Surviving a Cocktail Party Discussion on Cosmology

Hello All:
Cosmology--NOT COSMETOLOGY!--is a science that studies the origination and on going evolution of our universe. It deals with items such as the Big Bang Theory, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, black holes, and all sort of far out things like quasars and pulsars. And thanks to specialized programming on cable TV, discussing these topics are becoming more and more commonplace.
It's the holidays. What would you do if you found yourself at a cocktail party with clients or co-workers, and some of them began engaging in a bizarre discussion of traveling at the speed of light or cruising through a black hole in space? Now you can't write them off as simply being a bunch of geeks and walk away. These are clients or co-workers of yours and your career depends on being able to get along with them.
Fortunately for you I have a survival guide to help understand and intelligently respond to discussions of cosmology in the every-day business world. You don't need a physics degree to understand this stuff, just an open mind and a few minutes to read.

Cosmic Tales

Starting Point (the basics)

            One good thing about engaging in a discussion on cosmology is the fact that the concepts are almost always theoretical. That's good for you and me because one guy's idea is just as good as the other's. How is one going to understand the age or size of the universe when we as humans are infinitely smaller and younger? So when you suddenly find yourself in a discussion surrounding deep space and cosmology; relax, the key contributors of this conversation really don't know for a fact that what they are saying is true.

            There are a few common pieces of information that all cosmologists agree on. First is the fact that the universe was created out of the Big Bang. The Big Bang theoretically happened some 25-30 billion years ago when the universe was what physicists describe as a primordial atom. A cosmic reaction took place which caused the atom to explode with incredible force, creating the universe we live in today.  Now not everyone believes in the Big Bang. Many people (including myself) prefer to believe that God made the universe. If you are like me, you can believe that the Big Bang is an attempt to understand how God created the universe. The initial explosion was God saying, "Let there be light." That's not so bad, is it?

            Another piece of information that all cosmologists agree on are points made by Einstein's theory of relativity. Actually it is broken into two theories: the special and general theory. You don't need to fully grasp what each theory is trying to prove, but these theories are often referenced to discuss and back up these ideas:

• Gravity bends light. 
• Gravity can alter the transition of time. 
• Traveling at the speed of light will cause the traveler to fast-forward into the future.  
• It is impossible to exceed 99% of the speed of light -- although fiction and imagination presses this theory that we can exceed the speed of light. It has often been imagined that exceeding the speed of light would have a similar effect to breaking the speed of sound where-as breaking the sound barrier creates an audible explosion, and breaking the light barrier would cause a visual explosion.

Stories and Riddles of Time Travel

            Many times cosmologists will break out the 'ole Tales of Cosmology story. It's a favorite story; some kind of paradox of time lost. The story involves one brother briefly leaving the other on a motorcycle ride. The brother riding his motorcycle approaches the speed of light and observes his surroundings look as if it were in a concave mirror. As he nears the speed of light he can only see a spec in front of him. As he backs off the speed of light the spec and concave view returns to normal.
     Towards the ending of the story he returns to his brother who has been patiently waiting. But what's this? The brother who had been waiting has aged 70 years!
What happened?
     Well now that you know a little about Einstein's Theory of Relativity, you know that traveling near the speed of light caused the bike-riding brother to rapidly accelerate into the future.
***

            A little riddle often brought up in the speculation of traveling through time is the "Grandfather Clause". It asks, "If you went back into time and shot your grandfather, would you be able to come back to the future? How would you have been born?
     The answers to this riddle are amazing. Remember, your answer is just as good as anyone else's. There is a popular explanation that says that you would go back to a parallel universe with a profound amount of changes experienced since your grandfather was not alive to create your father who was not alive to create you. And the whole ripple effect that people make in their lives would be felt as well.
***

            Here's a burning question often asked about time travel: If time travel is possible, then where are the time travelers? This question implies that one day we as humans will figure out how to travel through time. But if this is possible, how come time travelers from the future don't come and visit us? Many answers to this question say that whatever avenue or technique being used cannot traverse before the initial date of when time travel was made possible. My favorite answer simply says that future time travelers know it is unwise to give us the technology of time travel because we won't know how to use it correctly.

Impossible to Know (size, age, shape of universe)

            When a discussion about the size, age, or condition of the universe is taking place, the initiator relies on his or her favorite theorist to make a point. What I mean by this is no one could possibly know for sure how large the universe is; how old it is; what the shape is, etc. But there are a few different schools of thought. One way of thinking believes that the universe is continuing to expand since the Big Bang. Because it is the Big Bang that caused this expansion, it is assumed that the expansion will eventually cease as the momentum of the explosion will die off. The total gravity of the universe will cause the walls to sink in, and one day shrink back to nothingness again. This belief opens the possibility that trillions of years will generate another Big Bang to start the whole process up again.

            Another theory says that black holes (see black hole discussion below) generate doorways to other universes that are growing/shrinking as well. In short, the theory says that our universe is a collection of countless other universes that are interwoven through little holes (actually tremendous holes in comparison to us).

            There is also the simple theory that our universe is simply a blob of shapeless mass that contains stars and planets, and the limitations of the universe is the size of that mass and it will always be simply that.

Black Holes (everyone's favorite)

            Many people are familiar with black holes. Although they can not be seen, astronomers detect these massive voids in space that seem to eat up all light and matter. Because of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, it is theorized that black holes contain an inconceivable amount of gravity that pulls all light in along with mass. Black holes seem to be drains in the universe that eat everything up. You can also say that time stops in a black hole because the intense gravity will affect time. There are complex formulas that demonstrate how a black hole causes time to no longer transition.

            One favorite story of fans of black holes suggests that at the other end of a black hole is white hole. This implies that all the matter and light being sucked in by a black hole is ejected out of the other end. There isn't any significant evidence of white holes, so technically they have not been proven. Also, there are a couple laws of physics that pretty much disprove that a white hole is the other end of a black hole.

Far out Stuff (supernovae, pulsars, and quasars)

            Sometimes a discussion on cosmology will venture into deep water and bring up items such as supernovae, quasars, or pulsars. These are actual objects that have been discovered but are still not fully understood.

            To understand a supernova or pulsar, you need to first understand that a star has a life span. As the star runs out of energy and eventually dies-off, there is a gravitational collapse that sucks up everything nearby in. Eventually there is a release of this matter which is seen as a supernova. Supernovae radiate enough light and energy to equal millions of our suns. Often they over-light an entire galaxy for several days or weeks until all the energy is released.

            Once a supernova has ejected all its energy and light, it becomes a pulsar. This is a dead neuron star that rotates on its axis at a rapid rate. It has a tremendous amount of gravity and is believed to be the seed of a black hole.

            Quasars are named from the fact that they can only be detected by radio telescopes. The name combines the words Quasi-stellar-radio-source. Quasars are believed to be at the center of a distant galaxy that contains a black hole. The quasar generates enough energy to equal trillions of suns. So far away, and impossible to see; they are detected through radio signal due to their tremendous amount of energy.

Bizarre Stuff (wormholes, Tripler Cylinders and cosmic strings)

            Be careful when bringing up these controversial topics in cosmology. Depending on the people engaged in the discussion, you can either raise the bar and impress people with your cutting edge knowledge, or give people the impression you took acid some time in your life.

            Wormholes are pretty much widely accepted, though still only theoretical. A wormhole involves applying a gravitational field that is strong enough to bring two points of the universe closely together. This is the basis of hyper-warp. In some future starship, it is hoped that astronauts will be able to open a worm whole tunnel and travel light years into space within seconds.

            Tripler cylinders aren't as commonly known as worm holes. A Tripler Cylinder involves creating a spaghetti like object that spans billions of light years, but is about the diameter of a spaghetti noodle. You then rotate the tube at a very high RPM. Since the tube is spanned for such a large distance, there is a time-space continuum alteration due to the energy sharing of one medium throughout the cosmos. If you intersect various points of the Tripler Tube, you will jump forward or backwards into the future, or could even jump to a galaxy very far away.

            "Where would you get the materials to make such a cylinder?"--you might ask?
            Well you could take a star, and roll it up like play dough so that it stretches across space.
            "Impossible!"--you might declare?

            Well no problem! You see, you don't need to change a star to make a Tripler Cylinder. Instead, you can use a cosmic string!
           "What's a cosmic string?"--you might ask?

            A cosmic string is a remnant of the transition of the universe at the moment of the Big Bang. Trillions of shredded matter still in the one-dimensional state spread out throughout the universe, and are now known as cosmic strings. Cosmic strings are the diameter of the proton but the length of several billion light years. One piece of a cosmic string only 1 meter long would weigh 10 times the amount of Earth! If you could get your hands on a cosmic string, you could use it to make a Tripler Cylinder and create a time machine. Not only that, cosmic strings have a sense of polarity. Supposedly, a cosmic string can tell us which is north, south, east, and west in the universe. They also contain material and energy that was ejected at the moment of the Big Bang.

            I hope you find my survival guide to cosmology discussions very useful. Remember, you are not an expert on these concepts and neither is anyone else!