Many find it remarkable that the values for all the physical constants such as gravity and the electromagnetic force are Goldilocks-perfect for stars to create nuclear fusion and for life to exist. In my September feature, we discussed how this life friendliness is an impetus for some to believe in untold other universes beyond what we can ever observe. For, if countless lifeless universes are out there and ours is one of only a few with life, then nothing’s really odd. If things weren’t this way here, we wouldn’t be around to wonder about it. But since we’re here, our particular universe
had to be life friendly. Yogi Berra might be proud of this reasoning, but it’s widely embraced.
Sometimes it’s maddeningly difficult to separate coincidence from correspondence. Example: the 11-year sunspot period. The ebb and flow of powerful solar storms must do
something to us. But we’re merely in cycle 24. Only two dozen sunspot cycles have been observed since the 18th century, against which we can hunt for thousands of potential matches involving everything from sociopolitical events to famines to earthquakes. Which are related, and which are merely the mischief wrought by the law of averages?
Checking back, we find that the solar cycle swings in harmony with the fashionable length of women’s skirts, the rabbit population of Australia, the party that controls the U.S. Congress, the position of the Gulf Stream, the thickness of Earth’s atmosphere, and many other phenomena. Astronomers now regard only the latter two as related to the Sun’s pulses. Yet we mustn’t stop seeking matchups. What looks like a coincidence may actually have a hidden cause that leads to discoveries of new celestial phenomena.
I keep finding little numerical coincidences. Like, the number of Earth-Sun distances (astronomical units) in a light-year (63,240) is virtually the same as the number of inches in a mile (63,360). So if you model the Sun as a dot, which would make Earth an invisible speck an inch away, the nearest star (4.2 light-years distant) is another dot 4.2 miles from the first.
Such matchups make it easier to memorize numerical tidbits. The number of seconds in a day (86,400) uses the same digits as the diameter of the Sun (864,000 miles). The half-life of carbon-14 (5,730 years) starts with Heinz’ “57” varieties. The Sun’s mass in grams is the same 10 followed by 33 zeros as its luminosity in ergs. One finds connections everywhere. Please tell me I’m not alone. I’d talk to my therapist about this if I had one.
Just as I wrote that, a good friend who’s a psychologist phoned. It was a coincidence.
Contact me about my strange universe by visiting
http://skymanbob.com.
