Ode to Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics deals with the behaviour of small particles such as electrons. This turns out to be important for engineers when they deal with semiconductors. That's how I got in touch with this exotic subject myself when making my master's thesis in 1988.

Quantum mechanics leaves no doubt: everything is uncertain. On the one hand, this is a damper on the revelry of science. At the end of the nineteenth century, it seemed that the world was deterministic and that science could understand and predict everything. Since then, we have discovered counter intuitive phenomena and uncertainty principles. Schrödinger's cat was no longer to be found where we thought.

There is also a good side. Quantum mechanics introduces a certain magic to science. Georges Lemaître's primordial atom, the idea that quantum mechanics could be at the origin of our existence, may not make the miracle of being any less miraculous, but it is already somewhat possible in the scientific sphere. In quantum mechanics, measuring is really observing. The observer inevitably influences the measurement he makes. John Archibald Wheeler's thought experiment even suggests that quantum mechanics plays a role in our perception of the origin of the universe.

It may be just a dreamy thought, but quantum mechanics seems to be a scientific basis for love. Just like in love, in quantum mechanics there is attraction, repulsion, ambiguity and unpredictability. A colleague of mine once asked me the question: "How can you be so sure that an atom has no consciousness?". Perhaps the behaviour of small particles is unpredictable because they have consciousness. Alles Leben ist eins. But this is not a scientifically based claim.

I also refer to my blogs: "The origin of time" and "The nature of light".

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot was a famous image taken by Voyager 1 from a distance of 6 billion kilometres, in which Earth appeared as a pale blue dot. This happened on February 14^th, 1990, now almost 35 years ago. We learned only this week Voyager 1 has now travelled over 25 billion kilometres, and this at a relative speed of 17 km per second away from us.

From a purely scientific point of view, we didn't absolutely need this picture. We knew perfectly well Earth would appear as a pale blue dot from such a large distance. However, as a scientist concerned about the world, Dr. Carl Sagan decided back in 1990 that it would be worth the trouble to take this shot.

Indeed, the meaning of this image can’t be underestimated. Knowing how something will look like is not the same experience as actually seeing it from such a distance, be it with a remote probe. Humankind took a radical change of perspective there.

Pale Blue Dot sheds feeble light on our extreme isolation and our extreme vulnerability in the universe, something Carl Sagan had extensively explained in his famous television series Cosmos.

I refer to my blog Voyager’s Amazing Tales. 

Picture: By NASA/JPL-Caltech - https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA23645.jpg, Public Domain, Link

The Increasing Likelihood of Flying Teapots

When Bertrand Russell formulated his famous flying teapot analogy, he deliberately chose a very British object, one that nevertheless would have looked very awkward if it were ever observed to be revolving in an orbit around the sun, the Earth, or around any celestial body.

The flying teapot analogy was often referred to by atheist thinkers as a rightful argument against religious dogmatism. I myself being a religious person, I nevertheless fully concur with Russell’s viewpoint. The flying teapot analogy is not only well found and funny, it rightfully lays the burden of proof to the one making an unfalsifiable statement. Saint Thomas was right to question his friends’ statements, which remain unfalsifiable to us. I however disagree with some atheist thinkers that religious adherence requires rational proof of the related beliefs. I agree with atheist thinkers that religions should not disdain non-believers.

Climate change deniers believe climate activists believe in flying teapots, but climate change is falsifiable science, it is not a belief. The existence of climate change deniers can't be denied though.

With the shifting thin grey line between the feasible and the unfeasible, it looks like Russell’s analogy becomes more likely in time. We can already send teapots in an orbit around the Earth, and our telescopes could then see them flying. Sending over a few dozens could be done at reasonable cost, say $500 to $1000 per teapot. A teapot constellation would make a nice student project and I’m sure the funding question will come up soon. The Kessler syndrome, ending in clouds of pieces of porcelain in space, could be the end to this very British dream.

I refer to my blogs “Belief Creates the Actual Fact” and to “What Satellites Can Do For You”.

Picture Patricia Deneffe ©2024

On the Origin of Time

This book by professor Thomas Hertog reveals the latest discoveries made in theoretical physics and cosmology. The author summarises his latest discoveries with Stephen Hawking of which Stephen could not see the publication anymore.

So far, reading an exciting book and not being able to put it down only happened to me with fiction books. It is the first time this happens to me with a nonfiction book. The book reveals the history of our universe and our time and the story is so fascinating not only because of the findings themselves but also because of the way the researchers got there.

It looks like existence, creation and evolution are one and the same trinity. Our universe and its evolution are not carved in stone but in soft qubits, the measurement of which is affected by us observers, carriers of truckloads of qubits ourselves. Not all concepts are easily accessible but the author made a wonderful attempt as he is a good storyteller too. People who can combine the highest level of scientific research with good science popularising skills deserve the greatest admiration.

I refer to my English blogs on science, my Dutch blogs on science (not a translation of the English blog) and to Deus Absconditus (not a blog about science, rather about our tradition concerning our creation).

The legacy of Georges Lemaître

George Lemaître enjoys a late but high recognition. We can admire him for several reasons. First of all, Georges Lemaître must have been an extremely gifted mathematician. Perhaps he became this in artillery during World War I. Also remember that all calculations at that time were still carried out with the help of a fresh head, calculation slats, tables and millimetre paper. It is true that George Lemaître was one of the first users of early computers.

We can also admire him for his clear vision. He developed a cosmological vision that is extremely modern. Even when he is under pressure, he does not succumb to the temptation to make theological statements about the cause of the Big Bang. He does not desire to see his God intervene in the early existence of the universe. It's all in line with the blog Deus Absconditus. Georges Lemaître saw it almost as a blasphemy if God needed his finger to set the cosmos in motion. Perhaps he saw that there was no point in associating the world of Roman Catholic religion with the world of science.

I also refer to my Dutch written blogs science as a vocation and ode to physics.

Star Stuff Contemplating the Stars

The title comes from Carl Sagan, in his television series Cosmos. The atoms in our body have been generated inside stars, therefore we are star stuff. It remains a fascinating thought. It would make sense to make children aware of this at school. Even though science reveals laws of nature that are neutral to our emotions, Sagan knew to enjoy the beauty of science and found meaning in this beauty. It all becomes even more meaningful now with the James Webb Space Telescope, which is entirely composed of very sophisticated star stuff. In some years from now, the Plato mission will help us discover exoplanets from nearby space. It must be a great time for astronomers.

As interested members of humankind we tend to wonder about our origins. It appears that even time has an origin. It goes back to about 13.8 billion years ago. It seems surprising that time has an origin. Intuitively we can't really imagine a time that goes back infinitely. On the other hand, we can imagine a time that goes back 14 billion years but our intuition deceives us. The laws of nature tell us that we cannot go further back in time than 13.8 billion years ago. If time has an origin, does it also have an end? Probably, but we have no clue when that might happen (that = the last event in our space-time universe).

Another surprising element of our universe is that the forces of nature are so well balanced that they allow us to exist. This is called the anthropic principle. It is as if we were supposed to establish the consciousness of the universe. That doesn't need to imply we are the only ones. There may well be thousands of extra-terrestrial civilizations, isolated from us in time and in space by millions of light years. The search for extra-terrestrials living on exoplanets is interesting.

What if time disappears? It would mean there is not a single trace left of anything ever happened, not a memory, nothing, as if it never happened. You can claim there is no memory left, because all memories ceased to exist, but claim it never happened? We have such a strong sense of the past that its existence can never be denied, whatever the laws of nature may dictate us.

It is hard to imagine this; we already have difficulty imagining that our loved ones are no longer there but now we need to imagine a time as if none of us ever existed. Some sort of complete tabula rasa. It seems a bizarre thought. Another idea we need to get familiar with, is that we could be caught in a black hole and transferred to another universe, keeping all our entropy, and becoming the seed of a next new brave world. Is our universe only the n^th attempt to become a next new universe full of consciousness? On the other hand, is it healthy to think about things that go anyway beyond our capabilities?

I refer to my blog: “Alles Leben ist Eins“.

Alles Leben ist Eins

This book written by Renée Weber carries the subtitle: “the Encounter of Quantum Physics and Mysticism”. It is a compilation of interviews with renowned scientists and thinkers, such as David Bohm, Rupert Sheldrake, Ilya Prigogine, the Dalai Lama and Krishnamurti. The starting point is that scientific rigorism forbids us to pursue more hypothetical theories about the coherence between matter and meaning or about the possibility of consciousness at other abstraction levels of our existence. However, it is in humankind’s DNA to wonder about our origins, to search for a meaning in life and to speculate about our destiny.

Looking at recent scientific findings, be it in astrophysics or life sciences, can make us stand in awe (Deutsch: Ehrfurcht, Nederlands: ontzag) for the beauty of science. I believe it also makes us humble. A first finding is that ‘Gods book’ has been written with the letters of mathematics, which is already amazing when you think about it. Why do we have laws of nature that can be expressed or approximated with mathematical equations? A second finding is that we are ‘star stuff contemplating the stars’ and therefore we seem to constitute a part of the universe’s awareness. Carl Sagan was not a mystic, but he could certainly bring his audience in the same spiritual awe we are considering here.

What if awareness exists in many levels of our existence, even in the subtle, at first sight incomprehensible behaviour of small parts in quantum mechanics? Can matter and meaning be separated from each other? What is the nature and the meaning of light, probably still the largest mystery in physics? Are we seeing only the ‘holographic image’ of a multidimensional universe? If the laws of nature have not always been the same, could it happen they adapt with the universe’s evolution?

For scientists these questions may seem very unscientific. Stephen Hawking even claimed mysticism is only an excuse to those who are not able to understand the fundamental physics of the cosmos. On the other hand, admiration, sense of beauty and awe are human state of minds we can experience without the obligation to adhere to one or the other kind of belief. Perhaps they are the salt and pepper we need to give a taste to our work and our life.

The book was given to me by a former employer company manager and friend, who proved in this way that he knew me better than I could imagine.

I also refer to Homo Deus and to my Dutch blog: ‘Verdwaald in de werkelijkheid’.

Day of Wrath

Humanity will eventually come to an end. This is scientifically sure, as far as things can be scientifically sure. I remember the day I learned this as a child in primary school. My parents and my teacher tried to reassure me: I myself would (probably) never experience it. They didn't understand that wasn't sufficiently comforting to me; I could empathize perfectly with the people who will actually experience it and I still can today. The nightmare of being lifted up and swallowed down into the earth is as realistic as it could be. Many people didn't survive this experience this year.

It all became more understandable as I learned about the cosmos and humanity. The second law of thermodynamics tell us nature will gradually eliminate all useful energy differences and turn our universe into a lukewarm lump of iron. Furthermore, our earth and our sun have a finite lifespan. Possibly we can still try to escape to another place, but the question is whether we will learn that in time. Humanity (or a new super-human successor) can perish from natural cataclysms such as meteor strikes, comet impacts, solar expansions, volcanic eruptions, uncontrollable biological plagues, such as epidemics or new extremely successful life forms. We discovered we can also create the cataclysm ourselves: continuing burning fossil fuel is probably the fastest way. We are extremely vulnerable.

Therefore, good management and responsibility are more important than ever. Glasgow 2021 can become either a milestone of salvation or a milestone of auto-destruction. Management and accountability are also a common thread in Christianity. In the Bible, man is often appointed as a steward of precious things (the parable of the talents, the prodigal son, the appointment of Peter). On the return of his master, the steward is held accountable for what he has received. The intuitive religious feeling that we will be reckoned off for what we have done with our planet is seamlessly aligned with today's scientific findings. Care for the Earth is needed more than ever.

I like to refer to my previous blogs: "Sustainability Engineering", "Heat", "Durban" and "Biosphere 2".

Photo: European Space Agency (Rosetta mission) – license text can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/

Astronomy and Space Industry

Astronomy tends to be considered a pure science, taught at the university science departments. The Space Industry, on the other hand, was always in the hands of engineers, working on satellite communication, satellite navigation, earth observation and space travel.

The last years however, the two disciplines are coming closer. A mutual cross-fertilisation is taking place. On the one hand, astronomy is becoming more technical. Increasingly sophisticated measurements are delivered by satellites and space probes. The Hubble space telescope is an important example. Satellite navigation signals are increasingly being used to support astronomy measurements.

In the area of the satellite industry, the stars were already important to steer the satellite’s attitude, to make sure the satellite is not spinning and oriented in the right direction. A new discipline is emerging however. Optical satellite communication makes use of telescope technology and needs to know the complicated turbulence models of the earth’s atmosphere in order to predict the feasibility of a satellite communication link. Engineers need collaboration with astronomers to understand the optics of the atmosphere and the functioning of modern telescopes. One day, this may enable Quantum Key Distribution from space, a novel technique to distribute encryption keys without the risk of eavesdropping.

Again a very good example of interdisciplinary research and development. I also refer to my blog What Satellites Can Do for You.

Picture 1: Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics 1982 ©Wim Lahaye

Picture 2: shutterstock.com

Voyager's Amazing Tales

Last Sunday, the Flemish television showed the American documentary “The Fartest”, about the Voyager 1 and 2 missions. The Voyager missions aimed at observing the outer planets of the solar system and flying into interstellar space. The Apollo missions and the Space shuttle received a lot of attention in the press and they remain outstanding achievements. The Voyager missions on the other hand got a bit lost in oblivion, because of the huge time scale (40 years) in which they delivered their results.

I find them however mind-blowing. First, there were the amazing pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and some of their moons. Then we received the amazing views of these remote giants from their undiscovered side. The Voyagers made measurements in the outer skirts of the solar system, confirming the predicted cosmic radiation and the drop of the sun's magnetic field. And last but not least, the Voyagers carried the golden record, which contains a message to any finder civilisation, about the earth and the human kind. The chance that this message is received sometime someplace, is ridiculously low. And yet this message is a message of a courageous and hopeful species. 

Speaking of low probabilities, the amazing thing about the Voyager missions is that they succeeded. The Voyagers had a reprogrammable computer with a memory of around 70 kbyte. They had to be reprogrammed after each planet fly-by. The cameras needed to be adapted to incredibly weak light conditions. The communication signals were also extremely weak at such distance and arrived with several hours delay. No mistakes could be made. An amazing piece of engineering.

I refer to my earlier blog about the book Cosmos , in which the Voyager missions received a dedicated chapter. The book (+1980) already contained the pictures of Jupiter and its moons. The breath-taking pictures we saw later of the giants Saturn, Uranus and Neptune had not even been taken yet when the book was published. Carl Sagan never even had the chance to live the moment the Voyagers left our solar system, now only a few years ago.

Picture from https://images.nasa.gov/

The Legacy of Stephen Hawking

On March 14^th, 2018, exactly one year ago, the world lost one of the most colourful scientists of the last 50 years. March 14 is also known as π –day and it happened to be the birthday of Albert Einstein.

I’m reading a Stephen Hawking book every decade since 30 years now. Stephen Hawking was not only popular because of the area in which he worked: black holes, theoretical physics and cosmology. He was also popular because he was the most remarkable example of how a man could overcome his handicap and become extremely successful. He also attracted media attention and became popular with the general public, even if few people could really understand his discoveries. Even after having studied the basics of thermodynamics, relativity and quantum mechanics, I have difficulty imagining what could be the meaning of the entropy of a black hole. The late professor ir. Theo Van der Waeteren at KU Leuven could have said: “How amazing the number π pops up in this equation!”. (His former students will understand.)

In his latest book, Stephen Hawking also writes about the great questions of the universe. He suggests the mathematical laws of the universe are such that the universe could have originated from  … nothing. In other words, science no longer needs a prima causa, a first little godly spark to ignite the big bang. Our universe would be some kind of natural unfolding of mathematical equations. He also addresses the future of mankind, such as the environmental problems, the need to travel through space and the emergence of artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation.

What a constructive contribution to society this is! Throughout the different books I have been reading, I could discern some evolution in this rich personality. Our world has become a little smarter and wiser through Stephen Hawking.

Ref: “De erfenis van Hawking” in Karakter 63 by Prof. Thomas Hertog. I also refer to my blogs "Making Science accessible to All" and “Finding Exoplanets”.

Making Science Accessible to All

On December 20^th, 1996, Dr. Carl Sagan passed away after having lived the life of a successful astronomer. Carl Sagan had become a celebrity because of his brilliant television series Cosmos.

Sagan made science accessible and comprehensible to all. I watched his television series Cosmos at the age of 16-17 years, and this opened my mind to science and to the universe in general. Later I read his books Broca’s Brain and the Dragons of Eden. Cosmos was not only about the stars, it also described life on earth and potential life on other planets. It talked about the history of science and of the great discoveries on earth and in the universe.

There is no nobler and more beautiful work than popularising science. Sagan could also raise enthusiasm with his audience. He testified from a certain spirituality of science, something that I still seem to live from today. What is this spirituality of science? It means that we can stand in awe for the cosmos and its beauty. This also includes the inherent beauty of the laws of the cosmos, so we can also stand in awe for science itself.

Sagan did not deny that the Cosmos could not become a threat someday, as the laws of nature can also lead to cataclysms and to the end of humankind. He didn’t deny the inherent timeliness of our presence and the vulnerability of humans on this planet and in the universe. In this space age, science and technology, including space travel, seem to become ordinary commodities. People tend to become cynical and indifferent.

We need more people like Carl Sagan to encourage young people to enter the world of science and to stand in awe for this “Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring”. These were the last words spoken by Sagan in his television series Cosmos, and these words have been resonating in my mind since 36 years now.

I refer to my science blogs among which SETI and Day of Wrath.

Homo Deus

It has been a long time since I could read a book with an original vision on the future, far from the stereotype mainstream visions you can find in the social media. Prof. Yuval Noah Harari sketches an imminent transition from humankind to “Homo Deus”, a new species that is superior to our 'mankind', a species that has found the ‘divine’ key to immortality.

Our species Homo Sapiens was still relatively unimportant before a few million years, but due to technology, it could now create a species that is much smarter than its creator. Artificial Intelligence and genetic engineering will play a role in this creation, and I think the author is right in his expectation that, despite the moral objections, Homo Sapiens/ Homo Deus will engineer his future as soon as the advantages seem to outweigh the disadvantages.

The author points out that Homo Sapiens was not superior to other animals because of his consciousness, but rather because of his ability to mobilise his peers around ideas and stories. If homo sapiens now creates a new species, how will the new species treat homo sapiens? There is an interesting analogy with how homo sapiens treats other animals. The author made me aware that the question is not only how we kill animals, but also how we let them live their life, which is often equally cruel. See my earlier blog: “Animal Harm at Animal Farm”.

Science teaches us that the soul and the free will don’t exist, as they are the simple consequence of biochemical reactions in our brain. I don’t fully agree with these statements. It is true that science has revealed that there is no ‘supernatural’ substance like soul or free will, and indeed, our thoughts and feelings ARE the biochemical reactions and vice versa. But that doesn’t mean that soul and free will don’t exist as abstract notions and even as coherent sets of experienced sensations. The biochemical reactions are the only physical carrier in which the soul ‘resides’, but to say that the soul is just “chemical reactions” comes down to a reduction of the soul (pars pro toto). It denies the higher order coherence of these reactions. In my Dutch blog: “Ziel en lichaam”, I compare the body with computer hardware. The soul is the computer software. Does it make sense to say the software doesn’t exist? I would say no, unless you want to make clear there is no other natural or supernatural substance, which is a relatively recent insight I must admit.

Homo Sapiens embraces a religion of "humanism", meaning that our purpose resides in our own happiness. The “Meaning of Life” or “religion” of Homo Deus on the contrary would reside in the acquisition of data and knowledge, the author calls this new religion "dataïsm". His book suggests that my blog is already a small contribution to the vast and unstoppable ocean of data that is being created on the altar of this new religion.

An interesting note about history was that it makes you understand the past, but also that it can liberate you from your past. But this book is more about the future than about the past. It has the potential to become the futurism cult-book of the decade, very much like “Future Shock” in the seventies. 

Asteroid Day

Today is Asteroid Day. This is a world-wide event and a great day to promote astronomy in general. You can follow it on the Asteroid Day Live webcast. Earlier today there was an interesting ESA conference in Darmstadt.

Predicting impact from asteroids on earth is becoming possible. Astronomy observation techniques from ground telescopes and from space telescopes are becoming more sophisticated. Avoiding impact like in the famous movie Armageddon may become possible in the future if we learn to detect potential impact very early. (The practical deviation methods may be very different from the one in the movie.)

It is no use to cultivate doom scenarios. But very much like in all sustainability issues, the principle of precaution should prevail. We should take care of our own providence like a good paterfamilias.

I refer to my blogs Death by Black Hole and Day of Wrath.

Foto: European Space Agency (Rosetta mission) –  license text can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/

Finding Exoplanets

The search for exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, is really gaining some momentum now. I refer to this recent article. Why is the search for exoplanets so important?

Of course the existence of exoplanets and particularly habitable exoplanets is a scientific question that appeals to our curiosity. It would be great to know how rare habitable planets like Earth could be. We would also like to know how rare life is, and what types of extraterrestrial life could exist.

These scientific questions are important to us. As the famous astronomer Carl Sagan pointed out: we are star stuff contemplating the stars. As human beings, we are interested in our origins and in our destiny. We are looking for the meaning of life; this is the nature of human life. During this endless search, we would like to know whether we are alone or whether the cosmos is actually full of life.

Our earth will once come to an end and it is already at risk. I know it is not realistic today to travel like captain Kirk to a nearby star, even as close as four light years away. But how realistic is it to stay here, in the long term? We should start by building autonomous shelters on earth like Biosphere, then we should build the shelters in space and travel to Mars and beyond. At some point in time, humanity or some new earthly species will try to survive without Earth. The chance it succeeds is small, but it should be tried.

I also refer to my earlier blogs: "SETI", "Sustainability Engineering" and "Death by Black Hole".

Death by Black Hole

I bought this book at the best place on Earth where you could buy it: in the souvenir shop of the Natural History Museum in New York City. One hour before, I had enjoyed the museum's "Dark Universe" show and I had still tears in my eyes when I bought this book.

The reason I had tears in my eyes is not because I'm easily touched by spectacular shows. It is because the overwhelmingly beautiful image and sound brought me back to a state of mind I had known at the age of 17, when I watched Carl Sagan's series "Cosmos" for the first time. This year reaching the age of 50, I could relive the same awe and wonder that also directed me to career in the space industry, perhaps still a little closer to Earth than the astronomy profession of my grandfather.

The author Neil deGrasse Tyson brings the area of astrophysics closer to a general audience. He probably has one of the nicest jobs in the universe. In this book, he describes the latest discoveries in astrophysics. The language is easily accessible and the tone of the book is very humorous. I discovered I didn't know that much about thermonuclear reactions. The author also devotes a chapter to what can happen when "the universe turns bad". If only people could be more aware of this, perhaps it would make us all more humble and careful with this planet.

At the end of the book, the author also spends some thoughts on the relation between science and religion. In his own fleet-footed, no-nonsense way, the author points out that religious books have never been very good at predicting the movement of celestial bodies. He also points out that science is not interested in philosophies of ignorance like "intelligent design". These ideas answer our lack of understanding with an idea that just 'packages' this current lack of understanding (these are my own words). Though being a 'religious' person myself, I fully subscribe to the author's view. And I guess most people (with a scientific education) in Europe would subscribe to this view as well. But I could imagine these topics create some controversy in the USA.

See also my blog on SETI. Below you see the entrance hall of the Natural History Museum in NYC.

Science saves us from our anthropocentrism

Man has a natural tendency to construct a world view that puts himself in the middle. This is logical. If we look at the observable world, we are in the middle. However, science has already taught us a few lessons and these lessons may lead to modesty.

We used to think we lived on a flat Earth, and Europe (Rome) was in the middle, until we learned the Earth was a sphere, and a sphere doesn't have a middle on the habitable surface. We used to think the Sun circled the Earth until the great "liar" Copernicus told us the Earth circled the Sun. We learned the sun is not in the middle of our galaxy, but at the edge. We used to think the galaxies are moving away from us until we realised the other galaxies see exactly the same from their point of view.

In biology, the same is happening. We already know that we are just one recent branch of a larger collection of humanoids that happened to survive. In biological history, we are not in the middle, we are rather newcomers in life on Earth.

As science also progresses in neurobiology, a new awareness is seizing us: we may not be the only ones who have "consciousness". We have a natural tendency to think we are the only ones, because we can't communicate with other species very well. Moreover, our failure to recognise the consciousness of animals helps us in worrying less about treating them badly or slaughtering them.

Why would an animal not have a consciousness? I think even insects have some sort of consciousness. I learned this while chasing mosquitoes at home. But an even more challenging idea came from a former colleague of mine: how can we be sure an atom doesn't have consciousness? Basically, we are not sure. It is possible. In fact, it is even a great idea...although not verifiable today and therefore it can also be classified as a "flying teapot" idea (Bertrand Russell).

There is an important general caveat with this blog: the title is merely an observation. I don't mean to say that science releases us from our anthropocentrism - on purpose - like if some kind of deity wanted to make us more humble. (Some deities have tried this in the past - it didn't work very well :-))

I also refer to my blog SETI and to my dutch blog Ziel en Lichaam.

SETI - Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence

Who remembers the wonderful series "Cosmos", presented by astronomer Carl Sagan in the early '80s? It was a wonderful series of documentaries about the universe and its origins. The series was important in my life because it rose my interest in science and technology and it changed my view on life in many ways. Carl Sagan was a team member of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence task force initiated by Frank Drake and he devoted one episode to the work in the SETI laboratories.

Frank Drake became famous with his equation, in which he tried to estimate the number of "intelligent" civilisations in the universe. An intelligent civilisation would be a form of life that would be creative and curious enough to develop the technology to explore the universe and see whether other intelligent civilisations exist. The equation starts from the total number of stars, derives the stars with planets, derives the planets with the right conditions,etc. He came to the conclusion that the total number of intelligent civilisations in the universe was actually quite high, but that the different civilisations would live on average very remotely from each other. 

Drake also started to work on a radio ground station (Arecibo) that could send messages into the universe and that could listen to signals from other stars that may contain an "intelligent" message.

Well after 40 years, the SETI work is not over yet. National Geographic reported in its July edition on the latest evolutions. The good news is that recent astronomy research revealed that there are actually much more suited planets than Drake conservatively estimated years ago. Moreover, recent biology research revealed that life can occur and flourish in much more severe conditions and on a much broader range of planets  than we anticipated 40 years ago. The search for complex molecules on Mars and Jupiter's moons continues. Frank Drake, now 84, is still active (admirable) and would like to look for optical signals to pursue his quest for signs of extra-terrestrial life. 

It is a fascinating thought but seen the distances, it remains unlikely we will receive a visit soon, let alone make a visit. On the other hand, every encounter of two civilations has always led to the destruction of the civilation being visited and to the success of the visiting civilisation. In other words, if we go there, it could happen we destroy another civilisation. If we are found here on Earth by another civilisation, we are likely to end up like the Indians after they had been found in Amerika in the 16th century. I refer to earlier blogs like Biosphere 2 and Guns, Germs and Steel.