News and Views on The Electric Universe
Thunderblog brings you a wide variety of articles from both professionals
and laypersons alike. We have assembled a large team of contributors to
broaden the outlook of Thunderbolts and to help our general readership to
understand some of the day to day issues as Electric Universe seeks its
place within the broader context of modern science.
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Recent articles
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In the history of scientific discovery nothing has been more central to progress than the
value of successful predictions. Predictive success in the sciences does not just mean
the ability to anticipate a future discovery. It really signifies the degree to which all
relevant observations and quantified behavior become predictable when viewed in the
light of a defined theory.
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If there's something wrong with my car, I take it to a
mechanic. BUT if the problem looks to be electrical, he or she
will likely refer me straight to the nearest auto-electrician -
it's not rocket science, it simply makes sense to go to those
who have the right knowledge when looking for helpful answers -
and it's high time cosmologists looked to plasma physicists for
some of their answers, as the cosmologists seem to have things oh, so wrong...
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The cone nebula shows a star at the top of a conical-shaped dusty
plasma, festooned with lights. The image strikes an instinctive
chord—the mythical celestial world mountain around which the stars
revolve; the cosmic (Christmas) tree with lights; fireworks displays
against a night sky. Why? Because it reflects back to us our own
prehistory when a strange drama was taking place in the sky. The
Earth was enveloped in a towering polar auroral plasma, flashing
with light and with bright celestial bodies at its distant focus.
How do we know? Prehistoric mankind around the globe chiselled
representations of what they saw into solid rock. The effort
required was prodigious, the motivation extraordinary. Modern
astronomy seems unable to address the issue, offering instead a
comfortable myth of cosmic stability.
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Recently, we’ve seen yet another claim for the discovery
of a black hole and this one, like some of the earlier ones, refers
to the existence of such an object at the centre of our own galaxy.
The publication of these claims proceeds unhindered by so-called
scientific referees. Apart from appearing in the official scientific
literature, they are afforded enormous exposure in all areas of the
public media.
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Researchers exploring "the electric universe" say that
a comet with its sharply sculpted
surface may have much to tell us about the history of our solar system. Are comet
displays due to electrical discharge as they move through the electric field of the Sun? If
so, they may provide the best example of what happened to planets in the past.
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It is surprising how few people have heard of Nikola Tesla
considering his many fundamental achievements. He was an
inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer of unusual
intellectual brilliance. Of Serb descent, he worked mostly
in the US but, all too often, others have taken the credit
for this work.
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Given the vast, empty distances between
stars, it seems sensible to assume that the Sun and its family of
planets were born together. Scientists take for granted that gravity
is the only force operating in the universe to cause matter to coalesce
to form stars and planets. Astronomers observe dusty disks around some
nearby stars and assume that those disks are the ‘leftovers’ of matter
that formed the star. The observations appear to confirm the accepted
story of the planets forming from collisions and accretion of matter
in the proto-solar disk.
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To some, the title above might sound like
science fiction. But evidence has been accumulating
that tornadoes might easily be described as plasma
streams. What's more, tornadoes might be
preventable.
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Most people who take an interest in alternative scientific issues have heard
of the publication the Skeptical Inquirer (SI). Founded in the mid
1970's by Marcello Truzzi (also the co-founder of CSICOP), SI's purpose is to
attempt to debunk non-mainstream views of nature and science. Interestingly,
it was Truzzi who wanted to allow proponents of "paranormal" ideas
to occasionally contribute material to SI -- an opinion that resulted in a
no-confidence vote against Truzzi, and his subsequent resignation. Perhaps
this fiasco helped shape Truzzi's view of "pseudoskeptics" -- individuals
who, in Truzzi's words, “shout their objections
but don't take proper note of what is going on.”
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As anyone who has read my essays is probably aware, I am not the world's
greatest fan of institutionalized religion. Nevertheless, I was not overly
thrilled when I heard of Bill Maher's new movie "Religulous," an
acerbic, deliberately "offensive" documentary/exposé on the
world's religious institutions, and their billions of devotees. I have not
seen the movie, so I can't condemn it a priori (and this essay is not intended
as a critique of the film). But based on Maher's own comments throughout his
comedic career, I can't imagine that "Religulous" will do much good.
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... Black holes are spoken of as scientific facts and it is routinely claimed
that they have been detected at the centres of galaxies. Images of black holes
having their wicked ways with surrounding matter are routinely included with
reports of them. Some physicists even claim that black holes will be created
in particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider, potentially able
to swallow the Earth. Despite the assertions of the astronomers and
astrophysicists, nobody has ever found a black hole, anywhere, let alone
"imaged" one. ...
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The Internet is both the most useful and destructive
communication tool in world history.
This still infantine technology can connect a Sufi in Darfur
with a personal trainer in Santa Cruz, CA. We are all linked by
mechanical conduits and invisible circuits, a seemingly living
matrix whose every fabric was woven by the collective human consciousness.
Nothing "lives" in this matrix that a human mind didn't invent.
Ergo, it is no overstatement when the World Wide Web consortium describes
the WWW as nothing less than "the embodiment of human
knowledge."
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The Cluster results which came in several weeks ago gave scientists a
new view of "magnetic reconnection." But have their interpretations
of the data given us a complete picture of what’s going on or did they miss
the bigger picture? It seems they’ve left electricity out of the equation once
again.
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Science has become an international circus. And opening day
for "The Greatest Show on Earth" has arrived. In the 27 km
main circus ring we have the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project,
starting up after $6 billion dollars and thirty years of development.
Before the show the clowns have warmed up the audience with
fantastic
stories of what we might see. But why should we take clowns
seriously?
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The following article is a copy of a letter sent by
Stephen J. Crothers to the author of an article which was published in
the journal Nature on
September
3rd
(subscription required) which offers no
proofs of the outrageous claims it makes regarding black holes. Anyone
who has any doubt about the validity of black hole claims should read
this as it offers mathematical proof
(in conjunction with referenced material) that black holes cannot exist.
Crothers has offered his math for scrutiny to many scientists and
theorists and to date none have offered a mathematical refutation
of his claims. Handwaving and derision (the usual response) does not a refutation make.
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If you've been reading these pages for any length of time, you've
likely noticed that the Thunderbolts team has never indulged in
"esoteric" speculations in their discussions of the Electric
Universe. Although the managers of this site have received countless
inquiries from readers who wonder, "What does all this MEAN?"
-- i.e. what are the philosophical ramifications, if any, of a cosmology
in which electricity, not gravity, dominates -- they (the site's editors)
have preferred a "just the facts, ma'am" approach, leaving the
inevitable discussions of philosophical quandaries for a later date.
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There’s nothing like a good controversy! And this is nothing
like a good controversy… Phil Plait opens his mouth and spews polemic
nonsense. Furthermore, he exposes astronomers’ biased ignorance about
the source of magnetic fields: electric currents.
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Gravity is the most familiar force. We are subject to it every day of our lives.
Newton gave us his ‘law of gravity,’ which describes its effect but doesn’t explain
it. “I frame no hypotheses,” he wrote. Einstein wasn’t so prudent
when he introduced his "postulates." Unfortunately, his unreal geometry
doesn’t explain gravity either. The usual demonstration using heavy steel balls on a
rubber sheet to represent ‘gravity wells’ relies on gravity as its own explanation!
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It seems that recent results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS-II) have taken something simple and complicated it. Specifically,
the Milky Way’s outer stellar halo has been mapped to higher precision,
revealing tangled filaments of stars wrapped around the galaxy.
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The Cassini team is preparing to probe Enceladus’ south pole
so they can sample its plumes and take high resolution photos of the
“tiger stripe” fractures. Will they pin down the sources
of the plumes and the polar hot spots, or will they find evidence
supporting the Electric Universe model, or both?
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On June 1, 2008 Michael Gmirkin wrote a Thunderblog entry entitled
Incorrect Assumptions in Astrophysics. In it he put forward a
strong indictment of astrophysicists who base their scientific conclusions
on poorly substantiated assumptions. A prime example is their wide acceptance
of the ‘high redshift value equals distance’ principle. Even though
this idea stands on scientifically shaky grounds – Halton Arp’s evidence
has challenged it, if not completely falsified it – the astronomical power
structure believes this to be a Law of Nature. Gmirkin correctly points out
that this false ‘Law’ is responsible for numerous disastrous
misinterpretations of observed astronomical data.
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Off-Site Articles of Interest
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[Excerpt]... More than ninety-nine percent of the observed universe exists in the form
of matter known as plasma. In the atoms that make up the planet we live on,
equal amounts of positive and negative electric charge are confined together
and cancel each other out, resulting in objects like rocks and cabbages that
are neutral on balance and hence "feel" only the force of gravity. Plasma, by
contrast, consists, fully or in part, of charged particles – negative "electrons"
and positive "ions" (an atom missing one or more of its electrons) – that are
separated, and hence respond to electric and magnetic forces. The electric force
between two charged particles, which can be attractive or repulsive, is thirty-nine
orders of magnitude stronger than the gravitational attraction between them. That's
a one followed by 39 zeros. Such a number boggles the imagination. It is in the
order of a millionth of a millimeter compared to 10,000 times the size of the known
universe. ...
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