Remember Leonard visiting Antarctica with Sheldon and group to make a ¡°ground-breaking discovery¡± in the Big Bang Theory??
The four were not that successful with their endeavour in the series. However, a group of NASA scientists may have succeeded where the great Sheldon Cooper failed, unearthing a phenomenon that may very well change our understanding of the universe.
It was recently observed that the possibility of a parallel universe may in fact be more than just science fiction, based on a report citing an experiment conducted by NASA scientists in Antarctica.
This Newscientist report based on the experiment mentioned above hints at the possibility that NASA scientists may have found evidence of a parallel universe going backwards in time. As sensationalist as that sounds, can it actually be true? Well, not quite. They have not even found solid evidence of a parallel universe.
What the NASA scientists have found instead is a question that the extent of physics known to man cannot currently answer or understand. This question is based on the readings from the following experiment conducted by NASA.
The research was being conducted through NASA¡¯s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA). For those unaware - ANITA is a radio detector mounted on a balloon flying at a height of 37,000 meters. It is able to identify air showers caused by the entry of cosmic-rays in the Earth¡¯s atmosphere. The reason for its placement in Antarctica is that there is little to no radio noise at the place that can possibly distort the readings obtained on it.
These cosmic ray air showers consist of high energy particles called neutrinos. While neutrinos do not interact with matter at all, in the rare events that they do, they split up into secondary particles which are detected by ANITA. The readings by ANITA are an indicator of the possible source of the neutrinos and hence the cosmic rays from lightyears away.
So where does the recent report of parallel universes fit in? Over the years, scientists have found abnormal events in these readings by ANITA. During these events, ANITA¡¯s detector picked up neutrinos coming from or through the Earth instead of space. Such events are abnormal as neutrinos coming from space do not usually ¡®bounce back¡¯ from the Earth¡¯s surface and instead pass straight through its matter.
This is what the entire mystery revolves around for which, one possibility, but a far-fetched and more of a fairy tale one, is the existence of a parallel universe in which time runs backwards. However, neither NASA or anyone else, has made such a claim or even hinted at such a possibility.
Note that there are other, more plausible explanations to the anomalous events too. But the truth is that none of them fit in the existing models of physics as we know it.
Apart from ANITA, a neutrino observatory based at the South Pole named IceCube stresses on the mystery. Confirming the anomalous patterns observed by ANITA, IceCube in an article writes - ¡°Other explanations for the anomalous signals¡ªpossibly involving exotic physics¡ªneed to be considered.¡±
The findings are not new and the anomalous events have been observed since 2016. The mystery around the observed neutrino behaviour stands to this day.
In conclusion, it can be noted that there is no evidence of a parallel universe by itself, found from the NASA experiment. Even though one of the most brilliant minds of our generation, Prof Stephen Hawking has hinted at the possibility of a multiverse, that our universe maybe one of many other universes similar to our own, no scientific evidence has been found to substantiate this mathematical theory yet. Any news suggesting to the contrary needs to be taken with?a huge grain of salt.?