Daily Archives: August 17, 2020

By Deepak Chopra,TM MD and Menas C. Kafatos, PhD

As we go about everyday life, we are embedded in a mystery no one has ever solved. The mystery was voiced by one of the most brilliant quantum pioneers, Werner Heisenberg: Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think. (There are variants of the quote that use reality for universe, and the remark has also been attributed to other famous scientists, but the gist is always the same.)

If we take this remark seriously, it turns out to be truer today than it was in 1900 when the quantum revolution began and the revolutionary new theory of quantum mechanics was put together. How can reality be stranger than we could possibly think? Look at the framework of your life. You pick up your morning coffee, and instantly you are acting in space and time. Your perception of the cup in your hand depends upon the five senses as communicated through the brain. You can think about anything you fancy as you sip your coffee.

These might not seem so mysterious, but there is one mystery after another nested inside everyday experience. Science can reach no consensus on the following:

Where did time come from? Why do properties of physical objects have their origin in invisible waves of probability of observation? Where does a thought come from? How did matter transform into mind? Is consciousness solely a human trait or is it everywhere in the universe?

The pioneers of quantum physics werent the first to ask such questions, but quantum physics got to the nub of how the physical universe is constructed. Everything in existence emerges from ripples in the quantum field, and underlying these ripples is an invisible or virtual domain that goes beyond spacetime, matter, and energy. In the virtual domain, the universe and everything in it is a field of infinite possibilities, and yet the virtual domain cannot be observed directly. As a result, contemporary physics can take us to the horizon of reality, the womb of creation, but it cannot cross the boundary between us and our source of existence.

Almost all the recent models that have gained popularity, including superstrings, the multiverse, and dark matter and energy, exist in so-called mathematical space, or Hilbert space, in recognition that they are not going to yield direct empirical evidence that can be perceived with our senses. Astrophysics had already gotten used to the fact that just 4% of the created universe is accounted for by the matter and energy visible to the eye or to telescopes. With dark matter and energy added in, most of what we see is not really what the universe consists of.

Leaving the technicalities aside, it has become far more difficult to foresee that the human mind can fully comprehend the nature of reality when so many crucial aspects are beyond the setup that our brains can grasp. The thinking mind needs the brain in order to operate, and the brain is a creation in spacetime consisting of matter and energy, that are in spacetime. We wear mind-made manacles. When this fact dawned on the late Stephen Hawking, he ruefully conceded that scientific models might no longer describe reality in any reliable or complete way.

When we discussed these issues in our book, You Are the Universe, the title reflected another approach entirely. Instead of founding the universe on physical things, however small, or even ripples in the quantum field, which are knowable only through advanced mathematics, reality can be grounded in experience. Everything we call real is an experience in consciousness, including the experience of doing science. Mathematics is a very refined, complex language, but there is no language, simple or complex, without consciousness.

The vast majority of scientists will continue to engage in experimentation and theoretical modeling without this venture into metaphysics, which is a no-no word in science (a famous put down when things get to speculative is Shut up and calculate). But it was quantum physics that brought the mystery of reality into the laboratory in modern terms, even though Plato and Aristotle also wondered about what is real.

A younger generation has proved more open-minded, and a growing cadre of cosmologists now hold to the notion of panpsychism, which holds that mind is built into reality from the start. This is a huge turn-around from the view that mind evolved out of matter here on Earth as a unique creation. The fact is that nobody in the physicalist camp could explain how atoms and molecules learned to thinkcreating mind out of matter was dead on arrival, even though the vast majority of scientists still hold on to this view as an assumption or superstition.

Ironically, to say that reality is stranger than we can think isnt confined to the queer behavior of atoms and subatomic particles. You cannot think about consciousness, either, any more than the eye can see itself or the brain know that it exists (without cutting through the skull to seethe brain from the outside). A fish cannot know that water is wet unless it jumps out of the sea and splashes back down again. We cannot think about consciousness without a place to stand outside consciousness, and such a place doesnt exist in the entire cosmos.

The source of space isnt inside space; the source of time isnt in time. Likewise, the source of mind isnt inside the mind. The ceaseless stream of sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts that run through your mind are the products of consciousness. Consciousness itself has no location. It is infinite, without dimensions in space and time, unborn and undying. Can you really think about such a thing as consciousness? And yet you know without a doubt that you are conscious. This is what allows us to make peace with reality being too strange to think about.

We can simply drop the strange part. Reality can be founded on knowing that you exist and that you are aware. Existence is consciousness. If science is dedicated to the simplest, most complete explanation of things, existence = consciousness is the simplest and most complete explanation. There is no need for religious or spiritual beliefs in order to accept this foundation for reality, since it is based on what science has arrived at. By removing our outdated allegiance to things existing independently of consciousness, the basis of reality can be seen clearly. In our everyday life we navigate with existence and consciousness at our side, indivisible, secure, inviolate, and unchallengeable. A whole new future may spring from accepting this simple but awe-inspiring fact.

DEEPAK CHOPRATM MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is the author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers.His 90th book, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential, unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Menas C. Kafatos is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics at Chapman University. Author, physicist and philosopher, he works in quantum mechanics, cosmology, the environment and climate change and extensively on philosophical issues of consciousness, connecting science to metaphysical traditions. Member or candidate of foreign national academies, he holds seminars and workshops for individuals, groups and corporations on the universal principles for well-being and human potential. His doctoral thesis advisor was the renowned M.I.T. professor Philip Morrison who studied under J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has authored 334 articles, is author or editor of 20 books, including The Conscious Universe, Looking In, Seeing Out, Living the Living Presence (in Greek and in Korean), Science, Reality and Everyday Life (in Greek), and is co-author with Deepak Chopra of the NY Times Bestseller You are the Universe (Harmony Books), translated into many languages and at many countries. You can learn more at http://www.menaskafatos.com

The rest is here:

The Spread of 'Stranger Than We Can Think' - SFGate

Physics professorsNuh GedikandPablo Jarillo-Herrerohave been named Experimental Investigators in Quantum Materials by theGordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The two are among 20 winners nationwide of the foundation's Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative. Each will receive a five-year, $1.6 million unrestricted grant to support their research in quantum materials.

Gediks research centers on using advanced optical techniques for probing and controlling properties of quantum materials. He will use his grant to search for novel, light-induced phases in these systems.

These materials display fascinating but poorly understood properties, such as high-temperature superconductivity or topological protection, says Gedik. We use ultrafast laser pulses to make femtosecond movies of electrons and atoms inside these systems to understand the mechanism behind their exotic behavior. Our ultimate goal isto use light as a controllable tuning parameter (just as magnetic field orpressure) to switch between equilibrium phases and to engineer newlight-induced stateswith no equilibrium counterparts.

Jarillo-Herrero, theCecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics,leads a laboratory that uses quantum electronic transport and optoelectronic techniques to investigate novel 2D materials and heterostructures, with a focus on emergent correlated and topological phenomena/phases resulting from the interplay between unusual electronic structures and electron interaction effects.

This Moore Foundation award will allow my group to focus on a novel experimental platform called twistronics, where a new degree of freedom, namely the twist angle between two stacked 2D crystalline lattices, enables the exploration of a plethora of intriguing quantum mechanical effects, such as superconductivity. This emergent platform may provide important clues about the origin of many of the most fascinating phases of matter present in the universe, as well as the potential engineering of these phases to create new quantum technologies.

The EPiQS Initiative of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation aims to stimulate experimental research in the physics of quantum materials by providing some of the fields most creative scientists with freedom to take risks and flexibility for agile change of research direction. The collective impact of these investigators will produce a more comprehensive understanding of the fundamental organizing principles of complex quantum matter in solids.

The Experimental Investigator awards are the largest grant portfolio within the EPiQS initiative, says Amalia Fernandez-Paella, program officer of the EPiQS Initiative. We expect that such substantial, stable, and flexible support will propel quantum materials research forward and unleash the creativity of the investigators.

The cohorts research will cover a broad spectrum of research questions, types of materials systems, and complementary experimental approaches. The investigators will advance experimental probes of quantum states in materials; elucidate emergent phenomena observed in systems with strong electron interactions; investigate light-induced states of matter; explore the vast space of two-dimensional layered structures; and illuminate the role of quantum entanglement in exotic systems such as quantum spin liquids. In addition, the investigators will participate in EPiQS community-building activities, which include investigator symposia, topical workshops, and theQuantEmX scientist exchange program.

Since 2013, EPiQS has supported an integrated research program that includes materials synthesis, experiment, and theory, and that crosses the boundaries between physics, chemistry, and materials science. Thesecond phaseof the initiative was kicked off earlier this year with the launch of two major grant portfolios:Materials Synthesis Investigators and Theory Centers. The 20 newly inaugurated experimental investigators will join these grantees to form a vibrant, collaborative community that strives to push the entire field toward a new frontier.

The first cohort of EPiQS Experimental Investigators made advances that changed the landscape of quantum materials, and I expect no less from this second cohort. Emergent phenomena appear when a large number of constituents interact strongly, whether these constituents are electrons in materials, or the brilliant scientists trying to crack the mysteries of materials. says Duan Pejakovi, director of the EPiQS Initiative. Gedik and Jarillo-Herrero were also part of the first cohort of EPIQS awardees.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters pathbreaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements, and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Nuh Gedik and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero are 2020 Moore Experimental Investigators in Quantum Materials - MIT News

An Indiana native has been named a Fulbright Scholar.

The U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have announced that Dr. Thomas E. Baker, who studies at University de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to the United Kingdom.

Baker will research and provide mentorship at the University of York as part of a project to study the exact properties of density functional theory. Density functional theory was discovered in 1964 and has provided a way to simulate the quantum physics of large systems, especially to simulate materials. While density functional theory is proven to be exact, the theory requires approximations to use and approximations can give inaccurate results. Baker seeks to improve the theory by discovering more with modern methods from the broader field of condensed matter physics.

The son of John and Kathy Baker, of Indiana, he is a 2005 graduate of Indiana Area Senior High School.

The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, counter misunderstandings, and help people and nations work together toward common goals. The program was established in 1946.

The following Indiana County-area graduates were recognized as members of the class of 2020 of Edinboro University:

Julie E. Shirley, of Blairsville, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice, with honors

Teresa A. Shields, of Clarksburg, who earned a Bachelor of Science in education middle level education, with honors

Makayla Dawn Murray, of Dayton, who earned a Master of Arts in communication studies

Nearly 1,200 students were named to the spring 2020 deans list at Edinboro University. The following Indiana County-area students are among them:

Ashleigh P. Bowman, of Indiana

Julie E. Shirley, of Blairsville

Rachael Duncan, of Blairsville

Teresa A Shields, of Clarksburg

Aubrie R. Putt, of Home

Matthew Anthony Wehrle, of Rossiter

Gabrielle M. LaBovick, of Saltsburg

In order to attain this academic honor, students must maintain a quality-point average of 3.4 or higher, complete a minimum of 12 semester hours of credit and receive no grade lower than a C in any course.

See the article here:

Students in the news | Announcements - Indiana Gazette

An Indian American aerospace engineer at the University of Southern California was an integral part of helping NASA land Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity on the red planet.

Anita Sengupta, a NASA engineer and adjunct professor at USC, helped develop the parachute that assisted the $2.5 billion Curiosity hardware in making a successful touchdown on Mars, according to a USC report.

Sengupta, who graduated from USC with a masters degree in 2000 and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering in 2005, developed the supersonic parachute that slowed the spacecrafts blistering descent onto Mars, the report said.

The parachute deployed 7 miles above the surface of the planet while Curiosity was careening toward the ground at 900 miles per hour at Mach 2.

At 70 feet in diameter, it was the largest parachute opening at the highest speed ever on Mars, it said.

Sengupta teaches spacecraft design in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Shes also an expert in Entry, Descent and Landing at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, according to the university report.

Her career at JPL began with the design of ion engines, a type of spacecraft propulsion system that generates thrust by accelerating a plasma, but she switched to EDL to broaden her knowledge and join the team that would land Curiosity on Mars, the report adds.

As an aerospace engineer, the more areas of expertise you have, the better able you are to work on a variety of mission types, Sengupta told the university.

Tests done in the 1960s and 70s in support of the Viking Lander mission have showed that, at speeds greater than 1.5 times the speed of sound on Mars, parachutes tend to inflate and collapse over and over, reducing their ability to effectively slow down falling payloads and in some cases resulting in the failure of the parachute, it said.

It kind of looks like crazy jellyfish. But with Mars EDL you only get one parachute so it has to work and survive, Sengupta added.

No one bothered to figure out why, until now when, due to the size of Curiosity, a 2,000-pound behemoth rover encapsulated inside a 15.5-ft. diameter entry capsule, it became necessary to design a massive parachute to survive at in excess of two times the speed of sound on Mars, the USC report continued.

Sengupta and her colleagues discovered that the turbulent wake from the falling entry capsule would modify the bow shock and pressure distribution in front of the parachute, causing the collapsing or deflating cycle that had been observed.

Armed with this knowledge, the team was able to design a parachute that was similar to ones used in the past but strong enough to survive flight through the Martian atmosphere, the report said.

Through careful ground testing in a vacuum chamber to simulate the Martian environment, Sengupta also analyzed how the engine plumes from the sky crane that lowered Curiosity to the ground would affect the terrain around the rover.

Though the landing parachute, sky crane and all was a huge success, Senguptas work is far from over. Up next shes designing a quantum physics experiment that could launch to the International Space Station as early as 2015, and then a spacecraft to explore the habitability of Europa, one of Jupiters moons that is covered in ice, possibly with an ocean beneath the surface, the university said.

See more here:

Indian American Engineer Develops Parachute That Helped Curiosity Land on Mars - India West