A Liquid Universe

[DireStrike]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/physics-04zg.html

London (SPX) Oct 14, 2004
To look deep into the fundamental structure of matter is to look billions of years back in time, to the moment when matter first blinked into being.

Recreating the conditions of that moment has long been an aim for physicists wanting to understand how the universe evolved from the cosmic fireball that existed a fraction of a second after the big bang. Now researchers at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, have, almost certainly, finally recreated the moments after creation.

By colliding nuclei together at enormous speeds, RHIC experimenters were able to break down the structure of nuclear matter. This resulted, most experts agree, in the formation of a long-sought-after plasma that is believed to be the primal stuff of the cosmos, the state of matter at the beginning of time.

It turns out, though, that the nature of matter is inextricably tied to the vacuum in which it resides. And the RHIC experiments have thrown up some surprises. They seem to show that the vacuum is a richer and more complicated place than was previously imagined. (continued)

[indigobusiness]

1. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy....
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Nice post, but I'm always reminded of Hamlet when I hear the Physicists' proclamations of how a complete understanding is on the horizon.

[DireStrike]

2. Hehe, yeah...

They're always saying that. Atom - indivisible! Sure, sure.