Fourth Dimension

Shivantha Withanage

Science can explain many things which happen in our universe. With the help of mathematics and physical theories science has got that ability. Most of the existing scientific explanations are based on three dimensions that you probably already aware about. Those are Length, Width and Height. Using these three dimensions we can explain a physical object or identify something like distance or volume. Knowledge about this three dimension concept would be enough for an day to day ordinary life. But when you take, life span of an object , molecular mechanics or radioactive decay in to account the crack appears in this concept.

No one can explain how things get old or more scientifically, increasing the disorder in a system, using the three dimension concept. Then the question rises, are there any other dimensions except length, width and height? If we count time as a dimension, it will give answers to lots of questions like this. But many people, including scientists reject to consider time as a dimension. They say that time cannot count as a dimension, because it is not constant. But they should also remember that three dimensions are also not constant. Nothing exist in this world is constant, everything is relative and changing with the time.

Time, the fourth dimension is different from classical three dimensions in various ways. Three dimensions can be detected by sensory organs such as human eye. But time could not be detected by those kind of organs. We can move through space forward and backward. Through the time you can only move forward. Backward movement is naturally restricted within the fourth dimension. For example feather in a river only move downward along with the water and never move upward. But if you give enough force against the flow of water you will able to move the feather upward. In the same way, if you supply the required environment and enough amount of energyin the proper state you might able to move something or even yourself to the past through time.

The challage which lies in front of present scientists is to figure out what is this required environment and what is the proper state and the amount of energy which is required. The day which humans find answers to these questions will be the turning point of human civilisation and it will be the start of a new science era.

Volcanic Eruption In Iceland & Cooling Effect

Shivantha Withanage

Last 14^th of April, 2010, EyjafjallajÖkul volcano located in Iceland erupted after a devastating earthquake and it was noted as the second largest eruption of 21^st century. There was another earthquake close to that area on 20^th of March. The second earthquake which occurred on 14^th of April was 10-20 times bigger than the previous one. Before this recent eruption this volcano erupted several times during the period between 1821-1823.

Iceland sits on a volcanic hotspot in the Mid-Atlantic ridge. So, frequent eruptions occur in the area. In this recent eruption, about 6 km high ash clouds threw up in to the atmosphere and those ash particles have spread in a vast area.

Historical Incident

There was a similar incident occurred on 15^th of June, 1991 in a area called Luzon in Philippines. The Pinatubo a stratvolcano erupted after a chain of earthquakes, throwing 20 million tons of SO₂ and ash particles in to 20 km up in the atmosphere. This SO₂ and ash clouds had caused many changes in the global climate for a long period. Because of those ash clouds, average temperature in northern hemisphere decreased in to 10 centigrades. Also northern hemisphere had reduced temperature from 0.5-0.6 centigrades and entire planet was cooled from 0.4-0.5 centigrades. This was the first time scientists experienced such a thing in near history and they called it global cooling or cooling effect. As you may think, Yes, it is the opposite of global warming. There is no wonder, if you are amused.

Scientific Explanation

There is just a simple scientific explanation for this. The SO₂ gas eject from the volcano react with water/H₂O_(g) in the atmosphere and form Sulfuric gas/H₂SO_4(g). Then Sulphuric gas turn in to Sulfate aerosols. These particles can last for 3-4 years in the upper part of the atmosphere (Stratosphere) and have the ability to absorb terrestrial radiation. And also sulfate aerosol and ash particles reflect extraterrestrial radiation back to the space. This scientific phenomena is known as the “Radiative Forcing”. Because of that, temperature in lower part of the atmosphere (Troposphere) will reduce.

In green house effect, greenhouse gases reflect terrestrial radiation back to the earth’s surface and absorb extraterrestrial radiation. So, we can say without any doubt that, this is the opposite effect of green house effect, the cooling effect.

The same thing can happen again now, because of the large amount of ash and SO₂ ejected to the atmosphere from the eruption occurred in Iceland. So this incident could bring back the issue again. But, there is much less chance to get a solution from this scientific phenomena for global warming.

Art of Science

Shivantha Withanage

Science is an art. But most of the people do not recognize the feature. There is a complicated connection between science and art. May be the complexity is the factor that keeps the reality unrevealed.

There are many questions that do not have any answers. Sometimes the answers are not well defined or out of the track. It is a natural thing, because we find solutions for any matter through our brain. Though human brain has the maximum capacity among all animals, it is not capable of achieving everything. But definitely we know that ultimate organ build from billions of neurons is capable of something. Beside those capabilities we will not be here. However, the questions that do not have answers, one of those questions is “When did science appear in the universe?” and another one is “When did art appear in the universe?”. In this scene every mastermind is speechless. But we can say both of them appeared together. Someone may find that this is a tricky answer, but we should assume that some questions do not deserve answers.

The key for the link between science and art is inside our body. The human brain is divided in to two hemispheres, as the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. The right part of the brain controls the left side of the body while the left part of the body controls the right side of the body. Scientific researches have proved that right part of the brain is responsible for artistic activities conducted by the person and the left part is responsible for scientific activities done by the person. But there are no strict rules inside the brain. If left hemisphere is unable to supply information for science based activities, right hemisphere will develop areas itself to achieve the goal. The process is same when there is a failure in the right hemisphere. According to above mentioned facts right and left parts of the brain do not act separately, they act as a one united system. As we cannot divide the brain systematically we also cannot divide its influences. So how can we tell science and art are separate fields. Both of them are components of a single field, it is the field of life.

Through the human evolution both science and art developed together. Many people lived in the past who are now days famous as major figures in science were actually also involved in art. They made their inventions and theories using their creativity and they mastered their creativity through their artistic activities. Creativity is the base for science. Without creativity or curiosity science would not exist. If you take a look at the history of science field you will see lots of examples. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci popular as Leonardo da Vinci who lived in Italy between 1452-1519 was an inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, engineer, anatomist, geologist, botanist, mathematician and a writer. He painted the world famous paintings such as Mona Lisa and The Last Supper that became unsolved mysteries in the art history and many other marvelous paintings. He also dissected human body and drew many anatomical sketches and he also made primary sketches for the inventions such as helicopter, hang glider and hydraulic pump. So he is a brilliant example for the relationship between art and science.

Many people believe that if you need to become fluent in science you should give up in art or if you want to become an artist you should give up in science. How can a scientist without creativity, plan an experiment or make a model? How can a musician without basic scientific knowledge about sound compose a melody? Forcing people to do only scientific studies or only artistic work is useless, because art and science are both normal human natures. It is acceptable that some people become atypical in some fields, because they dedicate themselves to those areas. But that does not mean they are unable to improve in other fields.

The link between science and art is unavoidable. Without art, science could not exist, without science, art could not exist and without both science and art, world could not exist.