Uh, Oh. “Copernican Principle” Might Be Wrong
Sep 29 at 6:06pm by Aileen
Most of us have never heard of this “Copernican Principle” that is apparently so popular in astrophysics. According to Wikipedia The Copernican principle insists that Earth is not in a central, specially favored position in the universe (or solar system). New York Times science blogger John Tierney examines the principle as part of the Doomsday argument.
Physicists at Oxford University, however, have released a paper that reaches the conclusion that we just might inhabit a ‘special’ region of the universe after all.
In the article Dark Energy: Is It Merely An Illusion?, the Oxford scientists theorize that we might instead inhabit a “huge void” in the universe where the density of matter is particularly low. This would tend to account for increasing expansion, which simply cannot be explained by the gravitational realities factored on the density of matter, on the assumption that the density is uniform throughout the universe.
The Oxford mavericks conclude that forthcoming tests of the Copernican principle should help sort the reality from the theories in the next few years.
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2 Responses for "Uh, Oh. “Copernican Principle” Might Be Wrong"
Chad
August 21st, 2009 at 2:24 am
1are you serious? the copernican principle only states that the earth is not the center of our solar system, the sun is. it may have become an interpretation of earth not being the center of the universe, but thats due to other reasons as well.
haha, yes sun centered solar systems are SOOOOOOO popular today in astrophysics. why dont they gather some facts and make a conclusion based on that, instead of going with popular argument. EARTH #1 everything else BLOWS!
Joe
August 28th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
2Chad.
If you knew anything about Science you would know the Copernican principle has grown to included the idea proposed by Sagan and others that there is nothing, at all, special about the location of earth–OR Earth itself. Implying that life is everywhere.
At the time sagan was inept enough to state that all you would need was a planet about the same distance as earth to a sun, along with a few other conditions and Shazaam….life.
It is now known that there are billions of factors involved and that the odds are so astronomical that not only should earth be the only one—but that it defies the odds that earth exists at all. Yes, many scientists dont agree because most are diehard atheists–but Mathematicians know the odds are not really odds–they are Zero.
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