After human beings walked out of the earth, they saw the vast and mysterious universe. The universe looks very quiet and lonely, but there are countless mysteries hidden behind the silence. The goal of mankind is to solve these mysteries one by one and figure out the truth behind the universe. At that time, mankind can become the overlord of the universe.
As scientists continue to deepen their exploration of the universe, we have discovered a lot of interesting phenomena. Among them, four phenomena are even more surprising to scientists. They violate human intuition. But these four phenomena that violate people’s cognition have been confirmed by scientists through experiments. So what are these 4 special cosmic phenomena? Let us briefly understand one by one.
1. The speed of light cannot be surpassed. Speed is the key factor for human beings to understand the earth. In ancient times, people did not have fast-moving means of transportation, so they could not travel around the world to understand every corner of the earth. Until we entered the age of technology, with the help of technology, various advanced and fast means of transportation appeared.
With fast transportation, we can cross the ocean, across the mountains and rivers to reach every corner of the earth’s surface. With the advantage of speed, we also have a new understanding of the earth, and with the continuous improvement of speed, we finally walked out of the earth and saw the vast universe.
Similarly, if we want to explore the starry sky of the entire universe, we also need the advantage of speed, but when we really see the universe, we know how vast it is. The distance of the universe is based on light-years. The diameter of the small solar system has reached 2 light-years, and the diameter of the Milky Way has reached 100,000 light-years.
The range of the Milky Way galaxy is within the observable range of 93 billion light-years, and it is as small as a cell. Although the distance of the universe is vast and vast, as long as we can continue to increase the speed, I believe that we will finally be able to travel across the universe in one day.
Ideals are beautiful, but the results of the research made scientists feel frustrated. It turns out that Einstein’s theory of relativity puts forward a limit on speed, that is, the speed of light. Any object with mass, its speed can only be infinitely close to the speed of light, it cannot be reached and even cannot be surpassed.
The reason why the speed of light cannot be reached and surpassed is because when a mass object is in motion, its mass will increase indefinitely as its speed approaches the speed of light infinitely. At this time, the energy required for the object to continue to accelerate will also reach infinity. Obviously this is impossible to achieve, so the speed of the object can never exceed the speed of light.
This counterintuitive phenomenon makes it difficult for many people to accept, but after continuous experiments by scientists, its correctness has been confirmed. Through particle accelerators, scientists continue to accelerate electrons with extremely small masses. No matter how hard they work, their speed can only accumulate on the basis of 99%, which means that they cannot reach 100% of the speed of light.
2. Space-time can be distorted. Einstein’s general theory of relativity reminds us of the basic property of space-time, which is distortion. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, the time and space we see is flat and stable, but if we magnify the universe many times, you will find that the entire universe is not calm and calm at all, but there are distortions everywhere.
It’s just that the normal distortion of time and space is so small that we cannot really feel it. Although our naked eyes cannot see the distortion of time and space in a calm universe, scientists have confirmed that it is indeed universal through a large number of experiments.
It is precisely because of the existence of space-time distortions that scientists need to correct time when conducting various space exploration experiments. For example, in the GPS satellite navigation system, the time we see can be kept synchronized because the time of the outer space orbit is corrected with the time of the earth, otherwise the time of the satellite signal we receive will be biased. In addition, the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, gravitational detector B, and the phenomenon of extension of the life of π-mesons, etc. can all prove the existence of space-time distortion.
3. Quantum entanglement. In our macro cognition, the speed of light is a limit. Even photons and radio waves can only travel at the speed of light, and cannot surpass the speed of light. So in the scientific world, is there an incredible phenomenon of superluminal speed? The answer is yes.
At the macro level, we have only seen the expansion of the universe surpass the speed of light at present. In the microscopic world, there is also a super-light phenomenon far beyond our imagination, that is quantum entanglement. In the quantum world, there are many phenomena beyond our cognition, and quantum entanglement is one of the most representative.
Due to the limited distance on the earth, the transmission between signals can achieve instant communication. However, in the cosmic world, since the distance is measured in light-years, the signal transmission cannot achieve instant communication. Depending on the distance, the signal will have a large delay. If someone tells you now that even if the distance between the universe is great, there is a phenomenon that can achieve instant communication, I guess you would not believe it.
But in fact, this phenomenon does exist. It is the magical quantum entanglement. This phenomenon is called “ghost-like over-distance action” by Einstein. Simply put, for two microscopic particles in an entangled state. No matter how far the distance between them is, even if they are located at the opposite ends of the universe, they can feel each other in an instant, as long as the state of one of them changes, the other will immediately change accordingly.
So does this phenomenon only exist in theory? Of course not. In 2019, scientists mentioned quantum entanglement photos taken with a camera with 40,000 frames per second. The experiment of quantum entanglement has proved that it has extraordinary significance to human beings. It has revealed to us the communication technology needed for future interstellar navigation.
I believe my friends all understand that if interstellar navigation is based on traditional wireless technology, the speed is only the speed of light. It is difficult for this communication speed to have a huge effect in the interstellar space. If an interstellar spacecraft fails hundreds of light years away, the Earth needs to be rescued. But when a distress signal is sent out, it will take hundreds of years for the earth to be able to receive it.
Waiting until we receive the interstellar distress signal and then set off is already missed a major event, so in interstellar voyages we need tools that can achieve instant communication. Quantum entanglement undoubtedly points out the direction for us. As long as we study quantum communication, the communication problem of interstellar navigation will be solved.
4. Matter can arise out of nothing. The macro theory holds that matter cannot be produced out of thin air, but the theory in the quantum world holds that a large number of particles can appear out of thin air in the vacuum of the universe. They appear in pairs in a positive and negative manner, and then disappear in a very short period of time by annihilating each other, and repeating this way. This phenomenon is called “quantum fluctuation”.
So can this phenomenon be proved by experiments? Of course, scientists confirmed this phenomenon in a sophisticated experiment as early as 1966. If “quantum fluctuations” really exist, then when we place two boards in parallel in a vacuum, let them get close together.
At this time, the intensity of the “quantum fluctuation” between the two boards will be lower than the outside, and finally the two boards will receive a force that brings them closer to each other in a vacuum. This force is called “Casimir force” and has been confirmed in experiments.
The above four cosmic phenomena are just the tip of the iceberg among the countless mysterious phenomena in the universe. And how many incredible and mysterious phenomena exist in the universe, beyond our cognition and imagination, is still unknown. It is foreseeable that with the continuous advancement of human science and technology, we will be able to discover more magical phenomena, and some phenomena may completely subvert the existing scientific view of mankind.
Of course, existence is reasonable, and as long as it is an existing cosmic phenomenon, there must be a corresponding scientific reason behind it. If we are unable to explain and subvert the human view of science, it can only mean that human technology has not yet reached that level. Our scientific system is far from perfect.