benefits. Consider the work being done at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Researcher Peng Yin and his team have developed a method that allows prebuilt DNA sequences to grow and join autonomously. The potential result is programmable molecular devices that could be used in a variety of synthetic biology applications. Meanwhile, New Atlas notes that there's also research being conducted on synthetic insulin-secreting cells that could help solve the problem of diabetes. It's not hard to imagine this technology enhancing basic human functions such as response and recovery time, even as it reduces the impact of a disease.
Speaking of enhanced human functioning, there's also a case to be made for technology-based solutions like the Guardian XO, a human exoskeleton developed by tech firm Sarcos, which could be used to give workers and military personnel a kind of "super strength."

Making (Brain) Waves

Another option? Rewiring our brains to access more than the 10 percent we use to get by in everyday life. While the notion is typically misunderstood — the entire brain may be engaged in specific tasks but our consciousness and control are limited to around 10 percent — Forbes details a new study from the Kellogg School of Management that attempted to give humans more direct control over their brain processes. Led by Moran Cerf, a professor of neuroscience and former computer hacker, the study worked with patients whose brains were open for surgery and trained them to alter their perceptions — allowing them to see one image with their eyes and "see" another simultaneously in their mind.

The potential? Extending control from sensory input to more complex brain functions such as feelings, in turn giving people agency over their own emotions. As noted by the National Institute of Mental Health, major depression "is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States." Even with super-human healing, speed and strength, humans bogged down by depressive episodes wouldn't get much done. Could complete brain control be the next frontier of modern human evolution?
Pros and Khans
So what happens if we take control of human evolution through advanced biology, technology or a combination of both? The capability comes with significant benefits, including the elimination of widespread disease, increased longevity, enhanced performance and — potentially — the addition of more-than-human capabilities produced by specially crafted genes.

The downside? Watch the old "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed" or "The Wrath of Khan" featuring Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced "superman" who — along with his empowered brethren — rules as a tyrant over ordinary human beings. There's also the risk that a better ability to manipulate human biology could provide opportunities to develop dangerous or deadly pathogens, prompting the need for improved biodefense solutions to help identify biological threats before they decimate entire populations.

For the first time in history, the direction of human evolution can be guided instead of merely accepted. While you won't run into Green Lantern at the gas station or see Batman at the coffee shop anytime soon, modern human evolution comes with wide-open potential: Technologically driven, biologically inspired advancements could pave the way for an entirely new iteration of "average" human beings.

Modern Human Evolution: Are Superhumans the Next Iteration?

What happened on March 1994, near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan? The Netflix series, "Unsolved Mysteries," explores this question in its third episode. Was this a UFO sighting or something less spectacular? Was it some type of never-before-seen natural weather phenomenon or simply a mass hallucination that had hundreds of residents convinced they saw something impossible in the night sky?
Here's a look at what we know about the 1994 UFO sighting, what we don't and what might really have happened in Michigan.
A State of Alien-nation?
According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been 3,485 unexplained encounters in Michigan since 1940. And Michigan isn't the only state with a long history of possible UFO sightings. In Arizona, 4,735 potential sightings have been reported, while in California, the number tops 15,000.
There's also the recent release of an unclassified report by the federal government that speaks to the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force in collecting and analyzing UFO reports from military aviators and reliable defensive systems. In other words, while there's no definitive proof that aliens have visited Earth, the government isn't ruling out the possibility.
The Michigan Mystery
On the night of March 8, 1994, more than 300 residents living along Lake Michigan called 911 to report oddities in the night sky. Citizens reported seeing four large lights moving across the lake shore at high speed, periodically combining together and then splitting apart again. The stories told by residents were consistent, if hard to believe, and suggested that something strange really was happening.
Of course, it's easy to dismiss these reports as the sort of shared perceptive problems that can happen when large groups of people get together and compare notes. At least, it would be, if it weren't for a very interesting phone call between Holland, Michigan, police officer Jeff Velthouse and National Weather Service meteorologist Jack Bushong, who was stationed in Muskegon County.
After being contacted by residents and seeing the lights for himself, Velthouse called Bushong and asked him to take a look at his radar. What he saw was shocking: thumbnail-sized blips on the radar screen that were moving fast and unpredictably. Given that planes appear as small dots on weather radar scopes, the thumbnail size suggested something much bigger.
"There were three and sometimes four blips," said Bushong. "And they weren't planes. Planes show up as pinpoints on the scope; these were the size of half a thumbnail. They were from 5 to 12,000 feet at times, moving all over the place. Three were moving toward Chicago. I never saw anything like it before, not even when I'm doing severe weather."
He tracked them until they reached the south end of Lake Michigan, where he observed about a dozen similar objects that remained stationary for two hours. Then — as quick as they came — they were gone.
Unpacking the UFO Encounter
To this day, there's no adequate explanation for the 1994 UFO sighting. A year after the event, the Chicago Tribune reported that researchers had ruled out small planes, weather balloons, marsh gases, falling stars and military aircraft as the source of the sighting. Leo Grenier, director of the National Weather Service in Muskegon at the time of the incident, believed there was an "earthly explanation" for what happened but refused to elaborate, saying, "Once I retire from the National Weather Service, I might tell somebody." He never did.
Bushong, meanwhile, went largely silent after the event for fear that he'd be fired for his comments about it and the fact that the comments were recorded. "I'm supposed to be a scientist and skeptical," he said in an interview with WOODTV. But with the government going public about potential UFO sightings, Bushong said he feels vindicated. "Now, with the military coming out and saying the same thing I was 30 years ago, I can finally say to people, 'I told you so,'" he said.
What really happened that fateful March night in Michigan? We may never know for sure. The consistent nature of resident reports combined with National Weather Service radar evidence makes it clear that something strange was going on, but lacking details beyond the fact that these objects were fast, bright and moving erratically, there's not much to go on. The result is a frustrating lack of satisfactory answers. Could the mystery have an earthbound explanation? Absolutely. Could it be the work of alien observers? Possibly.
Either way, the incident ranks as one of the country's top unsolved mysteries, and it's a night that residents, law enforcement and radar operators will never forget.
Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Unsolved Mysteries: Michigan UFOs or Massive Misunderstanding?

Key Takeaways

    Big Bang and Inflation Theory explain how our universe began and how parallel 'bubble' universes could exist.
    String Theory smooths out some of the mathematical inconsistencies of Big Bang and Inflation, setting up the possibility of four types of parallel universe.
    Looking at all possible combinations mathematically explains how likely it is for identical universes to exist.

The Start of Our Universe: Inflation Theory and the Big Bang Theory
Our universe most likely started with a Big Bang, a theory that was first proposed in 1931 and is now widely accepted by the scientific community thanks to strong evidence that's since been discovered supporting it. However, there were some aspects of the Big Bang that could not be explained until inflation theory was introduced in the 1980s, according to NASA.
Inflation theory explains what happened in the tiny fraction of a second before the Big Bang. More than 13.8 billion years ago, everything that we know was a tiny, subatomic speck. Then, the speck inflated faster than the speed of light in all directions. As inflation slowed, a flood of matter and radiation appeared, creating the Big Bang fireball that allowed for the formation of atoms and molecules and, eventually, stars and galaxies pulled together by gravity.
During cosmic inflation, the universe was filled with energy inherent to space itself, as Big Think explains. This allowed the universe to expand at an exponential rate, with more distant locations moving ever more quickly away. Our observations of the observable universe are consistent with this theory of inflation.
The end of inflation is triggered by quantum processes that occur at different times in different places. The regions where inflation ends are thought to pinch off to form a bubble universe. The bubble universe experiences a similar Big Bang and may form a universe like ours. It could also form a universe with entirely different particles and different laws of physics.
All bubble universes — including our own — continue to grow and are thought to remain separated from other bubble universes because of the space created by continuing inflation. This means no two bubble universes will ever interact or collide, and it's possible that inflation is still continuing somewhere in the multiverse.
How Does String Theory Fit In?
Another key aspect of parallel universe theories comes from string theory, which is currently the best option for smoothing out the mathematical inconsistencies that arise when Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (to explain big things) is combined with quantum mechanics (to explain small things). String theory attempts to explain the entire universe — from subatomic particles to the laws of speed and gravity — in terms of really small strings that vibrate in 10 or 11 dimensions.
String theory allows different bubble universes to have vastly different physical properties, including different types of matter and different laws of physics. When combined with inflation theory, which allows for an unlimited number of bubbles, it provides an explanation for why our universe is so exquisitely well-suited for life. Essentially, we got lucky and ended up in the right universe out of a near-infinite number of possibilities.
Breaking Down the Four Types of Parallel Universe Theories
Physicists are considering four basic types of parallel universes, as Professor Max Tegmark of MIT explains:

    Level 1: This type of parallel universe assumes that space is infinite and that the laws of physics always remain the same. Somewhere in this infinite space, there are other planets, solar systems and even galaxies similar to ours because there is a limited number of ways the same building blocks can arrange themselves. Our "universe" is defined as what humans can currently observe, while any parallel universe would statistically be a great distance away. This parallel universe theory is largely uncontroversial among scientists since many observations and well-supported theories suggest a universe that is immensely large, and perhaps truly infinite.
    Level 2: This type of parallel universe would allow for regions of space where the basic laws of physics are the same but where there may be different physical constants, different particles and even a different number of dimensions. These universes would arise when cosmic inflation produces different bubble universes.
    Level 3: This type of parallel universe is commonly seen in movies and books, where an alternate universe arises from a change that is small (e.g., stopping to pet a dog) or large (e.g., taking a job in a different state). The underlying scientific theory arises from an interpretation of quantum mechanics, which is a mathematical description of subatomic particles. Specifically, the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics states that, for every possible quantum option, there is a universe where that option is realized (e.g., leading to one world where you stop to pet a dog and another world where you do not).
    Level 4: This type of parallel universe is the most extreme of all, where other universes are governed by completely different physical laws that would be described by completely different mathematical equations. It combines the bubble universes predicted by inflation theory with the vastly different physical properties allowed by string theory.

What Are the Chances of Another You?
The observable universe contains an estimated 1090 particles, including protons and neutrinos. The interactions among these 1090 particles over the past 13.8 billion years (since the Big Bang) have led to you and all of your life experiences.
The odds of there being another "you" in a parallel universe have been calculated by determining the likelihood of 1090 particles having the exact same interactions over the course of 13.8 billion years. The estimated number of possible outcomes was (1090)!, which works out to a 2,477-digit number. In contrast, the number of universes created through exponential inflation over the same 13.8 billion years was estimated to be 1050, which is only a 51-digit number.
In essence, this means that, since the number of possible outcomes from interacting particles increases faster than the number of possible universes arising from inflation, there is likely no parallel universe identical to our own.
While it can be entertaining to imagine what would have happened if you had taken the other job or if you'd caught a different flight, for example, it's perhaps more important to remember that we will face similar decisions today and every day in the future. Let's make the most of this exceptional universe.
Although a parallel universe with another you likely doesn't exist, the hunt for Earth-like planets continues; learn how Northrop Grumman is accelerating the hunt for exoplanets with Starshade.


Parallel Universe Theory: What Are the Chances of Another You?

Key Takeaways  It's not a theory, it's (long-term) facts: In 5.4 billion years the sun will become a red giant and engulf the Earth. In the shorter term, volcanoes could destroy life as we know it. It's a common complaint every 100,000 years or so. It could go either way, but there's also a risk that super-intelligent AI could turn on humans and spell the end of the speciesHumans have a macabre fascination with end of the world theories — will humankind go out with a bang or disappear with a whimper? Are we the architects of our own demise or cosmic pawns in a game we can't control? Let's sort through fiction, fluff and outright fantastical futurism to discuss the top four evidence-based apocalyptic theories.Scorched EarthWant an apocalypse theory that's effectively a sure thing? Opt for the sun-as-red-giant scenario. As noted by Universe Today, in approximately 5.4 billion years the sun will start fusing helium and rapidly expand across the orbits of Mercury, Venus and potentially Earth. But humanity will be gone long before this happens, since our star is steadily increasing in both luminosity and heat: In just over 1 billion years, a 10 percent increase to heat energy will trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. Two and a half billion years more and the sun boils our oceans, melts the ice caps and turns Earth into a second Venus.The solution for humanity? Get off Earth and find a new planet. Exploration of Mars and the outer solar system is a good start.AI ApocalypseRobots are taking human jobs. While the Atlantic notes that new machine workers can help maximize productivity and the worries of full-scale robot replacement are unfounded, pervasive concern persists. Author Isaac Asimov called it the "Frankenstein Complex" — fear that intelligent machines will rise up and destroy their human overlords. This idea is a perennial favorite in pop culture: James Cameron's Terminator saga remains a cinematic highlight of the above.But it's not a sure thing. Done right, super-intelligent computers could be our best ally against other signs of the apocalypse — as noted by ScienceAlert, "an intelligence of such power could easily combat most other risks in this report, making extremely intelligent AI into a tool of great potential."Zombie Ground Zero?Zombie scenarios are popular end of the world theories in both novels and television, but chances are we won't see any walkers, shamblers or brain-eaters in the near future. For a disease to transition from "annoying" to "end of the world," it needs four key characteristics: Incurable — Like current strains of Ebola, there's no way to "cure" the illness, simply survive (if you're lucky). Almost always fatal — Diseases like rabies almost invariably kill unvaccinated human beings. If an unknown pathogen with this kind of mortality rate emerges, we're in trouble. Easily transferable — If the illness can spread like common colds, there's virtually no way to stop new infections from happening. Long incubation period — Diseases such as HIV that allow massive windows of time for new victims to become infected fall into this category.If a disease with these four factors were to emerge in a high-density urban area, modern medical science would be hard-pressed to do anything but lessen the suffering of the infected. That said, investment in rapid-response disease detection and quarantine procedures could help reduce the impact here from "world-ending" to "disastrous."Super-Violent VolcanoesAccording to Science Magazine, there's a repeating apocalyptic problem every 100,000 years — supervolcanoes. These volcanoes start with collapsing underground calderas that produce eruptions of more than 450 cubic kilometers of magma. For reference, the Mount St. Helens explosion in 1980 released just 0.25 cubic kilometers of magma. Worst-case scenario? In addition to large-scale destruction near ground zero, the ash lifted into the atmosphere blocks the sun and drops global temperatures by five to ten degrees Celsius for a decade, while ash on the ground kills all plant life.Potential prevention here stems from solid knowledge, which means more time and money for scientists trying to understand and model volcanic behavior. While it may be impossible to eliminate the chance of a supervolcano explosion, good data could help minimize the impact.Prepping for the end of the world? Signs of the apocalypse include angry robots, new infections and supervolcanoes. Oh, and don't be fooled by the bright, friendly sun — it's coming for us all, eventually.We're here for a good time — might as well make it a long(er) time with effective conservation. Learn more.

Apocalyptic Analysis — Top 4 End of the World Theories

Chinese scientists teleported a particle into Earth's orbit for the first time last year in an experiment that illustrated sci-fi technology in real life.    Teleportation has long been a sci-fi staple, from blockbusters like "X-Men" to popular TV series like "Star Trek." We're all familiar with the fictitious technology that can transport you from one place to another in a nanosecond. Well, this is no longer fantasy, but real-life teleportation using quantum entanglement is more likely to improve communication and national security than to be used for travel or space exploration. Real World Versus Science Fiction It's important to distinguish between teleportation as we know it in sci-fi entertainment and as the term is used in quantum physics.  As described by Popular Mechanics, teleportation — in the "Beam me up, Scotty" sense — involves breaking down an object (or a person) to a bunch of atoms, transferring that object's blueprint to another location and then rebuilding it with atoms in the new location.  In quantum mechanics, teleportation has a very different meaning. Jerome Luine, principal scientist and quantum sensing and metrology research lead at Northrop Grumman Next Basic Research, explained, "Quantum teleportation is the transfer of the quantum state of some quantum object (photon, atom, molecule, etc.) to another without alteration."       How to Teleport a Quantum Object       Scientists at University of Science and Technology, located in Shanghai, achieved quantum teleportation at a record distance by sending entangled photons from Tibet to the Micius satellite in orbit 870 miles above the Earth, according to Space.com.        The recent record-setting teleportation experiment relied on quantum entanglement, a phenomenon that Albert Einstein called "'spooky action at a distance,'" according to Science magazine.  When two quantum objects are entangled, they are connected so that if one is disturbed, the other will also immediately change, no matter how far apart they are from each other. Simply observing one of these particles will change its quantum state, therefore also changing the state of the other entangled particle, no matter the distance between them. Theoretically, even if they are light-years apart, if you observe one, it will immediately change the other, without any time delay, according to Popular Mechanics.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.         Implications of This Development       Will we ever learn how to teleport humans? "Not by quantum teleportation. Perhaps by some other completely different means," said Luine.   However, quantum technology could become the foundation of a super-secure communications network, and because simply observing a quantum object changes its properties, a quantum internet would be spy-proof.       "In the future, it is quite possible that certain types of information will be transferred via quantum networks," Luine said. "Teleportation will enable the transfer of quantum information in the form of quantum states from one place to another, thereby forming a quantum network. One advantage of a quantum network is that information can be transferred with absolute privacy. Messages cannot be intercepted and read by eavesdroppers." The Future of Quantum Teleportation According to Science, the Chinese researchers are taking next steps toward practical sci-fi technology in real life by developing a space-based quantum internet. They plan to send strings of entangled photons from Micius to base stations on Earth, creating quantum "keys" for secret communications. Any attempt at eavesdropping on the quantum network would be obvious.               

Quantum Entanglement and Teleportation Is Sci-Fi Technology in Real Life

Some sci fi technology is fanciful, like time machines or teleportation, and some is plausible, like videoconferencing or handheld telephones. While the various "Star Wars" movies are in their own class for predictive technology, "Star Trek" has the distinction of offering both types of sci-fi tech. The TV show's communicator inspired Motorola engineer Martin Cooper to invent the first cell phone in 1973. "'We actually knew that the communicator of 'Star Trek' was possible from the moment that we saw it,'" Cooper told Public Radio International. The first cell phone is the most famous example of a concept crossing over from science fiction to actual science, but there are others. What authors dream up, engineers can sometimes will into existence, as these examples show: The iPad/tablet in "2001: A Space Odyssey" Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece introduced Newspads, flat-screen tablet computers that sported IBM logos. As a recent Wall Street Journal article recalled, the devices in the movie were welded to tables and used hidden 16 mm film projectors to simulate video content. A few years ago, Samsung cited the Newspads in a lawsuit against Apple. After Samsung introduced its own tablet, Apple sued the company for patent infringement. Samsung cited the movie in its defense and demanded that Apple couldn't have possibly invented the tablet computer because it was featured in Kubrick's movie. Videoconferencing in "Metropolis" Perhaps it wasn't such a huge leap to imagine that one day we'd be placing video calls. One of the first known references to video calls in sci fi came from Hugo Gernsback, whose 1925 novel Ralph 124c 41+ featured a visual communication system for making calls. Two years later, Fritz Lang's classic "Metropolis" also included a scene in which a man makes a video call. A Self-Propelled Vacuum Cleaner in "The Jetsons" "The Jetsons" had video calls too, but the 1960s cartoon's most lasting legacy to sci fi technology may be that it inspired iRobot CEO and cofounder Robin Angle to create the company's Roomba vacuum. Angle told Fast Company that the show's character Rosie the Robot was a major influence for the vaccuum and other iRobot inventions. Virtual Reality in "The Matrix"  Depending on how you define it, virtual reality dates back to Morton Heilig's patent for an immersive device called Sensorama in 1962. The idea had also been kicked around in sci-fi stories like Stephen King's "The Lawnmower Man." The idea that life is an illusion dates even further back to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." But it was 1999's "The Matrix" that offered a fully realized vision of VR. "The Matrix" posited a world in which most humans are enslaved by machines and hooked to pods that simulate a real world. The storyline follows the main character Neo as he breaks through that illusion to experience reality. Honorable Mention: "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the Internet As Slate observed, the internet was such a big concept that no sci-fi writer had ever imagined it — but that's not quite true. On the 50th anniversary of the release of "2001: A Space Odyssey," The Wall Street Journal noted that there was a planned scene in which a Newspad was going to sport a "New York Times" logo and a digital front page "complete with multiple story choices to be accessed by touch-screen command ... If the page had been used, the movie would almost certainly now be seen as having predicted the Internet."

4 Examples of Sci Fi Technology Predicted by Media

We're all time travelers.   Granted, we're not very good at it. We're only moving in one direction at a fixed rate — but we're never in the same moment twice. And while time's arrow seemingly puts spacetime second helpings out of reach, humans have a habit of breaking the rules.   What if we could do an about-face and discover what came before? Or push past our present pace to see what comes next? Astrophysicist Ron Mallett from the University of Connecticut says he's got the theoretical receipts to take on time travel.   Wondering how to build a time machine? It takes just 4e2Q=X easy steps! Simple, right?   Future Tense   Not all time travel is created equal. While heading back into the past poses a host of problems — such as changing the course of history by altering key events, or encountering your past self and making choices that could lead to your non-existence in the present — moving forward is less complicated. Relatively speaking.   As with most things spacetime related, E=MC2 gets involved. Einstein's equation articulates the interaction between energy and matter: Put simply, if matter goes fast enough, it becomes energy. It also becomes much more massive the closer it gets to the speed of light, providing a hard stop for objects trying to surpass this universal limit. But the theoretical framework that gave rise to this famous function — special relativity — also includes the fundamentals of future time travel.   Here's how it works: The faster you go, the greater your mass. And the greater your mass, the greater your disruption of local space — and time. As a result, time passes more slowly for someone traveling near the speed of light than those of us back on Earth. As noted by Scientific American, a spaceship accelerating continuously at one g — equal to the value of gravitational acceleration at Earth's surface, or 9.81 m/s2 — would approach the speed of light around the one-year mark. From the perspective of an astronaut on the ship, a trip to the center of our galaxy and back would take about 40 years. Upon returning home, however, our intrepid explorer might have trouble reporting their adventure to mission control, unless NASA was still up and running after 60,000 years.   Of course, it's not quite that easy. The energy requirements for the acceleration described above would be "greater than a planetary mass," and steering the ship at near-light speed might be problematic. Still, the basic science is there, though it's worth mentioning a critical caveat: This isn't the flash-forward in time we're familiar with when Marty McFly hits 88 miles per hour in his DeLorean. Perceptually, both observer and actor see no change in the passage of time. Observationally, there's a significant difference.   Fire Up the Flux Capacitor   Professor Mallet is looking the other direction, having spent the latter decades of his career looking for backward-facing loopholes. And while our equation for how to build a time machine is pure nonsense, he's created one that posits the potential physics of actual travel through time.      By using a ring laser — what he describes as a "circulating beam of laser lights" — he believes its possible to bend both space and time. Do it right, and the machine should be able to bend time back on itself, creating a portal to the past. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is — Mallett's machine bears a striking similarity to the concept of spacetime wormholes: Theoretical tunnels of space and time that could let explorers travel across massive volumes of miles and moments in the blink of an eye. Professor Mallett has developed a prototype and hopes to conduct a feasibility study, even as he does more research into the potential mechanics of a time machine at scale.   Keeping the Lights On   Let's get it out of the way right now: Professor Mallett's time travel technology won't head back into the past anytime soon. Information, rather than individuals, will make the trip and hopefully come out unscathed — but where? Or more accurately, when? This is another limitation of the Mallett machine: The farthest information can travel back in time is to the moment the machine was turned on. Turn it off, and you'd have to start over.   There's also the issue of empirical verification. Let's say the device turns on this year. You'd want continuous monitoring to ensure that if information arrived you're ready to capture it and take appropriate action. But if it works, it makes sense that future scientists would send data back to the origin point — so information should arrive immediately after the device is turned on. Or should it?   Physicist Richard Muller doesn't think so. He argues that the future doesn't exist — meaning there are no scientists to send data back — and the past is literally a foreign country. For Muller, the intertwined nature of spacetime is responsible: "Every moment, the universe gets a little bigger, and there is a little more time, and it is this leading edge of time that we refer to as now."   Because we're on the leading edge of spacetime, nothing exists beyond it so there's no one to send data back. But it's all about perspective — what about the "us" of two years from now? If the machine is turned on in 2020, couldn't scientists in 2022 use the device? Muller says this also isn't possible because the machine doesn't simply exist in another time — it exists in another spacetime. "To reverse time you would have to decrease, at least locally, the amount of space in the universe." Not exactly an easy task.   Time, and Time Again   Whether Professor Mallet's project works or not is worth watching, but it's hardly the final word on time travel theory. Human effort to adjust the aim — or outright avoid — the arrow of time won't stop just because the universe doesn't like the idea. From pushing particles to near-light speed in high-powered accelerators to work on wormholes, efforts to both backtrack and fast-forward are scientifically inevitable.   Will time travel ever be a reality? In some form, probably. Are we on the road to a picnic in the past or a foray into the future? Don't pack your bags just yet.   

How to Build a Time Machine in Just 4 eÂ²Q=X Easy Steps

Key Takeaways  Multiverse describes the sum total of all possible universes, and has come to mean any universe we might encounter other than our own. Inflation Theory for the growth of the unvierse suggest that innumerable "bubble" universes may be out there. The multiverse is more complex than science fiction, but it makes for a great storyline.Once upon a time, maps were full of blank space, vast regions that had never been explored — at least not by anyone mapmakers knew about. These unknown regions were an invitation to mapmakers' imagination. As one legendary mapmaker wrote, "Here be dragons."Explorers gradually filled in the map of the world, as our most recent robotic space explorers have filled in our maps of Pluto and the rings of Saturn. But out at the far frontiers of theoretical physics, we have found tantalizing hints of more unexplored regions than we could ever have imagined.Welcome to the multiverse theory.When Things Get Strange — and StrangerThanks to the surprise Netflix hit "Stranger Things" — a TV show about a telepathic girl and her friends battling creatures from a parallel universe called the Upside Down — multiverse theory is gaining major traction in pop culture. But the ideas behind multiverse theory have been unfolding for decades, and along multiple threads.Some threads have developed from the sciences of astrophysics and cosmology, while other, even older, threads have emerged from science fiction and philosophical speculation.The term "multiverse" describes the multitude of possible universes. As often happens along the frontiers, there is some inconsistency in language. As Yasmin Tayag notes at Inverse, to cosmologists, multiverse describes the sum total of all possible universes, while in more popular language it has come to mean any universe we might encounter other than our own.By the middle of last century, astronomers determined that the universe is expanding. They soon discovered that this expansion was not a smooth process. Evidence pointed toward an early period of fantastically rapid expansion which astrophysicists dubbed inflation.The concept of inflation is now generally accepted by physicists, but inflation theory also has a host of subtle implications that are still being explored. If the expansion of the universe was almost unimaginably fast, the result might also be unimaginably vast — a scale of size that would make the mere billions of light-years we can observe look insignificant in comparison.Indeed, distance measurements such as light-years might not even be meaningful, since the inflating universe may have split into innumerable "bubbles" — each one a universe in its own right, with its own laws of physics and unfolding reality. (A key word is may: all of this remains under study by cosmologists, with much disagreement among them about the implications.) "Our universe is just one of these bubbles," Scientific American speculates.Beyond the Doors of ImaginationThe possibilities opened up by multiverse theory, of multiple and parallel universes, have long been a topic of speculation by philosophers. What is new is the potential for some sort of experimental confirmation or at least indirect evidence that they exist.And just as philosophers have long speculated about multiverse-like ideas, so have storytellers. One theme, familiar from the classic original Star Trek episode "Mirror Mirror," is a universe that is almost like our own, but with a literally cosmic twist — the crew of the USS Enterprise are bad guys in the mirror universe.Alternate history has become an entire popular genre with elements of multiverse theory. For example, the "Back to the Future" films played with the ways that different outcomes of past events could spin off universes in which the future of those events played out in different ways. (Fun fact — one of the films was only off by a single year in guessing when the Chicago Cubs would win a World Series.)Understandably, the pop culture version of the multiverse is not quite the same as the astrophysicists' version, and stories like "Stranger Things" and its earlier cousins freely intermix ideas that come out of physics with others that still belong to metaphysics.But if we here at Now. were to make a guess — and we will — whatever ultimately comes out of multiverse theory as it develops will probably be stranger and more wonderful than anything that our present-day imaginations can come up with. On the frontiers of science and technology, that is usually how it is.Advanced technology and innovation is pushing forward the frontiers of space exploration to unravel the complexities of the universe. Learn more.

Multiverse Theory Goes Far Beyond "Stranger Things"

Hollywood loves adventure, and most of all it loves a spectacle. So it is no surprise that space travel reached the big screen years before any actual rockets reached outer space. And for nearly as long as sci-fi films have been showing outer space, people have been arguing about realism — or lack of realism — in space travel movies. Countdown to Thrills An early win for realism in cinematic space travel, as Atlas Obscura recounts, was the 1929 Fritz Lang film "Frau im Mond," or "Woman in the Moon." The moon rocket in the film had multiple stages, each one dropping away in turn after providing its share of the enormous speed needed to reach the moon — just as the Saturn V did, three decades later. It also helped that rocketry pioneer Hermann Oberth served as technical advisor. "Frau im Mond" did not just predict realistic space travel — it even helped create it. To build up drama for the rocket launch, Lang introduced the countdown, counting backwards to the moment of launch. Real-life space launches have used countdowns ever since. Realism vs the Frontier Over the years, realism in sci-fi films has struggled against multiple challenges. When you are aiming for spectacle, budgets are always a concern. And on the frontiers of science and technology, even scientists can't be quite sure what is realistic versus what isn't. In the film "Interstellar," explorers reach a planet orbiting just above a black hole, a celestial object so massive that even light cannot escape it. Phil Plait of the highly regarded Bad Astronomy blog at Slate took the filmmakers to task for an impossible scenario. He had to graciously retract this particular criticism because, as it turns out, a spinning black hole would indeed allow for a nearby planet. On the speculative frontier, it seems, realism is a moving target. Hanging on for Dear Life Even more fundamentally, space travel movies (except documentaries) are first and foremost about telling a story, and doing so in a vivid and convincing way. Space scenes don't really need to be accurate, because space travel experts make up only a tiny fraction of the audience. But they need to look convincing. The storytelling challenges this can pose are reflected in "Gravity," a movie that received generally high marks for realism. The story involves an accidental space collision and its aftermath, set in Earth orbit and in the near future. Unlike in "Interstellar," the science and technology in "Gravity" are not highly speculative. Still, as the Washington Post reported, "Gravity" gets space travel both right and wrong. One challenge is the sheer speed of space travel: a speeding bullet is slow by space standards. A collision between spacecraft in different orbits would happen so fast that if you blinked, you would miss it — literally — which is far too fast for proper dramatic effect. Other scenes in the film bend the rules, so to speak. In principle, you could indeed use a space suit backpack rocket to go from one orbit to another; in practice, however, this would require more propellant than the backpacks are built to carry. Likewise, using a fire extinguisher as an impromptu rocket is possible in principle. But the balancing act that would be necessary to avoid going into a useless spinning spiral would be nearly impossible to carry off. Finally — and just as with "Interstellar" — even experts disagree about the climactic scene in "Gravity." When George Clooney lets go of Sandra Bullock and falls to his death, is the scene correct about what would happen in orbit, or does it cheat by playing off of our earthly expectations about people holding on while suspended over a void? It can be argued both ways, as the Washington Post made clear. As space travel becomes a more familiar part of life, the standards of realism in movies and television will shift. (The rocket in "Frau im Mond" does not look especially realistic after nearly 60 years of real space rockets, but it was awesome in 1929.) But the challenge of trying to get it right — while, even more importantly, making it feel right — will continue to test the imagination and ingenuity of film and TV producers.

Do Space Travel Movies Ever Get it Right?

What would the TIE fighter, X-wing, laser weapons and four-legged transport vehicles look like in the real world? As we anticipate the release of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," we're looking at the feasibility of our favorite fictional military technology. The designs may look cool on the big screen, but how would these designs fare in the real world? Laser Weapons Lightsaber battles are strictly science fiction, but the ship-mounted laser cannons in the "Star Wars" universe are more realistic. The United States Navy is fielding direct energy systems such as laser weapons and installing them on ships, according to USNI News. While the sci-version of a laser weapon involves a bright, loud blast, the Navy's real version is silent and invisible. One of the cool features of lasers in "Star Wars" and real life is there's no need to reload the weapon. Carly Wright, an optical engineer at Northrop Grumman, currently works on the laser source. "As long as you have electricity or fuel, you can use your lasers," Wright says. "There isn't a finite number of shots that you can do. That's particularly handy for the Navy when their ships are deployed." Y-Wing When the Rebel Alliance needs a durable, safe fighter aircraft, the Y-wing is a reliable choice. It might not be as agile as an X-wing, but it can carry heavy weapon payloads and remain flying while under fire. These qualities make it similar to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, according to Popular Science. Just like its sci-fi counterpart, this modern jet is known for its ability to get pilots home safe, even if it's damaged in battle. The Air Force has flown the A-10 Thunderbolt II, a.k.a. "The Warthog," during the Desert Storm conflict of the 1990s and in recent missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. TIE Fighter Thanks to an owner's manual that published earlier this year, fans can learn how to fly a TIE fighter. The book examines every detail of the formidable aircraft. Illustrator Chris Reiff told CNET, "As a pilot, I really liked seeing just how different the TIE fighters would be to fly. It's as different from an X-wing as a helicopter is from an airplane — a totally different design and control philosophy and perfect for its role." In the fictional universe, the TIE Fighter intimidated enemies of the Empire. But Popular Mechanics points out that in real life, it would be the least aerodynamic aircraft of all, with a drag coefficient of .98, which is slightly better than a flying brick. Drag would depend on air, which would vary depending on the planet's atmosphere, but it still serves as a tool for comparison. X-Wing This rebel alliance aircraft is a bit more realistic with a theoretical drag coefficient of .45, according to Popular Mechanics. According to Starwars.com, the X-wing is a versatile starfighter that balances speed with firepower. Popular Science compares it to the real-world fighter aircraft the Supermarine Spitfire, flown by the British in WWII. Much like the X-wing, the Spitfire was an agile, acrobatic fighter aircraft equipped with enough weapons for combat without weighing it down. All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) The lumbering AT-AT walkers make excellent cinematic props, but how would they fare in real life? It doesn't make much sense to transport troops on a four-legged armored vehicle. In robotics, legs are notoriously unstable and are typically only used as a gimmick. When efficiency and stability matter, wheels are best. Engineering and robotics firm Boston Dynamics developed an industrial-grade quadruped robot named Spot that appears to have a similar shape to the AT-AT vehicles. Spot can walk, trot, avoid obstacles, climb stairs and step over rubble, according to IEEE Spectrum. This could make it a good vehicle for transporting troops on a rocky planet, but it's unclear how much payload it can handle and how durable it would be when facing an enemy. The Imperial walkers appear intimidating on the battlefield, but they're quite impractical. In the real world, it makes more sense to transport ground troops in wheeled vehicles or tracked vehicles like tanks. At least they can't be defeated by tripping them or blowing up their heads. To enjoy "Star Wars" technology, you simply have to suspend your disbelief. Some of the military technology is inspired by real-world innovations, while others are pure fantasy, and that's the whole point.  

"Star Wars" vs. The Real World: TIE Fighter, Laser Weapons and More

Luke Skywalker's landspeeder in "Star Wars: A New Hope" didn't sell for much — just 2,000 credits thanks to a newer model on the market — but it captured the interest of science fiction fans everywhere. Speeder bikes featured during the "Return of the Jedi" chase scene on Endor only upped the ante: What would it be like to use this type of hovercraft technology to discover the joy of flying? Sure, it's no Millennium Falcon, but it's a good start. With May the 4th — "Star Wars" Day — just around the corner, it's worth taking a look at hover tech: Our obsession with the idea, what innovative technology is currently on the market and what the science says about "real" anti-gravity options. Floating on Air Humanity's interest in hovering vehicles started long before Luke swung a lightsaber. As noted by the BBC, the first hovercraft was developed by Sir Christopher Cockerell in 1959. It used a cushion of air to hover just above ground or water and avoid the common pitfalls of uneven surfaces. Until October 2000, hovercraft were used to ferry people and cars across the English Channel when competition from the Channel Tunnel and traditional ferry boats made the service obsolete. According to Popular Mechanics, commercial hovercraft have experienced a sharp decline from their heyday in the 1970s due to large fuel and maintenance costs combined with a lack of creature comforts. The landspeeder is a solid hovercraft analog: Both are slightly unwieldy and keep a low profile relative to the ground. While in the "Star Wars" universe newer models supplanted Luke's X-34, our version of slow-speed, low-riding hovercraft are largely confined to the footnotes of history. Taking Flight What about speeder bikes? These motorcycle-like danger sticks were seen whizzing at top speed through the forests of Endor — and were responsible for more than one unexpected stormtrooper—tree trunk collision. Fast and agile, repulsorlift-driven jumpspeeders offered an inherent "wow" factor, inherent awesomeness and (hopefully) hazard pay for Empire employees. While we haven't created anything quite so cool, companies are starting to roll out "hoverbikes" that do a decent speeder impression. As noted by Science Alert, it's now possible to preorder an FAA-approved hoverbike for $150,000. Using four battery-powered rotor blades, the bike can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour and heights of 16 feet. A single charge nets between 10-25 minutes of flying time if the weather cooperates. Strong winds — and rider weight — also impact flight time. Put simply, this nails two out of three: The bike hovers just like the ones in the movies and can zip along at breakneck speeds. The problem? Battery life. The chase scene on Endor would have been far less exciting if the Empire had to find charging stations every half an hour to keep up their search for the rebels. This may be a temporary setback, however — as noted by Nature, new research on potassium-air batteries with organic anodes could pave the way for significant storage increases. Coming Back Down to Earth It's one thing to mimic "Star Wars" innovative technology; it's another to actually create vehicles using repulsor-type solutions. The concept isn't new to science fiction: Other big franchises such as "Star Trek" regularly use anti-gravity tech to solve problems. But is it actually feasible to create repulsive force rather than simply blowing ever-larger volumes of air at the ground? According to a recent Forbes piece, probably not. Why? Because unlike electric force — which has both positive and negative charges — gravitational force has only one charge governed by mass and energy: Attractive. As a result, it's not possible to create a "gravitational conductor" which would effectively trap gravity outside and set up a gravity-free area inside. For that to happen, we'd need negative gravitation mass, or anti-mass, which would fall up instead of down when exposed to gravitational forces.  Although theories using anti-mass exist, such as the Alcubierre solution for warping space-time, scientists haven't discovered any evidence that anti-mass exists. One potential candidate is anti-matter, but even though anti-matter particles have been observed to have electric charges and spin opposite their normal-mass counterparts, their interaction with gravity should be the same as normal mass: They should fall down. If scientists do manage to discover a naturally-occurring source of anti-mass or create an artificial version, it then becomes possible to create both small- and large-scale gravitational conductors and capacitors. In space, this means giving ships and stations their own gravity fields independent of the surrounding mass. On Earth, it means equipping hovercraft and hoverbikes with the repulsive technology necessary to circumvent the law of gravity and provide a truly authentic "Star Wars" experience. Once they've got that solved, could our best and brightest please get to work on lightsabers? Next "Star Wars " Day is soon enough. No hurry on the carbonite freezing, though. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Hovercraft Technology: The Force (of Gravity) Is Strong With This One

The Star Wars franchise is the gift that keeps on giving. Forty years after the release of the film that started it all, "Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope," the franchise continues to deliver commercially successful and critically acclaimed movies and more well into the 21st century, sparking the imaginations of devoted fans with new Star Wars technology and fresh storylines. The last film of the Skywalker Saga, "Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker," was released in late 2019, and that same year, the story branched into television with the series "The Mandalorian." New shows about other characters from the galaxy far, far away are in production. Ever since "Star Wars: Episode IV" captivated audiences, Star Wars technology has inspired tangible developments in modern science . Here's a look at which Star Wars ideas have become reality and which ideas are still in the works. Robotics Robotics has taken some big leaps and bounds the past few years, figuratively and literally. Boston Dynamics' famed humanoid robot Atlas now performs backflips. But as Wired observed, despite this stunning jump forward, Atlas and other humanoid robots struggle with the human hand's ability to manipulate objects, not to mention they have battery life issues that make smartphone batteries seem like they're powered like the Energizer Bunny. SoftBank's Pepper not only chats with retail customers but it can also dance and roll on the floor, according to Recode. C-3PO would be impressed. Bionics Luke Skywalker was given a bionic hand after losing his right one in a light saber duel with Darth Vader in "Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back." Fittingly, the U.S. government has developed LUKE (Life Under Kinetic Evolution), a state-of-the-art robotic arm that uses computers, sensors and motors to restore simple functions, according to the New York Times. Two U.S. Army veterans now benefit from the bionic arm, which might soon be sold to consumers, said the New York Times. LUKE is the first bionic arm that "intuitively moves many joints at one time," whereas other bionic products prohibited fluid movement. Lasers and the Lightsaber The U.S. Navy has developed a laser weapon that would stand up against the lightsaber. The LaWS (Laser Weapons System) is fully operational on board the USS Ponce amphibious transport ship, said CNN. Its laser moves at the speed of light, which is 50,000 times the speed of an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile, as CNN reported. "It is remarkably precise, which the Navy says could limit collateral damage in wartime." Although toy lightsabers exist, the lightsabers of Star Wars aren't yet a reality. As Space pointed out, a lightsaber would actually be made of plasma, as lasers are "essentially invisible as [they pass] through the air." Unfortunately, we don't have a safe way of harnessing the plasma, but scientists aren't giving up hope; they just haven't made it past the conceptual stages yet. The Death Star can only be categorized as Star Wars technology, as it isn't a reality yet either. Though according to Engaget, "Scientists have developed a technique that uses diamond to merge multiple laser beams into more powerful ones," which could be utilized to destroy space debris or help the military take down drones and missiles. Space Travel Three private companies — including ventures backed by billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson — are in a race to potentially put humans on Mars. Unfortunately, according to Space, no one on Earth has yet figured how to send ships through extra-dimensional space so they can travel faster than they would through real space, which the Millennium Falcon and other Star Wars ships do with relative ease. It's easy to overlook, but we have accomplished tremendous steps in space travel in the past 60 years: From Sputnik's orbit of the Earth in 1957 to the current International Space Station (ISS) — spearheaded by five international space agencies. ISS astronauts incidentally watched "Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi" while in orbit. The Force The element at the very heart of Star Wars is the Force, which Obi-Wan succinctly described in "A New Hope" as the "energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." The Force enables Star Wars characters to communicate telepathically and move objects with their minds. We currently don't have a way to do this, but as Space neatly observed, a quirk in quantum mechanics called quantum entanglement will link two particles in a special way, separate them and then have them affect one another over large distances. How does that apply to Star Wars? Well, it speaks to Obi-Wan's belief that everything is entangled in some way in the galaxy. Does it mean we are indeed surrounded by the Force? Scientists haven't confirmed that — yet. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

May the Star Wars Technology Be With You

"Star Trek" is an obvious example: On-screen science and technology that fueled the fire of scientific research and helped inform the future of touchscreen technology, real-time translation devices and even "cloaking devices" over the last 50 years. But this isn't the only Hollywood connection to scientific advancements — here's a look at some of the most popular (and more obscure) links between science and futuristic movies.   Dino-Sized Funding   As noted by the University of California Museum of Paleontology, work in paleontology "declined as World War II developed." Subsequent discoveries that expanded the catalog of dinosaur species and confirmed their connection to present-day birds helped reinvigorate the field.    In 1997, paleontology enjoyed a massive uptick in popular culture thanks to the release of "Jurassic Park." As noted by Dr. Stephen Brusette of the University of Edinburgh in a recent Newsweek piece, there were "'more jobs, more funding, that came from Jurassic Park. I don't think we can overstate how important that was to paleontology. I probably wouldn't have my job, and a lot of my colleagues wouldn't either.'"    Exploration Expenditures   In 2012, film director James Cameron reached the deepest part of the Mariana Trench 6.8 miles underwater, known as the Challenger Deep. The record-breaking dive makes Cameron the first person to reach the bottom of the valley alone. According to National Geographic, he also took sediment samples, used a "slurp gun" to collect small sea creatures and recorded data about temperature, salinity and pressure.    The Hollywood connection here? Cameron has made it clear that blockbuster movies only fuel his exploration obsession. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on a new exhibit focusing on Cameron's deep dive and includes the telling quote: "I don't go down there to find cool aliens to put into Avatar. I make Avatar to get money to recharge the treasury to build new vehicles to go on explorations." Put simply? Deep sea scientific advancements are driven by Cameron's passion — and funded by Hollywood.   See-Through Success   Search for "Star Trek"-inspired scientific advancements and a host of consumer technologies come up, but less well-known iterations have also been developed. In "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," the ship's Engineer Montgomery Scott provides the formula for "transparent aluminum" to a researcher in 1986. Once produced, a one-inch thick sheet of the material withstood pressure from 18,000 cubic feet of water.    Now, specialty chemical companies such as Reade are creating aluminum oxynitride (ALON), which is used for "transparent armor" applications in the U.S. Air Force and in the windows of armored military vehicles. Composed of aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen, the substance stays solid up to 2,190 degrees Fahrenheit, is harder than glass. After polishing, it becomes "an extremely durable crystalline material with excellent optical transparency in the near ultraviolet wavelength," according to Reade.   Forget-Me-Not   According to The Science and Entertainment Exchange, films dealing with the nature of human perception and memory have also bolstered the link between science and futuristic movies. Consider the work of neuroscientist Steve Ramirez of Harvard University. Inspired by movies such as "Inception" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," Ramirez developed a way to implant fake memories in rats and is now working on techniques to "turn down" the emotional volume of memories or erase them completely. Meanwhile, Medical News Today reported on new scientific research indicating that previously overlooked glial cells — which support and protect neurons — are critical components of both learning and memory.   Conservation Conversations   Hollywood's influence can also have far-reaching impact for animal conservation. As noted by a recent paper published in Conservation Biology, films such as "Madagascar," "Rio" and "Finding Dory" caused an uptick in viewer web research about specific animal species, while movies like "Jaws" are "strongly implicated as responsible for an increased awareness of sharks in the Western psyche."  The result? Whether driving discussions about conservation or creating a widespread fear of shark attacks, the Conservation Biology paper makes the case that "providing opportunities for industry professionals to enhance audience awareness and encourage behavioral change...has the potential to be a very powerful tool."   Roll Credits: Silver Screen Science   Hollywood doesn't always get science right. Some of Jurassic Park's dinosaurs were outlandish and impossible, while movies like "Gravity" feature problematic depictions of, well, gravity, as well as other physical forces. But movies can inspire both scientists and audiences to get involved — this could mean more funding, new research opportunities or conversations about animal conservation.  No matter the outcome, however, there's no denying the impact of silver screen science on new research, discovery and innovation.         

The Silver Screen Connection Between Science and Futuristic Movies

Last September, perennial fan favorite "Star Trek" returned to the small screen with its newest iteration, "Star Trek: Discovery." Set 10 years before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the show offers compelling characters, feisty Klingons and a host of new "Star Trek" technology for knowledgeable experts and avid Trekkies to dissect.  Critical to the plot are two tech conceits: The use of a fungi-fueled "spore drive," which lets the Discovery cross vast distances in mere seconds, and the certain knowledge that multiple universes exist. Is there a parallel universe out there? Can mushrooms help us travel at warp speed? Or is this all just techno-babble and fantasy? Let's dig in.   You're Such a Fungi   Here's the space-travel conceit in "Star Trek: Discovery": A vast "mycelial network" — infinite numbers of miniscule fungi — underpin the entire universe. Tapping this mushroom highway using lab-grown spores and a sentient navigator allows the Discovery to quickly jump anywhere in space. But is this just a sci-fi fantasy, or is it the real deal?  As noted by Inverse, the spore dive's co-creator on the show is Lt. Cmdr. Paul Stamets. His title is "astromycologist," science-speak for someone who studies fungi in space. He's also named after real-world fungi expert Paul Stamets, who has speculated about the possibility of terraforming space using fungi.    Mushroom for Improvement?   Spore drives aren't a bad idea. While Forbes noted that much of "Discovery's" science around the original spore drive navigator — a giant version of a water-dwelling, microscopic creature known as a tardigrade — is "science fantasy" more than fiction, its fungal science may be more accurate. As noted by mycologist Thomas Jenkins in Inverse, "'we only know of, and this is a generous estimate, about five percent of the fungal biodiversity that exists.'" And Earth fungi exposed to harsh, Martian-like conditions over long periods of time have shown remarkable resiliency, suggesting that mycelium could flourish even in outer space. According to Nature World News, recent research suggests that trees communicate using an underground mycelial network and use it to benefit the forest as a whole.   The result? Spore drives aren't entirely out of the question, since the universe offers potential building blocks for fungi fast lanes.   Mirror, Mirror   Parallel universes are a staple of "Star Trek." One of the most popular is the Mirror Universe: Instead of creating the freedom-loving Federation, the aggressive and xenophobic Terran Empire rose to power. In "Discovery," spore drive technology lets the ship cross into this universe. The crew discovers that its not-so-nice Mirror Universe counterparts are mining the mycelial network for power at such a fast rate that they'll eventually destroy it and kill everything in all universes.    Is There a Parallel Universe?   The notion of villainous Earth counterparts is terrifying, but only if multiverse theory actually has a solid foundation. The good (or not-so-good) news? Parallel might be possible. As noted by Futurism, the discovery of a "cold spot" in space — 1.8 billion light-years across and 0.00027 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the space around it — may be evidence of a collision between our universe and another, resulting in odd temperature variations and a comparative lack of matter. And according to BGR, efforts to quantify the conditions under which parallel universes could exist and what type of universes are possible formed the basis of Stephen Hawking's final paper, "A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation." While the cold spot and Hawking's attempt to leverage math as boundary conditions for the multiverse aren't proof, they're indications that the idea of parallel universes isn't just sci-fi fan service.   Trek Talk Verdict   Star Trek technology doesn't always translate to real life, but when it comes to spore drives and a parallel universe, "Discovery's" science sticks a solid landing for "maybe." Sure, spore drives aren't around the corner, but a real-life spark for the idea already exists here on Earth. And while it's unlikely we all have surly Terran counterparts contemplating our existence in a mirror dimension, researchers are now working on ways to mathematically map the potential multiverse. 

Is There a Parallel Universe? Star Trek Technology and the Science of Spore Drives

"Negative energy" sounds like something that Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock would have used to get out of a jam in the original Star Trek series. And appropriately enough, as Science Alert reports, using negative energy to draw energy from black holes was first proposed by physicist Roger Penrose in 1969, back when classic Trek was still airing new episodes. Penrose's work earned him a belated Nobel Prize just last year. And in an interesting bit of synchronicity, new studies suggest that negative energy could not only be the ultimate power supply but also a way to look for alien life and seek out new civilizations. Kirk and Spock would surely have approved. Tapping Into the Ergosphere Black holes, in spite of their name, can be some of the brightest objects in the universe. The reason is that a black hole's intense gravity field pulls down any matter it captures. The captured material is accelerated to nearly the speed of light, releasing enormous energy when infalling streams collide. But this process is only a starting point for drawing energy from black holes. New research published in the scientific journal Physical Review D indicates that rotational energy already captured by the black hole can be extracted by tapping into a region called the ergosphere. As Universe Today reports, the ergosphere is located just barely above the event horizon that cuts the black hole off from the outside universe. The black hole's rotating magnetic field produces a breaking and reconnection of magnetic lines of force, and the extreme conditions within the ergosphere ramp up the resulting magnetic particle collisions to maximum intensity. Delivering 150% Under the right conditions, such collisions can cause one particle — or an entire particle stream — to fall through the event horizon, acquiring negative energy. The other particle (or stream) picks up a corresponding amount of positive energy and shoots out the ergosphere, carrying more energy than it started with. This doesn't quite count as magical free energy from black holes, because the particles that fall through the event horizon cause the black hole's rotation to slow down. But in the meantime, there's plenty of stored-up energy from black holes that a sufficiently advanced civilization could draw on. And because of this stored energy, a black hole power extraction system could potentially run at 150% efficiency, according to Universe Today — an efficiency rating we associate with athletes, perhaps, but not actual power generators. The Sound of Magic What's more, in yet another bit of intriguing synchronicity that so often pops up in science, Science Alert reports that a separate research project gave experimenters a foretaste — or at least a fore-listen — of what more than 100% efficiency sounds like. We do not yet have anything close to the technology needed to tap energy from a black hole. We don't even have the tech to simulate the black hole with a fast-spinning metal cylinder, as one physicist proposed in 1971. But a research team in Scotland realized that the Penrose Effect could be demonstrated using sound waves, which are easier to work with because they travel a million times slower than light waves. By spinning a disk faster than sound, speakers mounted on the disk could be made to put out sound at negative frequencies — not quite as weird as negative energy, but still pretty weird. And when the experiment was run, the sound that came out of the speakers was 30% louder than the power that fed into them could have produced, according to Science Alert. Sound energy was being drawn from the rotating disk by a process analogous to drawing energy from black holes. To Seek Out New Civilizations Energy from black holes is pretty awesome, but where does alien life fit in? According to Live Science, while we don't yet have the ability to plug our power cables into a black hole, advanced civilizations out there may be able to do exactly that. And if someone is doing it, we do have the technology needed to detect it. "Since fast magnetic reconnection in the ergosphere should occur intermittently in the scenario proposed here, the associated emission within a few gravitational radii from the black hole is expected to display a bursty nature," the report abstract in Physical Review D states. This doesn't necessarily mean that any "bursty" emission from a spinning black hole must be a sign of alien life. But it does give us a guide as to where and how to look for potential signs of power production by advanced alien civilizations. So, stay tuned! Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Could Alien Life Draw Energy from Black Holes?


Time dilation, in the form of the so-called Twin Paradox, is a popular and long-standing plot element in science fiction, dating back at least to Robert Heinlein's classic YA novel "Time for the Stars," first published in 1956.In the novel, one of two twin brothers goes on a voyage of interstellar exploration aboard a ship capable of traveling at nearly the speed of light. The other remains on Earth. When the starship returns and they meet again, the star-faring protagonist is still young, while his twin brother has grown old.The underlying phenomenon, relativistic time dilation, is not only a basic consequence of Einstein's theory of relativity. It has also been demonstrated experimentally many times, as the National Institute of Standards and Technology points out.

Getting Relative

The discovery of time dilation and of the theory of relativity itself has roots going back generations beyond Heinlein's novel, to the late 19th century. According to Space.com, in 1887, a physicist and chemist — Albert Michelson and Edward Morely, respectively — attempted to determine the Earth's precise movement through the universe by measuring the speed of light as observed in various directions.At the time, physicists assumed that space had a fixed geometric framework, called the "ether," that light flowed through and which Earth was also moving through, orbiting the sun and also being carried along by the sun's own motion through interstellar space.But to Michelson and Morely's surprise, their instruments measured the speed of light as the same in all directions. They checked their instruments; these worked fine but still gave the same results. Physicists were left puzzled for nearly 20 years, until a young Albert Einstein came up with an explanation that seemed completely bizarre but that also worked.Einstein showed that the speed of light really IS the same for all observers, no matter where they are or how fast they are going. The rigid cosmic "ether" that Michelson and Morely had taken for granted did not exist. Instead, our measuring instruments — both yardsticks and clocks, along with everything else in the universe — turned out to be "rubbery" in a sense, seeming to stretch or shrink so that the measured speed of light always came out the same.And in 1905, Einstein published his results, calling it the theory of special relativity.



What's so Special About Special Relativity?
Einstein's original theory was called "special" relativity because it did not attempt to cover everything. It dealt only with the effects of high speeds on matter, setting aside the implications of acceleration or gravity and, thus, was formally applicable only to special cases.Nevertheless, much of what popular culture associates with Einstein and relativity — including the speed of light as the cosmic speed limit and the famous equation E=mc2 — falls within the scope of special relativity. This also includes the time dilation effects of very high (relative!) speeds, including the "Twin Paradox" of interstellar travel at relativistic speeds.In 1915, Einstein expanded his work to incorporate gravity and acceleration; this enlarged and "generalized" version of the theory was aptly called general relativity. However, for decades, general relativity was regarded as a bit like the Andromeda Galaxy — awesome but remote, far from any practical applications. As Universe Today notes, general relativity's greatest claim to fame in popular culture was that only a handful of people in the world could understand it.Over time, though, general relativity has come to seem a bit less abstruse. The discovery of black holes — objects so dense and massive that not even light can escape from them — was a big win: One of the strangest theoretical predictions of general relativity turned out to be for real.
 


Black Holes and Time Dilation
As it turns out, general relativity also has its own implications for time dilation. In general relativity, the force of gravity is indistinguishable from acceleration, and both can cause clocks to run slower (as measured by an outside observer). If one of two twins orbited close to the event horizon of a black hole, that person would age more slowly than their sibling who remained on earth.We do not have the technology to achieve this (yet!) any more than we can achieve the "old-fashioned" time dilation of a traveler going nearly the speed of light. But per Science News, atomic clocks have reached such a high level of precision that we can measure the time-dilation slippage between clocks that are one millimeter apart (about 1/25 of an inch). The clock that is one millimeter lower (closer to Earth's gravitation) runs a tiny bit slower, just as general relativity predicts it should.Score one for Albert Einstein!Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.
 

Time Dilation: Games Relativity Plays With Clocks

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault sits north of the Arctic Circle, around 800 miles from the North Pole. Its lone entrance tunnel emerges from a bleak mountainside more like a science fiction set or James Bond lair than a plant repository. Built as a safeguard against crop failure from violent catastrophe, climate change or more mundane factors such as disease that could bring humanity to the brink of starvation, the seed bank is a vital tool for conservation of plant species.   History of the Seed Vault   The global seed vault, situated on an island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, opened its doors in February 2008. It is managed by the Norwegian government, Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre. In its first year of operation, the vault gathered seeds from 90,000 food crop seed samples from sources outside the Nordic Gene Bank's collection, bringing the total in storage to 400,000.   As of 2013, a paper in PLoS One estimated that the inventory deposited by 53 individual gene banks represented "more than one third of the globally distinct accessions of 156 crop genera stored in [all global] genebanks as orthodox seeds."   At the vault's 10th anniversary last year, total holdings were counted at 983,524 accessions with 76 institutes depositing seeds. During 2018 alone, 30 gene banks and institutes deposited 92,638 precious seed samples — the busiest year since 2011.   What Is Stored in the Vault?   The global seed vault is home to 32 varieties of potato, alongside more than one-third of the planet's most important food crop varieties. Focusing primarily on important crop species that maintain food production and are necessary to sustain viable agriculture, the vault contains around 150,000 samples of wheat and rice, plus around 80,000 samples of barley. Other species include sorghum, maize, soybean and oats.   Each sample comprises 500 seeds, quadruple-wrapped in foil packets and stored in large plastic totes. According to Farm Journal's AgPro magazine, the facility can hold up to 2.25 billion seeds in total, representing around 4.5 million crop varieties.   The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is described as a "black box" holding facility, where the foil packets act as the reserve in case holdings at other seed banks across the world fail. Seeds will only be accessed under extreme need, when the original holdings have been destroyed. Furthermore, there will only be three dates during 2019 — in March, June and October — when the vault will open for new submissions.   How Are the Seeds Kept Safe?   It seems a little incongruous that the world's agricultural crop diversity reserve is held in such barren surroundings. Although there is plant life on the island, none grows taller than around 4 inches (10 centimeters) due to short growing season, terrain and fierce wind.   However, the vault's situation — near Longyearbyen, the world's most northerly settlement — also affords unique security for agricultural crop diversity, according to National Geographic. Not only is the location seismically stable and unlikely to be at risk of rising oceans or flooding, but the permafrost that the vault is built into helps provide the best conditions for keeping the foil packets of seeds viable. With additional cooling in the entrance tunnel, added to the vault's infrastructure after a 2016 leak from thawing permafrost, the vault stays at a constant -0.4 degrees F (-18 degrees C). With the vaults lying 397 feet (120 meters) deep into the rock, Crop Trust noted that the vaults stay frozen naturally without the need for power.   The Verge also noted that although climate change has reached the global seed vault, it has so far stayed safe from conflict or political instability; in 2015, the first withdrawal of seeds helped replace those lost from the Aleppo seed bank during the Syrian civil war. Crop Trust described this as only the second but the largest withdrawal. Returning seeds safely to Middle East researchers further highlighted the importance of the global seed vault.   This importance is well-recognized in security systems that protect the facility; The New York Times reported that no one person possesses all the entry codes to the seed vaults. When it comes to conservation of plant species, nobody holds all the keys to the pantry. 

Global Seed Vault Ready for Doomsday

To explore the boundaries of science fiction and the real world of science, technology and engineering, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Los Angeles-Las Vegas Section recently hosted an event in California called "Sci-Fi vs Sci-Tech." Aerospace engineer Aldo Spadoni attended the event as a panelist and moderator.  Humanity has embarked on a Second Space Age, fueled by new technology developments and both private and government space exploration initiatives. What has inspired people to push the boundaries of human imagination and accomplishment? Science fiction films and television shows like "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" have always been a major source of fascination and inspiration; they've also influenced many to pursue sci-tech careers. "Sci-Fi vs Sci-Tech" was organized by Ken Lui, AIAA LA-LV Section events chairman, with support from Robert Friend, LA-LV Section chairman. The event featured a panel of experts including Rod Pyle, space author and historian; Rick Sternbach, space and science fiction artist; Harriet Brettle, CalTech planetary sciences graduate student; Madhu Thangavelu, USC professor; Dr. Rostislav Spektor, project leader and research scientist; and Allan Grosvenor, senior aerodynamics engineer. The meeting began with a look back at the Apollo 11 Moon landing and Viking 1 Mars landing, in celebration of the 49th and 42nd anniversaries of those events, respectively. On hand were former Apollo and Viking program engineers Robert L. Norcross Jr. and Gary Moir; they provided first-hand recollections of the many challenges involved while working on these amazing programs. Back to the Future The event was well attended, with great audience interaction and wide-ranging discussions. Pyle started with a look at past visions of the future, providing examples from the 1930s and 1940s including humanoid robots, flying cars and cities in the sky. "I thought it might be instructive to look at how we envisioned the future in decades past, and from this, we might learn something about how to look ahead. While these early visions had some elements of accuracy, our future turned out to be much more about miniaturization, digitization, big city congestion and a turn to rampant consumerism. But we do have GPS and texting," he said with a wink. Humans Versus Robots The panelists fielded a number of questions related to the human role in space exploration. The space environment remains extremely hostile to humans, so why continue to pursue human space exploration at great expense and risk? At least for the immediate future, humans have proven to be far more adept and flexible than robots at onsite data gathering and assessment. Beyond exploration, venturing into space is also about assuring human survival by establishing permanent colonies. Thangavelu provided some insights into how we might safely live and thrive on the Moon. Most science fiction films typically portray future humans that appear and behave much the same as they do now. In the future, however, spacefaring humans might be drastically altered to better function in the space environment. Imagine human minds downloaded into miniaturized robots, which Pyle likened to "robotic cockroaches with human brains." The Challenges Ahead The panelists generally agreed that an expanded human presence in the solar system will require the ability to travel quickly, safely and efficiently. Spektor provided an overview of promising advances in electric/plasma rocket propulsion technology. Other options discussed included nuclear thermal and pulse rockets, and laser-driven solar sails that could potentially push tiny micro-spacecraft on interstellar missions. Science fiction films are not always optimistic, and there has been a general trend toward dystopian visions of the future. Pyle noted that "we can and should do better, looking to the future and clearing a path for what we might achieve if we can spot some aspirational, pro-social goals." The Frontiers of Imagination Science fiction can still portray a positive future with characters overcoming adversity, inspiring interest in space exploration and the pursuit of technical careers. "As an artist who has worked in both science fiction as well as real sci-tech, I am amazed and excited about the ways that the two areas inform and inspire each other," Sternbach said. "Scientific observations and innovations in real technology drive science fiction to imagine what might be possible. At the same time, dreams of new air and space vehicles, destinations, materials and processes help scientists and engineers bring those dreams into reality," Sternbach added. Attendees were treated to a surprise visit by none other than Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who shared his ideas for efficient space transportation infrastructure in the vicinity of the Earth and moon. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Los Angeles-Las Vegas Section plans to host similar local events in the future.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Explores Sci-Fi Versus Sci-Tech

Key Takeaways  There are four familiar dimensions: Height, width, length and time, with time being (so far) a one-way trip. Some proponents of string theory say there could be 10 dimensions. Recent neutron star observations, however, show no evidence of extra-dimensional activity.It seems like a pretty fundamental question, the modern-day physicists' equivalent of knowing whether the world is round or flat. But the question, "How many dimensions are there in the universe?" turns out to be a tricky one — enough so that physicists strongly disagree about the answer.Proponents of string theory — a highly speculative but popular explanation of the universe's detailed structure — argue for 10 dimensions. Some theorists have even argued for more, up to an indefinite number of possible dimensions.Other physicists suggest that experimental results have thrown cold water on the case for higher dimensions, leaving us only with the familiar three dimensions of length, width and height, plus the dimension of time.Yet, others have suggested that additional dimensions exist but are crumpled up like a piece of paper — so crumpled, in fact, that we can't detect them.Dimensions in PerspectiveAs if these complexities weren't enough, there's another level of complication to asking how many dimensions there are in the universe: When physicists talk about dimensions, the word doesn't quite mean what most of us think it means.To a physicist, dimension simply means direction — or more precisely, a pair of directions opposite to each other and at right angles to other dimensions, as Phys.org reports. The everyday three dimensions can be described in three different ways: Length, width and height X, Y and Z Forward/backward, right/left and up/downThe fourth dimension, time, is likewise future/past — with the important constraint that in the time dimension you only get to go one way and can't double back for another try.In popular culture, we mostly leave mere directions to road signs and use dimensions in a somewhat grander way. As Smithsonian magazine notes, we picture interdimensional portals as leading to not merely some extra directions, but to weird and colorful worlds — worlds where the dinosaurs still rule, or Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo, or where Captain Kirk and the crew of the original Enterprise are the bad guys.These different meanings of dimension matter a lot when you start asking how many dimensions are there in the universe. But there is a connection, even if — appropriately enough for the whole dimension thing — it's somewhat roundabout.A Quick Dimensional TourIn string theory, all 10 dimensions posited have a specific role, as Phys.org points out. The first four we already know about. But with the fifth dimension, things do get interesting. As Phys.org explains, if we could see it, "we would see a world slightly different from our own that would give us a means of measuring the similarity and differences between our world and other possible ones." For all we know, the differences might be living dinosaurs, or Evil Captain Kirk.In the string model, the sixth dimension would let us see all the variant worlds that began with the same initial conditions and only came to evolve differently later on. A peek into the seventh dimension would let us see worlds that differed from ours from the very beginning, and the eighth would let us see all of them, spread out for us to examine.The ninth dimension would let us "compare all the possible universe histories," while in the final 10th dimension, "we arrive at the point in which everything possible and imaginable is covered." At that point, the technical and popular-culture meanings of dimension become pretty much interchangeable.A Cold Shower for Higher Dimensions?A universe with 10 dimensions worth of "possible and imaginable" worlds sounds pretty cool, but as Livescience reports, a collision of neutron stars observed in 2017 may have splashed some cold water on all those dimensions.String theory argues that gravity waves should weaken over very large (intergalactic!) distances, causing the expansion of the universe to gradually accelerate. In string theory, this weakening is due to gravitational energy "leaking" into all those other dimensions. But the neutron star collision observations show no hint of such leakage on scales ranging from about one mile up to 80 million light years.These findings suggest that the higher dimensions are either pretty small or so vast that a mere 80 million light years isn't enough to be noticed.A Multitude of SurprisesThe higher dimensions may exist, but they're likely so crumpled up that they're too small to easily detect. Phys.org reports a topological form, called a Calabi-Yau manifold, that could confine the higher dimensions to a subatomic scale. Yet, in spite of being so confined, the extra dimensions may still be indirectly detectable by measuring the subtle effects they've had over the history of the universe.CERN, a European nuclear-energy organization, reports that other tools may be available for investigating these dimensions. Gravitons, or hypothesized (but not yet detected) particles produced by gravitation, are one possibility. Examination of atomic-sized black holes — also hypothesized but not yet detected — could provide yet another tool.How many dimensions are there in the universe? The short answer is that we don't know yet. And finding the answer is likely to generate a multitude of new questions waiting for us to explore.If we're going to discover (or debunk) other dimensions, we need to take a closer look at the universe. That's where the James Webb Space Telescope comes in. Learn more.

How Many Dimensions Are There in the Universe?

Over the past decade, we've seen every type of science fiction TV series hit the market, from adaptations of novels like "The Expanse" and "Altered Carbon" to original series like "Black Mirror." The opportunities to showcase science, as well as stretch the truth, are seemingly endless. Topics explored in some of the best sci-fi shows span all realms of science, but some shows are more realistic than others. Let's take a look at topics that get the most attention from the genre. Space Travel: Not Quite a Cruise Most modern depictions of space travel aren't realistic, according to Space.com. One show that accurately depicted the harsh reality of current space travel was SyFy's series, "The Expanse." Based on the sci-fi novel series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, "The Expanse" has been a quiet darling in the science community because of its dedication to getting the physics of space travel as accurate as possible. While a classic science fiction TV series like "Star Trek" makes hurtling through the universe seem pleasant, "The Expanse" depicts it much more accurately. As Public Radio International noted, "Spaceships aren't sleek and responsive, and space isn't sexy — it's downright inhospitable." Naren Shankar, the show's executive producer, told PRI, "The issues of air and water and just protection from that environment are constantly an issue in the show." Body Swapping The Netflix series "Altered Carbon" has taken topics in biology and neuroscience to the outskirts of current possibilities, but it isn't that far off. "Altered Carbon" explores the world of body swapping, where one's consciousness can be uploaded into new bodies, called "sleeves." These sleeves go on living the life of the consciousness now inhabiting the body regardless of what they were in their old sleeves — a child could become a middle-aged woman, or a man could wake up centuries after his death in an entirely new body. But wouldn't human consciousness be too deep and profound to be boiled down to a few uploadable cells and neurons? Not necessarily. Anil Seth, a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience, explained to SyFyWire that consciousness is "any kind of subjective experience" and lives in a series of neurons that produce memories when activated. Transferring neurons to a new body could be as simple as mapping and recording them. Seth explained that, in the case of "Altered Carbon," the problem lies in the transferring. As SyFyWire puts it, "A person's sense of self is not just a set of memories but is tied to their physical body. So if human consciousness could be transferred then it would 'massively' alter their personal identity." Even transferring just the brain to a new body doesn't ensure that the consciousness will remain the same. Recreating Memories The same concept holds true for visual reconstruction. In season 4 of "Black Mirror," visual reconstruction, or the concept of gathering the memories of others for viewing, is explored. In the series, this method is used for tracking and surveillance, and to aid in criminal investigations. Constraint-free neural image reconstruction was recently tested by a Chinese research team. They "found that the reconstructed images resembled the natural stimuli, especially in position and shape. The experimental results suggest that hierarchical visual features can effectively express the visual perception process of [the] human brain." The science journal Nature also reported on a technique called multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA), which can decode the brain by uploading fMRI data to software that learns and assesses neural patterns that coincide with certain thoughts and experiences.  While some of the best sci-fi shows have taken more liberties than others, a few take their depictions of science very seriously and do their best to be as realistic as possible. Even if they aren't 100 percent accurate, promoting the sciences is important. More interest translates into a bigger and brighter future for the world of research. If you're interested in making scientific research your life's work, consider a career with Northrop Grumman.

The Reality of Science Fiction TV Series

"Bird Box" has been a massive success for Netflix. According to The Verge, more than 45 million accounts streamed the movie in the week after its premiere, and the difficult scenarios faced by the film's blindfolded protagonist proved so popular that viewers have been covering their own eyes to attempt similar feats. The risky nature of these "'Bird Box' Challenges" prompted Netflix to post a Twitter warning. Their mass appeal ties neatly into evolving discussions about the nature of the movie's antagonists: Some speculate that instead of aliens or demons, a mass psychogenic illness explains the events of the film. So let's dive in — when it comes to "Bird Box" theories, does a mass mental illness make sense? The Story So Far If you're not familiar with the "Bird Box" phenomenon, here's a quick primer. *Spoiler Alert* A mysterious event — called "The Problem" — causes waves of suicides across the world. Upon seeing something nearby, most affected individuals attempt to kill themselves; when The Problem comes to Los Angeles, main character Malorie flees to a safe house. Other members of the house speculate that invisible or alien entities are responsible for the outbreak, and the windows are covered in an attempt to protect those inside. Other survivors approach the house — some have seen these "entities" and, instead of killing themselves, attempt to force others to view them as well. Eventually, group members blindfold themselves for safety. Though invisible, the entities drive Malorie's pet birds into a frenzy. It is later established that the entities can cause gusts of wind and speak to blindfolded individuals in voices they find familiar, attempting to convince them to remove their blindfolds.  Because the entities are never seen and their method of action is never explained, many "Bird Box" theories have emerged: Characters in the film speculate that ancient demons have found humanity wanting, while others suggest aliens are attempting to conquer the planet. Alternative Explanation: Mass Psychogenic Illness Mass psychogenic illness (MPI) offers a potential scientific remedy to this movie madness. Also called mass sociogenic illness, MPI is defined by SAGE Journals as "a nervous system disturbance characterized by the rapid spread of illness signs and symptoms among members of a cohesive social group, for which there is no corresponding organic origin." In other words, one member of group begins exhibiting strange or dangerous behavior, and others quickly follow. As noted by Family Doctor, these illnesses have occurred for hundreds of years around the world but are often poorly documented. Common symptoms include:   Headache  Dizziness  Faintness  Weakness  Feelings of choking  Often, these illnesses have environmental "triggers" — smells, sights or sounds that make members of a group believe they are in danger. Combined with sudden physical reactions from the initial observer, mass psychogenic events can quickly spread across large groups. Cultural Impact Several notable instances of MPI have been documented, including the infamous "Dancing Plague" of 1518. As noted by Ozy, a woman named Frau Troffea began manically dancing in the streets of Strasbourg and wouldn't stop. Others joined her over the following weeks, and some died when they refused to stop for food or water. MPI also appeared more recently. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, in November 1998, a high school teacher in Tennessee noticed a "gasoline-like" smell and quickly displayed signs of headache, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness. Over the next few days, hundreds of staff and students were hospitalized with similar symptoms, but no physical cause was found despite extensive government investigations. NCBI describes another MPI case: In October 2011, teenage girls in Leroy, New York, all developed "facial tics, muscle twitching and garbled speech." Folk theories attribute the cause to a local dump releasing toxic fumes, but no definitive cause has been identified. Thinking Outside the Box Could mass psychogenic illness account for the mass hysteria and suicidal behavior seen in "Bird Box"? Some of the basic framework certainly applies — i.e., humans living in social groups exposed to sudden behavioral changes related to environmental stimuli. If we accept the film's narrative conceit, however, the theory of MPI becomes harder to defend. Some of those exposed to the stimuli exhibit physical changes; those who don't commit suicide display modified irises, which other survivors check for prior to granting safe house entry. It's evident that other animals can sense the presence of the stimuli. While gusts of wind could be misattributed to intention rather than random physical phenomena, when characters in the film hear a voice encouraging them to remove their blindfolds, the voice is shown as external and malicious rather than as internal narrative. Last but not least is the problem of free will. While MPIs can cause observable physical effects such as nausea, muscle twitching and shortness of breath, there's no indication that they can cause overwhelming suicidal thoughts or remove free will. While some of those afflicted with the Dancing Plague did refuse to stop and eat, many survived by taking breaks at night and resuming the next day. The core concept of "Bird Box" rests on the idea that whatever force — alien, demon or biological agent — is present in this fictional universe can cause people to experience thoughts of such intensity and despair that they choose to end their own lives rather than live with what they see. No recorded MPIs include this type of forced action compelled by overwhelming emotion. Flight of Fancy Bottom line? While characters in "Bird Box" display some of the characteristics associated with mass psychogenic illnesses, the physical changes caused by observed stimuli and the sudden, intrusive nature of suicidal thoughts make it likely that a far more fictional — and sparsely defined — threat accounts for this terrifying world of blindfolds and birds. If you're experiencing suicidal feelings, get help: Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433.

"Bird Box" Theories: Is Mass Psychogenic Illness the Real Monster Here?

"The Twilight Zone" reboot, helmed by Jordan Peele, present-day master of satirical, socially critical horror, has everyone abuzz. Even if you've never seen an episode of "The Twilight Zone" — the seminal science-fiction series created by Rod Serling that ran from 1959 to 1964 — you can probably hear its iconic, unsettling theme song in your head. You can probably picture Serling in his trademark suit, cigarette in hand. And you probably know that "the twilight zone" is shorthand for a situation where the line between fantasy and reality blurs and things start to seem ... not wrong, exactly, but not quite right either.  "The Twilight Zone" is widely hailed as one of the best sci-fi shows while also being years, if not decades, ahead of its time. Incorporating sci-fi elements and touching on themes of racism, nuclear destruction, space exploration and general societal anxiety, it seems just as relevant today as ever. Let's take a look back at some of the original episodes and consider how likely humanity is to make these particular stops in the Twilight Zone.  (This article contains *spoilers* for the original series.)  Stop the Earth, I Want to Get Off  Between environmental issues, political tensions and social problems, the impulse to leave Earth, find a new planet and start over is understandable. It was equally understandable in 1960, when "The Twilight Zone" episode "Third from the Sun" aired for the first time. The episode follows a man named William who knows nuclear annihilation is imminent. Desperate to save his family, he hatches a plan to steal an experimental spacecraft his company has been building and get off the planet. He enlists a friend to help, and both men eventually make it past security and onto the craft, families in tow. When William's daughter asks where they're going, he explains their destination is a world not unlike the one they're leaving, located third from the sun in its solar system â€¦ a place called Earth.  Today, when we think about setting up shop on other planets, we tend to look close to home — specifically, at Mars. NASA cautions, however, that colonizing Mars would be complicated. Even if humans managed to get there safely, Mars doesn't have an ozone layer, and we don't know how much ultraviolet radiation makes it to the planet's surface. Then there's the matter of building infrastructure. Rather than transporting the necessary materials to Mars from Earth, it's likely that 3D printing would play a major role in colonization. And, even if we resolved these issues, there's currently no legally binding way to buy land on Mars.  Still, it's compelling to consider. According to Megan Ray Nichols of Astronomy.com, figuring out how to thrive on Mars could make it "easier to expand out into the asteroid belt and beyond."  Is It Hot In Here, or Are We Getting Closer to the Sun?  When we consider ways the world could end, a top contender is the sun turning into a red giant. According to Scientific American, if this happened, it wouldn't be for billions of years. But what if a sun-related catastrophe caused the end of life as we know it much, much sooner? Say, in a matter of days?  That's the premise behind Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun," which aired in November 1961. The Earth's orbit has been altered and, as a result, the planet is drawing ever closer to the sun. As the temperature rises, Norma and her landlady, Mrs. Bronson, watch their building's inhabitants leave for cooler climates. Eventually, just the two of them are left. Mrs. Bronson begins to show signs of emotional strain, begging Norma, an artist, to "paint something cool." She does, but when she shows it to Mrs. Bronson, the paint begins to melt, and Norma collapses. The scene shifts to show Norma sleeping on a couch as snow falls outside the window. Mrs. Bronson is talking to a doctor about how Norma's fever has finally broken. They then begin to discuss the news of the day: Earth's orbit has shifted and the planet is moving farther away from the sun, which will eventually lead to its destruction by freezing.  How likely is either of these scenarios to occur? According to Christopher Springob, a research assistant professor at the University of Western Australia, Earth is, in fact, moving very slowly away from the sun. However, the distance by which it's moving is tiny — roughly a micrometer, or one ten-thousandth of a centimeter, per year.  A Parallel Universe, Right in Your Own Bedroom  Perhaps one of the most influential episodes of the original "The Twilight Zone" series was "Little Girl Lost," in which six-year-old Tina somehow becomes trapped in another dimension. Her parents and dog can hear her calling for help, but they can't see her. Tina's father, Chris, calls his friend Bill, a physicist, for help. They look around the house and eventually find an opening to what Bill explains is a fourth dimension. (By now, the family dog has fallen into it as well.) Chris goes in after Tina and the dog, and Bill pulls them out through the opening and back into reality as we know it.  The concept of interdimensional travel has turned out to be a pop culture favorite. The Simpsons paid homage to "Little Girl Lost" in "Homer3," a segment of its 1995 Halloween episode. More recently, Netflix smash hit "Stranger Things" has revitalized interest in multiverse theory.  But is there really such a thing as a fourth dimension? (It's worth noting that, rightly or wrongly, time is often considered the fourth dimension of space.) According to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, string theory implies that there might actually be six additional spatial dimensions; however, they may be "curled up so tiny that we have never realized their existence." Smithsonian.com concurs, citing recent research showing that if other dimensions exist, they must be smaller than 16 nanometers. For reference, a nanometer is one billionth — that's billion with a "b" — of a meter, meaning you won't be falling into one of those dimensions anytime soon.  Although early reviews of "The Twilight Zone" reboot are mixed, there's no question that the legacy of the original, one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, has endured. To borrow Serling's words, as long as we can imagine the unimaginable, we'll continue to explore "the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition" â€¦ also known as the Twilight Zone. 

Next Stop: "The Twilight Zone" Reboot

Key Takeaways  The simulation argument suggests that our reality is a simulation run by a supercomputer. Neil deGrasse Tyson suggests that the odds we live in a simulated reality are 50/50. If we are living in a simulation, glitches or errors should increase over time, possibly manifesting as strange or unexplained events.Are we living in a computer simulation? Is everything in our universe — from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy — nothing more than a computer science project on some omnipotent being's hard drive? At first glance, the notion of simulated reality seems ludicrous, but consider advances humankind has already made in computer gaming, virtual reality and robotics. Are we inadvertently strengthening the case for simulation theory?The Simulation ArgumentAlso called the simulation hypothesis, the argument here is simple: All reality is actually an artificial simulation, most likely one run by an advanced supercomputer.In just a few short decades, innovators have developed devices with the capacity to learn and mimic many basic characteristics of human intelligence. If computing power continues to increase along its existing trajectory, it's possible future humans (or other intelligent life) could easily create a universe simulation.Support for Simulation TheorySeveral well-known scientists and pioneers have expressed their support for simulation theory. As noted by Scientific American, during the 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson said the odds of our universe as simulated reality were 50-50. He pointed to the large intelligence gap between chimpanzees and humans despite our 98 percent DNA overlap, arguing that a creature many times our intelligence could both exist and potentially run simulations.Other arguments for simulation theory come from philosopher Nick Bostrum and theoretical physicist James Gates. In 2003, Bostrum suggested that advanced civilizations with massive computing power might decide to run simulations of their ancestors — us — and, given the sophistication of the technology, we wouldn't know that we're nothing more than computer programs. Gates, meanwhile, found "error-correcting codes" — similar in principle to those used in Web browsers — while studying equations about electrons and quarks, said Scientific American. Even more concerning if you're worried about a universe simulation? It's almost impossible to prove we're in a real universe because any "evidence" could be part of the program.Evidence of a "Real" Existence?Despite solid philosophical and theoretical arguments, a team from Oxford University has found reasonably solid evidence that our universe is more than a mobile application. The proof? Attempting to model specific quantum phenomena such as the Hall effect quickly gets out of hand — according to Cosmos, modeling just a few hundred electrons using the quantum Monte Carlo technique requires more atoms than exist in the universe. As noted by Fast Company, storing just 20 spins of one particle using this model would require one terabyte of RAM.The Nature of RealitySo what happens if we're living in a simulation? Some experts theorize that as the program continues to run, problems will emerge — glitches in the matrix, so to speak. Consider the 2017 Oscars gaffe, when old-Hollywood musical "La La Land" was mistakenly given the award for best picture. Cast and crew arrived on stage to deliver their speeches while chaos ensued behind the scenes, culminating in a mea culpa that announced the real winner: "Moonlight."What does this say about simulation theory? According to The New Yorker, some philosophers — such as David Chalmers of NYU — suggest that increasingly bizarre events in the "real" world may be evidence that our universe is someone else's simulation. Beyond universe simulation, these events may represent divergent "points" in reality; in another universe the mix-up didn't happen. In another reality, "La La Land" actually won.Every choice, no matter how minuscule, could create its own universe. Another option is multiverse theory, where our universe is just one of many with its own set of physical laws and properties. And what's more simulation-like than running multiple instances of something to see which one works best?Mind Over MatterFrom the standpoint of human existence and the quest for a greater understanding of the universe, this simulation debate is largely academic. We're still seemingly gifted with free will, have the power to investigate our own reality and discover what (if any) fundamental scientific truths emerge. If we're nothing but a simulation, the outcome of our efforts may change but this doesn't lessen their impact.Is This Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?Maybe Queen asked the right question in "Bohemian Rhapsody" — is life just fantasy? While strange happenings and the oddly ordered nature of fundamental mathematics points to the possibility of a computer-generated existence, recent quantum research suggests a universe too complex for simulation.Could we create our own simulated reality? Read more about our work on AR and VR.

Is Our Entire Universe Just a Simulated Reality?

Key Takeaways  Parallel universes may exist in other dimensions, seperated from ours by distances smaller than atomic nuclei. These other dimensions may interact with our universe through gravity, but may not have the same laws of nature. Passing quickly through the event horizon of a black hole may offer a path to alternate dimensions.Last year we looked at multiverse theory and the highly speculative — but very real — science behind what has become a pop culture phenomenon. It isn't just "Stranger Things" anymore. Interdimensional travel, and the portals that might allow it, are everywhere these days.So, how to open a portal to another dimension?When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Get GoingOn one level, it turns out to be easier than you might think. Simply open your browser and search for "interdimensional portals" or "multiverse portals," or whatever similar phrase comes to mind. The search results alone will take you to some seriously strange places.Instructions on how to make a multiverse portal are, sadly, a bit disappointing (they're for a computer game module). But interdimensional portals also turn out to be a subject of interest for many websites dealing with religion and mysticism.And, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper, London has gained a reputation as the Grand Central Station — or at least the Clapham Junction — of interdimensional travel. Portals are popping up all over town, and a mysterious blog is keeping tabs on them.Inevitably, too, as Vulture informs us, interdimensional travel in movies is getting bashed as the lazy screenwriter's way to avoid coming up with a fresh plot.The Science: Abstract So what does the science say, and how does the science of interdimensional travel stack up to the Upside Down in "Stranger Things?"As cosmologist Lisa Randall told Smithsonian, parallel universes may in fact exist in other dimensions, separated from our own familiar surroundings by distances vastly smaller than the size of an atomic nucleus. But as Randall cautions, "It's not just a carbon copy of our universe, which a lot of people think of when they hear that phrase."The particular corners of the multiverse that Randall is exploring may interact with our own universe only through gravity. Such a universe probably does not have bad guy versions of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, but its existence, and "leakage" between universes, could help explain some basic facts about our own universe, such as why gravity is so much weaker than other basic forces of nature, like magnetism.Start With a Handy Black HoleUnderstanding gravity could be helpful in all sorts of ways, but what we really want is adventure portals that we can go through. And, says National Science Foundation physicist Gaurav Khanna at Futurism.com, "That fantasy may be closer to reality than previously imagined."Using black holes as the solution for how to open multiverse portals has been popular in science fiction for decades, but there was a complication. The intense gravity of a black hole, and resulting tidal forces at its event horizon, would squish people and spaceships into something far finer than jelly.But it turns out, says Khanna, that this is not always the case. If a black hole is large enough, and spinning rapidly, passing through the event horizon might hardly be noticeable. He compares it to passing your hand rapidly over a candle flame; you barely feel a moment's heat.This still leaves would-be interdimensional explorers with the challenge of finding a suitable black hole. Alas, they will probably need to go many light-years in order to reach it, far more difficult than, say, a trip to London.No one ever said that interdimensional travel would be easy. What is remarkable, though — in fact, what is astonishing — is that scientists, not just science fiction writers, are starting to think and talk about it, which is enough to start us thinking about travel plans.See how we're improving this universe with with brains, brawn, and beauty. 

Do Doors to Interdimensional Travel Exist?

 Frequency hopping, a Hedy Lamarr invention, paved the way for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and more, but she is better known as a beautiful actress. During her film career in the 1930s and 1940s she starred alongside the likes of Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland and Lana Turner. Frequently typecast as a temptress, Lamarr grew bored with the uncomplicated roles, so when she wasn't on set, she challenged herself by inventing new traffic signals and improving tissue box designs. She was a "maker" ahead of her time.Hedy Lamarr: Self-Taught Inventor Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler to a non-practicing Jewish family in Austria in 1914, she married an Austrian weapons manufacturer when she was still a teenager with a budding acting career. He was 14 years older than her, and known for being controlling and possessive. She frequently accompanied her husband at business meetings where fascists and Nazis discussed military technology such as remote-controlled weapons. While hosting extravagant parties that were attended by Mussolini, Hitler and their associates, Lamarr heard the men discussing how they would detect and jam the radio signals that American aircraft and weapons used to communicate. Years later, Lamarr used this dinner party intelligence as the foundation for a secret communication system to help defeat the Nazis in World War II. After divorcing her first husband and moving to the United States to pursue acting, she invented frequency hopping encryption, a radio-guidance system for torpedoes that prevented jamming and detection. Lamarr partnered with composer George Antheil to develop a method that used a piano roll to switch between 88 frequencies. While conventional communication could easily be intercepted, frequency hopping makes jamming much harder, because both the transmitter and receiver "hop" to different frequencies. Since the sequence of frequencies is known by the transmitter and receiver ahead of time, it would seem random to any eavesdroppers. In 1942, she and Antheil were granted a patent for their invention. The patent explains: "Briefly, our system as adapted for radio control of a remote craft, employs a pair of synchronous records, one at the transmitting station and one at the receiving station, which change the tuning of the transmitting and receiving apparatus from time to time, so that without knowledge of the records an enemy would be unable to determine at what frequency a controlling impulse would be sent."The Fate of Frequency Hopping Lamarr's goal was to contribute to the war effort, but the Navy didn't take her piano-based invention seriously at the time. Instead, they advised her to focus her efforts on using her fame to sell war bonds (which she did — quite successfully). Two decades later, the Navy debuted a similar frequency hopping device during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Frequency hopping devices are still used by today's governments. Although the technology was originally designed for military use, frequency hopping led to the commercialization of the electromagnetic spectrum. Lamarr never profited from her invention because her patent expired decades before wireless communication proliferated. Her idea is the foundation for today's wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and CDMA (code division multiple access) communications. In fact, frequency-hopping spread spectrum transmission will be even more important in the future, as demand for wireless communication increases and the electromagnetic spectrum remains finite. The technique prevents intentional jamming, but it also helps minimize any unintentional interference caused by an overcrowded spectrum. Radios that integrate all radio-frequency functions will be essential for wireless communication. Now that nearly any device can be connected to the internet, jamming and wireless hacking are a looming concern. Electronic warfare — the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum — could be the next military crisis. This could range from hacking and cyberattacks to high-power microwave attacks. To prepare, Northrop Grumman is developing solutions such as SIGINT (signals intelligence), which involves gathering intelligence by intercepting electronic signals. Now that radar techniques have improved, even stealth aircraft can be detected, and radar frequencies will be overcome by serious competitors. Air survivability in these situations will have to come from other approaches, such as electronic defense against incoming missiles. Pilots will have to learn to trust people who are not in the raid with them to perform mission-critical functions from remote desktops. Today and in the future, popular consumer gadgets as well as defense technology will continue to depend on this Hedy Lamarr invention. Although she didn't receive the recognition she deserved for her innovations in techology in her lifetime, Hedy Lamarr was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

Not Just a Movie Star: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Go Back to Hedy Lamarr Invention

Key Takeaways  Time as the fourth dimension leads neatly into Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity to explain how time relates to space. A fifth dimension helps tie together gravity and electromagnetism. Scientists posit that ten dimensions exist, plus string theory, to explain the physics of the universe.We have known about the ordinary three dimensions of space — length, width and height (or to the mathematically minded, x, y, z) for ages. At least, suggests the University of Cambridge, since the days of the pyramids — the ancient Egyptians could not have designed them without an understanding of three-dimensional shapes.A few thousand years after the pyramids, Albert Einstein demonstrated that time is the fourth dimension, which only goes in one direction. No doubling back for a redo. But what is the fifth dimension that we keep hearing about?Dimensions GaloreBefore we get lost in a multidimensional freeway interchange, Sciencing gives us a little road map into this whole dimension business. The first three were taken for granted. Hardly anyone but pure mathematicians thought much about additional dimensions until Einstein came along. He showed that treating time as a fourth dimension was the key to understanding why the speed of light is the same for every observer, no matter how fast you are going.The result was Einstein's theory of special relativity. And Einstein's success at explaining the relationship between time and space, electricity and magnetism, also triggered a dimension chase in the theoretical physics community. Gravity still had to be brought into the fold, along with the strong and weak nuclear forces.Two theorists, Theodor Kaluza from Germany and Oskar Klein from Sweden, independently proposed mathematical theories in which a fifth dimension would elegantly tie together electromagnetism and gravity. And today, string theory, a prominent school of thought in physics, argues that 10 dimensions are needed to pull everything together.Pill Bugs But if all these dimensions really exist, where are they? Oskar Klein had an explanation. As Sciencing colorfully puts it, he "came up with the idea that the fifth dimension is invisible to the human eye, as it is minuscule and curls up on itself like a pill bug rolls up under threat."Out on the frontiers of science, however, where scientists actually do their work, science does not speak with one voice. Scientists disagree with each other all the time. When Gizmodo asked physicists about their opinions on the fifth dimension, their answers varied widely. And that is before we even get to mathematical theories about the sixth, seventh, or eighth dimensions, on up to (depending on who you ask) 10 dimensions, or perhaps even an infinite number of them.Doors to Imagination — and BeyondAt least the physicists more or less agree on what they disagree about. But in pop culture, the subject of "what is the fifth dimension?" has gained additional dimensions beyond just theoretical physics. When we speak of doors to interdimensional travel, in London or elsewhere, the worlds these doors are envisioned as opening onto seem only loosely related to the formal, mathematical dimensions that the physicists and mathematicians play with.On the frontier, not only do scientists often disagree; the lines between science, imagination and metaphor can all get slightly blurred. A little bit of ambiguity that helps keep all of us on our toes.Discover more beyond our own planet.

What Is the Fifth Dimension?

Key Takeaways  "Shadow biospheres" may have existed in the past or still exist on Earth and contain life we can't easily detect. Life in these biospheres may be use arsenic instead of phosphorous to generate energy. It's possible that extrasolar life may be silicon rather than carbon-based.Where is everybody? In a universe of at least 100 billion galaxies, why hasn't anyone stopped by?The answer depends on who you ask. Some favor the notion of time and distance — extraterrestrial life may not know we're out here, or may be similarly limited to their local solar system by the finite speed of light. Others make more dire predictions for the fate of advanced life in the universe: Catastrophic events such as war, disease or stellar bad luck that effectively eliminate evolving life once it reaches a certain threshold.But what if the truth lies closer to home? What if invisible aliens exist among us, already here but unseen by human eyes? Astrobiologist Samantha Rolfe of the University of Hertfordshire took this idea and ran with it, exploring the possibility of a "shadow biosphere" capable of supporting alien life on Earth — just not life as we know it.What We Do in the ShadowsPhosphorus represents a key biochemical building block for RNA and DNA formation in earthbound life. All organisms — plant and animal — require a source of phosphorous to survive, despite its relative scarcity. As noted by Matthew Pasek of the University of South Florida, "phosphorous is the least abundant element cosmically relative to its presence in biology."The shadow biosphere theory postulates that other forms of life may exist alongside known organisms but operate in ways we don't recognize as life. Consider the Mono Lake microorganisms, which use arsenic rather than phosphorus to generate essential energy — while their arsenic adaptation stems from very specific environmental conditions, it's also possible that larger-scale shadow biospheres have existed throughout Earth's history. According to Astrobiology Magazine, Earth could have had several "cradles of life" over its 4 billion year history; some may have collapsed as environmental conditions changed while others might have been overrun by our phosphorus-loving progenitors.It's also possible that meteorite impacts — or covert alien landings — introduced life into our ecosystem that required a novel energy source, and shadow biospheres have been humming along undetected and undisturbed for centuries or even millennia.What does this mean for our theory of invisible aliens? The good news is that a proof-of-concept shadow biosphere already exists in arsenic-using organisms. The bad news? While shadow-biological microbes might be alien to us they're probably not from a galaxy far, far away.The Uncanny (Silicon) ValleyWhile energy creation is one way to approach the search for life, it's also worth taking a look at our biggest chemical contributor: carbon. All life on Earth is carbon-based, since carbon makes it easy to create the strong double and triple bonds needed for cell walls, and is also soluble in water — another essential life-encouraging compound — when converted to carbon dioxide.But what if carbon isn't all it's cracked up to be? Rolfe considers the possibility of an alternative biochemistry based on silicon. As she points out, silicon is widely available on Earth's surface and — just like carbon — has four electrons to create bonds with other atoms. There are challenges: Silicon is heavier, has a tough time creating strong bonds and isn't water-soluble. Still, scientists have demonstrated that it's possible to create bacterial proteins that bond with silicon, effectively creating tiny, silicon-based life.The chances of silicon-based visitors, however, remains slim here on Earth. Still, there's speculation that intrasolar moons or exosolar planets could have a chemical makeup that favors silicon life over its carbon companion. Here, climbing out of the terrestrial-focused valley of common life classification means thinking outside the biological box to prioritize the collective action of potential aliens rather than their chemical composition.Interstellar Rest StopWhat if our invisible aliens aren't living among us in shadow biospheres or using different building blocks? What if they've already visited — and aren't coming back? What if they're not aliens at all?As noted by Business Insider, it's possible that interstellar travelers visited Earth billions of years ago when their own star system was closer to ours. Maybe they watched the first organic molecules form, or walked among the dinosaurs. Perhaps they accidentally nudged an asteroid toward Earth on their way out of town? Other experts like Harvard's Avi Loeb wonder if strange interstellar objects like 'Oumuaumua — the first known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, detected in late 2017 — were of alien origin and sent to Earth deliberately.Go deeper into we're-not-alone-out-here speculation and you'll find theories like the one from Michael Masters of Montana Technological University in Butte. He notes that while the collective evidence for unidentified flying objects (UFOs) continues to grow, details on actual extraterrestrials are almost entirely absent. He posits that the seeming existence of advanced technology without alien operators could suggest a future in which humanity discovers time travel, humans regularly visit the past and occasionally make the mistake of letting their advanced craft get noticed. Since they're physically and visually human, any crash-landings or future-people infiltrations would go unnoticed. In effect, they're temporal visitors; aliens by eons rather than elements.We Are Not AloneAre we the only house in the galactic neighborhood? Maybe not. Although shadow biospheres and invisible aliens aren't the probable solutions to our carbon-based isolation, they're critical steps in changing the way we view life, the universe and everything. Broader perspectives and bigger thoughts make it more likely that we'll recognize the telltale signs of life — even if it's not what we're expecting.Is an alien invasion imminent? Find out what the UAPS report has to say about extraterrestrial ingress.

Hiding in Plain Sight? The Argument for Invisible Aliens

Key Takeaways  In a parallel universe, time could flow backwards. Parallel universes, alternate universes and the infinite multiverse theories all arise from inflation that happened after the Big Bang. Clickbait and paywalls can create sensational headlines; read with care!If alternate universes actually exist, perhaps the writers and editors in those parallel worlds take great pains to avoid confusion in their articles about scientific discoveries.Confusion is what happened in our world when several news outlets reported a startling finding from NASA-funded cosmic experiments in Antarctica. A parallel universe had been found, those stories reported, and it looked as if time was running backward there.It's unclear if in this other reality backward meant that we (presuming it was, in fact, another version of us) started life in old age and got younger, just as Brad Pitt did in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." But any further discussion about time moving in the other direction, or about the alternate universe itself, proved to be anti-climactic because the stories about this discovery were a bit sensationalized. There is no other universe. For now, at least, we're relegated to living in our known reality here on good ol' Earth.Stymied by a PaywallAccusing the news outlets of negligence would be too harsh of a judgement. Their collective error appears to be nothing more than a rush to post stories with clickbait headlines."NASA scientists detect parallel universe 'next to ours' where time runs backward," declared a headline in a British tabloid. These stories went on to recount how the scientists in Antarctica had detected another universe where the laws of physics ran counter to ours. They got this idea from an April 2020 New Scientist article.That article reported a scientific finding in Antarctica and indeed mentioned an alternate universe, but it wasn't technically claiming that the scientists had found one. The article instead teased — much as a child stretches the truth just a bit but doesn't lie — the possibility of a separate universe."We may have spotted a parallel universe going backwards in time," the New Scientist headline read. And the subhead advanced the possibility: "Strange particles observed by an experiment in Antarctica could be evidence of an alternative reality where everything is upside down."The New Scientist article is behind a paywall, so journalists from other outlets seemingly read just enough to believe NASA was onto something real. It didn't help that the last sentence of the story, before the paywall starts, offered one more tease: "It is perhaps the most mind-melting idea ever to have emerged from the Antarctic ice ­­– but it might just be true…"If only those behind the follow-up stories had full access to New Scientist stories. As University of Hawai'i at Mānoa experimental particle physicist Peter Gorham, who is the lead investigator on the Antarctica project, told ScienceAlert, "It seems that for this tabloid science story, some speculative theoretical physics which might have had distant roots in plausibility was amplified for sensational reasons."Tracking Mysterious NeutrinosWhat really happened in Antarctica? Well, a team of researchers whose work is partially funded by NASA are "listening" to the cosmos and finding high-energy particles known as neutrinos.As CNET aptly describes, neutrinos pass through most solid objects without detection, as many as 100 trillion of them passing through the human body every second. They don't interact with matter, but if they happen to collide with an atom, neutrinos create a shower of detectable particles, enabling scientists to trace their origin in the universe.To listen to the cosmos and track neutrinos in Antarctica, the scientists are using an array of radio antennas attached to a helium balloon that flies 37,000 meters above the ice. Throughout its years-long project, the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) has detected neutrinos from a strange angle — strange as in they arrive through the Earth's interior, rather than coming from space."The unusual ANITA events have been known and discussed since 2016," Ron Ekers, an honorary fellow at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, told CNET. "After four years there has been no satisfactory explanation of the anomalous events seen by ANITA so this is very frustrating."With no clear explanation for the origin of the neutrinos, confusion and conflation led to the recent round of stories pointing to a parallel universe. CNN recently reported that the guilty media outlets were conflating the theories of Gorham and his team with the ideas of physicists outside of the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna project. Those on the outside have speculated about alternate universes. Of course, New Scientist is also on the hook for its misleading presentation outside of the paywall.What's Going On There?It would seem that more than a paywall separates us from alternate universes, that is, if they even exist. As Forbes noted, the idea of parallel universes was first conceived through the study of quantum physics, but they are hard to prove. Still, it's fun to think about the possibilities. The "many-worlds" theory of quantum mechanics holds that all the outcomes that can possibly occur actually happen, but only one outcome unfolds in each universe. That means if more than one universe exists, William Shakespeare left us a treasure of written words, but in another universe he was a baker of bread.Another way of examining the possibilities of alternate universes is through the infinite multiverse theory, which arises from inflation that happened after the Big Bang. For cosmologists, the multiverse theory describes the sum total of all possible universes, while for us common folk it has come to mean any universe that we might encounter other than our own.A Tufts University physics professor stretched out the multiverse theory by offering that a replica of a person is on a replica of Earth somewhere else. A Stanford Magazine article from 2007 had even more fun by positing that we are the same in another universe but speaking different languages, while in another universe we have different careers because we followed different passions. If that's true, maybe journalists in another realm were a bit more careful in reporting about neutrinos in Antarctica.Discover how advanced technology and innovation uses impossible as a starting point to accurately explore our world and the universe.

Despite the Hype, There's No Proof of a Parallel Universe

Key Takeaways  Telekinesis (Greek for "mind" and "motion") is the ability to move objects with your mind. There's no evidence of telekinesis in humans; popular "telekinetics" like Uri Geller have been debunked as frauds. The development of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) may provide powers akin to telekinesis by giving users direct control over computers and other devices.The human mind is an amazing thing: 100 billion neurons make it possible for us to walk, talk, think, create, build — the list is virtually endless. Human nature, meanwhile, inspires us to want more, to push the boundaries of brainpower and discover new skills. Some of the most sought-after of those skills include telekinesis, an ability that lets us interact with physical objects using only our thoughts.The hope for evolved human potential has spawned a host of pop-culture characters capable of wielding psychokinetic powers with both benign and deadly intent. From wise-beyond-her-years Matilda Wormwood to the aggrieved Carrie White — not to mention the entire Jedi order — telekinetic powers occupy a special place in the human cultural lexicon. The concept is also getting a signal boost thanks to 80s-era TV hit "Stranger Things" and one of its powerful protagonists, Eleven. (Heads up: this article contains "Stranger Things" spoilers.)Could humans eventually evolve abilities like Eleven? What is telekinesis, exactly? Do documented cases already exist? What role does technology play in these (possible) next stages of human evolution? Read on — or use your telekinetic abilities to instantly download the article into your brain. Either way works, but if you choose the latter, do us all a favor and take some detailed notes on how you did it, OK?Talking TelekinesisWhat is telekinesis? The term comes from the Greek words for "mind" and "motion." At its most basic, telekinesis — also known as psychokinesis (PK) — is the power to move objects with your mind. Strength often varies from user to user depending on the origin of their powers, training, age, and so on. As noted by Bustle, the character of Eleven in "Stranger Things" is able to throw large objects, turn electronic devices on and off, break glass and affect the bodily functions of other human beings. She's also able to access other dimensions — including the Void and the Upside Down — which appear to overlap one another in time (and possibly space) in a kind of multiverse configuration.The caveat? For most telekinetics, performing feats of mind over matter is incredibly taxing: Luke Skywalker struggled to lift his X-Wing out of Dagobah's swamp (though Yoda had no problem), and Eleven gets nose bleeds whenever she pushes her limits. When we last saw the "Stranger Things" gang, Eleven used her powers to close the portal between our world and the Upside Down, trapping the Mind Flayer on the other side and protecting the citizens of Hawkins. For its part, the Flayer looked on from its Upside Down domain, watching the Snow Ball dance and keeping an eye on those meddlesome kids.While much of the show has focused on Eleven's personal development after her Hawkins Lab breakout, she's also demonstrated considerable telekinetic evolution, suggesting that her powers aren't done developing. Sure, they're the result of unethical CIA experiments and sensory deprivation, but the groundwork is there: What if Eleven is just a small-screen simulacrum of powerful humans that have existed in hiding throughout history?A Brief History of Mind MagicSpoiler alert: There's no documented evidence that telekinetic powers are real. A quick search will turn up hundreds of videos online, but they simply don't have the scientific rigor to offer anything of substance. As noted by neuroscience professor Mark Breedlove in a recent EarthSky article, while "Stranger Things" does capture the 1980s government fascination with discovering human mind-powers, real life outcomes didn't match those of the show. No conclusive evidence was ever found to support telekinetic abilities.Some well-known "telekinetics" like Uri Geller have gained infamy for using sleight-of-hand illusions to replicate mental powers, but this hasn't dissuaded telekinetic studies entirely. As noted by Live Science, researchers have shifted their effort to "micro-PK," which is the ability to affect very small objects or outcomes over time. Again, these efforts have been unsuccessful.The Next Level?So maybe moving objects with our minds is out of reach right now — but what about in the future? Could the next stages of human evolution include PK abilities? From a purely biological standpoint, probably not. There's nothing in our environment that would compel that kind of evolution, and since we can't identify which genes — if any — might govern Eleven-type powers, attempting to modify genetic code would be unethical at best and incredibly dangerous at worst.But it's not all bad news. As noted by Psychology Today, technology could help bridge the gap between mind and matter by leveraging brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to allow direct control over computers and other connected devices without the need for tactile or voice interaction. Some efforts focus on creating direct brain/device links to treat conditions such as blindness or paralysis, while others are developing thought-to-text solutions that allow users to instantly compose texts or emails. No, it's not exactly Eleven closing the portal to the Upside Down, but remember — she started out crushing Coke cans in a hospital gown. Mind-meld emails might seem unimpressive but could pave the way for a brave new world of telekinetic powers.Bottom line? "Stranger Things" is a nostalgic treat and Eleven is amazing, but don't expect to follow her gray matter road map anytime soon.No telekinesis? No problem — use your brain to help drive digital transformation. Learn more about Northrop Grumman's work in digital transformation.

Are Telekinetic Powers the Next Step in Human Evolution?

Science and movies are inextricably linked. Sometimes their relationship is rocky — astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had lots to say about the depiction of gravity in "Gravity." Other times it's a win-win: The first "Jurassic Park" film spurred a resurgence in both paleontology fun and funding.  But is it possible that science on the silver screen could even hit the streets? Beyond "Star Trek"-like smartphones and VR experiences inspired by movies like "Total Recall" and "The Matrix," could we ever go bigger? Could genetically engineered creatures drive the creation of a real-life "Jurassic Park"?  Let's dig in: Is extinction really permanent? Or are we just not trying hard enough?  Life Will Not Be Contained  It's a warning in the film that proves prophetic: As expected, dinosaurs escape their imposed sterility (and physical confines) and start terrorizing human visitors. But what about the science behind creating a sauropod in the cinema? Was "Jurassic Park" anywhere near the truth?  Yes and no. As noted by the BBC, most of the film's massive monsters are actually from the cretaceous period, not the Jurassic. But in terms of actual dinosaur recreation, genetically engineered species designed using preserved DNA isn't too far off the mark.  The problem? DNA doesn't hold up well over time. Recreating a dinosaur requires its entire genome, which means finding DNA. Recreating dinosaurs demands DNA from 66 million years ago, but the oldest sample on record lands near the 1 million year mark. And while Live Science pointed out that 50 million year-old blood has been found in mosquitoes, all traces of DNA were gone.  There's also the little problem with splicing in frog DNA to cover the gaps and open the world's first live dino theme park. Doing this wouldn't give you a powerful T-Rex or terrifying velociraptor — according to Scientific American, you'd end up with a "frogosaur" that might not make it past the embryo stage.  So, to sum up: It's not all bad cinema science, but it won't make you a dinosaur.  Let's Make a Dinosaur!  Maybe there's another option.  Best bet? Start with a dino's closing living relative — the chicken — and work backwards. While dinosaur DNA stubbornly refuses to last more than a million years, the genetic container of your average chicken could be changed to more closely resemble their terrifying relatives.  Dubbed the "chickensoraus" by Dr. Jack Horner — the paleontologist who consulted on all four "Jurassic Park" films — the move from common barnyard animal to genetically engineered exemplar is well underway. Already, his team has manged to shift genetic priorities in chicken embryos to create snouts instead of beaks, and he notes that "wings and hands are not as difficult." Full-fledged tails may be more problematic, but Horner still has hope for new dinosaur hybrids within the next five to 10 years. With substantial progress being made in IVF protocols and processes, it may soon be possible to culture and create chickensorauses (chickensoraii?) at speed and scale.  Efforts are also underway to reverse-engineer creatures closer to our moment in history; Harvard scientists are hard at work trying to bring back the woolly mammoth by combining mammoth genome data and elephant cell cultures using CRISPR genome engineering techniques. So far, the Revive and Restore project reports that "mutations for mammoth hemoglobin, extra hair growth, fat production, down to nuanced climate adaptations such as slightly altered sodium ion channels in cell membranes have already been engineered into fibroblast cell lines." While mammoths won't walk again tomorrow, they could in your lifetime.  The Difference Between "Could" and "Should"  It's a classic line in the film and it still rings true today: Even if we could be recreating dinosaurs, should we?  Probably not. First is the problem of place — as noted by Dr. Susie Maidment in a recent Natural History Museum piece, "an animal that died out naturally, perhaps 150 million years ago, is not going to recognize anything in this world if you bring it back." What does it eat? Where does it live? Opting for a "Jurassic Park," zoo-like structure isn't a great idea because of the potential danger involved and the evolution of animal rights and ethics concerns.  There's also a question of value. While solving the puzzle of dinosaur DNA reconstruction is certainly science-worthy, beating back extinction just for the sake of it is short-sighted. What role would dinosaurs play in human life? Would they simply become experimental puzzles, or could they be tamed for human use? Where would ownership of this methodology lie — and what happens when it's inevitably used for less-than-noble purposes?  Here, a better approach may be using movie-inspired science to reverse the human-caused extinction of more recent species. Nature has already demonstrated this is possible with the Aldabra rail, a flightless bird that lives on the Aldabra Atoll. Originally appearing more than 130,000 years ago in fossil records, the rail became extinct when sea levels around the bird's habitat first rose and then fully submerged the Atoll. Twenty-thousand years later the sea levels fell, a descendant of the bird reappeared and became flightless again, effectively "re-evolving" itself back into existence.  Using known genomes of species like the passenger pigeon or the Tasmanian tiger, there's a path between extinct animals and new generations using a combination of IVF and carefully controlled environmental conditions. While it's not exactly easy — or fast, as the Revive and Restore project shows — there's potential here for genetically engineered creatures that beat extinction events and enhance Earth's biodiversity.  As for Jurassic dinosaurs? They should probably stay parked. 

Dino-Sized Dilemma: Could Genetically Engineered Creatures Evade Extinction?

The value of stealth in combat has been known since ancient times. Indeed, the earliest human hunters must have discovered the advantage of approaching their prey without being seen — especially if that prey might have attacked them if it spotted them. Likewise, from ancient times, creative imagination has evoked the ultimate form of stealth: not only being inconspicuous but invisible. Harry Potter's invisibility cloak is a recent and familiar example of stealth capability achieved through magic. But only in recent decades has stealth emerged as a technology, or family of technologies, designed to make aircraft or other military assets difficult for an enemy to detect. Which raises an interesting question: Could advances in stealth technology, not magic spells, make aircraft or even individual soldiers invisible? When Stealth Took to the Air Soldiers can conceal themselves in underbrush, and submarines can dive beneath the waves. But stealth is more difficult for aircraft, since the open sky has no good hiding places. Night can help, and during World War II, the forerunner of modern stealth aircraft made its debut: the Northrop P-61 night fighter. As the National Air and Space Museum recounts, the P-61 was nicknamed the Black Widow for its color and deadliness. The war ended and the jet age began. Stealth technology was de-emphasized; the new jets relied on their sheer blink-and-you-missed-it speed for survivability in combat. But improved radar and antiaircraft weapons made even the fastest jet vulnerable. Hiding From the Spotlight With that, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — the same organization that created DARPAnet, the forerunner of the internet — started looking again at stealth technology. The emphasis was on concealment from enemy radar, which at its most basic level amounts to a radio frequency spotlight that shines on its target, reflecting the radio waves back to a receiver. Stealth technology seeks to defeat radar by one of two means: absorbing the radio waves, or reflecting them in a direction that does not go back to the receiver. Absorbing radio waves depends on special materials. Reflecting it away from the receiver depends on shape, which is why the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has its distinctive "Batplane" appearance. Radar is not the only threat that stealth technology protects against. Like its predecessor the Black Widow, the B-2 is painted black to make it harder to see at night. And its jet engines are positioned so that their exhaust — invisible to the naked eye, but bright in an infrared scope — cannot be seen from below. Is a Real Invisibility Cloak Next? No existing stealth technology makes an aircraft invisible, whether to radar, infrared scopes or the eye. Current stealth technology simply makes it harder to "see." The B-2 is a large airplane, but its radar image is hundreds of times less conspicuous than a normal plane its size. If the faint blip is noticed at all, it may be mistaken for the background "noise" that any radar set generates. But technology never stands still. Improved radar can detect fainter blips. And stealth aircraft are less survivable in daylight and clear skies, when a sharp-eyed observer might spot them with ordinary binoculars. Various technological means of achieving invisibility or at least near-invisibility have been proposed over the years. The surface of a real invisibility cloak might take on the coloration of whatever is behind it. (Some animals, such as chameleons, do this to a degree.) Or light might be bent around an object, providing the illusion of seeing right through it — and thus not seeing it at all. Invisibility Goes Beyond Stealth Scientists are exploring multiple avenues to achieving these effects. According to William Harris and Robert Lamb at howstuffworks, one technology uses carbon nanotubes to produce a mirage-like effect just above a surface that would allow us to see around corners. Carbon nanotubes also have other interesting properties. Also being examined for invisibility potential, writes Alyssa Danigelis at Seeker, are metamaterials. These substances have layers whose atoms are interlinked to form "meta-atoms" that can bend both light and sound in ways that no natural material can match. Beyond military stealth, invisibility and near-invisibility have a host of potential uses, some of which are — so to speak — not at all obvious. Companies like Northrop Grumman hire world-class experts to conduct basic research in these fields to ensure the nation's security into the future. For example, invisible structural materials would allow automakers to eliminate the blind spot for drivers, or even make the entire cockpit and nose of an aircraft transparent from the inside, giving pilots an unrestricted view. Beyond these practical uses, materials that play with light could find countless aesthetic uses from hiding unsightly structures to providing visual effects with complementary or contrasting colors. Much of this work is still at the laboratory stage of development. But as Nancy Owano reported at phys.org, demonstrations have been made with a form of metamaterials technology, named quantum stealth, by its developers. Other experts are skeptical of this work; one said that he would believe it when he didn't see it. But that is the remarkable thing about stealth technology. Who knows what we won't see tomorrow?  Harry Potter might not be so fictional after all. 

Could Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak Become a Reality?

 Humans are obsessed with technology. According to CNN, 80 percent of teens now check their phones hourly for updates and 72 percent feel the need to immediately respond if they receive a text. More than half of adults put themselves at risk by checking phones while they're driving and almost as many make regular efforts to "cut down" the amount of time they spend on their device. Meanwhile, advances in future technologies like VR and augmented reality make it easier than ever for users to lose themselves in virtual worlds or change their perception of reality. So it's worth considering: What's the next step? Here's a look at five technologies from season three of terrifying sci-fi series "Black Mirror" — could they really exist, and what's the potential public impact?1) "San Junipero": Eternal Life Let's start with arguably the most hopeful episode of the series: San Junipero. It's simple: The titular town is actually a VR construct which houses the consciousness of the dead or dying and allows them to enjoy a kind of eternal life as their younger selves. The living are allowed to "visit" five hours per week and those on their deathbed can choose an upload to San Junipero or a natural demise. Could it happen in real life? Possibly. MMOs (or Massively Multiplayer Online) are massively popular and advancements in VR now make it possible to see, hear and feel in virtual space. Neurological progress is also being made — for example, researchers may have discovered a way to give amputees direct control over artificial limbs with better neuron readings. Simply put, don't expect to see eternal life advertised next week but don't rule it out. Potential problems? People ending their lives early to enjoy paradise, or a server failure that "crashes" eternal life consciousness.2) "Nosedive": Continual Person-to-Person Ratings What if social media had bigger teeth? That's the idea behind the future technologies in "Nosedive," which imagines a world where everyone rates everyone else and these ratings directly inform social status, allowing highly rated people access to medical treatments and better living conditions. In reality, this tech already has legs: Consider controversial app Peeple, which lets users write "reviews" of other human beings. Not surprisingly, the creation of the app caused an online ratings backlash for the creator — who was oddly surprised by this effect — and already there's talk of letting people pay to access everything that has been written about them. The potential impact? Social judgment on an entirely new scale.3) "Hated in the Nation": Artificial Bees With the bee population at critical levels, an episode involving artificial insects was timely. But the problem didn't stem from pollination — instead, the bees were given kill-commands using facial-recognition technology to seek out "hated" targets as judged by social media. While current robotics don't match this level of sophistication, the notion of co-opting cybernetic devices for nefarious purposes isn't new and big companies like Google are shoveling money into better facial recognition.4) "Men Against Fire": Augmented Reality In "Men Against Fire" soldiers have their strength, speed and senses enhanced with a device called the MASS. As it turns out, the device changes the way they see potential targets, making regular humans seem like monsters and therefore easier to attack. Military desensitization training isn't exactly new, but consider the social implications: Already, tech like Snapchat and its Spectacles let you apply filters to faces in real time; what if this became commonplace, allowing users to see who and what they wanted to see, when they wanted to see it? Not only could this make for some awkward interactions — but if devices were hacked, the results could be disastrous.5) "White Christmas": The Z-Eye It's not from season 3 but it deserves a mention on the list of future technologies — the Z-Eye tech from "White Christmas" which lets users "block" others and appear as nothing more than white static. It works in a few different ways: as a kind of restraining order which prevents one of the main characters from seeing his estranged girlfriend or their daughter, and a government-imposed whiteout for another "peeping tom" who sees everyone as white static while they see him as red. Sure, mandatory implants aren't on the docket just yet but wearables are on the way up and given the connection obsession prevalent worldwide, it's not hard to imagine a world where social tech is used to restrict interaction based on personal preference or as punishment for crimes. The concern? Extremes — for instance, what happens in the case of a wrongful conviction or device malfunction? Whiteouts seem harmless enough but what happens when being part of an overly social world means you're entirely alone? Technology isn't inherently good or evil. As evidenced by "Black Mirror," it's our interpretation and implementation of new devices which ultimately determines their public impact.

5 Future Technologies From Black Mirror and Their Potential Public Impact

Do mermaids exist? Sadly, we can definitely say no, they do not. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) puts it simply: "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found." Unsurprisingly, however, this hasn't stopped the search for proof of mermaids that could upend the scientific status quo. Have merfolk fanatics had any luck? Not a bit. Is it interesting to see what they've come up with? Absolutely. The Mermaid Myth Myths surrounding mermaids, and to a lesser extent mermen, have existed for centuries. It makes sense, as the sea is both a mysterious force and an essential part of life for many people. Indeed, for hundreds of years sea travel was the only option for inter-ocean transport. It also stands to reason that sailors and people living on shorelines sometimes saw things they couldn't explain, and many believed what they were seeing took the form of a half-human, half-fish creature. Of course, what exactly a mermaid looks like depends on your source material. In Europe and North America, the top half of a mermaid's body resembles that of a human woman, while the bottom is a fishtail. In Scottish folklore, mermaids achieved their underwater ability by wearing the skin of a fish, and if they lost this skin while on land, they wouldn't be able to return. Sailors often associated mermaids with sirens who lured ships off course and their crews to rocky deaths on shoals or reefs. In the collection of Middle Eastern folktales known as One Thousand and One Nights, mermaids have faces and hair like women and tails like fish, but their hands and feet are inside their bellies. Head to Japan and you'll hear tales of the ningyo, a monkey-fish hybrid that lives in the sea. Supposedly, the creature came into being when a fisherman trespassed into protected waters and was cursed to wander the ocean as a monkey-fish mix. On his deathbed, he appeared to Prince Shotoku and asked the prince to forgive him for his crimes and build a temple to display his remains as a reminder of the sanctity of life — and not to trespass. Thanks to American and European influence, Japanese conceptions of merfolk have slowly shifted to the more familiar human-fish hybrid. Of Monkeys and Merfolk Earlier this year, scientists got the chance to examine one of these ningyo up close and in person after it was found inside a safe in an Okayama Prefecture temple. The effort began with Hiroshi Kinoshita, a board member of the Okayama Folklore Society. After coming across a picture of mummified ningyo remains in a book about mythical creatures, he was able to track the body back to the temple, where it was worshiped as an omen of good health. Notes left inside the mummy's original box indicate that the creature was supposedly caught in the mid-18th century, sold to an affluent family, and eventually passed on to the temple. In February 2022, the temple priests agreed to let scientists examine the body using a CT scan and take DNA samples to evaluate its genetic makeup. While those results haven't yet been released, there's a likely explanation: Someone may have grafted the head and torso of a monkey onto the tail of a fish and then added embellishments of human hair and nails. This isn't the first "mermaid" that's been found in Japan. Ningyo are worshiped at several other temples across the country, and during the early years of European travelers visiting Japan, fake mermaids were sold to curious Western tourists who were unfamiliar with the legend. Making a Mermaid Where science says no, human ingenuity bridges the gap. In Weeki Wachee Springs State park, there's a year-round show featuring women dressed as mermaids who swim through "a mysterious blue underwater world of mermaids, manatees, turtles, and bubbles." Earlier this year, Discovery Channel's Animal Planet aired a mermaid special that combines science fiction with some real events to make the case for mermaids. Paired with a somber, scientific tone, the special generated enough interest that NOAA received questions about the potential existence of mermaids and issued a formal statement regarding the lack of evidence to suggest that they are real. Do mermaids exist? Put simply, there is no proof of mermaids being real, and the same goes for monkey-sea creature hybrids. Nonetheless, the fascination with mermaids isn't going under. Rather, folks who are passionate about ocean people are creating their own versions of what mermaids might look like and exploring new ways of searching for these elusive sea sirens. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Proof of Mermaids? Science Tells the Tail

Like all great science fiction writers, Philip K. Dick inspired a generation to imagine the future. His sci-fi books and short stories, published in the 1950s and 60s, centered on technological advances that didn't yet exist. There are emotional robots, crime-predicting mutants, manipulated memories and more. Frequently in Dick's stories, the protagonists struggle with their own sense of humanity and sometimes question reality. Filmmakers, caught up by the dramatic arcs of these personal journeys, created movie blockbusters based on them, such as "Blade Runner," "Minority Report" and "Total Recall."   Today, some of the innovations at the heart of Dick's sci-fi books have been made real. Artificial intelligence, metamaterials, predictive algorithms, genetic engineering, virtual reality and more drive modern society. This March marks the 27th anniversary of Philip K. Dick's death — and is an opportunity to examine the technologies he imagined and how their contemporary counterparts hold up.   Emotional Robots   In the 1968 short story, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the main character, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter in search of renegade androids. (The story was adapted for the screen and released as "Blade Runner" in 1982; a follow-up film was released in 2017.) A questionnaire called the Voigt-Kampff test is designed to elicit empathetic responses from individuals to determine whether they're human or android. But Deckard soon realizes that empathy is a bad measure, since some humans lack it too. As he becomes romantically attracted to the android Rachel Rosen, the lines between robot and human begin to blur.   Scientists have yet to develop a robot that feels emotions. But there is a test similar to the Voigt-Kampff that's designed to evaluate a robot's intelligence. It's called the Turing Test, and it was conceived by the English mathematician Alan Turing in the 1950s to determine whether a computer could think. For the test, an actual human interrogates both a computer and a human, without knowing which one is which. The computer's goal is to provide human-like answers that fool the judge into thinking it's human. In 2014, a machine posing as a 13-year boy beat the test, according to Tech Times. But plenty of scientists have been critical of the Turing Test, and passing it doesn't guarantee that a machine has so-called "artificial general intelligence," which is as adaptable as the human brain, according to ZDNet.   Prominent American inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted in 2006 that modern society would reach a so-called "singularity" by 2045, in which artificial intelligence matched human intelligence. But even before that happens, people have demonstrated that feeling attached to a robot doesn't require that it have emotions. Companion robots have become more popular, reports Wired, ideally suited for assisting the elderly. Philip K. Dick had it right: Human emotions are complicated.   Predicting Crime   In the 1956 short story, "The Minority Report," Dick presents a world in which police solve crimes based on the reports of three psychic mutants, called pre-cogs. (The story was adapted for the screen and released in 2002 as "Minority Report.") The main character, John Allison Anderton, must face the paradox of a system that arrests individuals for crimes that they have not yet committed. When the pre-cogs predict that he will commit a crime, Anderton's life begins to unravel.   Mutant pre-cogs do not exist in real life, but scientists have developed software that can predict crime. Some of these programs produce risk assessments for individuals already arrested and are used to help members of the criminal justice system make decisions about such things as assigning bond amounts or the length of a jail sentence. Other programs are designed to predict where and when criminal activity has a high probability of occurring. They do this by analyzing the type, location and time of crimes that have happened in the past and then combining these details with other information, including data about a neighborhood's socioeconomic status. The information can help police departments allocate resources, such as deploying officers to specific locations.   But these risk assessment and crime prediction programs have their limitations, according to a 2016 investigation from ProPublica, which found that the some data is biased against minorities. For instance, algorithms based on arrest data could reflect the bias of the arresting officers.    Manipulating Memories   In the 1966 story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" the main character, Douglas Quail, is obsessed with visiting Mars. Unfortunately, his wife discourages him from going. When he finds a company that specializes in memory implants, Quail pays a fee to have the memory of Mars implanted in his brain. The plot takes off from there, leading the reader through a story of political intrigue and assassination. The story was adapted twice for the screen, once in 1990 and again in 2012, for movies titled "Total Recall."   In recent years, scientists have begun to uncover clues about how memory works. What they're finding could one day give doctors the ability to rewrite memories of trauma and addiction. For instance, a neural-stimulation technique called optogenetics has been used on lab mice to erase, stimulate or even create new memories. The method uses a light to stimulate neurons in the brain known to be associated with memory. Some of the first scientists who used this technique, such as a team from Harvard University, were able to erase memories and even install false ones in mice. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology later showed that the technique could be harnessed to retrieve lost memories in mice, and another team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona demonstrated that the method could increase a mouse's ability to remember where danger lurks.   But what about humans? In 2017, scientists from the University of Southern California published a study showing that they could use a brain implant to improve human memory. The volunteers for the study were patients already scheduled to have brain electrodes implanted for the treatment of epilepsy. The scientists first collected data on the patients' brain activity, and then figured out which brain pattern was associated with optimal memory performance. Lastly, they used the electrodes to stimulate the brain to follow that pattern. Short-term memory was improved by 15 percent and working memory by about 25 percent.   When Philip K. Dick wrote his stories, the television remote control and the microchip were just beginning to emerge as innovations. From his imagination emerged worlds yet to be discovered. Although he could not have predicted everything to come, his visions of the future tapped into the complicated relationship people have with technology. That connection, forever two-sided, will always lie at the center of great science fiction.    

How Philip K. Dick's Fiction Lived Up to Modern Science

Deep in the universe, cataclysms are rattling the fabric of space and time. Massively accelerating events, such as colliding black holes, orbiting neutron stars, exploding stars and more, create gravitational waves that, like ripples from a stone tossed into a pond, radiate out from the source. Until recently, the existence of these features was only a theory put forth by Albert Einstein. He surmised that they were invisible and moved at the speed of light. In September 2015, scientists using extremely sensitive U.S.-based instruments, collectively called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), detected these ripples in spacetime for the first time. They were coming from two black holes that had crashed into each other about 1.3 billion years ago. Shortly after the discovery, an Indian initiative in gravitational-wave observations was approved, and the country's government committed to constructing a third advanced interferometer. It will be built in the country's Hingoli District, on the opposite side of the globe from the U.S.-based detectors in Washington and Louisiana. The three-pronged network will greatly expand the area of sky scientists can search, increase the number of sources they can spot and allow them to triangulate incoming data from space to better pinpoint the location of highly energetic cosmic events, according to the California Institute of Technology. What they learn will open a new window on the universe and the past from which humans fundamentally arose. Doing the Wave Peering into space goes back millennia to when humans first looked up to the stars. They relied on visible light in the early days, observing objects with their eyes and through telescopes. Advances in technology eventually allowed scientists to study other energetic parts of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, including infrared, X-rays, radio waves, microwaves and more. But gravitational waves are different. "They are as distinct from EM radiation as hearing is to vision," reports Caltech. The information they carry isn't comparable to anything else scientists currently have access to. For instance, unlike electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves interact weakly with matter. This means they aren't impeded by planets, stars, galaxies or other objects as they ripple across spacetime. As a result, the information they carry is free of the distortions commonplace in EM-based data. New insights gleaned from the features can eventually explain two big mysteries in the universe: gravity and dark energy. Although gravity keeps planets in orbit and prevents objects on Earth from floating up into space, it's not well understood. It's the weakest force in the universe and is many billions of times weaker than the electromagnetic force that holds atoms together, according to Stanford University. How and why is still theoretical. Dark energy is another enigma. Scientists theorize that it makes up 60 percent of space and is responsible for the expansion of the universe, according to NASA. (Dark matter makes up roughly 27 percent of space.) But scientists have never observed dark energy, and their theories remain unproven. How LIGO Works The interferometer instruments that make up LIGO need to be huge and extremely sensitive because these cosmic waves are so weak. They're all shaped like an "L," with each arm extending 2.5 miles. The arms are 10 feet wide and 12 feet tall, and house a steel vacuum tube that's about four feet wide. Laser beams are shot down the vacuum tubes. When a wave passes over Earth, it squeezes and stretches spacetime, causing one of the beams to slightly lengthen and the other beam to shorten. Mirrors and sensors, including a photodetector, pick up the infinitesimal change, according to NASA. Having more than one instrument increases the amount of data being gathered. Placing the instruments far apart improves the location detection accuracy. It's analogous to finding an active mobile phone by using three different cellphone towers to ping the phone. As the signals propagate in concentric circles from the tower, they only intersect at one spot — the phone. "LIGO India is out of the plane of the other three advanced gravitational-wave interferometers. Thus, it will help narrow down the on-sky location of the gravitational waves tremendously and give a big boost to the astronomers hunting for the light," Mansi Kasliwal, assistant professor of astronomy and the leader of a LIGO effort at Caltech, said in a press release. An Indian initiative in gravitational-wave observations will serve as the third advanced interferometer to pinpoint colossal accelerating objects. Certain vibrational signatures from the waves generated will provide clues to the type of cataclysms. Scientists have identified four unique fingerprints: continuous, such as those produced by neutron stars; compact binary inspiral, such as those from pairs of white dwarf stars, black holes, or neutron stars that are orbiting each other; stochastic, which are small, random waves; and burst, which define unexpected or surprising waves. A Global Collaboration Like all major scientific endeavors, LIGO-India will involve research teams from different cultural backgrounds and political values coming together for a common goal. A consortium of Indian research institutions will work closely with the LIGO Laboratory in the United States, and different interferometers in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. A team of Indian scientists has already been collaborating with U.S.-based LIGO scientists, says Nature. According to Ajit Kembhavi, emeritus professor at IUCAA Pune and chair of the LIGO-India site-selection committee, India has a long tradition of research in general relativity, gravitational waves and data analysis. New discoveries and insights are inevitable. Once LIGO scientists pinpoint the source of a great cataclysm, other scientists will point more conventional instruments in that direction. Telescopes, X-ray observers, and radio wave and microwave detectors will add more data and insight. The project will likely also raise questions scientists haven't thought to ask. "Any time you turn on some new type of telescope or microscope, you discover things you couldn't anticipate," LIGO Laboratory Executive Director David Reitze said in a press release. "So, while there will be certain sources of gravitational waves that we expect to see, the really exciting part is what we did not predict and what we did not expect to see."

How Gravitational Waves Will Help Decipher Mysteries of the Universe

The earliest prosthetic limbs simply took the place of a missing body part or offered basic functionality. However, with advances in engineering, innovative prosthetics do more than just fill the gap with assistive technology — they change lives.  Bionic Reconstruction  A team in Vienna led by Professor Oskar Aszmann is giving patients even more control with bionic limbs that respond to thought. In 2015, three Austrian men were the world's first recipients of mind-controlled prosthetics, according to NeuroscienceNews.com. Bionics are electronic and mechanical devices that supplement parts of the body. Bionic reconstruction hooks the devices up to the patient's own nerve and muscle fiber, allowing them to regain lost abilities, like picking up a cup or cutting up food, said TIME. The bioconnections — myoelectrics that bridge between muscle activity and bionic limbs — work with the mechanical system to extend the fingers; when the patient thinks "open hand," the hand opens, according to a study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It seems as though the field of innovative prosthetics is moving into Six Million Dollar Man territory for seamless integration. Nervous Input  The three recipients of mind-controlled bionic hands had lost hand function because of accidents. During motorcycle or climbing accidents, an arm can be flung wide with tremendous force, ripping nerve roots in the armpit from the spinal cord. Due to this brachial plexus avulsion, nerve input to the arms fails, so muscles weaken and atrophy, Science Daily explained. The arm, though uninjured, remains paralyzed — a functionless trailing appendage that gets in the way or is prone to damage. Previously, traditional therapeutic approaches involved slings to support the arm, muscle repositioning to restore limited elbow movement or amputation. Innovative prosthetics involving bionic reconstruction now offer better control. Aszmann's team surgically moved muscles around in the forearm to create the myoelectric connection between patient and prosthesis, Science Daily reported. Selective Process Apart from the technology and the intricate surgery, the whole process sounds straightforward — connect nerves, connect muscles and then connect a bionic hand. As you've probably guessed, the actual process is much more complicated. There's more to consider than just wiggling your fingers, according to Science Daily.  Thinking about moving a prosthetic hand isn't the same as moving your own hand. After the initial reconstructive surgery, Aszmann's patients trained for months learning to control a hybrid device connected alongside the paralyzed hand. The status of existing nerve and muscle tissue in the damaged arm was another important factor. Without good residual muscle and nerve function, the innovative prosthetics would not work, Science Daily reported. As well committing to a training program, patients also must be prepared for amputation, which is traumatic and, obviously, irreversible. But without amputation, it's impossible to fit the new prosthetic. The patient needs to be emotionally detached from their hand in order to physically lose it, Science Daily said. To pick the most suitable patients for bionic reconstruction, Aszmann and his team developed a psychosocial evaluation for emotional readiness. Described in PLoS One, the questionnaire identifies those who would struggle with the amputation, either physically or mentally. Some are still in constant pain from the initial injury, whereas others may be struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Identifying suitable patients early on gives the procedure its best chance of success. The Future of Innovative Prosthetics  Aszmann suggested that bionic reconstruction could help improve functionality for other types of limb injuries, according to TIME. Developments in materials science also deliver better functionality. For example, Phys.org reported that solar-powered touch-sensitive graphene skins could restore the sense of touch. This could help users grip with their prosthetic hands without crushing or dropping an object. Advances in technology are bringing innovative prosthetics closer to functional reality for more and more patients.

Mind Control Powers Innovative Prosthetics

Key Takeaways  Quantum communication, high-fidelity communications at interstellar distances, could be achieved by exploiting the quantum nature of light. The basic units of quantum communication are qubits, which are typically subatomic particles such as photons or electrons. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) "listens in" to the universe for evidence of extraterrestrial life.For centuries, people have pondered the question, "Are we alone in the universe?" To date, however, researchers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have come up with a resounding "we're not sure." But that hasn't stopped people from wondering.How would we know if ETs were trying to communicate with us? What language might they use? And how might we communicate back with them?"Taking a Quantum LeapResearchers from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, believe that the answers to these questions could lie in a field of study called quantum communication. In a paper published recently in Physical Review D, Professor Arjun Berera and Jaime Calderón-Figueroa, both theoretical physicists, suggest that high-fidelity communications at interstellar distances could be achieved by exploiting the quantum nature of light.SETI at a GlanceIn an interview with Now, Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and fellow at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, astronomers look for signs of intelligent ET life in three ways: Conventional search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), which uses large radio telescopes (such as the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array, with its 42 antennas, each one six meters in diameter) to scan the heavens looking for narrowband signals. Optical SETI, which involves watching for flashing laser pulses using instruments such as the SETI Institute's LaserSETI detection devices. Making careful observations of optical data looking for artifacts of ET societies — such as the infrared signature of a Dyson swarm, a theoretical "cloud" of habitats, satellites and solar energy collectors orbiting a star that would allow an advanced society to harvest and exploit all the energy coming from its home star.However, Shostak clarifies that SETI involves listening only — primarily in the 1-10 Gigahertz (GHz) frequency band — and no broadcasting."SETI scientists often monitor frequencies adjacent to 1420 Megahertz, also known as the hydrogen line, where neutral hydrogen produces radiation," he explains. "Every astronomer on Earth has that frequency marked on their dial, so to speak, so any messages from aliens in that band will be heard by everyone."What Is Quantum Communication?According to MIT Technology Review, the basic unit of quantum communication is called a qubit. Qubits are typically subatomic particles such as photons or electrons.Unlike bits — the electrical or optical "1s" and "0s" that carry your e-mail, podcasts, tweets and TikToks — qubits have some rather unusual properties that allow quantum computers to process information exponentially faster than conventional binary computers.One of these properties is called superposition, which allows qubits to represent multiple combinations of "1" or "0" at the same time. While classical bits can only access one of 2n states at a time (e.g., two bits have 22 = 4 possible states, three bits have 23 = 8 possible states, etc.), qubits can access all 2n possible states at once.The State of EntanglementEven more relevant to alien quantum communication is a property of qubits called entanglement, which allows two members of a qubit pair to exist in a single quantum state. Changing the state of one paired qubit instantly changes the state of the other in a very predictable way, even if they are separated by very long distances.Berera and Calderón-Figueroa propose that entanglement could be exploited in a process called quantum teleportation to potentially enable interstellar communications with ET societies. Quantum teleportation instantly transfers the "state" (i.e., information contents) of one quantum particle to a distant one without sending the particle itself.Contemplating Quantum TeleportationQuantum teleportation requires a pair of entangled qubits shared between a sender and receiver, plus a third qubit whose contents are to be teleported between those points. The sender initiates an interaction between their entangled qubit and the third qubit, which causes a change in the quantum state of their entangled qubit. When that change is analyzed and relayed to the receiver using a conventional electromagnetic pathway, the receiver can recreate the original message contained in the third qubit, effectively teleporting the information from sender to receiver."It's conceivable that a very advanced society could set up entangled particles all over the galaxy and use quantum entanglement to communicate," says Shostak.However, he emphasizes that quantum communication can never exceed the speed of light, even for aliens, because quantum messaging between senders and receivers still relies on using a conventional electromagnetic signal.Maintaining CoherenceFor Berera and Calderón-Figueroa, the real challenge with quantum teleportation is that quantum messaging over interstellar distances needs to retain its coherence and maintain high fidelity, i.e., to maintain the integrity of its message as it travels long distances.A peculiar aspect of quantum messaging is that if a message is "observed" or interacts with its environment, its waveform collapses, resulting in the loss of its information. This so-called state of decoherence can result from quantum messages interacting with say, gravitational fields, gas, dust and radiation from stars.The universe is largely empty space, of course, but is it empty/transparent enough to facilitate reliable interstellar messaging? Berera and Calderón-Figueroa ran calculations on the movement of photons in different frequency bands across space to gauge the likelihood of decoherence occurring.They determined that photons, particularly those in the X-ray spectrum, could be beamed across hundreds of thousands of light years, a distance comparable to the width of our own Milky Way galaxy. These conditions could give interstellar communications with aliens a fighting chance.What Are We Looking For?As SETI scientists scan the night skies with their ginormous radio telescopes looking for dispatches from ET, how do they even know what to look for?"A lot of astronomical phenomena — quasars, pulsars, the planets in our solar system, hot and cold gas, black holes — create radio noise," observes Shostak. "But they generally don't make noise that's confined to a particular frequency band."However, he notes that if astronomers observe a signal centered around a narrow frequency band much like a station on your car's radio, "that would indicate a signal produced by a transmitter, not a natural process."Still Waiting …And has the SETI Institute ever received such a signal? Shostak just smiles."If we'd found one that was clearly an alien signal, you wouldn't have to call me up," he chuckles. "You would know about it."Keeping It RealEven if Shostak and his SETI colleagues thought they had detected signals from ETs, several realities currently shape the nation's ability to conduct such a "conversation."For one, there is the matter of technology. Quantum communication is still in its infancy. As a nation, we're a long way from being able to extract information in a meaningful way from incoming ET quantum communication.Shostak acknowledges that there are also practical considerations: time and, by extension, money."If the nearest aliens are 100 light years away, it will take 100 years for your response to reach them, and another 100 years for their response to reach you again," he muses." And in those 200 years, your funding has probably gone away as well."Instead of trying to engage aliens in logistically impossible conversation, Shostak suggests that it might be smarter to just download and send them the entire internet."The internet is a rich information source indeed," he says. "They could put their computers on it, take advantage of its repetitive nature and build up a complete vocabulary — everything from cats to cars to humans. It would sure be a lot easier than us trying to decipher hieroglyphics back in the early 19th century."Northrop Grumman exploration seeks to put academic research and theory into practice for quantum communications. Learn more about what we do.

Could Quantum Communication Enable an Extraterrestrial Handshake?

Key Takeaways  Teleportation is possible, but it's complicated. The speed of teleportation is limited by the speed of light. Scientists have been able to teleport particles on the subatomic level through quantum entanglement.As we watch shows like Star Trek and marvel at the transporter, which teleports people across long distances and even between planets, it's natural to wonder: Is teleportation possible?The short answer is yes, technically, but the process is incredibly complicated, and it may not take the form of what we see in science fiction, especially with regard to teleporting humans.Let's explore what is currently known about the science of teleportation, and whether humans might one day be able to travel using this wonder of physics.Why Is Teleportation Difficult To Achieve?Science fiction might make teleportation look easy, but that much is certainly fiction. True teleportation would need to happen instantaneously — the second a person dematerialized, they would immediately appear at their destination. The problem with this is simple: According to Einstein's theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, which means disappearing from one place and reappearing in a flash somewhere else simply isn't possible.But what about the next best thing? If we can't send an actual person at the speed of light, can we at least send their information, effectively teleporting their biological makeup somewhere else?To do this, a system would first have to scan the location of each atom in a person's body and note what kind of atom it is. That information would then have to be transmitted from the location where the scan happens (presumably the departure location) to the receiving location almost instantaneously. Finally, the system at the receiving location would have to interpret that information and reassemble those atoms. Photons travel at the speed of light, so this could work. However, the idea of such a method poses some larger questions of ethics that would also need to be addressed.The Problem with Human TeleportationThere is one overarching philosophical question that could complicate human teleportation: If all that transmits from one place to another is a person's information, not their actual atoms, does that mean the human at the destination is the same person who was dematerialized at the starting point? Does the original person cease to exist, only to be replaced on the receiving end by a perfect replica of the original human? Has the teleported person effectively died? It's important to consider whether any proposed method of teleporting humans would actually involve killing and then recreating the traveler, as many people would likely take issue with such an approach.Another problem with teleportation relates to quantum theory. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle tells us that we can't know everything about an atom and also pinpoint exactly where it will be, and we would need to do both to recreate the exact same person on the other end of the teleporter.The Promise of Subatomic TeleportationSo is teleportation possible at all? Yes. Scientists have been able to achieve teleportation of a single particle.In recent years, scientists and researchers have been able to teleport particles on the subatomic level through quantum entanglement, which occurs when the properties of one quantum particle affect another particle that's located somewhere else. This is enabled by a third particle that "instantly 'teleports' its state to the two entangled particles," according to the National Science Foundation. If you are a fan of Mass Effect, the long-distance Quantum Entanglement Communicator from the second and third games in the trilogy work in precisely this way.We still have much to learn about the potential of teleportation, and quantum entanglement could revolutionize how we approach quantum computing. However, the fact that scientists have been able to teleport subatomic particles doesn't mean human teleportation is a possibility. There's no actual information being transported in this case, just observation of the state of these linked particles. Many scientists believe we may never be able to teleport a human, as it would likely require too much information that would be impossible to obtain and replicate with exactness. For now, it seems human teleportation will remain a matter of science fiction, not science fact.Discover how Northrop Grumman teams are constantly questioning, problem-solving and creating new ways to tackle seemingly impossible challenges.

Teleporting Humans: Science Fiction or Fact?

Key Takeaways  Area 51 was originally used for building and testing U-2 planes, and is officially known as the Nevada Test and Training Range. In 2019, more than 1.5 million people signed up to "storm" Area 51, but just 200 showed up in person. Keeping the myth of Area 51 alive may help the government divert attention away from other top-secret national security projects.Area 51: The name and number are enough to set imaginations aflame. What is the government really up to in this Nevada desert military base that includes a restricted area spanning more than 90,000 acres?Here's a look at what's (probably) inside and what's (almost certainly) not.Area 51: A Quick HistoryIn April 1955, CIA officer Richard Bissell found an ideal spot for building and testing U-2 planes: the southern Nevada desert near Groom Lake. Along with his colleagues, Bissell asked the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to add this parcel of land to its real estate holdings and, by July 1955, aircraft development is in full swing. In 1958, this parcel of land was removed from public use and, in 1978, control of the installation was transferred to the Air Force.Officially, the facility's name is the Nevada Test and Training Range, which falls under the auspices of Nellis Air Force Base. It also went by several nicknames including "Paradise Ranch," "Watertown" and "Dreamland," which were used to make the area sound more attractive to potential base staff. The name Area 51, meanwhile, is rarely used by the government and likely comes from the area's original designation on AEC maps.Visiting the site and taking images are strictly controlled. Facility guards are authorized to use deadly force, and pictures such as those inadvertently taken by Skylab in 1974 were reviewed by the National Photographic Interpretation Center, then removed from Skylab's control and stored in a government vault. Combined with seemingly unexplained phenomena occurring in and around Area 51, public interest in the site has driven all manner of myths and legends.It's Probably Aliens!Combine government secrecy, deadly force and lights in the desert and what do you get? Aliens! This was the common interpretation of strange sightings in and around Area 51, despite the fact that the facility is a testing ground for cutting-edge aircraft — which might just look like nothing seen before.The notion of hidden, out-of-this-world happenings got a boost in 1989 when a man named Robert Lazar claimed that he worked on the base and saw both flying saucers and actual alien bodies. While Lazar was later outed as a fraud — he had never worked for the U.S. military or on the base — it was impossible for the public to ignore the draw of possible alien sightings. In 1994, theories about potential aliens gained even more ground when the Air Force admitted that wreckage from Roswell, New Mexico found in 1947 was not, in fact, weather balloons but part of a secret spy project code-named "Mogul." Understandably, people were skeptical.This skepticism came to a head in July 2019, when more than 1.5 million people signed up for an event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," to "see them aliens," promising to meet in the desert and run into the site in September. Not surprisingly, the event was a colossal failure — just 200 people showed up. Two people were arrested and one person was briefly detained for almost crossing into a restricted area.The Truth Comes Out: What Is Inside Area 51?So what's really going on behind closed doors? What is inside Area 51? Are U.S. military experts reverse-engineering crashed spaceships and performing autopsies on deceased aliens? In a word, no.In 2013, the CIA released a declassified report about the site written in 1992, which acknowledges the existence of the facility and describes it as a U-2 testing site. It refers to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), but only to note that they were actually U-2 planes flying at 60,000 feet. The report also highlights the need for strict secrecy as a way to ward off Russian interference during the Cold War, rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead the American public. Still, there's some evidence to suggest there's more than meets the eye. For example, in 2017 the Pentagon confirmed the existence of a $22 million government program to collect and analyze data about "anomalous aerospace threats" — in other words, UFOs.A poll found that 54 percent of Americans believe the government knows something about UFOs that it's not sharing with the public. So, it's unlikely the fascination with aliens will ever disappear, but chances are that Area 51 isn't the hotbed of extraterrestrial activity that alien activists once believed. Interestingly enough, however, it may actually be in the best interests of the government to keep this mystery alive. By releasing some documentation but keeping other data classified, by not confirming or denying the existence of UFOs or aliens, it's possible to divert attention away from other top-secret national security projects and protect critical data.Not bad for a strip of desert in southeastern Nevada.Starshade could help us discover what else is out there. Learn more.

Area 51: Aliens, or Just a Simple Myth-Understanding?

Key Takeaways  There are no official records of aliens visiting Earth, and scientists who suggest this possibility often find themselves mired in controversy. One recent theory suggest that interstellar object Oumuamua may have been a probe sent by alien spacefarers. Most alien efforts look outwards — for example, SETI studies red dwarf stars that may provide suitable conditions for life in their solar systems.Do aliens exist? Fictional space aliens who have visited Earth range from the adorable (E.T. and his magical finger) to the threatening (the ruthless Martians of "The War of the Worlds") to the helpful (mighty Superman was from another planet, as we sometimes forget).Moreover, have aliens visited Earth? Whether extraterrestrial life has actually touched the soil of Earth — or floated above it, observing us all — has been a burning question for almost as long as humankind could look at the stars. The many claims of alien sightings, often buttressed by grainy photos of UFOs, and the many theories about outer space creatures already living among us could fill enough books to weigh down a spacecraft that's collecting samples of our planet.One thing is for certain: The public and private agencies that deal with all things space focus on finding life away from Earth. They are not researching, at least publicly, the scientific possibility of whether aliens have already been on our planet. For that matter, governments answer stories of UFO sightings on Earth by pointing to the weather or by saying the claim couldn't be corroborated. There are no official records of aliens visiting Earth.Have Aliens Visited Earth?Discussion about aliens on Earth can be, for the sake of argument, placed into two camps: claims and theories. Claims are those that appear on the covers of supermarket tabloids or occasionally make for a fun feature in a mainstream news publication. For instance, a New Hampshire couple that spoke of being captured by aliens on a late-summer evening in 1961 as they drove through the White Mountains is the first widely-publicized alien abduction claim, a tale that started a legion of others.Theories of alien visits can also spread like wildfire in the mainstream news if they are made by someone with authority. It happened only recently. Avi Loeb, the chair of Harvard University's astronomy department, didn't propose that aliens were even close to Earth. Rather, he and a colleague posited that Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped comet or object that whizzed by the sun in 2017, might have been a probe sent to the vicinity of Earth by an alien civilization. The theory, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, elicited some derision from scientists.The minor controversy led NASA physicist Silvano Colombano to say that scientists essentially rock the establishment when they theorize about extraterrestrial life. "General avoidance of the subject by the scientific community" creates a catch-22, Colombano told Quartz. He means that scientists might appear crazy for posing questions about aliens, but society will never know about alien life or any possible alien missions to Earth if no one in the scientific community examines the concept.Colombano himself got caught up in the debate last year, when Fox News reported he claimed aliens have indeed come to Earth, pointing to a document of his on the space agency's website. But Colombano was quick to correct the Fox News story, saying it was taken out of context and that he believes an alien visit is only theoretically possible. "My perspective was simply that reports of unidentified aerial phenomena should be the object of serious study, even if the chance of identification of some alien technology is very small," he told Live Science.The Search for Alien Life Looks Outward to SpaceThe existence of alien life is indeed under serious study, but all eyes and ears on that front are pointed outward, beyond the terra firma of Earth. SETI — the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute — employs more than 130 scientists, educators and administrative staff in a quest to "explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence."SETI projects include using a telescope array to study red dwarf stars that show characteristics indicating the possibility of support for intelligent life. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is also examining newly-discovered exoplanets that are found in their star's habitable zone. And SETI is developing a system to search for laser flashes that extraterrestrial societies might use to signal their presence.SETI's work continues despite occasional hesitations. This year, a research group that included a NASA astrobiologist offered that while the "search for habitable environments and life beyond our solar system is a deeply compelling scientific goal," a large number of planets that were believed to possibly support life actually have unsuitable environments, shrinking the zone of areas where extraterrestrials could survive.So, do aliens exist? Many scientists believe that humans need to work even harder to determine whether there is extraterrestrial life out there, let alone whether or not aliens have visited Earth. As astronomer and SETI co-founder Jill Tarter once said, because of the vastness of space, our efforts have only amounted to the equivalent of scooping a single glass of water from the ocean.One of the biggest problems with alien investigations? The luminosity of other stars blocks our view of their planets. See how Starshade is helping scientists get a better look. 

Do Aliens Exist? Scientists Wonder If Extraterrestrial Life Has Visited Earth

It's usually the stuff of movies. A superhero or villain has the ability to move objects through telekinesis. Who can forget tiny Yoda lifting a large X-wing fighter, using only his mind? Science fiction recently became a reality of sorts when two professors of engineering used sound wave technology to levitate objects. It wasn't sleight of hand or a flight of fancy, but rather a result of manipulation through a system the professors call "holographic acoustic tweezers" (or HAT). Their system creates ultrasonic sound waves that, in turn, independently move particles in a 3D space.  Compared to the fictional Yoda's Jedi skills, the professors' experiments are small in scale, but, for now, that's the point. They hope the acoustic power of their tweezers will enhance microsurgery, replacing potentially intrusive holographic optical tweezers with a tool that could perform medical procedures without touching a patient. As for manipulating larger objects, they envision HAT-enabled creations like a physical hologram that hangs in mid-air. Using Sound to Manipulate Styrofoam Balls Professors Bruce Drinkwater, of the University of Bristol in England, and Dr. Asier Marzo, of Universidad Publica De Navarra in Spain, didn't need manipulation to turn heads with their groundbreaking paper published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  As described by ScienceDaily, in their experiments the professors essentially turned up the volume of ultrasonic waves, creating a sound field strong enough to move small objects but at a pitch too high for humans to hear. "We applied a novel algorithm that controls (two arrays) of 256 small loudspeakers, and that is what allows us to create the intricate, tweezer-like, acoustic fields," Marzo said. Each array is connected to a computer that controls the sound. In between the speaker arrays sits, at ground level, a reflective surface where the tiny experimental objects are placed, according to Phys.org. Playing with the volume of sound, the professors can control the movement of the objects. They manipulated as many as 25 Styrofoam balls no larger than 3 millimeters in diameter in the experiments highlighted in their paper. Possible Uses for Microsurgery and Large 3D Displays In that paper, the professors express their hope that HAT replaces what was also a novel invention 20 years ago: HOT, or holographical optical tweezers, which can build 3D microstructures or be used in medical procedures. The drawback of optical lasers is that, as a University of Bristol news service article explains, they travel only through transparent media, making them difficult to use on applications that involve biological tissue. Unlike optical lasers, as the university article noted, ultrasound can safely and non-invasively penetrate biological tissue, as seen during pregnancy scans and kidney stone treatment.  "Optical tweezers are a fantastic technology," Drinkwater said in the article, "but (are) always dangerously close to killing the cells being moved. With acoustics we're applying the same sort of forces but with way less energy associated. There's lots of applications that require cellular manipulation and acoustic systems are perfect for them." Indeed, Drinkwater and Marzo hope HAT becomes a valuable tool for microsurgery. In an attempt to prove HAT could replace HOT in something as delicate as surgery, the professors attached two millimetric polystyrene spheres to thread and, powered by the sound of HAT, attached the thread to fabric. The professors told the university news service that they are aiming to manipulate water particles and, ultimately, biological tissue. "Now we have more versatility," Drinkwater said. The technology creates "multiple pairs of (non-invasive) hands to move things and perform complex procedures. It opens up possibilities that just weren't there before." Beyond medicine, this new form of sound wave technology could help architects, military planners and other professionals who need to see how constructed objects interact in different surroundings. Such a use isn't as far-fetched as Star Wars characters manipulating objects. Drinkwater envisions the acoustic tweezers someday creating more intricate sound fields, which could allow tangible pixels larger than Styrofoam balls to levitate and form a physical hologram in mid-air.

It's Not Fiction: Sound Wave Technology Levitates Objects

Human beings thrive in a very narrow temperature band — as noted by Live Science, we can live "indefinitely" in environments between 40 degrees and 95 degrees F. Both our world and the universe beyond, however, offer much broader ranges. According to Universe Today, the center of the sun is approximately 27 billion degrees, while NASA reported that scientists have almost reached what's known as "absolute zero" — minus 460 degrees — in laboratory conditions. At that temperature, atoms simply stop moving.    Put simply, extreme temperatures aren't great for long-term human survivability. But they do offer the opportunity for cool scientific reactions. Here's a look at five interesting effects of extreme cold on the world around us.   Frost Flowers  (https://www.weather.gov/lmk/frost_flowers)   These remarkable phenomena occur when temperatures drop just below freezing — low enough to freeze water in the air but not cold enough to freeze wet soil. As flowers draw water out of the ground, the water begins to freeze and expand as it travels upward along their stems. This causes stems to split and the water inside to instantly freeze on contact with air, and ice is then extruded in long, thin sheets which curl randomly. As noted by the National Weather Service, this curling may be caused by "unequal friction along the sides of the split" — whatever the reason, the results are spectacular.   Worth noting? Frost flowers don't last long. If you're searching for one, head out before dawn and look for grassy areas that are seldom disturbed.    "Slurpee" Waves  Enable targeting cookies to view this content..    While seawater in winter in typically above freezing — just slightly, at a degree or two more than the 28.8Â°F needed for solid salt water — Smithsonian.com noted that specific weather conditions can cause the formation of "Slurpee" waves that look just like their namesake drink moving across the ocean and crashing on the shore.    This reaction only happens during quick and brutal cold snaps. In extremely cold air, the uppermost layers of seawater begin to freeze. With no heat available from the surrounding water, these upper layers turn to ice; continual tidal movement prevents them from creating large chunks, leaving them as Slurpee-like nuggets.    Frost Quakes   Also known as cryoseisms, frost quakes are caused by sudden deep freezing of the ground. According to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, a frost quake "produces ground shaking and noises similar to an earthquake." They occur when temperatures quickly drop from above freezing to below zero — for example, during the first "cold snaps" of the year — and when there is no snow cover to insulate the ground.    Given the relatively low amount of energy released during a frost quake, their vibrations may travel only a few hundred yards. Those close enough to the origin point, however, may be jolted awake or feel moderate ground shaking. In rare circumstances, observers have been able to locate small ground cracks in the earth after a quake. Cryoseisms have been reported in northern states such as New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, as well as parts of Canada.   Light Pillars [skyword_iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ufNRmjj0tI0?autoplay=0&start=0" width="560" height="315" ].       Next on our list of cool scientific reactions: light pillars. As noted by Accuweather, these sparkling pillars occur when ice crystals are small enough to remain suspended in air. This can only occur when temperatures are below freezing — often minus 10 to 20 degrees F.    According to Atomospheric Optics, plate-shaped ice crystals are critical for this effect to occur, but only drift close enough to ground during very cold weather. The horizontal faces of these crystals reflect light downward, making it appear as though beams of light are descending from the sky. In fact, they are simply elongated light halos that occur halfway between observers and light sources. Artificial lights produce taller, more vibrant pillars than natural lights because their beams are multi-directional rather than parallel.    Oceans of Diamond   Last but not least? We're heading off-planet to explore the effects of extreme cold. Specifically, the liquid-diamond oceans of Neptune and Uranus.   As noted by Phys.org, diamond can be liquified at extremely high pressure (40 million times that of Earth's sea level) and temperatures, but when temperature and pressure drop the diamond doesn't "freeze" entirely — iceberg-like chunks appear on the surface just as they would in water. Planets like Neptune and Uranus, which both have temperatures colder than -300Â°F but also boast extremely high pressure, could support large oceans of liquid diamond. Right now this is best-guess speculation, but potential probe missions to the outer planets could help confirm the existence of these sure-to-be-sparkling seas.   Cold Comfort   We're not built for extreme cold. But we can appreciate the beauty and wonder of both Earth-bound and extraterrestrial scientific reactions that occur when temperatures drop and create extreme outcomes to expand the limits of our scientific curiosity.    

Extreme Cold? Extremely Awesome — Five Cool Scientific Reactions

Around us, the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, but that's not going to be the case forever. One day, we'll find the end of the world and everything else — at least, according to scientists. It's the subject of an entire book by astrophysicist Dr. Katie Mack called "The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)." In it, Mack outlines the possible end of our universe as we know it. There are a few possibilities for the end of the universe, and these mainly depend on whether the rate of expansion of the universe accelerates rapidly, continues as is or decreases enough to actually start reversing universal expansion. Here are four possibilities for the end of the universe, as presented by Dr. Mack. The Big Freeze If the universe continues expanding at its current rate, then eventually, entropy will decrease. Everything as we know it functions in the universe because of differentials in heat. However, once the universe expands enough, the differences in temperature may even out. Everything would then be the same temperature, which would be the heat death of the universe, also called the Big Freeze. This might not seem serious, but if there are no differences in heat, that means the universe can no longer sustain the energetic process that keeps itself functioning. There will be no extra energy available. Stars will die, black holes will evaporate, all matter in the universe will decay and the temperature of the universe will hover right around absolute zero. There will simply be nothing left. The Big Crunch The Big Crunch is the counterpoint to the Big Bang. Just as the universe started with one enormous explosion, it could end with a huge collapse. Scientists posit that if the expansion rate of the universe slows and eventually reverses, gravity will become the dominant force. The universe will then collapse in on itself, eventually becoming a small, hot and dense singularity. It's possible that the Big Bang will occur again at that point, creating an entirely new universe. It's worth noting that while the Big Crunch is still theoretically possible as an end to the universe, it's not a theory that's generally favored by scientists. With the discovery that the rate of the expansion of the universe is actually increasing because of dark energy, it's unlikely the process will reverse itself enough to allow the universe to collapse. The Big Rip The universe as we know it isn't just expanding; it's expanding faster and faster. Some scientists think the key to the end of the universe lies in that expansion. Dark energy is the name scientists have given to the force behind the increasing acceleration of the expansion of the universe. It makes up 68% of the known universe, yet scientists know little about it. If dark energy pushes the expansion of the universe even further, it may lead to the Big Rip. The forces pushing the universe apart may overwhelm gravity, which is what keeps planets, solar systems and galaxies clumped together. Stars, planets and all other matter in the universe would be flung far apart from one another, bringing about the end of the world. Eventually, everything would be ripped apart at an atomic level. Vacuum Decay The Big Freeze, the Big Rip and the Big Crunch are all billions of years off. We don't need to worry about those violent (or quiet) ends to the universe right now. But there is a way the universe could end in an instant, at any moment: It's called vacuum decay. It takes a lot of science and quantum mechanics to truly understand how a vacuum decay death of the universe would work, but put simply: If a bubble forms within the universe, and the laws of physics as we know them don't apply within this bubble, then it would be the end of our own universe. This bubble would expand, changing the fundamental rules of the universe as we know them, leading to something entirely new. This might happen because — while the universe is formed by quantum fields that hold it together, and almost all these fields are in a vacuum state, which means they are stable — the Higgs field, which blankets and permeates our universe, is not in a true vacuum state. If it were ever to move toward that, it would lead to vacuum decay. The end of everything is a long way off, but thinking about the way the universe might end can help us understand our place in the universe now. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Looking for Answers About the End of the World

 Movies remain massively popular. As noted by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the U.S./Canada box office reached $11 billion in 2015 with 69 percent of the population heading to the theater at least once a year. It makes sense, since films offer the chance to escape mundane life for a few hours, showcase the triumph of human spirit and have the power to change our perception of the world. And while writers, actors, directors and editors deserve much of the credit for this magic, what's behind the scenes — state-of-the-art technologies used to create new worlds or enhance the moviegoing experience — also plays a critical role. And many of these technologies offer more than just moving picture improvement; here's a look at their potential beyond the theater.Breaking the CGI Barrier When it comes to movie magic, James Cameron is always a reliable source of inspiration. As noted by Screen Rant, Cameron created a new CGI/live-action capture system for "Avatar" which saw actors wearing specialized body suits and head rigs with standard cameras that take continual images of their face. Cameron also designed a new camera called the "Simulcam" that lets him superimpose CGI images over live actors thanks to their body suits, in effect allowing him to "see" fantasy and sci-fi environments in real time. And for long-in-the-making "Avatar" 2 and 3, Cameron wants to shoot in higher-than-24 frames per second using a virtual camera that can capture scenes with high enough quality that no other visual effects are required. Outside the theater, there's big potential for a pairing with virtual reality. From a commercial perspective, imagine travel agents offering "teaser" looks of potential destinations — or eventually selling entirely virtual vacations — while government and military organizations could use this tech to simulate battlefield training or improve response times when dealing with one-in-a-million scenarios that aren't easy to replicate using traditional methods.Toss the Glasses Take a look at first-run movies and you'll see most of them offered in 3-D. The caveat for images that pop out of the screen? Those awful 3-D glasses. Now, a team at MIT has developed a multiparallax display which makes it possible to enjoy the 3-D experience from any seat in a theater without the need for glasses. While it's still in development, there's huge potential here for next-gen moviegoing and also more practical applications. A good example here are drones and robots now used by law enforcement and military agencies to conduct reconnaissance or detect explosive devices. Combining advanced camera technology and multiparallax screens (the team has already designed one the size of an iPad), teams could quickly get a handle on the totality of their environment rather than simply a 2-D "slice."Choose Your Own Adventure What if movies offered viewers a choice? That's the downstream goal of new behind-the-scenes technology using the "Unreal" video game engine. According to Fast Company, Epic Games recently partnered with Chevy to create a car commercial that lets viewers select the vehicle they want to see on screen and then watch as it appears in real time. Using a combination of 4K cameras mounted to a "Blackbird" — a placeholder vehicle for a CGI car — and the advanced rendering power of the "Unreal" engine, it's now possible to mimic the look and "feel" of the viewer's preferred vehicle on screen. Beyond the thrill of choosing characters in movies, the obvious application here is in marketing; pair this tech with mobile devices and let viewers design the commercial that convinces them to spend. But it also provides the impetus for better in situ job training and evaluation of problem-solving skills — give staff or applicants a virtual scenario to solve and let them choose the characters and methods they prefer to get the job done. It's a way to visualize individual creativity within the confines of virtual space. Movie magic helps the silver screen come to life. New technology behind the scenes, however, offers practical applications for training, exploration and evaluation.

Behind the Scenes: Multipurpose Movie Magic

Key Takeaways  Big Bang and Inflation Theory mean that bubble or alternate universes may be on a collision course with us. Alternate universes could be outer or inner parallel universes, accessed through space travel or through our minds. Travel to an inner universe could be easier than to an outer."Star Trek." "Inception." "The Matrix." Even "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" leveraged the idea of an alternative universe to create compelling stories. Are these alternate universes nothing more than sci-fi worlds, or are they grounded in scientific reality? If so, could inter-universal travel agencies ever emerge to offer round-trip tours of parallel points of interest?Alternate Universe Basics and Multiverse TheoryNot surprisingly, scientists can't agree on an alternate universe theory, often called multiverse theory. Physicists like Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University suggest that the Big Bang led to rapid inflation that's not constant across the universe. While inflation has largely ceased within our cosmological view, some remote areas of the universe are still expanding, in turn driving the creation of "bubble" universes that quickly expand and begin to move away. Theoretically, it should be possible to observe evidence of a collision between our universe and another.Other PermutationsAccording to Live Science, other experts argue that the potential number of universes is much smaller than the 10500 predicted by string theory because many of them won't have the requisite amount of dark energy to drive universal inflation, while others will collapse under their own weight. Some theorists posit "daughter universes," where new universes created every time a choice is made and see us constantly traveling to alternate versions of reality without realizing it, said Online Star Register. For the purpose of potential travel, however, two broad categories exist: outer and inner universes.Outer UniversesOuter universes exist outside the human mind. "Star Trek's" mirror universe is a good example of a daughter universe gone awry; differing choices in the past led to a universe in which humanity didn't form a benevolent space-faring federation but a capricious and malicious empire. Characters periodically travel to this universe using either transporter technology or, in the show's most recent iteration, the so-called "Spore Drive." An 1884 story by Edwin A. Abbot called "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" took another approach by suggesting a living, breathing universe with only two dimensions.Inner UniversesIn addition to sci-fi worlds that exist beyond the stars, movies such as "The Matrix" and "Inception" suggest universes that are a product of human consciousness. In "Inception," the lead character specializes in infiltrating people's dreams to retrieve important information by using the phenomenon of "lucid dreaming," which makes it possible to recognize you're in a dream and control your actions. The film ends with the protagonist being reunited with his children — but fades to black before confirming if he's in the real world or still dreaming."The Matrix," meanwhile, features an apocalyptic universe where humans have been conquered by intelligent machines. The machines use mankind as batteries, simulating a familiar Earth reality where humans are actually trapped in gel-filled cylinders and connected to a global power network. This ties into the notion of Simulation Theory; as Fast Company noted, it's possible that our universe is nothing more than a simulation run by advanced aliens or future humans — we may be the inner universe of some other civilization.Making the Big TripPotential for parallel universes? Check. Multiple interpretations of what constitutes a parallel universe? Check. But is it possible to make the trip?When it comes to inner universes, maybe. Penn State University noted there is some science tied to lucid dreaming, but permanently inhabiting that state is problematic since human bodies need food and water to survive. As for a simulation-type universe, we may already be trapped inside.Traveling to outer universes may be more problematic, despite new research from the University of Durham, which suggests a wider variety of life-supporting universes than previously thought — their theoretical models show that "adding dark energy, up to a few hundred times the amount observed in our Universe, would actually have a modest impact upon star and planet formation." So what does travel look like? It's not transporters or spore drives: According to Futurism, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku suggests our universe will eventually wind up in a "big freeze" as expansion slows and stops; combined with technology, this may allow inter-universe transport. Neil deGrasse Tyson, meanwhile, says it may be possible to easily move from universes with more dimensions to those with less — we may already be doing so without realizing it.Sci-Fi Worlds RoundupDo other universes exist? Probably. Can you book a trip? If they're inside your head — or if we're already in a simulation — yes. Outside is more difficult. While we may be constantly traveling through daughter universes, "Star Trek"-like inter-universe trips won't show up on travel websites anytime soon.Find out how the James Webb space telescope is giving us a great view of the universe.

Sci-Fi or Reality? Travel Tips for an Alternate Universe

Hollywood has a love affair with artificial intelligence movies. No surprise, since human beings have been obsessed with robots and AI for decades — an obsession which typically takes some form of the "Frankenstein complex" and has super-intelligent robots rising up against their flesh-and-blood masters to achieve world domination or manipulating humans into assisting machine aims. With machine learning and self-determination now hot topics across multiple industries, it's worth taking a look at the Hollywood history of robot behavior and how it stacks up against emerging technologies.Robot RevolutionSkynet. Judgment Day. The Resistance. These words conjure up terrifying apocalyptic images for most sci-fi fans. "The Terminator" franchise, one of Hollywood's most popular, serves up everything humans are afraid of: a massive, interconnected network of computers which achieves sentience and then attempts to exterminate the human race. This is machine learning gone awry — Skynet is convinced humans will attempt to destroy it and so sets out to destroy humankind in an effort to safeguard the world. But in fact, companies like Northrop Grumman have advanced the concept of autonomy to help preserve freedom and national security. The U.S. Navy's X-47B UCAS-D demonstrated that sophisticated autonomous systems are already capable of landing on and launching from an aircraft carrier -- one of a Naval aviator's most difficult tasks.The ImpostorA newer Hollywood take on AI, "Ex Machina," follows would-be savior Caleb as he attempts to free humanoid robot Ava from the clutches of her creator as an emotional bond develops between machine and man. The plan succeeds — except for the part where Caleb is trapped by Ava as she flees her prison, her "affections" for him revealed as a clever ruse. The last scene of the movie has her slipping into synthetic skin and passing among humans unnoticed. This is the other side of Hollywood's robot reality: AI intelligent enough to mimic emotional responses and infiltrate society at large to further manipulate human affairs. It's a subtler version of the Frankenstein complex but no less terrifying: bad behavior run amok, hidden behind a human face.Needs AssistanceNext on the list of artificial intelligence movies is the Will Smith vehicle "I, Robot" released in 2004. Based loosely on the work of groundbreaking sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, the movie centers around Asimov's oft-cited Three Laws of Robotics, which are:A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.And while the summer blockbuster did well enough in theaters, of more interest is the original work of fiction which informed the script, specifically the short story "Runaround." In it, scientists Donovan and Powell travel to Mars with robot SPD-13 (Speedy), which possesses a strengthened Third Law as he (for the sake of convenience) was expensive to produce. When ordered to collect selenium from a nearby pool, Speedy dutifully heads off but does not return, prompting Powell and Donovan to conduct a search. They discover Speedy tracing a circle around the pool as it contains dangerous chemicals — Speedy is unable to obey the Second Law because of his more potent Third Law programming, but cannot return to the base without completing his task. Powell realizes that placing himself at risk in Speedy's sight will cause the First Law to supersede these conflicting instructions.While less "kill all humans" or emotionally subversive, this version of robotic intelligence is the closest match to current models: machines built to accomplish a specific purpose — and which are extremely intelligent in areas directly related to that purpose — but still require human intervention and oversight.Trusted Cognitive EvolutionArtificial intelligence movies have perpetuated a low-level fear of AI advancement but, in this case, fact and fiction don't match. "Innovators are developing software that allow autonomous systems to decide for themselves how best to complete a specific task," says Katherine Lemos, of Northrop Grumman. "Ensuring that these autonomous systems never go rogue, and always reflect the values of their developers, however, absolutely remains a top priority for engineers, scientists and ethicists. "Bottom line? Hollywood loves to show robots behaving badly, but the future of self-determining devices isn't so dystopian as depicted on screen.

Hooray For Hollywood: Good Movies About Bad Robots Don't Reflect Reality

May 4th — also known as Star Wars Day — is just around the corner. It's a day for fans everywhere to make that "May the Fourth be with you" joke without shame. It also offers a great opportunity to break down some of the most interesting technologies from the Star Wars universe. With the franchise's newest iteration "Solo" headed to theaters on Memorial Day weekend, it's worth taking a look at the fictional universe's most popular ship and answering the question everyone eventually asks: Could the Millennium Falcon really fly? Faster Than Light? One of the fastest ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon flies at a faster-than-light drive, known in Star Wars as hyperdrive. As noted by Space.com, hyperdrives use "hypermatter particles," which let spacecraft enter an alternate dimension, known as hyperspace, and exceed the speed of light. Hyperdrive unfortunately doesn't exist yet. Current science hasn't found a solution to several critical problems. As you approach the speed of light, the amount of mass needed trends toward infinite, along with the amount of energy needed to move the Falcon. Ignition energy is also problematic. Space.com points out that starting the Millennium Falcon would require mass-energy on par "with the total mass-energy of the planet Jupiter." Potential solutions — such as the Alcubierre drive — postulate ways to "bend" space-time and effectively push ships faster than light. But they also come with their own issues. Blueshifting of microwave background photons could kill everyone onboard without some type of shielding in place, and crashing into an object like an asteroid or planet could put a quick end to any Kessel runs, according to Space.com. Air on the Side of Caution Even if we skip the idea of faster-than-light space flight, could the Millennium Falcon really fly in a planet's atmosphere? It happens regularly during the movies — from Han rescuing Luke at the bottom of Cloud City to Rey jump-starting the defunct Falcon on Jakku. Once it's up and running, the ship maneuvers nimbly through the skies, but is this really possible? One theory is that the Falcon's computers and engines are powerful enough to enable it to force its way through the atmosphere, even though it shouldn't really fly. Business Insider, however, said that the clunky shape of the ship makes it less than optimal for non-space travel. It would likely be outrun by current fighter jets and lose its iconic radar dish at high speeds.  There's also the wing problem. While not all aircraft have wings, they're the go-to answer if you're looking to generate lift. The Falcon's design — a large, clunky circle — doesn't offer much in the way of air efficiency or maneuverability. While advanced engines might let the Falcon stay airborne, real-life technology combined with efficient wing design makes current craft more than a match in-atmosphere. Not the Ship You're Looking For? The Falcon isn't real, but Mic notes you could build and maintain it (minus the laser cannons and hyperdrive) for $2.5 billion. Still, with Star Wars day on the horizon, it's worth thinking about. Here's the bottom line: In the cold vacuum of space, some type of light-bending hyperdrive might give Solo's spacecraft the Kessel Run advantage. As a typical aircraft, however, its maneuverability and speed are outpaced by emerging Earth technologies.

Star Wars Day Trivia: Could the Millennium Falcon Really Fly?

Time travel. It's often used by science fiction novels, television shows and movies as either the central plot device, like in "Back to the Future," or the fundamental property of the universe.  "Star Trek" created the "chroniton" particle to account for the existence of time-alerting effects. Is it possible or just the stuff of human imagination? Does a viable theory exist, or is time science just sound and fury? Here's what we know so far.   Space-time: A Primer   Before tackling the question of time travel, it's important to establish a foundation. What conditions of the universe make it possible to theorize about circumventing time in the first place?  First is the concept of space-time. In 1909, Hermann Minkowski published "Time and Space (translated in The Monist) which suggested that space-time had four dimensions: The three familiar physical dimensions and time itself. Soon after, Albert Einstein added to the space-time discussion by positing that perception of time can be altered depending on the speed of the observer. National Geographic details his "Lightning Strikes a Moving Train" thought experiment: If lightning simultaneously strikes the front and back of a train moving at 2000 mph, an observer outside the train will see the strikes happen at the same time. An observer on the train, however, will perceive the rear strike to happen slightly after the front strike because the train is rapidly moving forward.    Of Arrows and Entropy   Everything in the universe is traveling through time, but not at exactly the same rate. As NASA pointed out, we're all going at the same rate: 1 hour per hour, but depending on your location — on a plane, on the top of Mount Everest or deep underground — your perception of time differs. Space.com speculated that time — coined "the arrow of time" for its forward movement — bears a striking similarity to the second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy (or chaos) only increases. That is, entropy only flows in one direction.  Any theory of time travel, therefore, must answer two critical questions: Can we speed gain control of time to make it go faster? Can we change its direction?   Theoretically Speaking Einstein's theory of relativity explains that as objects approach the speed of light, time slows compared to measurements taken by a stationary observer. Scientific American offered the scenario of a ship continuously accelerating at a speed equal to Earth's gravity, which would take it to the center of the galaxy and back in just 40 years. Thanks to the time dilation effect at near-light-speed, however, 60,000 years would have passed on Earth.   Going back in time, meanwhile, is more complex. In theory, it should be possible to curve space-time in such a way that it creates closed timelike curves — paths through space that are so tightly curved that they return to their starting point in time, allowing travel to the past. Unfortunately, as noted by the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, naturally occurring closed timelike curves are unlikely since the universe is only expanding, not rotating.   Tech Talk   Professor Gary T. Horowitz of the University of California at Santa Barbara told Scientific American that the time-dilation effect of high velocity, which "'has been overwhelmingly supported by experimental tests, applies to all types of clocks, including biological aging.'"  Build a ship fast enough, and time travel becomes a real possibility. The caveat? Reaching speeds where time dilation becomes meaningful requires both massive amounts of energy (a planetary mass or more) and continuous acceleration.   As for traveling into the past, scientists have suggested the use of wormholes: tunnels in space that connect distant points by bending spacetime. According to Futurism "wormholes" have been developed which seemingly allow the teleportation of magnetic fields — while this isn't on the order of moving people or even particles across space-time, it's a step in the right direction for manipulating the forces necessary to test any theory of time travel. Is Time Travel Possible?   The short answer here is ... sort of. As spacecraft and engine technology pushes travelers closer to the speed of light, this could effectively reduce the rate at which days, hours and years go by, pushing astronauts into the future.  Going back, meanwhile, is more complicated. While general relativity allows travel to the past in theory, we haven't found a practical method. In other words, don't bank on the ability to go back and alter the past anytime soon — but don't count it out just yet.     

Interested in a career with Northrop Grumman? Check out our open positions.