What if I told you that in some alternate reality, you are the most beloved rockstar in music history? Sounds nice, right? Fantasizing about multiple versions of ourselves can be a fun exercise. But guess what? It might be possible! While you may think this is something taken from a trippy and irreverent sci-fi cartoon (wubalubadubdub!), alternate realities are a serious but cool matter that many physicists are working on right now. As a matter of fact, as we speak you could be rocking it out at Wembley Stadium like Freddie Mercury in an alternate world.
This can sound like complex rocket science, but don’t worry. If you have previously watched Rick and Morty (and more specifically the episodes of “The Ricklantis Mixup” and “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind”), it will make sense eventually. In case you haven’t, you should watch them, since they’re some of the best examples of the Multiverse Theory, which goes like this. Since scientists can’t be sure how the space-time is shaped liked, it’s often depicted as a flat surface that keeps stretching out to infinity. Assuming that space-time does go forever, then it should get to a point where it starts to repeat itself all over again. Why? Because there’s a finite number of ways in which particles can be arranged. Therefore, our own structure is likely to appear again at some point, in a galaxy far, far away probably. However, there can be evident variations that may go from a version of yourself doing the exact same thing, but with another sweater, to a complete opposite that fights against galactic evil.
According to the Multiverse Theory, there aren’t just multiple universes, but an infinite amount of them. Just imagine how many versions of yourself can be out there. The possibilities of being a rockstar aren’t as far-fetched now! Of course, it can be overwhelming to picture this, because our mind isn’t capable of visualizing the whole spectrum of possibilities. It’s just too much, but you get the general idea, right? Now, you might wonder, how likely it is to be in a multiverse right now? Let me tell you, unlike other scientific hypotheses that are just too elaborated to be really studied, it’s quite possible that this one is about to be finally proven.
Among the multiple studies and research on this matter, the last evidence of this being actually plausible was given by the Royal Astronomical Society in the UK. They have recently published a paper about a zone in space they decided to call “the cold spot,” which is a cold spot (duh!) of space that can be seen through radiation produced by the famous Big Bang 13 billion years ago. In other words, this may be a glimpse of the very origins of the universe, but it also can be something else. Although it has been suggested that it may be nothing but an optical illusion, professor Tom Shanks of Durham University thinks otherwise:
“We can’t entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation explained by the standard [theory of the Big Bang]. But if that isn’t the answer, then there are more exotic explanations. Perhaps the most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between our universe and another bubble universe. If further, more detailed, analysis … proves this to be the case, then the Cold Spot might be taken as the first evidence for the multiverse.”
In other words, if the cold spot isn’t a remnant of the Big Bang, it’s quite likely that it is a zone where our universe and another one have collided. Now, it’s time for scientists to make further investigation to prove the true nature of that mysterious zone in outer space. After doing so, perhaps in a distant future we’ll be able to explore those new alternate universes and see for ourselves our alternate life as a rockstar. Which version of yourself would you like to live?
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