Thursday, August 17, 2006

Journey to the Centre of the Earth


(From AP today) "A volcanic eruption in Ecuador's Andes mountains destroyed three villages, killed at least one man and left more than 60 others missing, the mayor of a village on the volcano's slope said Thursday."

Thurston Lava Tube snakes hundreds of meters through solid rock. Hundreds of tubes like this lead from Kilauea crater to the sea. The hot plume that formed them originated far below us, near the core-mantle boundary. The source of Earth's core heat has long been a mystery. When alone in the darkness, one wishes for the Light of Elendil to light the way. We can't reach Earth's core, but the mind can overcome any challenge.

A new discovery about dark matter will be announced Monday, August 21. Although MOND provides an alternative explanation,most evidence indicates that galaxies are surrounded by a halo of dark stuff. Like the Force, "it surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." This mass gives off no light and can only be detected by gravitation. Those are big clues as to what it could be.

The Big Bang created billions upon billions of Black Holes. These were formed from quantum fluctuations grown large by expansion of Space/Time. The only limit to their size was the "horizon distance" related to the speed of light. Because c was much higher, Primordial Black Holes could have formed in a variety of sizes.

The largest Black Holes were true monsters devouring everything in sight. They cleared great voids between sheets of matter. The 70% of mass ascribed to "dark energy" could be hidden in those voids. Other massive Black Holes formed the seeds of clusters, galaxies and even smaller structures. The massive Black Hole at the Milky Way's centre may have predated the galaxy.

Smaller Black Holes formed great haloes surrounding the galaxies. Billions of times these tiny holes have collided with the Milky Way's dusty disk. These collisions triggered formation of the solar system and planets. Even if Earth formed without a Black Hole, it is likely to have collided with one. A tiny Black Hole would find its way into Earth's core and keep it hot for billions of years.

The answer to the dark matter mystery may be literally beneath our noses, shaking and roaring for us to figure it out.

9 Comments:

Blogger Rae Ann said...

It's not really the same thing, but my first thought here is about how our very act of living produces heat. From the collision of two tiny cells there is a reaction that 'explodes' into massive growth and Life. It's kind of a nice analogy, but I'm not sure. And maybe calling it 'dark' energy/matter isn't really a good description. Maybe "invisible" is better?

10:59 AM  
Blogger Kea said...

Fantastic, Louise. Right on the money, as usual. Have you come up with a prediction for Monday's announcement?

2:50 PM  
Blogger Kea said...

It's not really the same thing, but my first thought here is about how our very act of living produces heat.

Bloody brilliant.

2:51 PM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

HI Q, Rae Ann, Kea.

Rae Ann, I personally refrain from calling it "dark matter," because primordial Black Holes are not matter and never were. Dark mass would be more inclusive, and "invisible mass" works too. an upcoming post will relate this invisible mass to a city and its lights. To us, the interior of Earth is invisible.

Kea, your comment on Christine's blog is great: "Dark matter is extremal black holes of Planck mass." From what I know of Chandra's capabilities, it can detect the X-rays from a collision, with possible detection of "dark matter" from its gravitational effect. That will show blobs of dark mass and matter flying away from the collision. It will probably not shed light on what "DM" is. You have a better idea of that.

3:24 PM  
Blogger QUASAR9 said...

Kea said...
Update: we just derived the number of generations from first principles (the neutrino and charged lepton masses are also done to experimental precision, but that calculation is still rough).
Cheers!

Kea, who is "we"?

Wishing you all a great Friday and for the weekend the best of the rest

11:58 PM  
Blogger Rae Ann said...

kea, thanks, you made me blush! lol

3:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Geez, I just left Ecuador and didn't hear a thing about it.

Of course, I didn't leave the ship, either.

Just weighed anchor in Gatun Lake in the middle of the Panama Canal, getting ready to transit the locks to the Caribbean.

10:24 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Health said...

These were formed from quantum fluctuations grown large by expansion of Space/Time.

10:19 PM  
Anonymous obat pembesar alat vital murah said...

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9:36 PM  

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