Gravitational Waves Necessary for Human Existence, New Study Finds

A group of physicist has proclaimed that we owe our existence to gravitational waves. Really? What sense does that make. Aren't gravitational waves far too weak to have any effect on life on earth? Indeed, they are. This argument is a new application of the anthropic principle. Let’s have a look.

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#science #sciencenews #physics

[ChadLangford-US]

I fear the day Sabine discovers a scientific paper I wrote. No, there aren’t any—but still, the fear remains.

[victorkrawchuk]

You reminded me that I forgot to buy iodized salt for my 96-year-old mother yesterday. I'm surfing gravitational waves out the door...

[alieninmybeverage]

I've always found it amusing that the specificity of "constants" are the evidence for something supernatural. And yet, the more impressive things are seen as mundane... that the universe has forces that interact and equilibrate at all. The "constants" strike me more as long-term stabilized parameters in a relatively equilibrated system, and are super arbitrary relics that could have been just about anything with another set of mutually acclimating forces.

Humans barking up trees is obviously the purpose of the universe.

[madcow]

It's like life was created to fit the exact nature of the universe, and to need/use the available elements as opposed to the unavailable elements.

[DadPI]

If one came out with a paper with a title "gravity is essential to life" it wouldn't have been as interesting, adding waves made all the difference lol.

[johnyliltoe]

I mean, different laws in a universe would garner different results, but by the very nature of our universe existing it is most reasonable to assume that other universes with other less stable configurations also have tried to exist. We live in this one because, in the course of infinity, this one was habitable.

Another consideration is the nature of efficiency. Much like an electrical circuit will choose the most efficient path, it may be that the formation of the universe settled on the most efficient, stable configuration. Much like a bubble will always be a sphere, the universe may have had some strange happenings at first, as it flopped around in different configurations, but ultimately settled into the life supporting form it is in now.

[seanb]

A Few Years Ago I Read a NewsPaper Headline that Stated "Local Company Invents New Form Of Energy"
I have Never Laughed so Hard over a Cup of Coffee and Paper in the Morning. My Physics Prof enjoyed it as well. XD

[carlbrenninkmeijer]

The Anthropic principle is sooo fascinating. A system can only observe its environment and itself when it exists.

[Meditations]

These are the sorts of Academic papers that are most common, sadly. Making an obvious statement of logical inference and declaring that you've done something miraculous simply by taking the time to write your obvious observation down.

The thing that shocked them most, I believe, was that their ability to apply logic was so wanting that they thought their observation a brilliant stroke of genius rather than simple elementary deduction.

All that before Sabine's pointed observations that they assume a lot about how & why life forms in the first place. I would point out that we know exponentially less about the universe than we know. I personally wouldn't assume anything so grandiose before we know why we have words like dark matter and dark energy. Or figure out why space itself seems to cease to exist at the quantum level.

[clexor]

You have a very good sense of humor for a German person ;).

[cameronb]

Lol, "Atoms are the building blocks of life, except cats, who are made of magic." So true. Much like how dogs revert to their true destructive antimatter counterparts when left alone for any extended period of time. At least that's what I figure is happening when I come home and find some personal object of mine strewn about in pieces on the floor in some random spot, with canine bite marks profusely decorating them.

[joyl]

2:25 Strange, where does that energy go? Does it mean space-time contains energy?

[aaronmicalowe]

As soon as you said atoms, I knew exactly where this was going.

[Bob-of-Zoid]

My cat Lucy is trained in the ancient art of scratchola!😸 She's got "The Magic" and is a real grand wizard of cuteness!😺😹

[JungleJargon]

Most of the most common elements in the periodic table are essential for life.

[mraarone]

Livingston, LA says so! Ç’est vrai, y’all!

[jaredprather]

Thoughts on Dr. Becky's video about the new JWST results potentially "solving" the hubble tension?

[tvuser]

Nice move with the Iodine and Carbon. IC = Iesos Christos, right? Add Yttrium for Yahve, and of course there's Thorium and a bunch of others, enough for a sizable pantheon.

[David-lcw]

Don't forget that radioactive decay of elements heavier than Iron is thought to provide much of the heating (50% ?) in the Earth's core that results in plate tectonics and our protective magnetic field.

[ErikHaugen]

I'd like to add a bit more detail about the eclipse argument. I think this is expounded in the book "The Privileged Planet", but I haven't read it.

1) The sun has to be ~.5° in the sky, for "habitability". It could be farther away, but then it would have to be bigger in order to be sending just the right amount of energy to have liquid water/etc. (It can't be brighter and smaller, because then it would be the wrong kind of star, or ... something; I asked Gonzalez face-to-face (on 4/8, appropriately) and he said something along those lines; I worry about misquoting him, though.)
2) The moon has to be freakishly large, like our moon, in order to get tides and all the other good things the moon does for us to make Earth "habitable".

Therefore, on a "habitable" planet, the moon and sun are likely to be .5° in the sky, thus causing nice eclipses like we have. No idea how sound or not that argument is.

The observation is paired with other observations: 1/1 ratio of moon/sun angular size is quite rare, no other surface in our solar system has nice eclipses except for Earth. Also, this facilitates interesting scientific measurements, such as how during total eclipses we've used spectral lines to discover helium in 1868, or observed lensing in 1919 to confirm relativity. The book makes a big deal about habitability characteristics like this facilitating scientific discovery; I suspect a Texas Sharpshooter here, but, again, I haven't read the book. Also it seems like Saturnians could use Titan's shadows to do spectography, but what do I know.

I think the idea that a planet where carbon-based chemistry is going to work etc is probably kinda rare is not controversial, but I don't know if I know enough to be convinced that it couldn't happen without a big moon, or with an even-bigger moon.