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Science is still advancing, string theory is developing, who knows where it will take us? String theory is really hell. It used to be said that the smallest particles can be cut into smaller particles. This is conceivable. Now there is a genius who proposes that the smaller unit is a line segment?! No wonder the book Many of the concepts of science fiction were actually first thought of by physicists. This is really a field of rich imagination.
This book can be said to be the history of the development of physics in the 20th century, showing how science is piled up with one by one hypothesis. And the result of this accumulation is not just a pile of dusty papers, but a pile of space shuttles, taking humans to the moon.
Here are three interesting topics in the book.
1. Relativity: time and space are not two independent concepts
Time and space are not independent concepts. For example, an important condition of causality is the order of time (the first event may be the cause of the later event), which sounds like nothing to do with space, but Einstein puts forward a very important assumption: there is nothing in the world faster than the speed of light. Fast, because it takes infinite energy to push something with mass faster than the speed of light (unless it passes through a wormhole). Therefore, if it is said that item A is the cause of event B, the time condition of this causal relationship is not only that event B must occur after the time point of event A, but more importantly, it must occur at "the time point of event A plus the speed of light. The time required from the location of event A to the location of event B" after. In other words, even if event B occurs after the time of event A, but before the light of event A reaches the subject of event B, we cannot say that event A is the cause of event B.
Take the influence of the sun on the earth as an example. If the sun suddenly goes out, it will not affect the earth immediately, but will not start to exert influence until eight minutes later (the time when the light reaches the earth from the sun). The "reason" needs time to be transmitted, and transmission always has a speed. The fastest speed is the speed of light. Nothing is faster than the speed of light, so the speed of light can be used to define whether event A occurred before event B. As a result, time and space are completely mixed together.
2. Time travel: humans will not come in the future
Nothing in the world moves faster than the speed of light, but we can distort space and reduce the actual distance of movement, which is the so-called wormhole. This is a way through time. By quickly traversing between the two planets by the wormhole, before the light from planet A reaches planet B, the people on planet B can be told that “something is about to be observed on planet A”. This can be regarded as going back to the past. People who went back to the past on planet B did not know what happened to planet A. The so-called past and future here are also defined by the speed of light. Using the example above, it will take eight minutes for the earth to observe the sun before it starts to be affected. If someone lives on the sun and rushes to the earth at full speed as soon as the sun is out, it is logically said that he must take more than eight minutes to get there, because he can't run faster than the speed of light. So after he arrived on earth,
Only the earth affected by the extinguishment of the sun will be seen. However, if he traverses the wormhole and rushes from the sun to the earth in five minutes, he is equivalent to "going back in time", returning to the point in time before the earth was affected by the extinguishment of the sun, warning people early that the sun is going out.
Hawking also mentioned another way to travel through time, virtual photons between two plates, but he made an interesting point: Why does no one return to the present from the future? Perhaps because there is no "export" in modern times, our technology is still not enough to distort large areas of space to allow humans to enter and exit. But does this mean that as long as the time machine is invented so that humans can rush into the present in the future, history will be racing at an incredible speed?
3. Uncertainty principle: it cannot be measured now, so the future cannot be predicted
As long as it is measured, it will interfere. The more you want to measure accurately, the greater the interference. This principle is really annoying, and it feels like being played with. In high school, the teacher mentioned the concept of this principle. I originally thought it was a purely abstract concept, but I didn't expect that there are many calculations behind it. And the conclusion of this principle is not to make physicists give up, but to make more inferences based on this. Admire the greatness of physicists again.
On the other hand, the uncertainty principle also means that even if human beings find the most complete unified physics theory, the future is still unpredictable, because we cannot correctly measure the current state of anything. Sounds pessimistic again? No, physicists are not pessimistic. Hawking seems to see this as a guarantee that physicists will never lose their jobs. Because if one day human beings really find the ultimate physics theory, physicists can continue to pursue more accurate measurement methods, hoping to better understand the events around us and our own existence.
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.