The Longest of Hauls

Let’s focus on the stuff light does to things.

Do you know what can travel faster than anything else in the whole wide world? The whole universe, for that matter. You may know that the answer is light.

How do you know?

Do you know how fast light travels no matter what?

Put it this way: the speed of light can traverse a distance equal to the circumference of the earth about 7.5 times in a single second.

Text messages can travel around at that speed, too.

We’ll put this many ways throughout.

Have you ever read anything at all? That’s cool, I guess. It came from the past. Don’t let your perception of light make you think it’s instantaneous. The scale we perceive naturally doesn’t allow us to see that.

Things are a bit different on the astrophysical scale. For example, a beam of light cannot traverse a galaxy as fast as it can illuminate a room. In fact, a photon needs about 100,000 years [a.k.a. “light years”] to skedaddle across The Milky Way. That’s roughly equal to 30 kiloparsecs, a measurement of distance/time that is useful when looking at the whole picture of our universe.

1 kpc equals 1.917e+16 miles.

Fairly safe conclusion: our universe is big.

The entire world really does need to get on the same page in terms of how things are measured, recorded, and reported. The metric system seems like the way to go. It’s cleaner, makes more sense.

If we can’t even agree on how to measure everything, then how can we expect to agree on anything?

When you wish upon a star, the light you see was actually emitted a long time ago.

You can see the light from stars that predate the sun—the galaxy, even!

When you look up at the night sky, you are basically looking into the past.

Should our sun fall to magical deletion in the middle of the day, we would not realize it until 8.333333333333333333333333333333 [ish] minutes later.

Light sets the pace of our time, but it can’t teleport as is, nor is it telepathic, per se.

In other words, there isn’t anything in existence that can travel faster than light.

In still more words, light makes time go crazy.

That’s not a lie, joke, guess, hypothesis, or theory. That’s a proven fact.

But light is also something else.

The word “light” also means light, i.e. not heavy.

The lighter something is, the faster it can move.

In other words, it’s a thing and it’s not weird.

The heavier something is, the more it weighs.

Ever been slowed down by weight?

Wait, what equates with weight again?

You probably know the answer to this one.

Gravity.

Still.

Gravity and light, bookending peas in our pod of existence, spiraling ever-wildly out of control.

When it rains, man, it pours.

Boy, does it ever.

Connected any new dots yet? Mapped any new correlations? I see a new one every day lately.

A body can resemble the human form, a lake, a planet, or an organization.
Light can describe weight or brightness.
Deep can indicate a hole or thought.
Force and matter can be nouns or verbs.

There must be one dominant power in the universe that explains every single item on every list contained on this site, a single relationship that matters most (or makes the most matter).

What’s the most abundant element in the universe?

Do you know?

Why doesn’t everyone know?

Shouldn’t we all know?

Think about it.

Of literally ALL THE THINGS EVER, the abundance of but one element sits around 75%.

In 3 out of 4 things, a single atom repeats.

Do you know what it is?

Hydrogen!

Doesn’t this fact seem kind of important?

It should because it is.

Or, again, maybe I’ve got it all wrong.

So let’s straighten out the facts.

Hydrogen is the lightest and smallest of all elements.
Hydrogen is the element most commonly found in the cosmos.
Hydrogen is the only element that lacks a neutron chilling out in its nucleus.
Hydrogen’s name alone seems to forecast the generation of the molecular powerhouse known as water.

In other words riddled by intentionally moronic inaccuracy, who’s your daddy?

In all seriousness, I am of the urgently strengthening opinion that any fact concerning hydrogen should be grouped in the top tier of that which constitutes “common knowledge.” Why isn’t it?

We probably need to reconfigure our approach to education every so often. Drastically. Clearly!

I highly suspect that budding intellectuals are being taught most of the right stuff, but not with proper emphasis, and all out of sequence, to boot.

Do kids still learn that “Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492”?

Why?

After all, the statement is shamefully false.

In other words, that’s not real.

When you teach a kid lies on purpose, what should we expect to see in return?

Name something that grows without investment.

Don’t feel bad; I can’t either.

Only when we share our perspectives may we understand one another.

Never hesitate.

Step into our mental dojo.

In other words, always feel free to come inside.

Now.

Go outside and play.

☀️

Welcome back.

When you think of the term wavelength, what do you imagine? Perhaps an image not unlike this one:

What the hell is a wavelength anyway?

In other words, what are we doing?

Wavelengths illuminate frequencies.

Unlike mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves are always perpendicular/vertical (transverse).

Light is an electromagnetic wave; its energy is produced by the vibration of charged particles.

An electromagnetic wave doesn’t need help to travel—it serves as its own fuel and can even do so in the vacuum of space.

The existence [pulse] of gravity causes the vibration [nether-regional desires] of particles.

(Admittedly, I get funky with parenthetical interjections from time to time.)

The other stuff amounts to matter [energy at c²] that hasn’t figured out how to stay alive without needing to eat. And without dying. Hmm, I wonder if those two problems have the same solution.

Whoops, derailed again.

Should we get back on track?

Sound is a prime example of a mechanical wave.

In terms of waves, “mechanical” means that it cannot exist in a vacuum and therefore requires a medium [meaning some form of matter] through which to travel.

Sound waves are always longitudinal. Water waves can be either.

Your voice is a mechanical wave.

Say something aloud.

If you did, then congrats, because you just waved, mechanically speaking.

The fact that we can talk at all is a freak accident thanks to evolutionary entropy and genetic mutation.

Summon your voice from within.

The frequency of a wavelength determines its shape.

Frequency.

Occurs frequently, or not.

Light zips along at 299,792 kilometers per second (186,282 miles per second).

Per second.

Infrared is the lightest light, which means that it has the lowest frequency, i.e. least curvature.

Curvature highlights gravity’s bias toward bending spacetime.

Highest frequency [which means most weight, not coincidentally] manifests behind the electrified veil of the invisible living color that we coolly call ultraviolet.

Spacetime actually bends by the weight of the star that anchors our solar system. It has been observed, measured, and documented. And our sun is “only” average—meaning green, fair, balanced.

The higher the frequency in a wavelength, the farther light has to travel back and forth [parallel] to cover the same distance [perpendicular].

“Frequencies” occur on/along/across/within/throughout “wavelengths,” and therein lies the differences between them.

Sound travels at a much slower pace than light.

The speed of sound varies depending on temperature and elevation, but on average it travels at about 1,234.8 kilometers per hour [343 mph].

To put it mildly, sound’s relationship with light naturally complicates matter{s}.

Earth falls within the green wavelength of the sun’s heat/light.

To reiterate, green epitomizes balance, as it occurs directly in the middle of the color spectrum.

In other words, green is the color where{in/-upon} life can happen.

Now I see how and why our number system works!

In other words, color illuminates why math features 9 digits.

We need to be green.

While we’re here, we should touch on the other four waves in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Radio waves are vital to our connectivity since they can carry our voices and images along with them. We’ve been beaming them into space ever since we started broadcasting about a hundred years prior to the assembly of this sentence.

At some point, even billions of years from now, if there’s intelligent life out there, then in theory they could detect us {assuming they’re listening}.

Spooky.

You’re very familiar with the waves some of us call micro.

Microwave ovens cook specifically by targeting water molecules in food.

In other words, microwaves cook like the sun.

In another word, radiation.

Misconceptions abound concerning this type of heating method; however, not only is it perfectly safe (unless the interior is dirty or the food’s container is made of plastic, for instance [because it can bind unsavory chemicals to your grub]), but also the shorter cook times result in the preservation of more nutrients. Yeah, microwaves can be good for you!

X-Ray radiation, due to the measurements of its specific wavelength and unique frequency, passes through matter that isn’t too dense.

Bones are dense, generally.

Skin is thin, usually.

That’s how X-ray imaging works, in a nutshell.

Curious side-note: both microwaves and X-rays were accidental discoveries.

Lastly, gamma rays are produced at the nuclear level, whether by fission, fusion, or a type of decay.

In medicine, gamma rays are used to fight cancer.

In the universe, no event has been observed to be more luminous than a gamma ray burst. Scientists believe these events signify the formation of neutron stars or black holes dark orbs. Yikes!

It all depends on how the math shakes out.

The difference between each wave on the spectrum (of which there are 13 in total, luckily, I suppose) comes down to the frequency within the wavelength.

Radio waves display the lowest frequency and the longest wavelength. In other words, the path is straighter but with observable undulation.

Gamma waves reveal the highest frequency and the shortest wavelength. In other words, the path is more squiggly.

By the way, if your imagination isn’t running wild, then you should let it.

Unmolested, light’s wave looks like a straight line. In a vacuum, an electromagnetic wave moves energy at a speed of 3.00 x 10⁸ m/s, a value commonly shown in math by the symbol c, the variable that represents the speed of light in Einstein’s famous equation.

Though light cannot escape an event horizon, the gravity of a black hole dark orb itself cannot consume light because the fight is evenly matched, meaning each does its own thing as well as the other does the opposite.

In other words, gravity and light are a match made in heaven.

Science has proven this via calculated observation on a proverbial loop.

In other words, the science of observation has proven a the whole lot.

E = mc²

Energy equals matter [or mass, if you like] at the speed of light (squared).

I prefer “matter” because it makes more sense in my head. Without matter, there can be no mass with which we can interact.

For now, just consider the fact that, essentially, Einstein’s equation indicates—given an absurd (c²) amount of time—that energy (E) equals (=) matter (m).

Matter becomes energy.

Energy becomes matter.

Matter and energy become one.

As the nerdy tee states, “You matter, until you multiply yourself by the speed of light twice, then you energy.”

the speed of light = c

No matter how you slice it—as long as you do in fact slice it—the variable c represents a measurement of time.

Light sets the bar for speed while time ripples in its wake.

c	=
miles per second	186,282
kilometers per second	299,792
meters per second	299792457.82816
span of whole universe	>13.8 billion years

Is there a more absurd amount of time than none at all?

How about time that goes backward?

Hold that thought.

The speed of light is one of three key factors in one of (if not the) most current, renowned, revolutionary contributions to science, the General Theory of Relativity. Einstein’s theory basically observed that gravitational waves and material interference determine the pace at which time ticks by wherever you (or anything else in the universe) might be, and the only thing exempt from this constant truth is light.

This explains why as we go faster, time slows down.

Einstein first published his theory of Special Relativity in 1905, updated to its General form ten years later to accommodate Isaac Newton’s law of gravitation.

Long story short, the primary adjustment was based on the realization that spacetime is not flat, but rather curved.

We’ve not been the same since.

The primordial force of gravity actually bends space and time, creating an array of trajectories and pathways for movement.

In other words, water spirals down the drain.

Seemingly, when bending yields breakage, we get those galaxy-gobbling monsters known (heretofore inaccurately) as “black holes” that, for all intents and purposes, are trying to rewind time by slurping up all the things and stuff in the universe.

I never said gravity was smart, okay?

No wonder light’s in such a big damn hurry to get the hell outta dodge.

Like a kid, toy, top, clock, heart, atom, sperm, nucleus, cell, sun, planet, moon, creature, toddler, whatever else you can think of, if you wind it up, then by golly, it’ll go!

But it will not go at the speed of light. It will not because it cannot. It isn’t physically capable. The laws of physics have highlighted this fact without exception since folks began trying to observe and record said physical laws. The speed of light sets the edge of reality, the space where time stops.

How much more irrevocably irrefutable can one fact be?

What might all this suggest happens when the speed of light doubles? How about an absolute reversal of time? What can you imagine that could suck worse than that?

Imagine it.

All of time. The history of starlight.

Approaching 14 billion years of all this chaotically dispersing energy fueling oceans of hydrogen, the formation of galaxies, stars, planets, moons, oxygenating seas for all matter of carbon, collapsing dust, rising ash, nurturing development, breaking and sliding, shifting and braking, billowing ash toward all manner of life, evolving, discovering, creating, encompassing and permeating every last fraction of recorded history.

All of it.

Imagine everything there ever was.

Now imagine it gone.

Snap, blink, poof.

Goodbye, forever—at the same time, hello again—all in an absurd instant that times out upon reaching the kind of speed only accessible in dreams.

Remain calm. We will make sense of all this. Assuming we get lucky.

Now what can you imagine that might suck worse than all of existence glitching out and requiring an instantaneous reset? Nothing, perhaps? The speed of light is already plenty absurd, but multiplying itself by itself!? How square.

The word “square” has over 50 definitions, by the way.

Squared, opposite of split.

Multiplication.

Times.

X.

Consider everything that can happen by splitting anything squarely.

(You gotta do some of the work here.)

When enacted upon an occurrence of circular motion, straight lines have this super weird way of dividing up then being unsure about whether to veer left or keep right. Pardon me for saying so, but that’s exactly what I think must’ve happened before the first atom ever was formed. Miss Zero was sad because she couldn’t count. That sucked. Then, in an enlightening moment of staggering clarity, she realized that she’s a goshdarn circle, an intensely infernal inferno, a supernatural sorceress capable of hurling a level infinity fireball.

Science, physics, math, language, civilization, religion, philosophy, art, music, food, everything I’ve ever seen, smelled, touched, heard, felt, wanted, needed, or thought about supports every sentence held together by these digital pages. 

In other words, most likely, I’m delusional.

But have you ever heard of a cell that didn’t divide?

Any kind of cell.
Any cell in your body.
Any stormcell.
Any terrorist cell.
Anything cellular.

Anything sold.

Energy boomerangs while building momentum in a straight line.

Where lines meet, mathematical randomness takes place and creates shape.

In other words, even properly lubed gears eventually grind.

In other words, triangles come full circle.

Really quickly, take forever and think of something that fully conflicts with the following pattern.

Any mushroom cloud that ever violently arose.
Anything that collects and gathers dust.
Anything that ripples or makes waves.
Anything that needs to be moved.
Anything that goes on its own.
Any bulb that ever bloomed.
Any tree that ever grew up.
Anything that breathes.
Any division of labor.
Any friction between competing parties (or bodies) that generated enough heat (or power, or pain, or pleasure) to explode.
Any thing (like you and me) that ever learned to control its energy, the essence of its vitality, the source of its light.

That’s what all this is about.

(The hokey-pokey is optional at this point.)

Just hang in there, okay? I swear you’re fine.

All anything has ever been about equates with dire needs in the face of wanting control of energy sources.

Life is programmed to do whatever it takes to survive.

How many triumphant armies have been well-fed? How many wars have been fought over land? All of them.

Think of all the blood that has been shed since mankind learned how to summon and control fire.

Imagine wanting full control of fire.

Imagine profiting off a need meant to be spread evenly across humankind.

Maybe you don’t have to imagine it.

Why do people want to control more fuel than they need?

Fuel.

Food.
Energy.
Power.
Electricity.
Light.
Time.
Money.

Is there nothing else?

Guess what happened next.

The way I see it, this highlights the root of all greed. Resource-hogging can only end badly. When you don’t need something, you cannot use it. This is not hard, people—fuck.

Greed is the ultimate evil, if you will.

It all comes down to power.

power: energizing existence only to relinquish a fraction more or less than half its assets since forever ago