...............................................................................................................................................
Physics
and the Bible
.
by Lambert
Dolphin
Lambert
Dolphin, Physicist Website
Superman
was able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, he was more powerful than a
locomotive, and he was said to be able to travel faster than a speeding bullet.
The speed
of a bullet is no big deal in these days of supersonic aircraft and spacecraft.
Yet our fastest space vehicles do no better than one one-hundred thousandth of
the current speed of light.
Overcoming
gravity (the weakest of all the forces of physics) still takes lots of push and
power.
The moon
remains many days away and the planets many months when traveling as fast as
current chemical rocket technology allows.
The
nearest star is 4 x 1017 meters away, and the current estimated
size for the entire universe is greater than that by ten orders of magnitude or
so (about 1026 meters).
For a
long time, the hope of space travel has been left almost entirely in the hands
of the science fiction writers.
Yet with
God there are invariably hidden truths waiting to be discovered that make the
best that men can imagine seem like kindergarten.
As
charged particles are pushed up near the present speed of light they grow
heavier, and more and more energy input is required to gain a smaller and
smaller increment of increased velocity.
At the
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC), near where I live, electrons injected in
the accelerator reach 99.999% of the velocity of light in the first few feet of
travel, and then they ride, traveling radio waves for two miles down a long
evacuated pipe, gaining virtually no additional speed, but mostly acquiring
mass (and therefore energy).
There is
no reason to doubt the highly successful and well-verified theory of relativity
in this regard. One can point to countless examples of proven relativistic
effects whenever charged particles are involved.
Physicist
Hal Puthoff has recently suggested that the ability of a spacecraft to
modify the properties of space in its immediate vicinity could allow it to
travel faster than light.
This is
because the speed of light is simply a measure of two properties of the medium
of space, or the vacuum: permeability and permittivity.
It has
been tacitly assumed by some theoreticians that the speed of light might be a
measure not only of the electrical properties of space, but the mechanical
properties of space as well.
It now
turns out that this is probably not the case!
A very
exciting possibility has now come into the light.
It has
long been known that gravitational forces apparently act instantaneously over
the entire universe.
Why this
should be so is simply glossed over and ignored in every generation of physics
classes and in countless technical papers.
One way
to understand this is to consider what is called "the classical aberration
of light" - which was discovered by Bradley in 1728.
In fact,
aberration data became one of the early methods for measuring the speed of
light.
Light
from the sun requires 8.3 minutes to travel from the sun to the earth during
which time the sun and the earth have moved as much as 20 arc seconds with
respect to each other.
Similarly,
light from the stars arrives at an angle which can be as much as 20 arc seconds
because the earth is moving with respect to the stars.
It is by
carefully measuring these aberration angles, and knowing the relative
velocities involved, that Bradley made excellent and trustworthy measurements
of the velocity of light 250 years ago.
However,
during the time interval it takes light to travel from the sun to the earth,
the sun and the earth have kept in touch with each other
"instantaneously" - or at least very much faster than c!
In fact,
every mass in the universe communicates with all other masses in the universe
in a time frame that makes the present speed of light seem like the velocity of
molasses on a cold day!
Astronomer
Tom Van Flandern has recently detailed all the evidence that shows that
gravitational forces, unlike light, operate with no measurable aberration!
But Van
Flandern shows that there are sound reasons for believing that the "speed
of gravity" is not infinite.
By
carefully studying the observable data, Van Flandern now concludes that the
speed of gravity is greater than or equal to the present speed of light by a
factor of 2 x 1010.
This
velocity (6 x 1018 meters per second) turns out to be just
below Barry Setterfield's latest estimate of the speed of light everywhere in
the universe on Day Two of creation week!
Setterfield
arrives at this initial velocity of light on the basis of the maximum observed
Hubble constant, which gives an initial value of c that turns out to be 2.54 x
1010 times the present value.
Since
creation week, the diameter of the universe has been constant (a static
universe) and the speed of light has dropped precipitously to its present
value-following decay curves we can now piece together with some confidence
based on
(a) measured values of c for the last 300 years,
(b) corrections to known radioactive decay dates which go back to
approximately 2000 B.C., and
(c) the observed quantization of the red shift of light from distant
galaxies for the time period from creation to about the time of Abraham.
As the
universe aged, the free space permittivity and permeability increased and c
decreased - but the velocity of gravity may not be tied to the permittivity and
permeability of free space!
If this
is the case, the velocity of gravity stayed at the original velocity of c.
If we can
produce a propulsion system based on gravitational principles rather than
electromagnetic or chemical ones, we could travel at absolutely enormous speeds
- we could hope to push a space craft anywhere in the universe, very literally
at warp speeds beyond what even the Starship Enterprise could produce!
By the
way, this discussion solely relates to the physical part of the created
universe.
For now,
we must defer discussion about how angels travel and communicate - they are
spiritual beings.
And we must
postpone speculation about what we followers of Jesus the Lord may find
ourselves capable of doing when we don our new resurrection bodies (these
bodies are, after all, "not of this creation" - but
spiritual bodies - see 1 Corinthians 15).
If Van
Flandern and Setterfield are correct, space travel may indeed be just around
the corner!
A fringe
benefit is that we may at last have clues to help us begin to understand the
well-documented behavior of countless UFOs, whose velocity and acceleration
behavior has thus far defied explanation by conventional physics.
Lambert
Dolphin's Place
From
time to time I write, and rewrite, short studies based on my understanding of
the Bible. These thoughts are not the last word on a subject, but often just
working papers that are incomplete or sketchy. You are welcome to quote from,
or use, these essays--but please reference the source. Your email is most
welcome. The Library is where most everything is located.
Koinonia
Institute is an online Bible Institute with a focus on verse-by-verse study
where serious Christians can grow in knowledge, understanding, awareness and
commitment!
At KI,
we delve into the relevance and reliability of Scripture, including prophetic
insight both past and present.
Koinonia
Institute is dedicated to training and equipping the serious Christian to
sojourn in today’s world.
This
unique international membership offers education, insight and community for the
serious believer. Pray about joining us!
No comments:
Post a Comment