Aaron B.

Villaflores II BS Life Science

PS 11 A February 7, 2012

We all have our own busy lives; we are so preoccupied with work, studies, problems, and various obligations but no matter how much we wish for time to stop, we would still find ourselves trapped in the constant flow of time. When sleep is not even enough for you restore your energy because of the piling excessive amount of stress, dont you start wondering, what if theres another world where things are more convenient for us? If you are now sitting idly in a couch staring at empty space, questioning your own existence, wishing for death to overcome your boredom, dont you dream of a world where things get a little more interesting? If there are other worlds out there that could give me a more convenient life, the life that you have always imagined in your daydreams, would you be willing to take the chance and discover a different kind of reality? Even though I am sceptical when it comes to the parallel universes, I just cant stop myself from thinking of the possibilities of other universes. Before majority of scientists would disagree to this idea and leads to thousands of arguments and disappointments of science fiction fans but now the trends seems to be a bit overturned. Modern physicists have now been considering that we are not the only existing universe but there are several others that goes beyond our grasp. As of now its difficult to fully comprehend the concept of parallel universes when our own universe is full of mysteries yet to unfold. In an attempt to explain the origin, mechanism, function, and everything that has to do with our world, physicists have been working on String theory a.k.a the theory of everything. Our current understanding based on what we learn from science tells us that all kinds of matter were made up of particles, however string theory introduces a different notion; all kinds of matter are made up of strings. In layman terms, the tiny invisible strings can be compared to the strings of a musical instrument capable of making a variety of distinct notes that can be played together harmoniously in order to create a melody or music. Therefore in summary, we can ponder on the words of the well-known theoretical physicist Michio Kaku: All of a sudden we realised the Universe is a symphony and the laws of physics are harmonies of a super-string. But before the string theory became prominent, there was the idea of super gravity that was almost displaced by the latter. There are a lot of similarities between the two but there main point of difference can be considered great when it comes to specific details. The two concepts have been in argument when it comes to dimensions. We live in a 3d world, although it is still not confirmed if time can be considered as the 4th dimension, on the other hand most physicists have been proposing the idea of more than 5 dimensions. String theorists all over the world have been working on the context of 10 dimensions while the smaller group of supporters of super gravity suggests that the eleventh dimension exists. Even though the concept of 11th dimension was being whitewashed by the string theorists, Michael Duff and his colleagues never gave up on their idea. After a long debate, an announcement launched a great revolution in science, the string theorists tried adding another dimension to their perspective and the conclusion was that the five different string theories were the same. Finally, Michael Duffs hard work along with other super gravity proponents was not gone to waste.

The eleventh dimension gave a new point of view for string theory; the deduction was that an even bigger structure that comprises the universe actually exists. The continuous pursuit of explaining the core of everything led to the new suggestion that our entire universe was a membrane. It was dubbed as M (membrane) theory but because of its perplexity others have assumed a different meaning for the M theory. Some of the examples mentioned by scientists and physicists were: mystery, magical, madness, mother of strings, majesty and other ingenious words they could come up with. Even though there are more and more discoveries made, the mystery also seems to grow bigger but no one would want a wild goose chase that never ends. Why do we never find the truth behind the mysterious origin of the universe? It is believed that there is a great missing piece beyond physical laws that should solve the mystery of the big bang theory. The missing piece was called as the singularity and it was further explained by Paul Steinhardt; When you extrapolate Einstein's general Theory of Relativity back to the beginning you discover what we call a singularity, a cosmic singularity, which is to say that the equations blow up. Lets just say that the singularity, should we solve it, would give complete sense to the string theory and the big bang. However, the problem is that it does not seem to follow neither scientific nor mathematical logic. Its really difficult to explain but there was an internet post before that reminded me of a similar thought with the singularity. The message is simple; the post challenges its audience to think of a colour outside the visible spectrum but when you start thinking of it is actually impossible. The colours that we could imagine are limited to only specific wavelengths our eyes could perceive and processed by the brain. As we are restricted by our very own limitations, these theories would still be far from being facts and reality. If other universe actually existed with its own set of physical laws, it is possible that we have not even existed from that universe. Each one of us could have been an entirely different person with an entirely different life. Wherein even the perfect life you have dreamt of could be there. Some might people have been joking about it, but somewhere in the back of their minds they wish for it to be true. When I think of the possible implications of these theories, I wanted to see if it would answer my question of why do people dream? What if those visions that we see at night are the things that actually happening at the other universe. We can see those things because in way or another we are connected and related to it. Every time we wake up, we forget more than half of our dreams and what if it is lost because it should not be revealed nor exist in a world with a different physical laws. We often have the most inexplicable dreams, like having unnatural extraordinary power, meeting weird creatures, but what if those kinds of things are normal in other universes? Who wouldnt want to be a superhero, a famous celebrity, an exceptional genius, or a respected artist? When the time comes that humans realize the existence of parallel universes, Id be in a great dilemma. I could say that I am contented with the life th at I have as of now but I cant resist the thought of great adventures and experiences I could have if other universes existed. Although it wont be that bad if in an alternate universe, I was an awesome writer who could write sure A reaction papers for a very famous legendary physics professor.