2001-3-14 13:29:00
Here's an interesting article I found. If there is indeed no empty space then this helps explain how everything in the universe could be interconnected.
UPTON, N.Y.
Scientists prove:
There's no such thing as "empty space."
New observations of subatomic particles appear to confirm that stunning theory, forcing scientists to rethink their concept of reality.
"This could lead to a whole deeper understanding of how reality is put together," declared Dr. Gerald Gabrielse, a professor and chairman of the physics department at Harvard University.
He said the unexpected findings, made with a particle accelerator at Brookhaven National Laboratory, may be the first glimpse of a previously unseen kind of matter.
The new observations appear to confirm what more scientists are coming to suspect: Empty space is never completely empty, but instead bubbles with so-called "virtual particles" that wink into existence and then vanish before they can be detected.
Although they are transient, virtual particles still exert pressure by bouncing off the tiniest known subatomic particles and causing measurable changes in their motion.
If the findings are confirmed, the core of subatomic theory, called the Standard Model, will be "insufficient to describe our universe," says Dr. Thomas B. Kirk. Brookhaven's associate director for high energy and nuclear physics.
Weekly World News 3/20/2001
Copyright 2001 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved