Invisible, Delicate Threads

Gravity affects many things. How plants grow. How fire flickers. Even how our clocks tick in our kitchens and on our phones. We know what gravity does, but we do not know what gravity is. A mystery that our bodies, and all bodies, possess.

So let me catch you up a bit for those who may not necessarily know about one of the (relatively) weakest forces in our universe.

There is a story of a man under a tree and a piece of fruit with great aim and impeccable timing. The story goes that Sir Isaac Newton sat under an apple tree. One day an apple broke free of its branch and bounced on the head of the unsuspecting scientist. From that interaction Newton discovered gravity and the rest is history.

Like many stories of discoveries this one isn’t true. Newton did mathematically show the relationship that gravity, matter, and distance have, sure. But it was not because of a bit of fruit that chanced a landing upon his head. Just like the story of Benjamin Franklin using a key and a kite to see electricity or Thomas Edison creating the lightbulb, this story is missing a plethora of details.

Long ago we did not have calculus. In fact, before calculus was invented many people believed reality was not real because they could not calculate the area under a curved graph of motion. Sound weird? It is. Imagine not being able to calculate the area of a bell curve, looking up from the paper, and then say, “Well. I guess I’m not real then.”

Newton created calculus to be able to show mathematical concepts and area under a curve of a graph. From there he gave the relationship that we see with mass, distance, and gravity.

Gravity is… weird to say the least. It cannot be observed on the atomic level because, relatively speaking, gravity is an extremely weak force. Take a magnet above something metal. That metal object will go against gravity and attach itself to the magnet. A small neodymium magnet (the size of an eraser) can exert more force than an entire planet can with gravity.

But gravity is not without its own special effects. Space and time are warped by gravity. But what has gravity? And what is space time? Let me answer that.

First. Anything that is made up of atoms and quarks essentially has a mass. An ant that is relatively small to us has a force of gravity. Rocks have gravity. Dogs, cats, and all living organisms have gravity.

You have a gravitational field that you create because you are made of stuff.

You have mass.

Keep this in mind as I come back to it later.

Now. Space-time is often referenced as a sheet of rubber. It serves its purpose well in this form. Now an object, let’s say a planet is placed on that rubber sheet and what happens? The rubber stretches downward and you get a “dent” in space and time.

You walk amongst that fabric daily. And because you have gravity you also put a dent (however very small relative to planets) in space-time. But your gravitational field is still there.

So what does gravity do to time? It slows it down. On average your feet will be 90 billionths of a second younger than your head by the time you reach 70 years of age. You see, the more gravity that acts on an object the slower its clock goes in relation to other objects that experience less gravity. But your feet are attached to your body. Why doesn’t your whole body stay the same? And that is where Sir Isaac Newton comes into play.

Here is an equation for you.

G x (Mass of object 1 x Mass of Object 2) / distance between both objects squared.

Or

G(m1 x m2) / r^2

This equation is Newtons own. This equation shows the relationships between mass, gravity, and distance. So let’s think about it.

What is closer to the Earth, your feet or your head? Because your feet are closer to the Earth the effects of Earths gravity is greater. Thus, the internal clock of your feet runs slower than your head. Albeit a very small, almost negligible difference.

But think about satellites. Satellites are much farther away from the center of Earth (where distance is measured from the center of a body of mass). Does this effect it more?

Yes.

Satellites must be calibrated for how high they are because their clocks run “faster” in relation to the clocks on the surface. Astronauts in the International Space Station will age a second older in space than they would have stayed on Earth!

And you see gravity has infinite range. Another aspect that you need to remember. In the equation above you can put trillions of kilometers. While the overall force will get smaller and smaller, it never will be zero.

And that’s what I want to talk about now. We have discussed that you are mass and therefore have gravity. All things with mass have gravity. And gravity has an infinite range. We also have an equation for this.

The big letter G in the equation is known as the gravitational constant which equals 6.67 x 10^-11. Or, written out that would be:

.0000000000667

Very small number, huh. This is the amount of gravity that a kilogram has.

Now how much mass do you have? We need this in kilograms. 1 kilogram is basically equal to 2.2 pounds. So if you way 220 pounds, divide that by 2.2 and you get 100 kilograms. Figure out your weight now in kilograms.

Next I want you to think of someone you hold dear. How much do they weigh? Do the same thing to them. Estimate how much mass they have in kilograms.

Good! Now this is where things get tricky. How far away are they? Let’s say they are 600 miles. Well we need kilometers. How do you get kilometers from miles? Divide miles by 0.6. 600 ÷ .6 = 1,000 kilometers.

Now we are not quite done. In order to get the unit we need we need to convert kilometers to meters. Move the decimal over three places to the right. Thus 1,000 kilometers becomes 1,000,000 meters. Make sense?

So you have G, your mass, a loved ones mass, and distance. Now we can put that into Newtons equation.

Multiply your mass in kilograms by your loved ones mass in kilograms. Now multiply that number by 6.67×10^-11 or .0000000000667.

Now divide that new number by your distance squared. If your distance was 100 kilometers that is 100 x 100. If it was 1,000,000 then it is 1,000,000 x 1,000,000.

To recap divide your first number (two masses times G) by your distance squared (r^2).

You should now have a very, very….. very small number.

But it’s not zero.

What is this small number? So small that it might as well be nothing?

That is the force you feel from your loved one. And the force they feel from you. You see, no matter how far apart you are from the people you love, you still “feel them.” This invisible, delicate, imperceptible spider’s thread that connects them to you and vice versa.

Even on the farthest reaches of our universe the atoms that are out there feel your presence. There is nothing in this universe that doesn’t feel you.

While the force is so small it can be stated as negligible, one thing remains the same. The mathematical number isn’t zero. And because of that mathematical fact every person, every planet, every star, and every atom has an invisible, delicate thread connected from it to you.

Throughout the universe, everything feels your presence

A Candle in an Ocean of Light

Fair warning this will be a relatively personal post. Just putting out there on the table.

I teach college level physics. Simple F= m*a, physics. Classical physics that people who are dead and gone looked at the world and asked, “Why?” From there came e=m*c^2. Modern physics.

When stars die they leave a piece of them behind. Our star will leave behind an Earth size diamond. Its heart a slowly fading beacon that it was once there. Time will march forward, it’ll cool, and it’s own light will completely fade from existence. But, it’s heart will still be here until the Universe dies, or is swallowed by something else and it’s matter to join its new cosmic home.

Another remnant is called a Neutron Star. These are hearts that are simply amazing. You and I are built of atoms. Very small constructs made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. If I were to blow up a nucleus of an atom to the size of a basketball the electron would be the size of a bumble bee. Flying miles away from the nucleus it is home to.

Now imagine if we were to put a ball around the atom, where the outer edge of the ball was where this little negatively charged bumble bee flew. Inside that ball would be 99.9999% empty space. That means you, me, your pets, and everything around you is that percentage of empty space. Still with me? Okay.

Now let’s take that lil bumble bee and smash it into the nucleus. I know, poor little hypothetical bumble bee. So now what we have is an object that is 00.0001% the size that it used to be. This is the core of a star that makes a Neutron Star. A matter so dense that a tablespoon weighs more than every car ever built on Earth.

Long ago two of these extremely dense stars collided. And when they did the Universe felt their joining. Much like waves formed when a rock is thrown into a lake, gravitational waves erupted outward in all directions.

And you felt that. Well, you didn’t feel it, but you were effected by it. You see gravitational waves do some really weird things. Space and time are changed by the presence of gravity. Gravity slows down time. The satellites that orbit in space above us have a time frame that moves faster here on Earth. Their internal clocks have to be augmented so that our phones on Earth are synchronized.

Now these gravity ripples crossed light years and changed you. It was brief and it was infinitesimally different, but it did change. As gravitational waves cross us space is slightly stretched and compressed. Meaning that our planet, our houses, our hearts, and our atoms in our bodies were shortened and elongated by an unimaginably small amount.

But they did change.

It took a lazer system in multiple kilometer long vacuum tubes to detect the change. But it was there.

I am telling this story because I truly believe the Universe we live in is magic. Not the magic of spells and sorcery but in the fact that we know so little, and in our wildest imaginations, we can’t create something so amazing.

Few years back I was in a dark place. Super depressed and riddled with anxiety. I had just lost a man in my life I considered a role model and hero to suicide, I was a total ass in a mutual toxic relationship, and I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. Honestly thought about playing Russian Roulette with all chambers filled. It was dark, heart demolishing place.

But science and the magic of the universe saved me. I’m trying to not be dramatic here. Comes off dramatic. Trust me, I live with myself, I know I can be super dramatic. But, I honestly mean this.

13.8 billion(ish) years ago our Universe sparked into creation. From that immensly hot existence sub-atomic particles formed. These came together to eventually form #1 on the periodic table: Hydrogen.

From this element the first and largest stars were formed. Both simultaneously the forges and blacksmiths of our universe. There is nothing you see around you that wasn’t at one point in time in a star. We are star dust.

These stars erupted and created the dozens of other elements we know. More gas coalesced into new stars and the cycle continues.

8 billion years after our Universe’s first breath a star was born. Nothing special. A yellow dwarf, or Class G star. Tiny and cool in the comparison of others. We see this star first thing in the morning, and last at dusk.

For 5 billion years it watched as the solar system grew around it. Asteroids colliding into each other violently. These collisions formed large rocky chunks warping and reshaping. We call these the terrestrial, or rocky, planets. We live on the third one. Perfectly placed in what is called the “Goldilocks Zone.” The area where it’s not too warm, not too cold, but just right for liquid water to form.

Our planet cooled. Slowly the heat from the impacts subsided. The dense material sank to the Earth’s core while the less dense floated above. This is the mantle versus the crust, respectably. If you look straight down, hundreds of kilometers below you, is rolling magma. Churning and pushing for a chance to make it’s way to the surface.

Water became present. Where or how is still up for debate as for origin. However, water covered our planet to become the blue marble it is today.

And this is where something extrodinary happened. The elements churned in the hearts and last breaths of stars came together to form amino acids. The building blocks of life. From this the first organism called Earth its home. It replicated and replicated and through slight variations evolution changed the way the organisms were created. From one tiny cell to clusters. Life grew and changed.

Years went on and these clusters slowly turned into monsters. Gigantic monsters swam in the oceans, walked across our land, and flew through the skies. And then, the best theory, is an object that created our home, killed most of this evolutionary chain. An asteroid pummeled the Earth sending a blanket of debris into the atmosphere. Billions of organisms died. We see this in the rock record. It’s called the K-T boundary. Where life just seases to exist.

But life found a way.

Somehow, some were able to live, grow, reproduce, and continue on. Mammals began to change. One branch splitting on the evolutionary tree. Then another. And another. And creating dozens of different variations that we know today.

Including us.

We are the result of the Universe taking it’s first breath. The death of stars that have long since burned out. We are, each one of us, a testament to billions of years of evolution. Each one with our own stories that no one else will ever have. We now look up at the stars and wonder what’s out there. And the Universe touches us across light years to show us what is waiting to be discovered.

I moved on from that dark world I was in. But ever so often it creeps back into my mind. I just have to remember that the lights of so many stars went out to make me and the magic that exists all around us and I feel better.

Please, I beg of you, hold onto you. That light. This little piece of wonderous magic in an ocean of other wonderous magic that you are. You are a universe unto yourself and no one else will ever be like you. Now or ever.

Love deeply. Chase your dreams and passions. Do something that scares you. Be a better person than you were yesterday. Always move forward. Never extinguish that light that you are.

Science saved me. I doubt I’ll ever see another star as close as the one that brought us life in this solar system. But I strive, so one day, generations from now, they may get to dip their own star dust deeper into our universe.

Breathing Life Into Existence

I want to preface this post with an apology. I am laying here in bed, wide awake, begging for some creepy man that throws sand to tag me in the eyes.

How did the “Sand Man” get started? Sounds awful. How about the NyQuil Pixie? Whatever. I digress. I’m on my phone so there may be grammatical errors.

I’m an intermediate physicist. I have a bachelor’s, working on a masters, and teach physics at a college. I don’t consider myself a full blown physicist. I also like to romantisize science as well. That’s what this post will be. Science with a whole lot of poetry.

So to begin, we have to discuss about thermodynamics. The TL;DR version is this: Energy comes in many forms, can be changed from one type to another, and cannot be created or destroyed. Energy is chemical, electric, kinetic, heat, and many other forms. All of which came from somewhere and will dissapate somewhere.

Now, let’s talk about you. Billions of years ago the billions of pieces of you (your atoms) were created from the death of the most powerful objects in the known universe; stars. You, me, the device you are reading this from were all once in the heart and shells of a star. Fast forward to today and here you are, you beautiful pile of space debris.

We grow and sustain ourselves by eating other organisms born of stars. Plants and animals give us chemical energy that our bodies use to keep us going. The nutrients repair and replace older cells and so the cycle goes. We borrow energy from the food we eat to give us more and so on.

We have energy. We take energy. We give energy. There is nothing that we do that doesn’t sap a little here and there. The sound you hear from your own inhalation is from air resistance as it fills your lungs. Sound is a form of energy.

Energy is everything. Our hearts wouldn’t beat, brains wouldn’t function, arms wouldn’t move if no energy was present. Energy is our life. Without it, well, I wouldn’t be here and neither would you. Each thumb press on my keyboard I use the energy I have stored in myself to bring this post into existence. And that was the topic that got me thinking.

Everything you do gives energy, your life, into the work that you do. Work being the physics term for the energy put into a system to make a change.

In this sense, to me, you give part of yourself to everything you touch. When you roll a ball across the floor you gave some your life energy to change it. A little bit of life from you to the ball. When you hold your lovers hand the heat you share is the thermal energy you create and feeling that life shared between one another.

Everything you do you give some of your life to make it. Moving the brush across a canvas, scribbling a note in pen, kissing the one you love, your own voice creating words; all give a piece of your life to make it go.

I guess the theme of this post, if you will, is that everyday and every movement you do you give bits of yourself to everything around you. Your time and energy is a precious currency that we exchange every second without thinking about it. We take and we give and the circle continues.

Everything you do you put your life into. Find things that are worth the energy. Your work. Your love. Your life. Because while we do gain energy back in ways, one day our energy will be gone. Make sure you make your life to what you want and what deserved it.

And appreciate the energy of those around you. Because you never know if it’ll be the last time their energy touches yours.

Age of the Geek

I was 13 and it was a cold winter morning. Frost so dense on the windows you couldn’t see out of them type of cold. The smell of wood burning stoves and chimney smoke were like lighthouses in a frigid cold sea of winter. My best friend at the time and I were two hot chocolates deep into what would become a five hour gaming marathon of star craft for the Nintendo 64. 

We were playing when his mom came downstairs to let us know that lunch was ready. It was only then did we realize how barren our stomachs were (to our surprise hot chocolate couldn’t sustain us) and we immediately when upstairs to eat.

Lunch was prepared and placed. Pizza and homemade garlic bread. Heaven. Well if heaven is 95% carbs and dairy, but I digress. We began stuffing our faces and ate until our bodies hated us. We said thank you and turned away to resume our attack on aliens.

His mother turned to us and said, “You’re going back to play that game? Go outside and play in the snow! Games won’t do anything for you in the future.” Of course we didn’t listen. We had Zerg to kill.

Over time that theme has always been around. That gaming, pop culture, and   geekdom in general is something that will not amount to anything. That it is what it always has and will be; an utter waste of time.

Or has it? Blizzcon (A convention based on Blizzard Entertainment’s successful gaming empire) recently concluded. Among those games is the sequel of the very game that we had played those many winters ago; Starcraft 3. One of many games whose prize pool when totalled was nearly three million dollars.

Competitors from all over the world converged to take home fame and a bit of fortune. People who had spent days upon days playing and honing their craft at a chance on ” The big stage.” And tens of thousands of eyes across the Internet were on them.

Times have changed. E-sports is rapidly developing. What hasn’t changed is some people’s outlook on what games and fandoms are. People watch in a sort of stupor and insult people who dress up ( cosplay ), compete in gaming events,  watch others play games, or play table top games (Dungeons and Dragons type games) and insult that fandom. But will immediately go home, throw on a jersey, turn on ESPN, and open up their fantasy football league.

So what is my point? Glad you asked. A frame of mind that some people have is that you cannot enjoy pop culture and be an adult. There isn’t careers in that field. But that is an antiquated thought process that should be done away with much like the Cubs curse. It should end in 2016.

I am extremely fortunate to know some of these pioneers of the field and get the chance to work with them. Women and men who have made a name and a career in these very “non lucrative” areas. People who on a daily basis must deal with those that chastise them for what they do. Much like Jimmy Kimmel who insulted people who watch YouTube streamers play video games. His line of thought was, “Why would anyone want to watch someone else play video games? That’s stupid!” Then not even two weeks later star in a super bowl commercial that focuses on men and women sitting down to watch others play football and build fantasy teams. Boggles my mind.
What I am trying to say is that the pop culture life is growing. Some of the most fascinating people I know are involved in conventions, e-sports, and professional cosplayers and also do a variety of other things. This antiquated notion that if someone enjoys this realm of entertainment they are less mature is not only ignorant, but it’s rather irrelevant.

The world of this form of entertainment is rapidly developing. I would surmise that in 10 years esports leagues will be broadcast on television. Events such as League of Legends world finals pulling in more views than the world series, the super bowl, and fifa world cup combined.

Times are changing. So enjoy what you love. Let others enjoy what they love. And if you are someone who enjoys pop culture but feel alienated remember this.

It’s the age of the geek, baby.

Penned in Pain

I have always had an interest in scars. Not a morbid type of interest, but more of a curiosity. While some see them as a horrendous disfigurement; I find them fascinating. 

Scars to me are history. It says that in one’s lifetime they have been hurt, healed, and wear their history upon their bodies. It shows to me someone that has experienced pain in life, and yet still lives. 

Your belly button is a scar when you think about it. Born with these scars. Where we were all connected to our mothers to live. Scars are not something to be ashamed of. Rather I believe they say, “I’m alive. This healed. Here I am.”

And scars are not just physical, but emotional. Many times I find these emotional scars in others and myself. Where we have felt pain, left its marked, but we live on. Carrying a mark to remind us what we have lived through. 

Scars do not define us. They say we have taken damage but we still live.

Scars are our history. Chapters penned in pain. Written on flesh. 

The Principles of Perfection

So I must apologize here and now. I recently moved over from Tumblr and I am still figuring out all the bells and whistles here. Which are many. So bare with me while I work on this. 

I write these posts to help me think and express myself. I do not intend on others reading this and I have thus titled my blog appropriately. All of these will be the collective writings of one man who is “Yelling At Space.”

Recently I have decided to begin editing three books I have written. All three have been read and returned to me from my editor. Erica you are the patron goddess of patience. If you read this, know how much you mean to me. 

Before I begin this daunting task that will have me spewing out vulgar words to the point others may believe I have constructed a new language built solely around swearing; I must write again. And here we are. I want to practice in hopes of making my books perfect. 

Which has lead me down corridors and avenues of thought all night. I went on a walk in hopes I would find an answer. The full moon light ignited the reds and yellows of the autumn colors. And the slight breeze that played through the limbs made it seem like my path was lit by large, dim torches. I was reminded why fall has, and always will be, my favorite season. 

But my thoughts on perfecting my book still weighed on me. “What should I change?” I asked myself. Thankful that no one was around to hear me questioning myself. “What can I do to make them perfect?” 

The answer I came to was not what I could do to make them perfect, rather, the thought of perfection. In our lives we would love things to be perfect. Some want a cabin in the woods in seclusion from the world. Some want a bottomless checking account and a warm beach with drinks that come with a fruit salad on the rim of the glass. 

The problem I see is that we tend to want what we believe to be perfect. What we see as perfect right now. As we experience more we begin to find out just what we want. So what we may have believed to be perfect in the past, may not be perfect in the present. 

Case in point. When I was a kid I loved lunchables. Honestly I still do, but that is beside the point. If I had been given the opportunity to define my perfect life as a child then my dietary choices would not have been the best. 

While this example is exaggerated it helps me make my point. We all want to be perfect. Create perfect things. And that brings me to my own idea on perfection. 

The idea of perfection is inherently flawed. 

Take someone trying to be perfect for others. Cannot be done. Ask someone what their ideal home would be. Tell them to be specific. Down to furniture and room temperatures. I would wager that, while similarities would exist, the differences would out weigh them. 

Now when people try to be perfect for others, that person is trying to take the “house” they are,  and try and become the “house” they believe others want to be. As you can see that is damn near impossible. Trying to be perfect for everyone is insane. It cannot be done. 

Wasting energy on how others perceive you or your work will drain you. Far more than just being yourself or letting your art flow through you. And that is what I have come to realize.

Stop trying. 

Do what comes natural. Whether that be in relationships, art creation, or apparently architectural design of homes. Because as we grow and learn our tastes will change. Our idea of what is perfect will change. So be who you want to be. Create what you want to create. And the people that appreciate who you are and what you do will find you and those relationships will be all the more sweeter. 

There is no such thing as a timeless perfection for everyone. 

But the pepperoni pizza lunchables are pretty close.