Wednesday29 Aug 02:58 PM
Emptiness Yoga: Astronomers Dig Hole In Universe
It's not news that gazing though electron microscopes and flinging atoms around in giant accelerators reveals to scientists that most of what we consider to be be matter is actually just emptiness (with some attractions and momentum)... But now astronomers, too, have found themselves staring into the void; at a giant, gaping hole of emptiness in the universe.
Contemplating nothing is one thing. Calling it shunyata (Wikipedia), the void, ain soph (Wikipedia), or emptiness may (or may not) be another thing entirely. But the age-old alchemical maxim, "As above, so below," does seem to be taking on new dimensions. Or shrinking dimensions. Or perhaps revealing the dimensionless illusory reality of emptiness.
“Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there. The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing. That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday.”
Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
Link. Geekier link. (thanks, Mark!)
Photo credit: David Lachapelle.
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