- The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said,
"The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the
false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly
by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice."
The most fundamental "prejudice" that has directed the space
sciences for decades is the belief that, across cosmic distances, space
is electrically inert. Throughout the Space Age, every new discovery has
been interpreted through a lens that views gravity alone as the force that
shapes the heavens.
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- This model of the cosmos also underpins our view of the
Sun and our solar system. Ironically, as 20th century astronomers codified
this perspective, the leading pioneers of plasma science were observing
stupendous electric forces in space, and documenting the analogs in laboratory
discharge phenomena. Through systematic observation and experiment, Hannes
Alfven, the father of modern plasma science, came to a viewpoint contrary
to that of mainstream astronomy. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel
Prize, he warned astronomers that the study of plasma behavior requires
attention to experimental plasma dynamics. But Alfven's warning went unheeded,
allowing the cosmos to become, in Alfven's words, "...the playground
of theoreticians who have never seen a plasma in a laboratory. Many of
them still believe in formulae which we know from laboratory experiments
to be wrong."
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- In the 21st century, mainstream astronomy faces a crisis
of revolutionary proportions. Pervasive electrical phenomena observed in
space confound astronomers who have insufficient training in experimental
plasma science, and electrodynamics. In fact, with increasing (and inevitable)
regularity, the language of the electrical theorists has entered the lexicon
of mainstream astronomy, but in a manner that can only lead to greater
confusion, both for the scientists and the general public.
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- The Newtonian vision of the cosmic theater imagines isolated
bodies turning gear-like in a vacuum. The Electric Universe envisions electrical
circuits embedded in a conducting medium whose components drive each other
and may be in resonance. The differences between the two viewpoints is
readily illustrated in a recent report from the New Scientist news service
entitled, "Magnetic cocoons power energetic cosmic rays." (
- http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12818-magnetic-
- cocoons-power-energetic-cosmic-rays.html)
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- The article discusses a theoretical solution for the
"mystery" of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. Standard theory has
never succeeded in explaining the rays, which are thought to originate
from far beyond our galaxy yet somehow make it all the way to Earth. Two
scientists have proposed that the rays are "powered" by "magnetised
cocoons of plasma" that were formed by jets of high-speed particles
supposedly emitted by a "supermassive black hole."
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- The scientists suggest that over billions of years, the
"magnetic fields" inside these "cocoons" induce electric
fields, and "These electric fields are strong enough to accelerate
cosmic rays to ultra-high energies."
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- And the astronomical community seems intrigued by the
proposal. A Stanford University scientist quoted in the New Scientist piece
referred to the theory as "the LEAST IMPLAUSIBLE explanation of ultra-high-energy
cosmic rays."[Emphasis added]
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- A layman reading the New Scientist article faces the
arduous task of distinguishing fact from theory, since the author makes
little or no attempt to do so. What, for example, are we to think of the
author's suggestion that the rays might be "produced near the Milky
Way by the decay of super-heavy dark matter particles or by defects in
space time"? Since scientists don't know what "dark matter"
is (and even many standard cosmologists now question its existence), how
can one meaningfully speculate on the existence of SUPER-HEAVY dark matter?
And what practical significance could there be to a "defect in space-time,"
other than a neat plot twist to a Star Trek episode?
-
- The author refers to "black holes" and "dark
matter" as if they are FACTS, rather than speculative hypotheses.
He refers to the "big bang" in a similar manner, even asserting
that "every cubic centimetre of space contains about 400 relic photons
from the BIG BANG FIREBALL."[Emphasis added] But when one examines
the "explanation" for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays offered by
the two scientists cited in the piece, every link in the chain of logic
is based on assumptions that have no support in observation or experiment.
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- The first assumption is that black holes are real, and
a black hole exists at the center of every galaxy. In fact, this assumption
is so common that most science writers no longer bother to maintain any
pretense of journalistic dispassion -- they simply assert that black holes
exist and demand that the layman accept it as true. But no one has ever
seen a black hole -- it is a mathematical concept invented to account for
phenomena at the hearts of galaxies that are "too energetic"
in a universe dominated by the pitifully weak force of gravity. The idea
that a "nearly infinite compression" of matter (a black hole)
can occur ANYWHERE has no experimental support whatever.
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- Furthermore, the black hole theory has had an embarrassing
to non-existent PREDICTIVE record -- it has been and continues to be tweaked,
modified, and overhauled to account for unexpected observations. For example,
in its original formulation, magnetic fields had no role at all. But as
astronomers with new instruments began to detect pervasive magnetic fields
in space, the theorists were forced to redefine the envisioned "black
hole activity" to account for them. All the while, they continue to
ignore the electric currents on which magnetic fields depend.
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- The second assumption is that black holes (which we have
no valid reason to believe exist) emit jets of high-speed particles. Since
we were told for years that the gravitational force of black holes was
too great for ANYTHING to escape, even LIGHT, this idea is particularly
ironic. In fact, galaxies have been seen emitting high-energy X-rays and
stupendous, filamentary jets across THOUSANDS of light years (requiring
no small adjustment to black hole theory!).
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- In the case of the galaxy cluster Abell 400, a composite
X-ray image revealed "radio jets immersed in a vast cloud of multimillion
degree X-ray emitting gas that pervades the cluster." Astronomers
claimed that the jets emanated from "two supermassive black holes"
that were provoking the "merging" of two large galaxies.
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- But as was pointed out in a Picture of the Day on Thunderbolts.info:
"Any substance with a temperature of 'multimillion' degrees cannot
possibly be a gas: It will be a completely ionized plasma....(T)he X-rays
in such cases are almost exclusively synchrotron radiation, not thermal
radiation. That means the X-rays are emitted by very fast electrons spiraling
in a strong magnetic field. The Abell 400 galaxies are under EXTREME ELECTRICAL
STRESS.
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- "To generate the observed levels of energy seen
in Abell 400 -- using nothing but the puny force of gravity -- more matter
would have to be squeezed into a galaxy than a galaxy could hold. But the
theorists are mathematicians, and they work with equations, not with real
objects. This permits them to ignore empirical limits on density and let
the amount of matter per unit volume increase without limit: The 'neutron
stars' and 'black holes' conjured through this mathematical license can
be placed wherever needed to explain away the stunning and potentially
embarrassing energy excesses." (For an electrical interpretation of
Abell 400, see
- http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/060501twoblackholes.htm)
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- The third assumption is that the jets of high-speed particles
supposedly emitted by conjectured black holes can create "magnetic
cocoons". These "giant magnetiszed cocoons of plasma," decaying
over BILLIONS OF YEARS, finally produce electric fields strong enough to
accelerate the cosmic rays. Here, the scientists are repeating precisely
the error that Alfven so adamantly warned them against in his later career:
they are presuming that magnetic fields are "frozen" into neutral
plasma with no contribution from electric currents. Magnetic fields, Alfven
insisted, are only part of the story. The electric currents that CREATE
magnetic fields must not be overlooked, and contemporary attempts to model
space plasma in the absence of electric currents will set astronomy and
astrophysics on a course toward crisis, he said.
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- It isn't that the "cocoons" do not exist --
in fact it was plasma cosmologists who have identified the structure and
dynamic of vast cellular forms in space. They are Langmuir sheaths, named
after Irving Langmuir, who gave space plasma its name based on its "lifelike"
qualities similar to those of blood plasma. Langmuir sheaths are seen at
all scales of electrical activity in plasma. They signify regions of different
charge separated by a cellular boundary. Across the walls of that sheath,
an electric field exists. This electric field cannot have been produced
by some "generator" inside the sheath; it must be due to larger
regions of electric potential, however these regions are to be explained.
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- In an electric universe, galaxies are born from high-energy,
electrical events whose signature can now be seen in space. Take a moment
and consider the image above of the Radio Galaxy 3C31 (also called NGC
383). This galaxy is a MINISCULE object, little more than a dust mote,
when seen against an immense display of highly energetic charged particles.
Electrons in twin polar jets, accelerated to near the speed of light are
the witnesses to the most intense electrical discharge activity known to
science. Our instruments detect this activity through its synchrotron radiation
and through the twin lobes of high-energy radio signals. So how is this
huge region of electrical activity to be interpreted? In standard models,
an electrically-neutral galaxy is asked to generate electrical activity
across volumes of space THOUSANDS of times greater than the volume of the
galaxy. But simple electrodynamics says this is impossible! How does a
galactic-size, neutral object produce a vast domain of electrical activity
around it? A plasma cosmologist looking at this image will see electric
currents incomparably larger than the galaxy, being focused down by a plasma
"pinch," at energy levels capable of lighting and organizing
stars into the observed galactic structure. (For background, see Plasma
Galaxies:
- http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/060602plasma-galaxy.htm)
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- The researchers cited in the New Scientist piece DO recognize
an electrical-effect behind the "mysterious" cosmic rays, but
in order to achieve this theoretical effect, they require a chain of bizarre
events that have no analog in nature as we know it. We see in full display
the crisis of which Alfven had forewarned -- "gravity-only" space
scientists have no choice but to call on weird, untestable, unproven mechanics
to achieve the "hard way" (or, in the words of one scientist,
the "least implausible" way) what electricity does routinely,
as demonstrated through decades of plasma experiments.
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- From an electrical perspective, the ultra-high-energy
cosmic rays are not the result of a series of strange and unprovable events
in deep space. They almost certainly originate in our own cosmic neighborhood,
within the Milky Way, as a result of electrical discharge events well-modeled
by plasma cosmologists. In other words, the rays do not need to travel
across the Universe, overcoming the impedance of particles along the way.
What plasma scientists call "z-pinches" in electric currents
are nature's most efficient particle accelerators -- a phenomenon dominating
much of plasma and "pulsed power" research today. The production
of "relativistic speeds" (approaching the speed of light) does
not require anything more than an electrically active galaxy. Both the
galactic core and other focal points of electric discharge activity (such
as planetary nebulae) are the logical places to investigate as the source
of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
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- Image Credit: NRAO/AUI 2006
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- For a highly acclaimed introduction to the Electric Universe,
the hour-long documentary Thunderbolts of the Gods may be viewed on Google
video:
-
-
- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4773590301316220374&q=Thunder
- bolts+of+the+Gods&total=20&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
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