Endless Wonder

I like science – physics especially. I have always been mathematically minded. To me, physics is a goldmine of rules and orders and equations, that translate into little secrets of the known universe. It is a pretty amazing field to dive into.

But I have never been a particular fan of science fiction. I am not against it. I have just sometimes rolled my eyes at some of the ideas that are portrayed. But I do understand the sense of wonder that humans feel as we gaze at a starry sky and are astonished at the photos transmitted from research vessels like the Hubble Telescope.

Teresa aka The Haunted Wordsmith has given us ten pretty amazing questions to answer:

https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2019/01/02/queen-of-questions-2019-2/

Here is my attempt to answer them. I am absolutely loving the answers other bloggers have already published.

If you were a member of the USS Enterprise, which job would you have?

Some kind of navigational role.

Whenever we were on long journeys as a family I was always the one who had the road atlas or the A – Z map and had to call out directions to my Dadda. It frightens me that there may be readers who are so young they are wondering what on earth a road atlas is. Yes there was a time we did not have Sat-Nav, GPS, Google Maps. We had to use a paper book of maps!

Even at home I would study each page of the road atlas trying to memorise the the location of towns in England and understand the routes between them.

I also had the ability to precisely remember a route if I had travelled it once. My Dadda used to say, “if Mel has been somewhere once, she may as well have been there a hundred times because she knows the route so well.” I will let you into a secret as to why I had that ability.

When I was around five or six years old some close friends of our family had died. I had encountered death for the first time and I pondered what would happen if my parents died very suddenly. The thought came into my mind that without my parents I would have no idea how to get to the local swimming pool where I was having swimming lessons. From that moment, I sat up in the car and started staring out of the window on any journey trying to remember all the details.

Do you believe that film and television influence innovation, or is it the other way around?

I think a bit of both.

I am sure innovation influences films and television.

Children may watch a movie and grow up with the wonder and excitement stirred by the scenes that they saw deep in their heart. If they go on to become designers or inventors, those dreams may shape what they design.

What is your favourite science fiction book?

I don’t think I have really read much science fiction. It’s more movies or television through which I know anything at all of science fiction.

The only book I can think that I have read, in that genre, is “Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea”.

Should we ever stop and ask ourselves if we “should” create something?

It can be hard to foresee the consequences. I worry that ethics seem to have been steam-roller-ed for the sake of technology. I don’t see any reason to curb imagination and inventiveness and innovation. I feel as if there should be a form of governing man’s own creations.

Perhaps someone might invent something on a small scale well done clever clogs! But then may be required to provide some evidence that that have considered the effect it would have if it was produced on a large scale. Maybe if it is shown that actually it is having a detrimental effect on humans, animals, the environment, then there should be some way of withdrawing it.

How that would be done I don’t know. Who would assess the criteria and judge is something actually having detrimental effects? Is it healthy that many are becoming so reliant on machines to accomplish tasks that other humans have done for themselves for thousands of years? Who is able to govern and guide us in how we use our wonderful ability to imagine, design and create?

If you could invent anything, what would it be?

Some kind of biotech device to help me figure out if I am really hungry, or am I actually thirsty, or tired or emotional or is it just close to my period? I am sure if I could accurately figure out what my body is asking me for…I would not resort to overindulging food-wise.

Do you think extraterrestrials are already on Earth?

“Extraterrestrials” – does that mean creatures that did not originate on planet earth? I do not think there are flesh and blood creatures from other planets. Do I believe that there are intelligent creatures that dwell within the realm of the Earth and have an effect on humanity? I find that very easy to believe.

If CERN announced they discovered the secret to the universe, what would it be?

“The secret to the universe”? Are we talking about a more accurate picture of how the universe began?

Even if scientists were able to discover in intricate detail the physical processes that were involved in harnessing energy on a colossal scale and forming it to make a material universe – the question is still the same? Was it random, accidental, without any intelligence governing over the process? Or was there intelligence and an understanding of physics and chemistry as well as tremendous power that supervised the beginning of the universe.

Our Universe

↓                ↓

Had No Beginning            Had a Beginning

↓                          ↓

Without Cause           Was Caused

↓                                  ↓

By Some THING               By Some ONE

Will humans ever land on another planet?

Will they be allowed to?

I don’t think it would be a matter of… “oh we found an empty planet with water and a breathable atmosphere which can sustain human life and we want to populate it. Let’s build a fancy space-ship and get a wriggle on.”

But once we have fulfilled the original purpose for the earth, for it to be a paradise full of happy healthy humans…well…that is the point – we are not there yet. We need help. The earth is not looking like it should. We are all bunched up in cities where we can’t breath in pure air, or see the stars in the sky at night.

Once the earth is FULL and we are living in harmony with it according to the Creator’s purpose, then perhaps He will consider allowing us to populate another planet. Will we be allowed to go to another planet and trash it? OH NO OH NO! Not on your nelly!

If you can’t keep a bedsit clean and tidy, why trust you with a house? Once we get our act together, and are living in a way that makes us and other creatures we share earth with thrive, maybe we will be allowed to use what we have learnt on another planet. But we are not in a fit state to be trusted with another planet right now are we!

We are like children. We need help.

What would you want to eat on a space voyage?

I have never had the desire to voyage into space.

I was with some friends a while back and they turned on a movie – I saw less than half of it because I had to travel across London to be back at the little nest before it was too late (so I have no idea how the movie ended). The movie was called “Passenger“. What I do remember is that a group of humans are on an “interplanetary voyage” (I think they are going to establish a colony on another planet and it takes ninety years to reach it.)

I also remember is that the entire crew and passenger list were in some kind of hibernation so they could be woken up when they arrive at the other planet. That is the issue with space travel – at the moment it takes a long long time to get anywhere. The distances involved in space are gigantic. Scientists estimate that the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across. That means a beam of light travelling at the tremendous speed of 186,000 miles per second would take 100,000 years to cross our galaxy!

I think I would need to be in hibernation for a journey in outer space. If I was in hibernation I would not be eating.

If I was woken up from hibernation…I imagine I would want some water and a banana. That’s normally what I think of when I wake up in the morning.

Do you like star gazing, and if yes, what do you think about?

That is the very sad thing about living in a city. It is hard to see the stars properly. I was excited just to make out the constellation of Orion last week.

But when I have travelled to more remote areas…star gazing is a completely different experience. I am not sure what I think of…more what I feel:

Awe.

I have read so much about the physics behind stars. I have read so much about the mind-boggling amounts of energy that are needed to make matter. So much about the extraordinary choreography of the stars and galaxies that move in precise and almost ballet-like grace. But when I see the stars in a clear sky in a location where there is little light pollution – it’s not the physics that comes into my head. It is a huge swell of overwhelming wonder – for the night sky is breath-takingly beautiful and magnificent.

I feel rich. I feel loved. I feel privileged. I feel humbled. I feel confidant that whatever problems may seem insurmountable to me…are not. Nothing is impossible.

 

 

 

If I am standing next to Goldfinch gazing up at the starts hand in hand with Goldfinch…

…aaaah!

I guess now he is in Australia he is looking at the stars when I can’t see them and vice versa.