Science Fun Fact #4: Relax. There may be a parallel universe in which you caught that bus
While parallel universes sound like science fiction, they are in fact a — speculative — part of physics, and that in more than one place: quantum mechanics, our current (and incredibly precise) description of atoms and elementary particles, gives tantalizing hints of an infinity of parallel worlds. And string theory, one of the candidate theories for a unified description of physics, suggests an other kind of “landscape” of parallel universes, some that are similar to ours, and others that are mind-bogglingly different.
That’s science for you: showing us how there might be more to reality than we think. For more on string theory and the landscape, visit our event Beyond Einstein, with physicists Leonard Susskind and Jim Gates, and historian of science Peter Galison.
And to dive into the strange world of quantum theory, there’s no better opportunity than Invisible Reality, featuring Brian Greene, Alan Alda, and Nobel Laureate William Phillips.
Also, we will be screening Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives — a film tracing the life of Hugh Everett, who introduced parallel worlds into the formalism of quantum theory, and we will have his son, Mark Oliver Everett (the creative force behind the indie rock band “eels”) at a talk-back following the event
This post was written by Markus
Tags: Alan Alda, Beyond Einstein, Brian Greene, Hugh Everett, invisible Reality, Jim Gates, Leonard Susskind, Mark Oliver Everett, Parallel universes, Parallel Worlds, Peter Galison, Quantum mechanics, String theory, William Phillips