This business of extra dimensions is getting interesting.

Well, this business of extra dimensions is getting interesting. The author has included dead end research projects which looked promising at the beginning but only turned to dust after much hard work. That way it reads like a murder mystery, never knowing where it will end. I get up each morning an hour earlier just to get some reading in before I meditate. And I can understand what she's writing about. It makes sense when you read it. We reside in one brane and the full force of gravity resides on an adjacent brane. These branes can only communicate by transiting through the 5th dimension (three of space, one of time and the 5th (extra) dimension). But the gravity is subject to an exponential loss as it travels through the 5th dimension which results in a very low value of gravity by the time it reaches our brane. It's obvious when you think about it. All one needs to know is that a brane is like a tiny sheet on which fundamental particles (and hence, us) live.
Extra dimensions are hidden proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Today I'm glad I'm not up there.

The visibility is six miles but the ceiling is 1300 feet. This makes for very uncomfortable flying. Today I'm glad I'm not up there.
No animals or planes sighted on the morning walk. Very quiet. Just the tick-tick-tick of someones sprinkler using the water piped down from Northern California.
It's been a while since I've seen the 49ers on the electric TV. Yesterday they were on, playing the Minn Vikings with Bret Farve at the helm. Whoever heard of Sean Hill? But the 9ers were winning until the last 8 seconds when Bret threw a beautiful (to the Viking fans) pass for a touchdown to win the game. A tough one to lose. Oh well, win some lose some.
Up at 5:30 I have an hour to read without interruption before meditate. I'm back to reading the book on hidden dimensions. It seems to be making more sense after the time out. Maybe because I pretty much understand Brian Greene's book "The Elegant Universe". Or maybe because she writes of symmetry no longer. Which reminds me, Brian Greene will be giving a lecture in Claremont this Friday night. For him I'll try to get there. For those who have followed this blog from its beginning, recall that Claremont is where I woke up, or thought I did, after the incident where I was held restrained in a hardware store. Well it made sense then. Another cycle in life's great mystery.

This is the 456th entry in this log.

One plane heard in the overcast, no dogs and no cats today.
This is the 456th entry in this log. The picture doesn't quite show the overcast. The report at Fullerton Airport is 3/4 mile visibility and overcast skies. The up side of the weather is that the longer the mist is in the longer it will be before the temperature takes off. This past Wednesday the temperature in Fullerton reached 104 degrees! That's too much for this misplaced San Franciscan.
The seriously bad part about this weather is that combined with low humidity, everything is flammable. And the poor guys dressed in their protective clothing who have to fight these fires at these temps...
I had planned to go out to historic Flabob Airport yesterday but the temperature was forecast to be 104, that's too high for me.... still.
If all interactions were done topless we'd know for sure that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

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Another day in Paradise.

Another day in Paradise. But the humidity is down and the temperatures are going up. An excellent environment for wild fires but bad news for those living near it. Right now it's clear and warm. Just right.
I'm still trying to understand twistors but not having much success. I'm off to study.
Cheers.
Things beyond my understanding make me wonder if we're all on this flight together.
Dick

And I repeat.,"WHAT?"

"A complex space built out of complicated congruences of null lines". And I repeat,"WHAT?" Once again I understand each of the words by themselves but can make no sense out of the sentence after the first read. It's getting so I have to read each sentence two of three times then think about what it means. which slows me down considerably. I begin to wonder if this is getting too far above me to fully understand. And I'm not even looking at the mathematics involved. So I keep plodding on wondering where it is all going. I know each paragraph says something but I know not what (the first time). Pictures I understand and can work with. But even a simple function such as symmetry still eludes me at the far reaches of its domain. Too much of this didn't exist when I went to school, I can get past the concept of strings, that's intuitive. But spinors and twistors were not part of any curriculum I studied.
Still I try to understand these non-intuitive ideas because ... Use it or lose it. If I read something enough times should get it sooner or later. Or will I? I am learning about complex numbers in which it is necessary to take the square root of a negative number. I learned this is not possible.
but it turns out that it is possible to work with and fruitfully use with these enigmatic numbers. So I'm learning something although it is not going where I started out heading.
Complex numbers are hidden proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's a beautiful day for flying.

It is a beautiful day! Warm with an unlimited ceiling. The horizontal visibility is only 5 miles but you can't tell from the ground. I'll bet the visibility is better at 2500 feet. It's a beautiful day for flying.
I took this photo because of the boundary on the left of a line of trees and the sculpted bushes on the right. With the sun and shadows I thought it was very cathedral-like.
The ethereal quality of the day assures me that we're all n this flight together.

Dick

Now I understand.

The GUT proves we're all on this flight together.
Dick

Carried by a massless gauge field of infinite range associated with four massless bosons.

According to the gauge field theory approach, the weak-electromagnetic force is already unified and carried by a massless gauge field of infinite range associated with four massless bosons... What?
I understand each of the words taken alone... but ? What is a massless gauge field of infinite range?
The problem, I think, is that I am drawn to intuitive explanations that I can picture in my mind and the massless gauge field is an abstract notion. One of the massless bosons is the well known photon, but what are the other three? I'll bet hidden dimensions will come in somewhere but where? and how? My problem is I need an executive mental program to translate from the abstract theory to the 'real' universe. But being confused by ideas is what keeps our synapses synapsing.
The listing of soldiers killed in Iraq & Afghanistan is growing each week. Again I ask, what are we doing that others have not tried for a thousand years and never succeeded? The only success I see is the financial gift to the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about.
Massless bosons are quantum level proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Heaven or Hell?

Look at what sprang up in the last two days. This 'shroom is four inches in diameter and obviously a different species than I have seen before along my walk. The soft gray spotting is interesting I would call this the leopard mushroom. But I don't think I'd eat it.
There I was strolling along listening to my iPod when I was stopped dead in my tracks when Emmy Lou Harris started Buck Owen's "Together Again". Aside from it's being a great song it had no baggage attached to it. But Emmy Lou... when I die and go to heaven, I'm sure she'll be there singing those soft melodic songs. Bless her heart.
But earlier I had a few thoughts running through my mind (what's left of it) about heaven. Traditional belief in this country is that if we live a moral life in this lifetime we'll be transported to a land of milk and honey when we die. Suppose for a moment that this lifetime is Hell and if we do well when we die we will go to Heaven. Now to support this theory I suggest the Sergeant Monti recently awarded the Medal of Honor (for a great deed) and Sgt. Tillman who gave up a career in the NFL to fight in Iraq, another great deed. Both men and many others, both military and civilian, will go directly to heaven. In support of my theses that the present lifetime is Hell I offer the loud boorish masses we are confronted with today in public and as a clincher I offer George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (a blot on the name of 'Dick' if there ever was one). With criminals like that this must be Hell.
Reversing Heaven and Hell is a suggestion that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

A remembrance of Mary Travers.

Mary Travers of the old folk trio Peter Paul and Mary is dead at 73 from leukemia. Truly the end of an era. I will never forget the trio singing "Blowin in the Wind" or any of several other anti war songs. A tear for Mary Travers. Oh well this too shall pass.
I continue to be confounded by symmetry and super symmetry. I have to understand them before I can get a grip on nature's hidden dimensions.
It should be noted that on 9/18, in spite of the increased terrorist threat resulting from the actions of the previous administration, Barack Obama has kept us safe from terrorist reprisals at least 7 days longer in his administration than did Geo. Bush! Bless his heart for his up hill battle on all fronts.
Three days ago I met a new friend. An all black cat. The photo, taken yesterday, is of him as he ducked under a car. It took me too long to get the camera out and turned on as he sauntered past. But he's there.
All black cats prove that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

I'm in the middle of the book on hidden dimensions.

Nothing to report today, but it's going to be hot. More of the same. The wildfires have been all put out or at least are under control.
I'm in the middle of the book on hidden dimensions. I'm still going through the intro but author Lisa Randall is no Jodie Foster. I am confused again by the reality of symmetry. Now I'm confused by super symmetry. Maybe I'd better go back and get comfortable with symmetry before I continue on. Sooner or later I'll have to admit defeat or get with it. One or the other.
Tigger has taken to chasing Budda around the house. All of a sudden there will be a loud swooooooosh and there goes Budda followed closely by Tigger. This is new since they haven't interacted this much in all the time they've been here. Oh well, what's to understand.
The mystery of cat behaviour is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

I heard a third of a herd of birds.

I heard a third of a herd of birds. 'Turd' would work as well as 'third'. If I remember correctly that is an example of onomatopoeia. Nonsensical but onomatopoeia. It is the result of my having forgotten to bring a radio for my morning walk. Realizing that a flock of birds wouldn't sound right led me to "I flock to a rock from my tick tock block." I could go on but what's the point?
Three airplanes passed over head and fourth that I only heard. I did pass a cat dozing off to the side but he gave me little heed. Head, herd heed so much alike yet so far apart. Is there a sociological point here? Assuredly as much (or little) as the number of airplanes I see or counting cats. So totally off topic I am attaching a photo of my extended shadow in the early morning light.
So when you come right down to it, what's the point? Does anything mean anything? Everything fits so well it must mean something, it keeps right rolling along. Except for homo sapiens everything works together so perfectly. Are we one of Nature's failing experiments like the dinosaurs? Or are we just one giant cosmic joke?
Extended shadows hinting at hidden dimensions prove that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It is a beautiful day for flying.

4 airplanes passed overhead this morning. All headed East. It is a beautiful day, 65 degrees no overcast and almost unlimited visibility. The planes were awesome with the rising sun reflected off their cowlings.
Airplanes overhead show that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

I met a new friend.

This morning on my daily walk I met a new friend. A totally black cat with a thick coat and no collar. He sat while I scitched his ear and was generally friendly. Then it came time to continue so I did.
There was a topic that I planned to discuss this morning but I forgot what it was. So pretend there is a deep philosophical give and take here. I'll get back to it some other day.
Deep philosophical discussions lead directly to the premise that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Sleeping dogs and the funny papers.

Well, I took off around the block on my walk to see if I could purchase a copy of the LA Times with the colored funny papers. Alas I got there before the delivery folks so the only thing there was Saturday's paper. I chose to leave a sleeping dog lie, if you get my drift. I can't complain, the same folks have freely given me papers when our paths cross. Sometimes you give, sometimes you get.
Music this morning was by favorites on my iPod. Johnny Cash singing "Ira Hayes" brought me to a stop. I know Johnny is up there writing appropriate music. The conscience of country music.
I haven't posted a photo in a few days so here is one I took on my walk. I missed a great shot a few weeks ago when the morning sun was spotlighted on a bunch of lilies at the other end of the 'fence" Very Spanish. It's the low white washed wall that attracted me. If only the sun were shining.
Sun lit lilies remind me that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Pseudonyms and physics.

A few days ago I stopped in at my local chain book store to let a book choose me. There on the shelf I found a popular physics book on the subject of extra dimensions. I first learned about extra hidden dimensions existing all around us while reading a book on string theory from whence they cometh as a natural consequence. Written by a young woman named Lisa Randall, I was not taken by her name as I was by Lacy J. Dalton. There is a name. Nay. I was impressed by her photograph. Ms. Randall is a professor studying particle physics at Yale, which if one remembers is the Alma mater of actress Jodie Foster. Lisa Randall's photo is the spitting image of Jodie Foster. Could it be that Ms. Foster wrote the book on hidden dimensions while teaching advanced physics under a pseudonym? Stranger things have happened. Steve Wozniak, of Apple fame, earned his degree at Berkeley under a false name. Just asking.
Pseudonyms are further proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

A wanderng meditation.

One of the wonders of the universe is that we all start as the union of a sperm and and egg. Now in itself that is not at all spectacular. The the cleavage of the first nucleus leads to two cells exactly alike. And again a division and we have four cells exactly alike and so on again and again. Still nothing wondrous . But the cells in our bodies are not all the same. We have legs and brains and kidneys, et cetera. At what point do cells differentiate, or change from being 'exactly alike' to 'this is an arm', or eye or whatever? Do the cells count how many times they've divided? One suggestion I've heard is that the 'exactly alike' cells become formed into a basket like formation after five or six divisions in which although the cells are alike in terms of their DNA, they are different for spatial reasons which would cause different electrostatic charges on different cells which would make them different enough to become the specialized cells needed to build our bodes. That's the wondrous part.
N'est pas?
Cell differentiation is another indicator that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

I've finished the book which writes about dark energy.

This is the 450th entry in this blog. That is half of 900 entries which is probably a significant number somewhere. I've finished the book which writes about dark energy, It never ceases to amaze me that we live in a universe of which we are totally unaware of the mass around us. I can accept the possible existence of WIMPs but and less sure of what causes dark energy. It turns out that the dark energy is associated with the Hubble constant (which may or may to be constant). Einstein included the Hubble constant to tweak his mathematics to achieve a flat universe. It turns out that tweaking the Hubble constant may result in a universe which is concave, convex or flat. Einstein regarded this as his greatest blunder. I should make such a blunder.
Dark matter and dark energy are indicators that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Lacy J. Dalton, a name to be remembered.

The ants are on the attack. For the last week, during all the excessive heat, each night the ants have invaded my kitchen. Mostly they swarm over the cats dishes going after the left over cat food. What a mess. Ants by the thousands that have to be cleaned up before anything else happens. It certainly disrupts my routine. I can only imagine what it would be like if they were army ants. I clean up what I can and then put down some Grant's Ant stakes and by noon there is no trace of them ever being here.. until the next morning. Mother Nature's little scavengers just doing their job.
Lately it's been too hot for the cats to spend the day outdoors. They hide in the coolest closest in the house. But they don't ever miss dinner. Tigger has been downright friendly lately. Must be cat menopause.
Scanning the channels yesterday I came across a country music program called "Frizzel and Friends". There was Lefty's little brother Dave singing Lefty's classic "If You've Got the Money" with Merle Haggard! After Merle was done, out came Lacy J. Dalton. I think that's the perfect country name. Lacy J, a hint of coountry and the outlaw name of Dalton. I remember when I was hanging out with Suzy (bless her heart) in Watsonville. Lacy J was singing in the local bars under the name of Jill Croston. Then she changed her name, moved to Nashville and became big time. She's still around and sounding great.
Female country singers are dedicated to the premise that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

All about WIMPS.

Yesterday I was about one quarter through my walk when I realized that I wasn't shuffling, I was really walking with a normal stride. Something I had not done in months. Something was working. I'll credit it to the mediation in a Schrodinger's cat sense.
I'm almost finished with the book referencing dark matter and dark energy. It still amazes me that everything we see and know about only represents a small fraction of everything that 'exists'. But now I know that we are searching for particles known as WIMPS. It stands for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. A reflection of the elusive neutrino with a mass so small it was originally thought to have no mass! It's possible that the WIMPs are what comprise the dark matter. But how to explain it?
On another topic, maybe the Large Hadron Collider will show us gravity in the eleventh dimension which leaks into our three dimensions. This explains why gravity is so weak a force compared to the other forces.
As to dark energy..... that's next.
The big unknowns in science are what suggest that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

English authors? Fie on them!

I've always found it difficult to read books by English authors. I don't know why, it just is that way. I've never bee able too determine whether it's me or them. Which leads us astray from the book in which I am presently involved. It's a book about three stages of the formation of the universe. The last third (Which I will reach tomorrow) is about dark matter and dark energy, in which I am very interested.
I read the first two parts which were about the sun and black holes. Now I've read my share about the sun and black holes. Enough to follow an idea through to the end. However here are two American brothers, one a physicist and the other a writer. Together they get lost in extraneous details and make the simple complex and the complex impossible to understand. Not explaining the difficult and repeatedly referring to the obvious one wonders why.
But I plod on hoping for a explanation of dark matter and dark energy. More later.
Dark matter may be the ultimate argument in favor of us all being on this flight together.
Dick

The sound of Orange Blossom Special ringing through the glen.

Avoiding the heat yesterday found me prone in front of the electric TV scanning the channels. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a documentary titled, "Orange Blossom Special : an American Anthem"? An homage to the author of this bluegrass classic, Erwin Rouse. The show included interviews with musicians, producers and writers honoring the song written by an alcoholic mentally retarded man who was a fiddle savant but died before he was recognized as the writer of this classic. He might still be with us had he traded his bottle for the mystic weed.
Then discussing the unique beat of the song who should appear with a cogent comment but..... Richard Greene. Bluegrass fiddler supreme, one of the pioneers of bluegrass and daughter Deborah's violin guru! But I digress to tell you this: the show interviewed people who have been associated with this song from Vassar Clements to Johnny Cash (on harmonica). I met Vassar several times when my interest in bluegrass was at its height and Vassar was still among us little folks and bluegrass reached the big time. Very interesting all the way through.
The sound of Orange Blossom Special ringing through the glen always assures me that we're all on this flight together,
Dick

This is the 445th entry to this blog.

This is the 445th entry to this blog.
The observatory on top of Mt. Wilson has escaped the fury of the largest wildfire since 1897. Imagine lugging the 100 inch mirror up steep trails where no roads existed. Using mules to do the heavy lifting. Then astronomer Edwin Hubble used the telescope to discover the existence of far off galaxies. Previous to Hubble it was believed that everything in the universe was what we see as our galaxy. Nothing existed outside it. Now we know better. And imagine if all that equiment had been lost to the fire.
The largest of seven fires has consumed 145000 acres of mountainous terrain. Holding off the fire literally at the homeowners fence line, these guys in 100 degree heat are saving our world. It reminds me of Dick De Boer. Bless his heart.
Why does the ash in the air from the fires turn the sun orange?
A large orange sun reminds me that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

The fires still burn.

I fell asleep during my meditation this morning and woke up 20 minutes late. I suppose that's Natures way of saying I am not getting enough sleep. I put the time but don't get deep enough I guess.
It's Wednesday so I expect brother Bob will stop by for a short visit after lunch. Friend Dennis will be along and maybe Riotom.
The forecast is for hot weather and the fires still burn. At last count two firefighters have died and at the latest count 63 homes have been burned. A single fire has burned 125000 acres. Fortunately the fires are far enough away from me to not be threatening. And life goes on.
With the heat I've been sucking down orangeade from my orange tree. Yummy. But it' too damned hot. At least I haven't been burned out (literally)".
I still haven't gotten around to pumping up the front tire on my bike. Someday maybe I'll get a round tuit.
I still miss my airplane.
The cats have settled down again so I don't expect any major natural disasters but yesterday the were both bouncing off the walls. Maybe it was foretelling the fires but a few days late predicting them.
The threat of being burned alive is proof that we're all no this flight together.

Dick

The hammer has started to drop.

Well, the hammer has started to drop. Yesterday there had been no homes burned out by the fires. During the night 53 homes were burned out. One fire alone has burned 105,000 acres. Two firefighters were killed when the truck they were driving crashed off the road and fell 800 feet. Mother Nature used to burn the combustibles on a regular basis while we tend to leave it lay around expensive homes (to be burned out by an uncontrolled fire). And it's still hot! Even at dawn the temperature in Fullerton was 77 degrees. Ugh. And today is forecast to be more of the same, only SLIGHTLY less.
The photo was taken during my walk with the sun up but hidden behind the clouds. The break in the clouds revealed a very muted sunrise But it was there. Beautiful sunrises are the up side of the fires.
Republican bipartisanship makes me wonder if we're all on this flight together.
Dick