We might just have found evidence of another universe bumping into planet Earth, a scientist has very tentatively suggested. While mapping the cosmic microwave background – the light left over from the early universe – Ranga-Ram Chary found a mysterious glow.
Chary, a researcher at Planck’s US data centre in California, was mapping CMB when he spotted the unexpected glow. In his paper, Spectral Variations of the Sky: Constraints on Alternate Universes, he said that while there is a 30% chance the fluctuations are nothing unusual, there is also the possibility they provide evidence of a multiverse.
“It could also possibly be due to the collision of our Universe with an alternate Universe whose baryon to photon ratio is a factor of around 65 larger than ours,” he wrote.
The idea of a multiverse is nothing new. It says we are but one of many other universes. It builds on the notion of cosmic inflation and while the idea has gained more recognition over recent decades, being able to prove other universes exist has been unsuccessful. More.
Note: Carl Sagan’s dictum that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence does not apply to claims of a multiverse.
We are ordered by USA Today to prepare to have our minds blown over this.
For sure. We finally found the Boltzmann brains too, coming into existence in the storage closet behind the tall thin paper recycle bin.
Wicked unbelievers insist that they are just the limp balloons left over from the Civic Holiday bash here.
Science writer John Horgan thinks this kind of random multiverse speculation is immoral.
We think that the multiverse is one of those things that has just gotta be true no matter what the state of the evidence. An infinite number of “maybes” adds up to fact, right? 😉
See also:
The multiverse: Where everything turns out to be true, except philosophy and religion
and
Multiverse cosmology: Assuming that evidence still matters, what does it say?
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