It's a MultiVerse

The idea of parallel universes or a multiverse is an intriguing one, even to astronomers. Why should our universe with its laws and its history be the only one? Perhaps beyond our observational horizon exist other universes that are cut off from the one we can measure. Or perhaps at every instant in time, every possible outcome of every quantum mechanical roll-of-the-dice splits into its own universe. In this second picture of the multiverse, you — and everyone else who has ever lived — have made every possible decision and have lived every possible life. If you start looking into actuarial tables, this prospect will start to seem more terrifying than enchanting.

The problem with treating multiverse ideas scientifically is that there seems to be no place to start. Our observations are, as far as we can tell, restricted to this universe. Oh, sure, in the spring of 2020, there was quite a lot of excitement that NASA had somehow found evidence for a parallel universe in which particles move backward in time — at least that was the story if you believe the tabloids. Apparently one energetic particle had somehow escaped the bounds of its universe, its wreckage discovered by NASA’s balloon craft, the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna.

Except… that’s not what the discovery’s announcement suggested at all. It was merely pointing out the curious case of a signal similar to the high-energy particles from a cosmic ray shower that appeared to be going up instead of down.

While there are several dozen more mundane explanations that should be ticked off the list long before invoking “proof of parallel universes,” the whole notion of co-mingling universes has actually been at the forefront of many instructors’ minds this year. I mean…face it. There really is no other explanation for 2020.

Imagine, if you will, that somewhere “out there” is a universe just like ours, alike in every way but one. In this parallel universe, Astro 101 classes are conducted in person. The problem is that the bizarre power surge (or whatever it was) mixed up some of the 2020 universes, and even though classes are meeting in person in this alternate universe, remotely learning students from our universe are showing up. And those students are presenting uniquely remote-learning problems.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...