The 5th dimensional camera is a fictional device that was designed for the 2010 Impact! exhibition and recently on display at the MoMA. Designed by Superflux in collaboration with EPSRC, Nesta, RCA and scientists from QIPIRC it helps to bridge the void between quantum theory at the heart of fundamental physics and public understanding. Like many concepts in physics, the notion of multiple universes, or a multiverse, is not one that the average person would find easy to comprehend, however the 5th dimensional camera has helped reveal what it might be like to view many parallel worlds at the same time using a metaphorical many lensed object. Collectively the multiverse describes everything that  can and will exist, from the planets and stars we see today and all fragments of subatomic particles that temporarily spring into existence or annihilate, as well as all laws and the physical constants that bound them. There are different interpretations of the multiverse and each is fundamentally speculative attracting criticism as well as praise, but nonetheless the collection of alternative theories have ignited philosophical debate, one which we can all challenge, and perhaps a deeper understanding of the universe we inhabit beyond the limitations of scientific method. In M-theory, for example, universes are created as a result of the collisions between “branes” of higher dimensions, where gravity remains and the other forces vanish. While Hugh Everett’s “many worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics helps to answer why scientific measurements cannot be predicted absolutely, for which there is a range of possible observations with differing probabilities and each corresponds to a different universe. Each alternative future is regarded as having a real existence, but it need not stop with the future possibilities, indeed Richard Feynman suggested the idea of multiple histories, for which any event in the present could have been the eventuality of many alternative routes. The volume of possible interpretations of the multiverse is ironic at the very least and also captivating to a audience well beyond scientific circles.

Source: superflux.in

Pioneer 10 and 11 are space probes that left Earth respectively in 1972 and 1973, and that have since been steadily proceeding across the solar system and exiting our astronomical neighbourhood. Both probes sent back to Earth, year after year, endless streams of pictures and other astronomical data—until the on-board electrical generators run out of power, in 1995 for Pioneer 11 and 2003 for Pioneer 10, after an amazing 31 years of service. As the two probes approached the heliosphere, the boundary between the outer reaches of the solar wind and the interstellar medium, they unexpectedly started slowing down. A few hypotheses for this phenomenon had been put forward during the years, many involving exotic effects and new physics, but it’s only recently that a new analysis of the heaps of data accumulated over the years by the two probes shed some light on what was actually happening. It appears that the deceleration of the two spacecrafts could be likely ascribed to the on-board power sources, which produced electricity from the spontaneous radioactive decay of radioactive pellets. When the excess heat produced by the power generators was dissipated, it was mainly in the same direction of travel of the probes. The net effect of the solar pressure, pushing the probes forward, and the small but measurable photon pressure from heat dissipation, against the direction of travel, then produced the almost imperceptible deceleration of the Pioneer probes—dubbed the Pioneer Anomaly. Pictured: the iconic Pioneer 10 plaque.
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Pioneer 10 and 11 are space probes that left Earth respectively in 1972 and 1973, and that have since been steadily proceeding across the solar system and exiting our astronomical neighbourhood. Both probes sent back to Earth, year after year, endless streams of pictures and other astronomical data—until the on-board electrical generators run out of power, in 1995 for Pioneer 11 and 2003 for Pioneer 10, after an amazing 31 years of service. As the two probes approached the heliosphere, the boundary between the outer reaches of the solar wind and the interstellar medium, they unexpectedly started slowing down. A few hypotheses for this phenomenon had been put forward during the years, many involving exotic effects and new physics, but it’s only recently that a new analysis of the heaps of data accumulated over the years by the two probes shed some light on what was actually happening. It appears that the deceleration of the two spacecrafts could be likely ascribed to the on-board power sources, which produced electricity from the spontaneous radioactive decay of radioactive pellets. When the excess heat produced by the power generators was dissipated, it was mainly in the same direction of travel of the probes. The net effect of the solar pressure, pushing the probes forward, and the small but measurable photon pressure from heat dissipation, against the direction of travel, then produced the almost imperceptible deceleration of the Pioneer probes—dubbed the Pioneer Anomaly.

Pictured: the iconic Pioneer 10 plaque.

Source: planetary.org

The fact that information technology is growing every year doesn’t surprise many, but perhaps the statistics attributed to this growth will. Videos are typically one of the largest in file size and in 2011 around 1 trillion videos were watched on YouTube equating to about 140 videos for every person on the planet, a statistic which gets bigger every day and in the next 24 hours we will watch another 4 billion on YouTube alone. Internet video traffic is growing at approximately 48% every year and in 2015 the gigabyte equivalent for all movies ever made will be crossing the global IP networks every 5 minutes. In addition, there are now more phone connections than people on Earth, and our reliance on the internet is deepening, so to keep up with demand server data centres are popping up faster than Moore’s law. But how sustainable is this growth? Despite the relatively high efficiency of electronic devices, information technology has the same energy and carbon impact as the airline industry. We may choose to cycle to work. We may turn the lights off around the house. We may recycle the cans and bottles that pile up. But we will still choose to search for the actor in that thing we can’t remember. The fact is searching for information has never been so convenient, and for every search there is a very real and tangible cost to the environment. Although the true statistics for energy consumption among the search giants are trade secrets so as not reveal how many servers are active, one can easily calculate the net energy cost for a typical internet search by taking a step back and looking at the big picture. If we take Google as an example, which claims to be 50% more efficient than its competitors, it is estimated that they continually require around 260 million Watts (or Joules / second) to power all their servers and computers. Since there are approximately 34,000 Google searches every second, it is easy to determine that 1 search is roughly 7.5kJ, however Google claim a figure closer to 1kJ. So how much energy is this? Around 1/10 of the energy required to boil the water for a cup of tea. This is small but certainly not negligible and if we are going to keep growing our internet usage we will need to reduce the amount of energy required for computer calculations and transferring information. The energy in computation is largely consumed in charging and discharging the capacitances of wires and there is ongoing research into alternative approaches for data manipulation that make use of a combination of optical and electrical components, which may help address the internet energy issues of the future. 
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The fact that information technology is growing every year doesn’t surprise many, but perhaps the statistics attributed to this growth will. Videos are typically one of the largest in file size and in 2011 around 1 trillion videos were watched on YouTube equating to about 140 videos for every person on the planet, a statistic which gets bigger every day and in the next 24 hours we will watch another 4 billion on YouTube alone. Internet video traffic is growing at approximately 48% every year and in 2015 the gigabyte equivalent for all movies ever made will be crossing the global IP networks every 5 minutes. In addition, there are now more phone connections than people on Earth, and our reliance on the internet is deepening, so to keep up with demand server data centres are popping up faster than Moore’s law. But how sustainable is this growth? Despite the relatively high efficiency of electronic devices, information technology has the same energy and carbon impact as the airline industry. We may choose to cycle to work. We may turn the lights off around the house. We may recycle the cans and bottles that pile up. But we will still choose to search for the actor in that thing we can’t remember. The fact is searching for information has never been so convenient, and for every search there is a very real and tangible cost to the environment. Although the true statistics for energy consumption among the search giants are trade secrets so as not reveal how many servers are active, one can easily calculate the net energy cost for a typical internet search by taking a step back and looking at the big picture. If we take Google as an example, which claims to be 50% more efficient than its competitors, it is estimated that they continually require around 260 million Watts (or Joules / second) to power all their servers and computers. Since there are approximately 34,000 Google searches every second, it is easy to determine that 1 search is roughly 7.5kJ, however Google claim a figure closer to 1kJ. So how much energy is this? Around 1/10 of the energy required to boil the water for a cup of tea. This is small but certainly not negligible and if we are going to keep growing our internet usage we will need to reduce the amount of energy required for computer calculations and transferring information. The energy in computation is largely consumed in charging and discharging the capacitances of wires and there is ongoing research into alternative approaches for data manipulation that make use of a combination of optical and electrical components, which may help address the internet energy issues of the future. 

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  • It's Not My Field #6: Rob JenkinsScientific Britain

Faces. For this episode of It’s Not My Field we interviewed Rob Jenkins, cognitive psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on face perception and social interaction. We asked him what makes us humans so much better than computers at recognising faces, how good (or bad) passport control agents are at matching pictures with faces, and why we sometimes see faces and familiar patterns where there are none.

If you are interested in doing a PhD with Rob Jenkins on the subject of 3D reconstruction of crime scenes from eye reflections then click the link above for more information.

The episode includes CC-licensed Freesound.org sound samples by users Setuniman and WaterminD.

Source: SoundCloud / ScientificBritain

The final chapter in the Sagan Series - Humans - looks at our impact on Earth, our domesticated lifestyle, and our willingness to explore the universe. Narrated by Carl Sagan nearly 30 years ago, both the subject and context have not changed in the present day. If anything we are receding inside the comfort of our planet a little more every day. Will mankind ever venture to the planet Mars and beyond or will we succumb to the regular and perpetual life that we have made for ourselves on Earth? 

Source: saganseries.com

Chapter 6 of the Sagan Series highlights the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle program on August 31, 2011. It is the end of an era, and the beginning of another. We have acknowledged the costs involved in sending manned missions to space, choosing instead to explore with robotics. The worldwide space budget is handsome $38 billion, but that is just small change in comparison to the trillions spent on military. It is easy to think that our priorities need straightened out and our goals set further into the cosmos. Thankfully private ventures are opening up the possibilities for space flight and in some areas taking over domestic space tasks on behalf of our governments. The future of space travel will certainly be nothing like the past.

Source: saganseries.com