Google Webmaster Tools

A Very Cool Scientific Discovery

01/25/2013

3 Comments

 
Which one of the following statements is true?

A. Humans can catch and get sick from computer viruses
B. Some computers are sentient, self-aware, and self-reproducing life forms.
C. Text, audio, and picture files can be stored on and retrieved from DNA.
D. Scientists in Poland are developing warp core technology that will allow near-light speed travel.

If you think all of them sound impossible, you are right. The fact that one of them is a reality makes the discovery all the more impressive. The correct answer is C.  

Scientists at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton, England encoded information by sequencing the four main nucleobasis of DNA:  adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine (A, T, C, G). They encoded 26 seconds of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a digital photo of their lab, 154 Shakespearean sonnets, and the 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick paper describing the double-helical structure of DNA. The scientists were then able to retrieve the information with 100% accuracy.

There’s more. DNA-based memory can last for thousands of years as long as it is stored in the proper environment. I guess it will probably outlive the information stored on my CDs, Bluray DVDs, and flash drives. There’s more. One gram of single-stranded DNA can store 2.2 Petabytes of information. There are about 1 million gigabytes in 1 petabyte. So that means that one gram of single-stranded DNA can hold roughly the equivalent of  275,000 8 gigabyte jump drives, or 100 Billion DVDs.

The recent discovery of the amazing storage and recovery capacity of DNA suggests that humans have the capacity to remember all of life’s events, thoughts and feelings. The idea that we have the capacity to perfectly remember everything in life is consistent with LDS theology.

Notwithstanding the marvelous storage capacity of DNA, I think there is a retrieval bug in my system somewhere that keeps me forgetting where I put my keys. Oh well, I can live with a retrieval bug as long as I never unintentionally hit the “reformat DNA hard drive” switch. 

3 Comments
 

The Light of Christ and the Quantum Double Slit Experiment

11/04/2010

11 Comments

 
There are certain things that are difficult for mere mortals to conceptualize. One that I find particularly challenging is the LDS doctrine of “There [being] no such thing as an ultimate beginning, a time prior to which there was nothing” (Quote taken from Mormon Doctrine). From a mortal perpsective it seems like there should be a beginning to the universe; this is one reason why the Big Bang theory is so popular - it postulates a definite moment in time when everything began. How could there be no beginning?

Something funny about the idea of “no beginning” is that it is equally difficult to conceptualize the opposite, of there ever being a beginning. If we assume for a moment that there was a beginning to the god-created universe, then we must ask, who created the first god? An all-powerful being could not have just "poofed" into existence.
 
If you spend too much time thinking on the apparent impossibility of both positions, you run the risk of experiencing a minor ontological crisis over whether the things we call life and the universe really exist. Thankfully Descartes provided a temporary escape from these sorts of existential crises. Regardless of whether there was or was not a beginning to the universe, you can be certain that you exist in a universe by virtue of the fact that you are thinking about these very issues. Cogito ergo sum – I think therefore I am! 

But wait, there's more.

Another influential philosopher named Bishop Berkeley (namesake of Berkeley University) pointed out that for something to exist, including ourselves and the universe, it must be perceived. He called it “Esse est percipi” – to be is to be perceived. You've no doubt heard the statement, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound?” Bishop Berkeley asks us to consider whether the tree even exists at all if no one ever perceives it.

If you are skeptical of the need for something to be perceived in order for it to exist, you are in good company. Einstein was very skeptical of esse est percipi. The notion of something having to be perceived in order for it to exist led him to quip, “When no one is observing the moon, is it still there?” He obviously believed that the moon exists even when no one is observing it. So if Einy rejected esse est percipi then the matter is settled, right? Not quite. Esse est percipi is supported by experiments in quantum mechanics.

Consider a classical quantum mechanics study where electrons are fired one at a time from an electron gun through a double slit barrier. When the positions of the electrons are registered on a screen behind the barrier with no one present, the single-fired electrons create an interference pattern that can only be explained by the electrons behaving like a non-physical wave of potentialities after leaving the electron gun. However, when people stand at the barrier and observe electrons going through the slits, the electrons go back to being physical particles as evidenced by the pattern they leave on a screen. The upshot of all this is that when no one observes the electrons they behave like non-physical probability waves, but when people observe the electrons, they behave like physical particles.

Dr. Quantum describes this process well. Click on the video below.


So how do we reconcile esse est percipi and the quantum slit experiment with our common sense notion that physical things continue to exist even when they are not being perceived by mortal beings? The answer is the Light of Christ. 

The Light of Christ is a divine source that emanates from the presence of God. It gives him instant knowledge of everything throughout all His creations.  It is that Light by which He knows at an instant how many hairs are on the top of our heads.  It is that Light by which He knows instantly that a sparrow died and fell to the ground in the mountains even though no one else knew it ever existed. It is that Light by which God perceives all things, thus bringing all things into continual existence. 
11 Comments
 
Google Analytics