From Nebulas to Nukes: The Physics of Warfare
Astronomers and physicists have always been called upon for their adept abilities to convert basic scientific facts into deadly weaponry. Archimedes and Aristotle made advanced war engines. Catapults and trebuchets in the Middle Ages relied on the principles of motion and trajectory that Newton would later put into formula.
Galileo’s first profitable invention was the Military Compass, a device much like a slide rule (I understand 90% of you have never heard of this), which was used to rapidly conduct complex calculations for accurately firing projectiles. He followed that blockbuster when he perfected the first telescopes (literally ‘distance viewers’) — as I discuss in Losing the Nobel Prize— motivated by a desire to negate an enemy’s ability to conceal their forces using the stealth that sheer distance provides. A telescope became an anti-cloaking device. Before, one couldn’t see approaching ships at sea. With Galileo Galilei’s telescope, the Venetian military gained a huge advantage.
The atomic bomb, of course, came from the confluence of atomic theory, nuclear science, and war by way of the influence of Einstein, the basic research of Nobel Prize winners Fermi, Feynman, Ernest Lawrence, Hans Bethe, Otto Hahn, and the leadership of Oppenheimer, and others directly or indirectly involved in the Manhattan Project UCSD’s own, Maria Goeppert-Mayer.
Today, general relativity and its effects are essential for guiding missiles to their targets within centimeters of precision because you need to consider the effects of the mass of the Earth and the curvature of time and space to avoid missing your target by several hundred feet. The same adaptive optics and infrared technology used by past guest Reinhard Genzel are used to correct atmospheric blurring to ensure guided missiles hit their targets and snipers make their shots. There’s ample turbulence in the atmosphere, especially near the earth’s surface, and snipers routinely use previously classified adaptive optics to hit targets a mile or more away.
Many of the same tools of astronomy and physics are also used for weaponry. That’s not the reason we create and explore them. As Richard Feynman said, “Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.” Astronomers and physicists have always been connected to the military. Even if military applications are not our goal, they are sometimes how and why we receive funding.
The Manhattan Project was between 10% and 20% of the national budget. The Cold War was no different: The Apollo program, a key battlefield in the Cold War, consumed between 4% and 10% of the US budget. And the work we get to do during peacetime often differs from the work we do during war because we might be recruited into a subsequent Manhattan Project. Science is a double-edged sword. Just as a sword can protect or harm, scientific discoveries can be used for creation or destruction.
We serve at the pleasure of the public. Let’s pray that the “powers that be” won’t need our deadly services any time soon. The same knowledge that unlocks the universe can also unleash devastation.
Until next time, have a M.A.G.I.C. Week,
Brian
Appearance
I was on Stars, Cells, and God to discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence. We discuss my research on the polarization signals in the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) — the radiation left over from the cosmic creation event — that I conducted on the BICEP, BICEP2, POLARBEAR2, and Simons Array telescopes. We also briefly describe my spiritual journey.
Genius
Is this the ancestor of the Simons Observatory? The first astronomy observatory was recently discovered in Egypt.
We’ve come a long way from this:
To this:
Image
This image shows a small portion of the field observed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. It is filled with galaxies. Some galaxies appear to have grown so massive, so quickly, that simulations couldn’t account for them. However, a new study finds that some of those early galaxies are much less massive than they first appeared. Black holes in some of those galaxies make them appear much brighter and bigger than they really are.
Image from NASA, ESA, CSA, S. Finkelstein (University of Texas)
Conversation
What is the connection between the origin of life on Earth and the search for extraterrestrial life? Could a revolutionary new theory guide us in our search for aliens? And is consciousness an inevitable outcome of life’s complexity, or is it something more mysterious?
I had the pleasure of discussing these fascinating issues with the incredible astrobiologist and theoretical physicist Sara Walker. Sara has greatly contributed to our understanding of how life emerges from non-living matter and how information processing in biological systems differs from that in non-living systems. Her work often explores the intersections of physics, biology, and information theory, seeking to uncover the fundamental principles that govern the transition from chemistry to biology.
In this episode, we dive deep into the mysteries of life, assembly theory, consciousness, and life beyond Earth.
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