Our Pixellated Universe?

Caitlin McGrory
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An experiment is going to test the idea that our universe is a holographic projection by “scanning for pixilation in the very fabric of space and time.”

The implications of this are astounding: our reality could be “coded in a finite bandwidth” and the third dimension could be a holographic projection of a 2-D plane of information.

Craig Hogan, a particle astrophysicist at Fermilab in Illinois, is spearheading the experiment, which is set to be performed by the end of next year. The experiment itself is pretty radical because they are attempting to confirm Planck units, which are the "smallest pieces of space, time, mass and other properties of the universe."  By using two of the world's most precise clocks, the two laser beams' rays (split from a single source) can be measured to see if they hit a detector simultaneously. The implication if they don't is that there is a limit to space-time's resolution.

The creation of the holometer was inspired by low-frequency "noise" picked up by an experiment called GEO600, which was designed to pick up gravity waves or ripples in space-time.

Skeptics are easy to find, and experimental physicist from GEO600, Hartmut Grote, is one of them. Grote feels it is reasonable to measure this effect, but doesn't think anything will be measured. Grote does make the bold statement that finding a limit to the universe' resolution would be earth-shattering. "It would be a very strong impact to one of the most open questions in fundamental physics. It would be the first proof that space-time, the fabric of the universe, is quantized."

 

Image by arjenvr on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing

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Comments

It reminds me.

Submitted by BrianHedger on Wed, 11/10/2010 - 04:46.
I go off on crazy round about thought patterns on what our "reality" or "consciousness" actually is or could be. Could our reality possibly be just a fragment of someone else's? In other words our earth is just a pixel on a picture and that picture is just a pixel on another picture and so on. A never ending connection just like space or time. For all we know where a pimple on some dudes back and when it pops... 2012.

what is the fabric of the universe?

Submitted by lancerobotson on Thu, 11/11/2010 - 05:24.
is it machine washable? go, science, Go!

Play of Light

Submitted by jehollow on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 16:40.
Ah, the holographic universe! This reminds me of the 'play of light' between Brahman and Ishwara in Vedanta. Brahman is the canvas on which reality is projected and Ishwara is the personal God who creates the pictures of light on the screen. The potential findings of this experiment could lead empirical science closer to embellishing subjective spiritual paradigms. Still though, I fear that the results may instead be used to create the next generation of HD TVs (highest resolution yet!)

Pondering..

Submitted by Thornster on Thu, 11/25/2010 - 20:26.
Aha, very interesting this. Surely we are pixellated as we still don't know what the gaps are between atoms. It seems down here on Earth we're in farily high resolution and the far reaches of the universe are low res. I have often jokingly wondered to myself if we're going to end up filming in such high definition that we actually see into another dimension. At what point can't it get any better? At what point can't things get any smaller too? By the way, there used to be a great 5 minute slot on the TV between programs back in the 80s in the UK where a microscope would zoom into a random object eg a spark plug and keep on zooming for a couple of minutes until you find yourself in an amazing landscape of towering mountains and jagged surfaces that previously looked flat. Just thought I'd mention it!

Yikes

Submitted by Hawks_McCasland on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 22:11.
This makes me think to my DMT experiences. Does anyone else see trees as being pixelated with a very low resolution when they smoke DMT?

Its all in the Vedas

Submitted by onlinesurfer on Tue, 11/30/2010 - 11:16.
'Maya', this word means illusion. For ages, Hindu sages have known the Truth about our existence. What seems to the body as real, is actually an illusion. Our world is made up by Maya. The deeper we go into Quantum Physics, Nano particle research et al, the more significant become observations of Vedic philosophy which has been in existent over many a thousand years. Vedas have always spoken of a super-consciousness; and our spirit being a part of the same, however trapped in the Maya of our body, our "Reality" changes for we perceive it as such. Someday, it will all be revealed. Enlightenment!

the constant effort to make

Submitted by lancerobotson on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 17:40.
the constant effort to make the ineffable explicit will never be put to rest as long as intelligence is at work in the universe.