Mathematics dates our wound from the time of the ancient Sumerians1 and their sexagesimal number system. This is the wound we suffered when, after 300,000 years of human existence, quantity became more important than quality. Mathematics cuts deeply into what we know. And we bleed a new strangeness that shames us into facing what we […]
An Eye for an i
We’ve unraveled across 13.8 billion years from some infinity. And now, look at us! We are an arrangement of atoms with an eye for i, iota, the mathematical expression √-1 … i2 = −1 … x2+ 1 = 0 … that famous imaginary number so useful to meeting our world realistically. Perpendicular to the Cartesian […]
From Eternity to Here
In the Beginning, you are there. So am I. And everything else, too. Before the trillionth second of time, everything is light – an eternal event, because for photons, there is no time. No space, either. The instant a photon appears, it arrives at its destination – even if that’s the other side of the […]
Science Fiction Slam: 333 Words
Octillions of years from now, space has expanded to fathomless ranges of thermal equilibrium. Supermassive black holes at the end of their long lives explode across the universe. For a short while – a couple hundred billion years – warm eddies of dissipating energy provide a thermal source and a heat sink sufficiently stable for […]
Of Fire and the Invisible in Itself
At the center of every atom, energy of imponderable intensity rages. This is the chromodynamic binding force of gluons, which holds quarks together inside an atomic nucleus. It is a furious fire that has been burning since time began. I say ‘furious’ because 99% of the mass in the atomic nucleus consists of this chaotic […]
Alien Vices
Cattle mutilation comes to mind. Abduction, of course, and physical violation. Damage to cultivated fields. Trespass of restricted government sites. Distraction of military and commercial flights. And – can this be true? – deactivating and then restarting nuclear missiles! (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-air-force-personnel-ufos-deactivated-nukes/) Too many vices. Not enough voices. Crop circle communiques (such as Hawkins’ Fifth Crop Circle […]