bascule

We really can't speculate as to whether or not a "gravity shielding" device is possible (or if it is, how to build one) until we have an experimentally verified theory of quantum gravity. When CERN's Large Hadron Collider goes operational in the next few years, it's highly possible we will observe the elusive Higgs Boson, and thus will have some real experimental data on the behavior of the Higgs Boson and Higgs Fields. Not that this data alone will be enough to speculate on the possability of gravity shielding, since string theory seems to be the leading candidate for an explanation of quantum gravity. Until then, gravity shielding and "antigravity" are science fiction. Anyone contending they have designed or constructed such a device likely does not know what they're talking about. But here are some quick questions to ask about any such device: Does it work in a vacuum? If not the "antigravity" effects are just air pressure Is it using electromagnetic fields? If so the explanation is magnetic force, not "gravity shielding" or "antigravity"

There's... 1 time dimension and 10 spatial dimensions which break down as follows: 3 dimensions are the normal dimensions of space we are familar with 6 dimensions are closed and very tightly curved. String theory usually refers to them as being "compactified". Since the normal 3 dimensions of space we are familiar with appear to be very flat, in comparison the other 6 don't seem to exist in our normal day-to-day experience since they are so very small and tightly curved. The final dimension was illuminated through the dualities between the 5 string theories, which paint a picture of a higher dimension in which structures called p-branes and d-branes exist. What we originally thought of as 1 dimensional strings actually appear to be 2 dimensional slices of higher dimensional membranes.

Lifeforms purchase higher order at the cost of substantially increased entropy. It's the reason why we humans have to consume a ridiculous amount of food to survive, or why a relatively small high tech product requires a vast and seemingly ridiculous amount of raw material to construct. As we move closer to the von Neumann universal constructor the price of order will get cheaper, but I doubt we'll ever reach spontaneous "order for free"

M-theory speculates that the Higgs field and thus the gravitational force is composed of closed p-branes which are not bound to a d-brane like the open p-branes that compose all matter/energy/other forces are. The strings of these p-branes can freely flow between universes bounded by different d-branes, so the force of gravity is diluted across all dimensions. This would explain why we have never observed gravitons in particle accelerators; they are not d-brane bound and can escape into another dimension before we can observe them. The Higgs field is thus manifested in a way that change of velocities requires a change in the flow of multidimensional gravitons about you. In order to change your velocity you must reshape the flow. The most compelling coincidence is that the characteristics of gravitons as predicted by both quantum and M-theory (massless spin 2 particle) match up. If gravity is mediated by photons, then why is it so compratively weak to the other forces?

Perhaps the Tao would be more conducive to your philosophical ponderings than "infinity." However, remember that the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao

I believe Aristotle's organicist cosmology is correct, and probably his most profound insight into the true nature of the universe, although his aspect of his beliefs is pretty much entirely overlooked. However the man believed the four fundamental elements were earth, air, fire, and water, and was perplexed by the fact that life forms could create movement out of nowhere. Nothing else could do that! If any of his discoveries in the realm of physics actually coincide with complex behaviors in reality (i.e. CMB interference) I'd say it's purely coincidence.

Wow, what a scary looking mouthful of a thread title. This belongs in pseudoscience and metaphysics for a reason, I'm sure you're thinking. Well, it certainly does, and given that, let's proceed... Okay, given that all of the elementary particles in the standard model, as well as are a number of things we can't yet explain, are composed of little vibrating one dimensional energy strings, and given that these strings form larger, extradimensional structures (p-branes and d-branes), the movement of everything in this universe carries on outside of it. We witness extradimensional connections forming all the time when we witness quantum entanglements, for example in the Aspect experiment. M-theory explains non-local "spooky" action through extradimensional membranes. Now, onto the noosphere. Princeton researchers have noticed patterns in the entropic background noise of various places around the world which demonstrate a non-local correlation with world events. The project which analyzes and correlates the data is located here: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/ This project has found some rather striking connections between wide-scale collective experiences and data produced from Random Event Generators ("eggs"). Think about how much extradimensional vibrational noise something as complex and patternistic as the human brain must put off. Let's hypothesize for a second that the correlation between the egg data and collective experiences is due to the "spooky" action of vibrations along extradimensional membranes. Why would we hypothesize this instead of say, electromagnetic transmissions? Because the electromagnetic transmissions of the brain are quite weak, and the variance in the egg data is unaffected by attempts to shield it from EM. The noosphere eggs definitely appear to be exhibiting some sort of non-local "spooky" behavior. Think of the vibrational radiation patterns our brains, our machines, our computers; anything that involves a lot of complex micromotions, such as electrons/photons zipping around in complex integrated circuits, or the motion of all chemicals within any living organism. All life and all machines give off a sort of vibrational "aura", which, in theory, should be discernably complex from simpler motions such as those of weather, rivers, etc. (although think of the vibrational aura that's given off by something with as complex of micromotions as running water, perhaps there's an explanation for humans' uncanny attraction to its beauty) I believe these vibrational patterns eventually collide and interfere, sometimes with such intensity as to form chaotic turbulence (exhibited by large variance on the noosphere eggs) ...but the patterns of the human mind are not chaotic. They represent complex, intelligent behavior. And fortunately for us, neurons form some of the most complex and powerful pattern analyzers in known existence. I believe the brain may have evolved specifically to detect these patterns. Specifically, within the lymbic system, the primitive mind, sits a structure involved with complex decision making which I believe is also designed to sense the vibrations of the global consciousness. Specifically, the anterior cingulate cortex seems to serve as some sort of non-local warning system, allowing animals and certain people to sense impending danger before it actually occurs. Animals naturally flee to higher ground in the event of an impending flood. Perhaps they are sensing mass distress with a structure similar to the anterior cingulate cortex. Psychics remain a staple belief of gullable moron, but is it perhaps possible that certain people are capible of sensing the vibrational aura of matter their brain's constituent particles are entangled with? I believe, in certain instances, this may very well be the case, and certain individuals have brains wired in such a way as to be able to detect and decode patterns in the non-local vibrations of extradimensional membranes. Similarly, drugs like LSD and psilocybin elicit synaesthetic effects as interconnections are randomly formed throughout the brain. You can hear colors, smell sounds, and taste the wall with your fingers. But perhaps in those beautiful patterns you see which appear out of nowhere, there exists some kind of non-local, extradimensional communication. This sort of thinking was advocated by Terrence McKenna, who claims quite ardently that he was, during mushroom trips, in communication with an extradimensional consciousness of some sort. Many users of psychedelic drugs report a connection to a sort of 'cosmic consciousness'. As to what they're actually communicating with, be it nothing, the global consciousness itself, some random individual, or perhaps conscious extradimensional entities which are spatially nearby but connected to a different d-brane from us... So, you now have a bunch of pseudoscientific and metaphysical tripe to ponder for a moment...

These kinds of comparisons fall apart in the quantum world, where our common sense understanding of how the world operates no longer seems to apply, due to what M-theory would attribute to extradimensional influences. An experiment like the delayed choice quantum eraser turns our everyday common sense understanding of the universe on its head, but makes perfect sense by quantum models.

How do you divide things into groups of nothing? You can claim there's infinite groups, but even with infinite groups of nothing you wouldn't have accomplished anything, as all are empty and what you originally tried to divide is still waiting to be divided. It's simply a physical impossibility...

Either that or NASA needs a better screening process on their tank workers. Only users lose drugs...

I think certain individuals on this thread are really thinking about the problem incorrectly. Our best information to date paints a picture of an extremely flat universe. That doesn't necessarily imply an infinite flat universe, but if the universe is closed (either in a positive sphere or a negative saddle) then it is very, very, very big, to the point that it appears to be flat. Figuring out why the universe seems so flat is a rather vexing problem in science today. Note that if the universe truly is closed, it's impossible for an "edge" to exist as the curvature of spacetime would merely wrap back on itself. This is the anticipated behavior of the 6 "compactified" dimensions in string theory, they are simply curved so tightly in comparison with the three spatial dimensions of ordinary experience that they don't even seem to exist in our ordinary, everyday lives.

Which is why reproducable, common observations between individuals are the only objective means of studying reality...

Why do you think electrons are being "released" from the crystal? Even if this were the case, its supply of them is finite; the crystal can't magically make electrons out of nowhere... and your analysis of the device's operation would be benefitted if you observed something more than "it's been running for X amount of time" since depending on the characteristics of the device that really doesn't mean anything, especially without a control to compare to

The $250,000 to "prove evolution" offer reminds me of Gene Ray's $10,000 to disprove TimeCube Theory. No winners yet... surprise surprise Although... 1. Gene Ray claims he occupies all four corners of the timecube simultaneously 2. Gene Ray claims he is the Wisest Human 3. Gene Ray claims no human can occupy all four corners of the timecube simultaneously I want my $10,000

Scientific progress slowing? Seems to me it's accelerating at an exponential rate...

I think an airplane is a more apt comparison. Both use air pressure. These devices (originally conceived by noted antigravity crackpot Thomas Townsend Brown) use motion of ionized air to achieve the "lifter" effect. It's the same method that "Ionic Breeze" air purifiers use. Put one in a vacuum and it will stay firmly planted on the ground.

According to M-theory, gravity is manifested through the tension of the latticework of p-branes and d-branes that compose the universe, however the specific interactions are manifested as open strings/p-branes (bound to a d-brane) colliding with closed strings/p-branes (which can move freely between any "world sheet"). Thus the force of gravity isn't bound to any particular world sheet like the open strings which compose all ordinary matter and energy are, and instead its force is diluted across all of the world sheets which compose the universe. This explains why the force of gravity is so very, very weak compared to all the other forces, which are composed of open strings/p-branes which are localized to a particular world sheet.

I think a much better approach would be to abandon the human body for such scenarios and look for a more robust container for consciousness.

No, I have not read the book, but I have read the "science flaws" page, which demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of classical mechanics/orbital mechanics, relativity, and quantum. How can you begin to debunk the accumulated scientific efforts of all of mankind if you don't even understand them yourself? When he dismisses relativity, he doesn't provide any mechanism for explaining the behavior of light which greatly influenced Einstein's development of special relativity in the first place: the velocity of light is the same in every reference frame. Move 20km/s towards the photons whose velocity you're measuring and you don't get c - 20km/s, you get c. Move 1000000km/s away from the photons whose velocity you're measuring and you don't get c - 1000000km/s, you get c. This is very easily explained by time dilation in relativity, as your relative velocity changes so does your time dilation, therefore so does your conception of a "second" and thus the benchmark by which you evaluate the velocity of light has been altered. Until he can explain this behavior of light otherwise, he can't dismiss relativity.

http://drdino.com/ Wow. What a bizzare site. They're offering $250,000 for "empirical evidence/scientific proof" of evolution Among the fun "dinosaur facts" they offer (from video #3, apparently): "Scientists have theorized that the T-Rex could probably breathe fire" "If you could get near him you could very easily pull off the arm of the T-Rex. He would die because he would bleed to death." "Dinosaurs are reptiles, and reptiles never stop growing." "Dinosaur footprints and people footprints were found together in Glenrose, Texas" "The most up to date scientific information shows that dinosaurs did not live millions of years ago, they lived with man. There are still some around today." "Missionaries have reported that the natives are scared of Pterodactyl's [sic] still living around Kenya, Africa. The natives call them Kongamato."

The brain supposedly stores information in graph structures which are traversed in a similar manner to Markov chains. When you try to remember something that you can't immediately deduce, your brain continues looking for a route to the information you were trying to remember in the background.

Actually you'll find stoners and psychedelic enthusiaists talk about that kind of thing all the time...

Never mind that braces are responsible for a substantial increase in TMJ disorders...