Could All Our Scientific Knowledge Come Tumbling Down Like A House Of Cards?
“Now, think about what would be required to do today to tear down one of our leading scientific theories. It’s not as complicated as you might imagine: all it would take is a single observation of any phenomenon that contradicted the Big Bang’s predictions. Within the context of General Relativity, if you could find a theoretical consequence of the Big Bang that didn’t match up with our observations, we’d truly be in store for a revolution.
But here’s the important part: that won’t mean that everything about the Big Bang is wrong. General Relativity didn’t mean everything about Newtonian gravity was wrong; it simply exposed the limit of where and how Newtonian gravity was successful. It will still be accurate to describe the Universe as having originated from a hot, dense, expanding state; it will still be accurate to describe our observable Universe as being many billions of years old (but not infinite in age); it will still be accurate to talk about the first stars and galaxies, the first neutral atoms, and the first stable atomic nuclei.”
There are a great many people out there who absolutely cannot wait for the day where one of our greatest scientific theories is demonstrated to be wrong. Where an experiment or observation comes in that cannot be reconciled with our leading ideas of how the Universe works. At last, perhaps an unintuitive part of our existence, like relativity or quantum mechanics, might be replaced with something that’s a closer approximation of our actual reality. But that won’t invalidate what we already know; it will merely extend it.
An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of superadvanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last.
A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson..
Cadwell Turnbull is a graduate from the North Carolina State University’s Creative Writing MFA in Fiction and English MA in Linguistics. He was the winner of the 2014 NCSU Prize for Short Fiction for his story “Ears” and attended Clarion West 2016. Turnbull’s short stories have been published in Nightmare, Lightspeed, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. His Asimov’s short story “When the Rains Come Back” made Barnes and Noble’s Sci-fi & Fantasy Short Fiction Roundup in April 2018. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Lesson is his first book.
N. K. Jemisin makes her comic book debut with FAR SECTOR :
Summary:
Newly chosen Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein has been protecting the City Enduring, a massive metropolis of 20 billion people, for the past six months. The City has maintained peace for over 500 years by stripping its citizens of their ability to feel. As a result, violent crime is virtually unheard of, and murder is nonexistent.
But that’s all about to change.
This new series introduces a dizzying game of politics and philosophies as Jo discovers a brewing revolution in the City, aided and abetted by some of its most powerful citizens.
Do you love sphinx cats? What a magnificent oil painting by @jen_art !
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#beautifulbizarre #jennifergennari #oilpainting #painting #figurativepainting #sphinxcat #cat #femaleform #goddess #realism #portraitpainting #art #fineart #newcontemporaryart — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2KkQzM6
Frida Kahlo aka Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón (Mexican, 1907-1954, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico) - Sun and Life, 1947 Paintings: Oil on Canvas
A shadow had fallen across the vast and volatile world of Asunda, as nations crumbled and oceans swelled in blood. Some say the devil walked again and no man could stand against him.
But not all men are heroes and not all heroes are men.
