SPACE AND TIME

A NEW TIME SCALE

The most puzzling subject about the universe is the SPACE it occupies and the TIME it was created. These two "unreal " quantities have puzzled man since the beginning of it (time). To make time real, we have adopted various scales. The second is the internationally accepted time unit. It is defined as 9,192,631,770 times the period of vibration of a particular type of radar radiation emitted by the isotope of mass number 133 of the element caesium, when it is excited in a suitable way.

A major scale in the definition of time is the day. That is the period of rotation of the Earth on its own axis resulting in day and night. The revolution of our earth around its star, the sun, takes about 365 days. For convenience, we have smaller groups of days called a week.

365 days = 169 days + 196 days, how curious.

It follows that 365 days = days + days

If x = 1 week (that is 7 days)

Then, (2x-1)+ (2x)= 365

Therefore,2x- x - 91 = 0

So, (2x + 13)(x - 7) = 0

It follows that, x = 7 or - 6 ½ days.

That is ONE WEEK IS EITHER 7 days coming or 6 ½ days past.

Could this mean that, duration of past time is a refraction of future time rather than a reflection? Is every coming week actually half a day longer than the immediate passing week? Do humans live longer than they think they do? Is our present time scale primitive and should we have a progressive clock? We may have to trade-in our present wristwatches for new space-time watches. So when next you say just a minute, be more specific.

FINDING THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

All SPACE, whether parking space, aerospace or galaxy space, is contained in the ultimate space; in fact outer space itself is part of the Universe. The Universe is expanding as a result of a pre-historic cosmic explosion and therefore generating more space.

The question now is what vessel holds the universe and in what is the vessel contained and so on? This creates an infinite scenario. Like all infinite scenarios, it becomes an illusion. So, is the universe an illusion? The human mind is not well equipped to deal with the concept of infinity.

Consider two mirrors facing each other. An object placed in between has an infinite number of images on both sides. The numbers, ,,,,,,(and many more) could be termed cyclic because at some point, the point of infinity (POI), a continuous repetition is met. The origin of each endless sequence can be found at the POI. Do we then have a POI in the Universe to determine its edge or end? If so, where is it?

Suppose by some revolutionary powered vehicle, we could travel very fast and far, say, for a million mega-parsec (3.26 million million light years), towards the edge of the universe. And suppose we could achieve the universe's required escape velocity. Would we be " breaking " through a glass-like barrier, seeing a mirror image of objects past and be heading for another "start"? So where will the POI be? Maybe where we started? From within? So is the Universe in us as we are in the Universe?

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

BODY PARTS

The next decade or two will bring great changes in the medical world. Giant strides in science will carry with it new health problems "and he that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils; for Time is the greatest innovator", Francis Bacon.

Autosuggestion (the science of "telling" the body to heal itself) will play a leading role in the next decade.

Advancement in tissue regeneration techniques will discourage the use of artificial body parts. Regenerated hearts will replace pacemakers. The illegal trade of human body organs from poorer nations will be greatly reduced. DNA banks may replace blood banks, since every individual will have his blood cultured in artificial plasma using DNA signatures from previously stored swabs.

CONCEPTION AND CONTRACEPTION

Twenty-five million sperms cover an area approximate of a full stop size. It takes each sperm one hour to move (by tail lashing) seven inches (distance from the cervix to the fallopian tube). Relative to their size, this speed is comparable to a man running at a speed of 90 million km/hour or 25,000km/sec. This is about one-tenth the speed of light. According to Einstein's law of light, this should cause time to "slow down " for it and therefore live longer than we think. This recalculation of sperm life may improve chances of conception in future infertile couples.

A new contraceptive may bring relief to pill-popping women. Male (XY) and female (XX) sex chromosomes have different masses and so can be distinctly detected. A simple magnetic sperm-killing radiation device implanted beside the fallopian tube will not only act as a contraceptive, it can be switched to determine which sex of baby to prevent.

ON THE DRAWING BOARD?

Will the end of the fifth decade usher in radical research? When will the first amphibious babies be born? Will new cloning methods produce a YY (instead of XY) sex chromosome super man? Will we have Ghost Busters standing by every operating table ready to entrap any departing soul? Will suspended animation be possible? Will men develop the will power and patience in their future role as baby producing "machines"? Will we hire surrogate robot mothers? Will we find a cure for baldness, the common cold and the after-shave rash? When will syringes become primitive? The mid 21st century may provide us with all the required answers and more.