What If's?

[Souper]

What if:

1. i instantly enlarged a microscopic cell (for instance, a white blood cell) to macroscopic size (3 cubic feet in volume)

2. threw myself into a blackhole (while using godmode)

3. traveled to the largest scale of the universe possible

4. condensed radioactive waves into a particle

5. attempted to leave the limits of the universe (try to go outside it)

Edited October 15, 2014 by Souper

[lajoswinkler]

1. Does that mean everything inside is enlarged by volume, or by adding matter? If it's the first case, the cell dies quickly because there's nothing it can feed on anymore.

For other questions, ask Stephen Hawking.

http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/people/s.w.hawking

[rtxoff]

2. you will provoke a segfault with code 0h4f3b

You will have to rely on the creator to restart the program for you.

[Streetwind]

5. The currently accepted theory is that the universe does not have an edge you can travel out of. Just like a möbius strip that only has one side that wraps around into itself, but in three dimensions instead of one: if you keep going in one direction long enough, you will end up back where you started. Regardless of which direction that is.

The details are Complicated, italic with a capital C, and several possible variants exist which nobody can agree on.

[KerikBalm]

>1. i instantly enlarged a microscopic cell (for instance, a white blood cell) to macroscopic size (3 cubic feet in volume)

It would die. Likely due to membrane rupture in the case of a WBC. If not, it would die due to insufficient diffusion

> 2. threw myself into a blackhole (while using godmode)

You'd be trapped behind an event horizon, likely orbiting a singularity within the event horizon

> 3. traveled to the largest scale of the universe possible

How can you travel to a scale? what are you even saying?

> 4. condensed radioactive waves into a particle

There is no such thing as a radioactive wave... unless you are talking about something like radioactive seawater.

What are you even saying?

> 5. attempted to leave the limits of the universe (try to go outside it)

You first need to establish that the universe has limits, and that there is something outside of it.

Assuming there is and you did... then you'd be outside it... and if the laws of physics are different outside of it... you'd promptly die.

If theire not... well, odds are you'd be in a vacuum anyway, with no access to oygen, food, or water, and would die slightly slower.

At least you didn't label this "science stuff" like last time

[Kryten]

If you enlarge a cell, you'll end up with a puddle of assorted organic molecules. The mechanisms that produce cell membranes and otherwise allow cells to keep their shapes don't work at larger scales.

[Mr Shifty]

5. The currently accepted theory is that the universe does not have an edge you can travel out of. Just like a möbius strip that only has one side that wraps around into itself, but in three dimensions instead of one: if you keep going in one direction long enough, you will end up back where you started. Regardless of which direction that is.

Untrue. Space actually appears to be quite flat. Measurements, to date, of the energy density of the universe give a density that is within 1% of the critical density necessary for a flat universe, which actually poses a problem, because it appears that the initial conditions for the universe would have to be exquisitely fine-tuned to produce the flatness we observe. Cosmic inflation was posited as a solution to this problem (and others.)

[lajoswinkler]

If you enlarge a cell, you'll end up with a puddle of assorted organic molecules. The mechanisms that produce cell membranes and otherwise allow cells to keep their shapes don't work at larger scales.

If he enlarges it totally, then the atoms and everything become larger, not just their distances. In your case, there would be an implosion, and a nasty, loud one.

[-Velocity-]

You'd be trapped behind an event horizon, likely orbiting a singularity within the event horizon

I don't think you can actually orbit a singularity if you're within the event horizon. I thought all geodesics would end up passing into the singularity. I am not certain of this. I'll see if I can look it up and find it somewhere, but someone else feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: it looks like the conventional answer is that yes, all geodesics go to the singularity, and stable orbits within black hole event horizons are impossible.

Edited October 15, 2014 by |Velocity|

[Kryten]

Yeah, all possible trajectories within the event horizon lead towards the centre.

[KerikBalm]

Well, It should behave like anything else... the singularity is a point, but the event horizon is a sphere. From the POV of an observer crossing the event horizon, nothing happens. So... I don't see why wou wouldn't contine to orbit it, unless you are falling directly at the dimensionless point.

The gravity shear would tear you apart, but he said "godmode" and I'm trying to be generous enough to try and interpret what he means, so I take it to mean that the gravitational shear doesn't rip you apart.

Of course, there is a lot of other stuff that should be orbiting within the event horizon, and its not in god mode, so it will be disassociated particles...

I think they keep getting arbitrarily close to the singularty... but... well... we don't really know what goes on beyond the event horizon, but I take "black hole" to mean everything inside the event horizon, not just the point singularity.

What happens when you reach the singularity... god(e noone? the one who wrote this universe simulations software?) only knows.

[Kryten]

Well, It should behave like anything else... the singularity is a point, but the event horizon is a sphere. From the POV of an observer crossing the event horizon, nothing happens. So... I don't see why wou wouldn't contine to orbit it, unless you are falling directly at the dimensionless point.

The event horizon won't be an abrupt change; you'll go from having almost no paths that don't cross the centre to none (assuming a Schwarzchild black hole). One you've crossed it you will be added to the singularity.

[-Velocity-]

Well, It should behave like anything else... the singularity is a point, but the event horizon is a sphere. From the POV of an observer crossing the event horizon, nothing happens. So... I don't see why wou wouldn't contine to orbit it, unless you are falling directly at the dimensionless point.

It doesn't work that way, supposedly spacetime is flowing into the event horizon at a speed greater than light. So maybe at best you can, I donno, do a few inward-decaying spirals or something before you spiral in and hit the event horizon. I don't fully understand it- I only understand a tiny bit, but just google "orbit within the event horizon" and see for yourself. Everyone says you can't orbit within the event horizon- at least within a conventional black hole geometry, and conventionally, all paths lead to the singularity.

The gravity shear would tear you apart, but he said "godmode" and I'm trying to be generous enough to try and interpret what he means, so I take it to mean that the gravitational shear doesn't rip you apart.

Well, you wouldn't feel disruptive tidal forces on a supermassive black hole until just before you reached the singularity, well after you crossed the event horizon.

What happens when you reach the singularity... god(e noone? the one who wrote this universe simulations software?) only knows.

Well, there are almost certainly not such things as singularities anyway, the physicists believe that singularities only appear in our calculations because we don't know the correct description of gravity and quantum mechanics at very high energies and gravitational field values.

[Kryten]

There are paths than don't cross the singularity within rotating (Kerr) black holes, but you're not likely to end up on one by chance. And thus ends my useful contribution to the thread, given I don't understand the Kerr metric at all.

[montyben101]

New what if: Challenger didn't disintegrate?

[CG_Kerbin]

New what if : What if nasa nether existed? Just think about it

[montyben101]

New what if : What if nasa nether existed? Just think about it

Russia would win

[Kryten]

The soviets never had a NASA equivalent, I don't see how the US would definitely need one. It would make larger multi-contractor projects like Saurn-V more difficult.

[CG_Kerbin]

Also the iss would be hard to do and less space related activity would happend because 1 of the 2 main space drivers would be gone and make less comption to do space related activity and halt the expansion of space because if Completion goes then it slows down the progress of things like this a lot

[turkwinif]

Untrue. Space actually appears to be quite flat. Measurements, to date, of the energy density of the universe give a density that is within 1% of the critical density necessary for a flat universe, which actually poses a problem, because it appears that the initial conditions for the universe would have to be exquisitely fine-tuned to produce the flatness we observe. Cosmic inflation was posited as a solution to this problem (and others.)

That reminds me of a funny little xkcd strip...http://xkcd.com/1318/

EDIT: To contribute to this "What if?" thread, what if photons had mass? Heck, even a mass so minuscule that it's barely detectable, but still there?

Edited October 18, 2014 by turkwinif

[KerikBalm]

Well, for the purposes of gravitation, they do.

They have no rest mass, but they have relativistic mass. They have momentum

[nhnifong]

1. i instantly enlarged a microscopic cell (for instance, a white blood cell) to macroscopic size (3 cubic feet in volume)

It would collapse like a giant water baloon. The surface would look like an oil slick

2. threw myself into a blackhole (while using godmode)

If it was a big one, you would fall in, if it was a small one, you would get wrapped around it and obliterated releasing a massive amount of energy as x-rays.

3. traveled to the largest scale of the universe possible

You would become comatose due to the time it took signals to travel the immense distance between your neurons.

4. condensed radioactive waves into a particle

You would create a positron electron pair most likely which would shortly annihilate back into EM waves.

5. attempted to leave the limits of the universe (try to go outside it)

You would not reach the end, but instead spend a lot of energy to get somewhere that looks exactly like here.

[Las-pen]

1. I have no idea how much is 3 cubic feet. Is it like 17 cubic kilometres? 2 bananas? But the cell, it would die

2. Fall on the surface of a dead star.. Hmm poetic. Time would stop. You would get bored after couple eternities

4. So umm... Photon?

[YNM]

What if:

1. i instantly enlarged a microscopic cell (for instance, a white blood cell) to macroscopic size (3 cubic feet in volume)

2. threw myself into a blackhole (while using godmode)

3. traveled to the largest scale of the universe possible

4. condensed radioactive waves into a particle

5. attempted to leave the limits of the universe (try to go outside it)

1. It would splat. Or it'd stop working. Also, I can't really imagine atoms enlarging - cells are small enough that parts of it are only several layer of atoms (like membranes)...

2. You'd fall for infinite time due to the spacetime curvature. Or you won't feel anything but the fact you've done a silly thing.

3. Don't get it - if you mean similar to the 5th question, look below.

4. Don't get it (again) - if you mean ionizing radiation, two of them is a particle (specifically, baryon) already - He nucleus and electron. The other one is force carrier particle (boson) - a photon.

5. Impossible - one of the people who taught me cosmology says that "the universe have to get no limit - else, light would fall to the edge". So it's like chasing your own shadow, more parts of the universe becomes apparent while those things you left behind will fade away and never able to be seen again.

Edited October 19, 2014 by YNM

[How2FoldSoup]

I had this exact conversation with a prof like 3 weeks ago..its a great question