A growing number of cosmologists
agree with Greene that we are but one of many universes and at
least one of these other worlds lies close to ours, maybe only a
millimeter away. We can't see this world, because it exists in a
type of space different from the four dimensions of our everyday
reality.
MIT's Max Tegmark believes
this multiverse model of 'many universes' is grounded in modern
physics and will eventually be testable, predictive and
disprovable.
"This is not sci-fi," he says, "its real science."
As research at the CERN
Large Hadron Collider progresses, scientists are talking
increasingly of a "new physics" on the horizon, which promise to
help researchers understand more of the unknowns about our
universe.
This new approach includes developing a better
understanding of dark energy, a mystery force that some forward
thinkers believe indicates that a 'sister' universe lurks in our
neighborhood.
Strange happenings have been
observed by cosmologists such as the Andromeda galaxy, 2.2
million light-years away speeding towards the Milky Way at
200,000 mph.
This phenomenon makes sense logically if gravity
leaking from an invisible universe were pulling the two galaxies
together.
Researchers at the WMAP space
telescope recently discovered a force 10,000 times larger than
the Milky Way, which they believe offers powerful evidence that
a parallel
universe may be in the area.
In another attempt to search for
parallel worlds, NASA installed the Alpha Magnetic
Spectrometer-2 at the ISS to record data that may
prove the existence of other universes, some of which might even
be made of anti-matter. Unraveling this cosmic mystery has
attracted worldwide interest.
The project draws support from
most EU nations, plus Taiwan, China, Russia, and the U.S.
Could we ever visit another
universe? In a recent PBS interview, Riddles
of the Universe, US Cosmologist
Clifford Johnson
said he thought it OK to discuss this in the context of fiction
(see FOX TV's
Fringe),
but it's also something that scientists can explore.
Some
suggest that the stuff we're made of - matter and the forces of
our gravity and magnetism - are the elements that glue us to
this universe.
They don't allow us to leave our
4-dimensions of moving back and forth, up and down, left to
right; and sense of time.
Another universe may exist close by,
but in order for us to observe or communicate with it; we must
first understand its different dimensions. We might envision
them as "new kinds of sideways."
However, gravity seems to
pervade all universes, and it may one day become possible to
communicate with other universes through some futuristic
gravitational manipulation.
How might we feel if a parallel
world is discovered?
Johnson says,
"It may make me feel less unique as a person, or maybe grateful; because many things I've not found time for are maybe being done by a copy of me somewhere else!"
Greene adds that some universes
may be almost indistinguishable from ours; others may contain
variations of all of us, where we exist but with different
families, careers, and life stories.
In still others, reality may be so radically
different from ours as to be unrecognizable.
Experts predict that as the
coming decades unwind, with intelligence advancing
exponentially, this 'over-the-top' concept will one day become a
proven fact. Imagine visiting another Earth where an alternate
you is living a more rewarding life than yours, and you could
trade places if you both agreed.
This begs the question,
"What might happen if our parallel selves met; would we combine our differences to become better humans, or would we compete against one another?"
When might connecting to
parallel universes be possible?
With resolve and good fortune,
some experts predict this incredible feat could be achieved by
as early as 10 years; others less enthusiastic, believe the
technologies necessary for this to happen could fall into place
over the next 50-to-100 years.
