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| SFReader Forums > SFReader > Anything Goes! > Tim Powers, Einstein, Unified Field Theory, and the Atom Smasher Machine | Forum Quick Jump
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Nicholas
Adept
      
Date Joined Jun 2006
Total Posts : 970
| Posted 3/30/2008 7:36 PM (GMT -4) |   | | Anyone who's read _Three Days to Never_, Tim Powers' 2007 novel, will find a recent news story to be a strange reminder of that book.
In the "fiction becomes fact" department: a number of lawsuits have been filed to try to stop the new "Atom Smasher" machine from going online in Switzerland this summer.
Apparently, some scientists are worried that the machine could create mini-black holes, or dangerous particles called "strangelets," or a new kind of replicating matter that could turn the Earth into an exotic piece of strange matter.
Oh my God...science fiction is no longer fiction, is it?
While the physicists who are in charge of the product scoff at the ideas, they cannot rule them out entirely. For instance, they concede that the machine may well create mini-black holes, but they will be so tiny and they won't exist long enough to do any damage.
Um, that's very re-assuring, Dr. Frankenstein. Heh heh. And I'm sure, Dr. Strangelove, you have the matter (dark matter) well in hand.
What physicists hope the machine may finally do is provide the data for a Unified Field Theory, and reveal the "God Particle," the basic form of matter at the very beginning.
Hmmm...Could they be on the verge of discovering what Einstein was so determined to keep from ever falling into human hands? It is well known (and Powers used it as his premise) that Einstein was working on the Unified Field Theory up until he saw the result of the atom bomb, at which time he destroyed all his notes on the subject.
http://ozment.livejournal.com
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nathan
Sage
Date Joined Mar 2006
Total Posts : 2111
| Posted 3/30/2008 8:35 PM (GMT -4) | |
Nicholas said...
Hmmm...Could they be on the verge of discovering what Einstein was so determined to keep from ever falling into human hands? It is well known (and Powers used it as his premise) that Einstein was working on the Unified Field Theory up until he saw the result of the atom bomb, at which time he destroyed all his notes on the subject. I knew it was generally believed that the government stole Tesla's papers--but I had some how missed that fact that Einstein had been working on UFT then destroyed all his notes as if he'd seen the secret face of Cthullu.
Wow, that is fascinating. This is such a Michael Crieghton novel--if it hadn't of course been a Tim Powers novel first.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." | | Back to Top | | |
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Anthony G Williams
Greybeard
Date Joined Apr 2007
Total Posts : 397
| Posted 4/3/2008 3:09 PM (GMT -4) | | I recall reading, a long time ago, that just before the first atom bomb was tested, some scientists raised the possibility that it might set off a chain reaction which would destroy the Earth. But there was, of course, only one way to find out... 
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