I'd just like to take this opportunity to say hello to the infinite number of other James Dawsons who are at this very moment gearing up to blow the infinite number of minds of the infinite number of The Space Academy readers. I say this because, according to science, there are an infinite number of parallel universes that contain infinite versions of ourselves.
Woah, man, woah.
It might sound like the kind of thing you think about after you've taken a bong hit, but apparently in one universe you might be Prime Minister, while in another you could be made of Nutella and at this very moment be facing the prospect of being spread onto a pancake.In the science community, this is known as the theory of the 'multiverse', and a new study has found that a mysterious 'Cold Spot' in space could prove our universe is just one of an everlasting string of realities.
The Cold Spot was formed when the universe formed more than 13 billion years ago. It was first spotted by NASA's WMAP satellite in 2004, a sighting that was confirmed by the ESA's Planck mission in 2013. By the sound of it, when aliens head over to that neck of the universe they have to put a jumper on, as they reckon that the Cold Spot is colder than its surroundings by 0.00015 degrees Celsius.
Researchers had previously suggested that the spot was cooler simply because it contained fewer galaxies than comparable areas of space, but a new study has shown that this 'massive supervoid' could not possibly exist. This has opened up other lines of scientific inquiry, including the suggestion that it is proof of the 'multiverse'.
"We can't entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation explained by the standard model [of particle physics]," said study co-author Professor Tom Shanks, an astronomer at Durham University.
"But if that isn't the answer, then there are more exotic explanations. Perhaps the most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between our universe and another bubble universe. If further, more detailed, analysis ... proves this to be the case then the Cold Spot might be taken as the first evidence for the multiverse."
Not only is this blowing my mind, it's blowing the mind of the infinite number of me out there, too.
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