Infinite Space v.5.0

The electron is a very annoying particle. Anyone who has passed Grade 9 knows that they orbit the nucleus of an atom at very specific distances, called shells. The shells represent different energy levels of the electron. The shells farthest from the nucleus represent the higher energy electrons, these shells also decide how the element behaves. Set amounts of electrons "fill" each shell, starting from the inside. What most people don't know is that electrons are not actually there.
The classic way that people imagine the atom (above) is completely wrong. The protons and neutrons (red & blue) would be the size of a pixel, total. The electrons would be described as a "statistical haze" around the atom:
One cannot know the precise location of an electron. They could be anywhere, therefore they are everywhere. This was a clever solution by quantum mechanist to solve balance an equation. Although it does explain the word shells.

Quantum mechanics is full of strange things that do not work is our life-size world. The whole purpose of quantum mechanics was to explain why particles moved and interacted in ways that did not correspond with the way planets and moons do here.

Infinite Space v.4.0

Ah, the atom. Once thought to not exist, but then it was photographed, and that died out. For a short while, it was the smallest bit of matter known, then though, along came J.J. Thompson.

His discovery of the electron shocked the world. This was soon followed by the discovery of the nucleus of the atom, and inside that; the proton and neutron. Smaller still were the quarks and muons that followed. Today, the atom remains as the smallest thing that we can directly photograph or manipulate.

Needles that thin down to a single atom at the tip are used to individually "feel" the atoms. Scientists have now just discovered how to move them around with these machines. This could mean a range of nano-machines, or nanobots. Powered by tiny engines and modeled after natural bacteria, they could preform many as of yet impossible tasks. Swarms of them could assemble items molecule by molecule. If they were small enough, perhaps even a living thing could be duplicated. It may now be science fiction, but in the future, these nanobots could be sent to another planet and assemble the astronauts there!

At the atomic scale, there is no life. In fact, most of an atom is just empty space. Imagine zooming into an atom until it is the size of a football stadium, the nucleus of the atom, which accounts for 99.9% of its weight, would be a baseball lying at center field. We would find the electrons out in the stands. It is hard to imagine that our bridges and buildings are made up of mostly empty space. It seems that at the atomic level and below, our rules of physics do not apply.

The Electron, next...

Infinite Space v.3.0

As we rush further inward, closer to the DNA strands, we can begin to see the structure that they take. Incredibly efficient at storing information in a tiny area and being able to copy and distribute that information, the double helix was born out of hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Biologists are drawn to its functionality, chemists to its atomic complexity, and mathematicians to its surprising symmetry. A graceful skeleton made up of sugar and phosphate groups holds the nitrogenous bases across from each other in a gentle spiral down the strand. With the right cues, the strand will split to become a single helix. Lone segments of DNA will bond with their opposite partner, copying the entire genome. Any damage, such as a missing phosphate-sugar-base trio is quickly filled by another just like it floating around the strand in the nucleolus. The ease with which DNA self-repairs and self-replicates is created by the way that DNA stores its information along both sides of the double helix. This backup system is critical because DNA can be damaged very easily. It is quite amazing really that this perfect system arose only through trial and error.

We now approach the atom...

Infinite Space v.2.0

A little ways off we see a lone E coli; it is one of the most common of all bacteria and certain strains attack humans. With few resources, the straggled cell cannot divide and multiply to form a colony, it will be destroyed by a virus, or simply starve. A virus kills from inside. Its feet-like tail fibers are composed of proteins that, upon finding a victim cell, will latch on and breach the cell's membrane. Inside, it seizes control of the cell's "factories", or endoplasmic reticulum. It will manufacture copies of itself until the cell ruptures, spilling out an instant army. Then the cycle will begin again.

Inside our lone E coli, its strands of DNA twinkle with the information that they hold. In the human genome, there are 9 billion base pairs. Each base pair interacts with nearly every other base pair in the genome. If each base pair equals one computer-bit of information, the size of our genome would be about 350 megabytes. Although this number may seem small remember, every one of those base pairs interacts with all the other base pairs, every one is encoded to have multiple layers of meaning. The actual amount of information stored in our DNA would be closer to 0.1 terabytes, about 100 GB.

More will be coming soon...

Infinite Space v.1.0

"I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space..."

Hamlet, Scene II

Our earth is not big, we have conquered it with boats and planes and cars. We hardly need to use our feet at all. Space is huge, but as we have no means to reach it, what good is it.

While a few bold dreamers still scan the sky and search for a means to get there, most of out science today is concerned with looking inward. We study ourselves, our minds, forces, atoms, quarks, muons. We are probing not out and away from earth, but in to our small beachhead. Do not fear though, the infinite space that we are made of may be the more important pursuit.

Consider a marble, or better yet, a ball bearing. It is a small object, just under 1 cm in diameter. The sort of thing that you would expect to lose. Look deeper now, as our scientists are, as it has its own world at a scale much smaller than our own.

On the surface, likely oil from your hands would mix with any dirt it may have picked up, filling any microscopic holes or scratches, adding to the illusion of its smoothness. You may yet find life, a few discarded skin cells or a small colony of viruses. Theirs would be a turbulent world; the slightest breath or touch of yours would seem like an earthquake or hurricane. A little closer and the chaos turns to order. We can see how the cells we shed quickly grow cold and dry, without the stable oxygen from our blood that they rely on, they have no chance at survival. A little ways off we see a lone E coli; it is one of the most common of all bacteria and certain strains attack humans. With few resources, the straggled cell cannot divide and multiply to form a colony, it will be destroyed by a virus, or simply starve.

Tune in soon for the next section, in which we delve into DNA and the mysteries of the atom.
torwch