Neutrons propelled into other universes!

[tuftears]

Apparently you may be able to zap neutrons into another universe... This is relevant to Avatars because, as our characters have discovered, the story hinges on virtual realities being somehow windows into other universes... Thus the appearance of creatures from those other universes, or the disappearance of people from this universe into those worlds. The above is less promising than the headline sounds, unfortunately, since you basically have a very, very low chance for any individual neutron to get propelled into another universe, and even if you got one over the wire, well, it's a neutron, what can you do with it? But still... What if you really did have the chance to step into an alternate universe? Wouldn't you be curious enough to peek?

Comments

[ben-mouse.livejournal.com]

I think we do peek into alternative universes. atoms are bound to a quantum reality, and brains are ultimately made of of atoms! I have to wonder if our dreams aren't echos of other universes, carried to us by spooky action.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I'd be moderately skeptical of that view-- I'm far more inclined toward them being subconscious echoes of things in our mind, especially things like houses of infinite stairs, or being naked in English class.

But I do make use of that view of things in Avatars-- that there is something unique about the human mind which allows it to bring order out of quantum chaos!

[wordslinger.livejournal.com]

I agree with you there, with one corollary: this works only for those who live in liminal space, between the real worlds and the glittering energy of the Net. I like to think that some of the echoes of what I've done will live out there -- and that echoes of the ancient Egyptians and others still live out there.

I am, however, a closet romantic.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Good word regards 'liminal space'-- wish I'd been aware of it before, I might have adjusted how I'd described some things in the Avatars 2.0 campaign. ^_^

[ben-mouse.livejournal.com]

Of course, in a multiverse of infinite universes, there's one where you ARE naked in English class.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

You can always go back and retcon the logs. ;D

[cjthomas.livejournal.com]

Penrose argued something like this for quite a while (that the brain did quantum processing based on microtubule structures). Long story short, most scientists are pretty sure it's bunk.

I touched on this a bit in one of my FC presentations. Quantum entanglement only lasts in the absence of interaction. Interaction - especially with thermal systems - causes "decoherence" (the modern understanding of what used to be called "wavefunction collapse").

The brain's components are strongly coupled to each other. The bath of thermal noise from these interactions collapses any quantum state almost instantly - in a vastly shorter timeframe than that of information processing within the brain.

The brain is marvellous enough as a classical device, without having to ascribe quantum magic to it :).