Short Reviews: Tim Folger

"Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking? (non-fiction)" [permanent link]. An article that looks at the one (last?) question scientist John Wheeler is considering: "How come existence?" or does the universe exists if there are no observers to see it? Based on the strange nature of reality that are the predictions of quantum mechanics, Wheeler thinks that if nobody is observing the universe, the universe will remain in a kind of quantum uncertainty until an observer collapses all the probable states of the universe to 'create' an observation. A thought-provoking aspect in this in an experiment where light (in the form of photons) collapses into a particle or a wave long after it has been emitted from a light source (say, a distant galaxy). It appears the photon can remain in an uncertain state for billions of years until an experimental observation makes it collapse into a wave or a photon.
Read from Jun 2002 Discover magazine
"The Real Big Bang (non-fiction)" [permanent link]. An article that looks at certain important events in the early life of the universe: the life and death of the first stars in the universe. These first stars are massive and their explosions at the end of their lives seeded the universe with elements other than hydrogen and helium. The article looks at efforts to simulate (via computers) and observe such events.
Read from Dec 2002 Discover magazine

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