The universe in a box

February 7, 2006 D. H. McKee

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The problem with cosmology as a science is that cosmologists have only one universe to observe. Science works best when it can make comparisons, do experiments, twiddle the variables and see what happens. Cosmologists can observe the universe and try to explain it, but as for a controlled experiment — well, forget it.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we had a way to go back to the beginning — to those first few trillion trillion trillionths of a second of the big bang — and change, say, the ratio of the strength of the gravitational force to the strength of the electrical force. Or the ratio of the mass of the proton to the mass of the electron. And see what happens. See if we still get a universe where stars live long enough for life to evolve. Or a universe where stars make enough heavy elements — carbon and oxygen, for example — to make life possible. See just how special a universe has to be for conscious creatures to appear who look into the depths of space and wonder what it all means.
Well, maybe something like this is possible. Last year a paper appeared in the journal Nature, titled “Simulations of the Formation, Evolution and Clustering of Galaxies and Quasars,” that did not get nearly the attention it deserved in the popular press. A consortium of European cosmologists ran the most detailed computer simulation yet of the evolution of the universe, from the big bang to the present
Science Musings by Chet Raymo

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As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.