Time: What Is It, And, Is It Real?

"What if time is not real, but an illusion? Isaac Newton believed time was absolute and ticked at the same rate for everyone, everywhere. But Albert Einstein shattered that view with the theory of relativity. He showed that time is intertwined with space to form what we now call 'space-time.' Time can stretch and compress. 

"But physicist Carlo Rovelli proposes an even more radical idea. Rovelli argues that time might not exist at all. He suggests that time is not a fundamental feature of reality but an in invention of our brains in order to make sense of the world, to impose a cause and effect to events so they are not nonchaotic. 

"Craig Callender, a professor of philosophy, also supports this idea. The idea of time as an illusion comes from quantum mechanics. Einstein's theory of general relativity treats time as an intrinsic part of reality. But in Quantum mechanics, time isn’t malleable, and doesn’t change like other properties of a quantum system. Recording the passage of time requires an observer to consult a clock external to the quantum system."

Click on the link below for more:

Could TIME Really Be an Illusion?

James Webb Telescope = New Knowledge

"Unravel the mysteries of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope! From impossible galaxies to ancient black holes and potential signs of extraterrestrial life, explore five mind-blowing discoveries in this captivating video!"

Click on the link below for an example of how science continues to advance our knowledge:

5 Incredible Things We've Already Discovered thanks to the James Webb Telescope

The Earth's Seasons: A Necessity For Survival

"The earth has an axial tilt of about 23.5 degrees. While this tilt is responsible for shaping our planet's climate and seasons, it also played a crucial role in shaping life on earth. What would have happened if the earth had no tilt? Is it even normal for a planet to tilt? What caused it? 

"Most planets in our solar systems have a tilt. Mercury is the only one that has nearly no tilt at 2 degrees. It’s thought that early in earth’s formation over 4 billion years ago, a planet the size of Mars, which we now call Theia, crashed into earth and knocked it off its kilter. In doing so, some of the material from the two planets was thrown off and began to orbit the earth. And over time it coalesced into the moon. This impact also created a permanent tilt in earth’s rotation."

Click on the link below for details:

Why Earth's Tilt is FAR More Important Than We Realize

Another Biogenesis Hypothesis

"Scientists have long speculated that life didn’t begin on Earth but in space. According to a new preprint, life could have come from intergalactic gas clouds, so-called molecular clouds."

Click on the link below for a 6-minute video presenting the idea:

Life Could Have Begun in an Interstellar Dust Cloud

Space And Time 101

"What is Spacetime? Are space and time the same thing? Space was thought to be nothing, an empty void with no matter in it. In 1908, Hermann Minkowski postulated that time could be thought of as a 4th dimension along with the three dimensions of space. Einstein later showed that this spacetime is a kind of geometry that can bend, affecting the trajectory and passage of time for objects. How can space and time be part of the same canvas? Space is measured in meters, while time is measured in seconds. How are the two interchangeable?"

Click on the link below for a clear, but somewhat counter-intuitive, understanding of how space and time interact:

How Can SPACE and TIME be part of the SAME THING?

How OUR Universe Began

" In the beginning, there was....what? Thankfully Physics can now help us answer that question! But during the 20th Century, there was a debate raging between whether the Universe started in a Big Bang or has existed forever. Thankfully that debate was eventually settled by radio astronomy..."

Click on the link below for the definitive answer to this fundamental question. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention what started it, or if our universe is the only one. THIS question may never be answered.

How did the Universe begin?

The Multiverse: The Evidence Grows

"The team's model starts the Universe as a multitude of universes. Each universe in this multiverse has a different mass for the Higgs boson – some quite heavy, and some very light.

"Then, the physicists calculated how these universes would evolve over time. They found that universes with heavier Higgs bosons became unstable and collapsed very quickly in a 'big crunch', in a fraction of a second.

"The universes with lighter Higgs bosons survived. Under this scenario, our Universe emerged as perhaps the sole survivor of the catastrophic multiverse crunching, with a very light Higgs boson."

Click on the link below for another hypothesis for the multiverse. Yes, it is not falsifiable at this point, thus, it is not yet accepted science. However, the results of recent experiments point positively to such. Compare this to what theists propose: an unevidenced supernatural being behind it all.

Mind-Bending New Multiverse Scenario Could Explain a Strange Higgs Boson Feature

The Multiverse Hypothesis: The Evidence Behind it

The multiverse hypothesis is a common counter-apologetic against religious apologetics. However, the religious do have a point: it is not clearly true. That said, they ignore the facts behind its hypothesis. Click on the link below for a clear and concise presentation of scientific reasons for its possibility and, perhaps, its probability:

Do We Live in a Multiple Universe?

Founders Of Religions Had NO Idea About Reality

 "The number of known exoplanets seems to grow every day. Most of them are worlds completely unlike our own. But some get pretty close to something resembling home - and may someday become exactly that."

The 5 Most Earth-Like Planets We've Found (So Far)

We May Not Be So Special

"Was life on Earth a fluke? Perhaps not. New research suggests that the emergence of life on Earth, while far from a guaranteed outcome, was in fact a probable event – although the odds of intelligent life evolving remain rather less favourable."

I sure wish the religious who talk about "intelligent design" would learn more about physics, cosmology, mathematics, and how the natural world, the only one we really "know", operates.

Click on the link below:

Astronomer Calculates The Odds of Life Emerging on Earth

Finally, He Does An Episode Without Magical Thinkers

There is a PBS series on YouTube called "Closer to Truth." The host, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, usually includes opinions from philosophers and theologians on how to get "closer to truth." I am a prolific commenter on the series, criticizing him for including such magical thinkers. However, the episode below is a welcome exception: all scientists!!! Click on the link below:

Will the Universe Ever End?

Are There Extraterrestrials?

"Our galaxy is home to billions of habitable planets. Chris Crowe guides us through the heavens on a journey to explore how many Earth-like planets our Universe contains. By examining the latest exoplanet discoveries he conveys his confidence that they’re definitely out there somewhere…"

Certainly not confirming, but interesting speculation. Click on the link below:

Extraterrestrials - Why They're Almost Certainly Out There. . .

The Universe Is Really Big

This 6-minute video presents the magnitude of the visible universe in relation to the Earth, our Solar System, the Milky Way galaxy, and all other galaxies. It is must-viewing to really understand how insignificant humans really are as compared to the Bible's presentation of us. Seriously, just given this information in comparison to the knowledge of reality that the Bible writers had, how can anyone accept what any religion says about reality? And, keep in mind, this knowledge is only a sliver of the knowledge we now have of reality. Grow up all you magical thinkers.