Saturday, December 4, 2010

Particles Matter

According to Quantum Mechanics, empty space is anything but empty. Rather, it is a roiling, seething cauldron of evanescent particles. For brief periods of time, these particles pop into existence from pure nothingness, leaving behind holes in the nothingness -- or antiparticles, as physicists label them. A short time later, particle and hole recombine, and the nothingness resumes.
If, however, the pair appears on the edge of [a black hole's] event horizon, either particle or hole may wander across the horizon, never to return. Deprived of it's partner, the particle or the hole has no "choice" but to become real.
- The Economist, "Dr. Hawking's bright idea", 10/02/10 issue
I've always been fascinated with the crazy phenomena that occurs around black holes. This description of Stephen Hawking's "Hawkins Radiation" is both pithy and accurate. The absolute chaos of what seems like dead and lifeless space is a dichotomy that's ripe for exploration, and I like to think that The Church's epic jam "Particles Matter" (off of the Operetta EP) is about this. While it might just be the title, the 35 minute jam's noisy and messy and - to me - creates form out of random energy. It's pretentious, sure, but it fits the idea so I'm running with it. Any songs remind you of space phenomena?

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