Month: November 2011

With his famous equation E= mc2, Albert Einstein proved that when you come right down to it everything in the universe is energy. Both in the physical plane of our reality of matter and the abstract reality of our mind are made up of energy patterns. The concept of a universal energy flow is not a new one. The ancient Chinese called this flow chi; the ancient Hindus called it prana. The disciplines that developed in those two cultures – t’ai chi and yoga, respectively- are based on the art of tuning in to the flow of energy and using it to centre the self. Particle physicists try to understand the nature of nature at the smallest scales possible. Today, we know that atoms do not represent the smallest unit of matter. Particles called quarks and leptons seem to be the fundamental building blocks – but perhaps there is something even smaller. Empty space, we have discovered, is actually not empty at all. Astrophysicists have found that less than 10 percent of the mass of the entire universe consists of the kind of “luminous” matter that we can see. What is the dark matter that makes up the rest of the universe? How can we find out? Though we understand many important properties of the fundamental building blocks of our universe, there are untold mysteries still to solve. Advances in technology allow physicists to build more powerful and sophisticated instruments to look deeper and deeper inside matter. Like adventurers entering unknown territory, physicists forge ahead into …