Atoms are really small, even invisible, but they\u2019re still real. Sort of.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Continuing with some passages\u00a0from Geraint F. Lewis and Luke A. Barnes,\u00a0A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos<\/em>\u00a0(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016):<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur models are mixtures of well-tested theories, reasonable assumptions and guesses; as Richard Feynman [d. 1988; 1965 Nobel laureate in physics] noted, \u2018it is not unscientific to make a guess.\u2019 \u00a0Science happens when we ask the Universe whether we guessed right. \u00a0Otherwise, the experimenter is doing little more than stamp collecting, and the theorist is just playing with numbers!\u201d \u00a0(26)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA bank vault is robbed. \u00a0The armoured door was opened without force; the robbers used the access code. \u00a0The police arrive on the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cDrebin: \u00a0Maybe they guessed the code.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHocken: \u00a0No way, Frank. \u00a0There are a trillion combinations. \u00a0The system shows that they entered the code correctly on the first attempt. \u00a0Surely the odds agains that are astronomical.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cDrebin: \u00a0But it\u2019s still possible, right?\u201d \u00a0(28)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fine-tuning of the Universe for life, then, is fine-tuning applied specifically to the fact that this universe supports life forms. \u00a0The claim is that small changes in the free parameters of the laws of nature as we know them have dramatic, uncompensated and detrimental effects on the ability of the Universe to support the complexity needed for physical life forms.\u201d \u00a0(29)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one of those parameters for consideration:<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe electron is one of the fundamental particles of the Universe. \u00a0Electron orbits around the nuclei of atoms dictate the processes of chemistry. \u00a0With the appropriate experimental equipment, we can measure the mass of an individual proton: \u00a09.109 382 15 x 10-31<\/sup>\u00a0kg (and, with our most accurate equipment, we know this value has an uncertainty of 0.000 000 45 x\u00a010-31<\/sup>\u00a0kg). \u00a0If you measure the mass of any electron in the Universe, you get the same answer!<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhen we measure the mass of an object in kilograms, we are implicitly comparing it to a lump of platinum-iridium alloy held in uniform conditions at the International Bureau of Weights and Measure laboratories in the outer reaches of Paris. \u00a0There is nothing special about this lump, and so nothing special about the kilogram. \u00a0Nothing changes if we were to express the mass of the electron in pounds, long tons, grains or carats.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHowever, the mass of the electron relative to other particles in the Universe is important. \u00a0Each member of the menagerie of fundamental particles comes with a mass, and while some are zero, many are just plain, unexplained numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHere we can play our \u2018what if?\u2019 games. \u00a0If we change the relative masses of the fundamental particles, what effect does this have on a complex, multi-cellular, balding primate sitting and typing on a planet orbiting a star? \u00a0We\u2019ll see in later chapters that the existence of life depends critically upon particle masses. \u00a0Universes with different mass ratios are often sterile.\u201d \u00a0(29-30)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Continuing with some passages\u00a0from Geraint F. Lewis and Luke A. Barnes,\u00a0A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos\u00a0(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016): \u00a0 \u201cOur models are mixtures of well-tested theories, reasonable assumptions and guesses; as Richard Feynman [d. 1988; 1965 Nobel laureate in physics] noted, \u2018it is not unscientific to make a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[120,12167,10127,545,14531,16753,14989,4063,16747,11887,16756,9721,16750],"class_list":["post-88255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-design","tag-electron","tag-fine-tuned","tag-fine-tuning","tag-fortunate-universe","tag-fundamental-particles","tag-geraint-lewis","tag-life","tag-luke-barnes","tag-mass","tag-parameters","tag-particles","tag-relative-masses"],"yoast_head":"\n
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