- uploaded: Jan 29, 2013 - Hits: 51 Dartmouth astrophysicist
Marcelo Gleiser discussed origins of the universe, of matter,
and of life, as well as their asymmetrical properties. Current
physics works with two main branches-- the physics of the very
big-- built around Einstein's theory of relativity dealing with
the universe, and quantum mechanics-- the physics of the very
small, which studies atoms and the particles they are composed
of. The Big Bang, he explained, suggests that the universe was
once a very tiny point that exploded in such a way that space
itself was stretched out and expanded. "When you're very close
to the beginning of time, the universe was so small," that
physicists have to use quantum mechanics to describe what was
going on, essentially marrying the physics of the very small
with the physics of the very large. These "theory of everything"
attempts such as superstring theory (which supposes there are 10
dimensions) fall flat because they don't represent the truth of
all science, he commen