Who came up with that bright idea?

Yesterday I read a news article regarding the passing of Joe Frazier. At the age of 67 he lost his journey in life a month after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

Now, this article isn’t entirely about Joe Frazier, it’s more of an example of a situation on something that could well be a very common occurrence amongst us all.

Something that made me curiously raise my eyebrows.

Great Achievements

You see, whilst his name is familiar to me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you too much about what he actually achieved in life.  I knew he was a boxer, but as for being aware of any further career details I really struggled.

I claim it’s not my fault though, well not entirely anyway.  He started to achieve success before I was born and then his big events occurred whilst I was living in my single digit years. So I can sort of excuse myself there on that one.

Fortunately the news story filled me in with the details, which I guess is part of what it’s supposed to do.  He defeated Muhammad Ali, wow!  Plus he defended the heavy weight title on more than one occasion.  So in terms of being a boxer that’s a great record of success.

Even if my ignorance meant I really didn’t know about him.

Being Famous

So, this made me ponder for a moment about the whole “famous” thing. There are plenty of people around with a desire to become famous.  Some for the fame, but others I’m guessing is for the money.

For me, it would be because of something I had achieved.  Possibly something to improve the way things are done, to make life simpler for people in life.  Perhaps even a radical step forward in the world of technology.

I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, well not now anyway, but if it did I wonder if I’d ever be remembered 100 years on from now?

Sorry, What Did You Do?

There are plenty of famous people in the world but whilst we may know their name we may not necessarily know what they did during their life time to award them the famous tag.

I’m not talking about the current “so called” celebrity world. I’m referring to famous people from possibly decades before we were born that truly made a difference to the way we do things.

Force of Gravity Lights the Way

For instance, a vast number of today’s population have heard of Albert Einstein.  As to how many people actually know why may be a slightly different number.  My guess is lower, much lower.

Sir Isaac Newton is probably in the same “famous but no idea why” bracket for some people.  Alexander Fleming may well be another, along with Thomas Edison too.

What these men achieved in their lives has affected us all in our own everyday lives.  Yet how much we really know about them probably varies greatly between us all.

So Back To Me

Take my life for example.  After I’ve finally moved on from living on this planet, at the ripe old age of 150 or whatever it’ll be, I want people to read all about me in the news. I want people to discover how much of a difference I made to something, or how great a particular achievement of mine was.

I want people to say “Hey, I recognise that chap”, or perhaps “Oh my goodness! Have you heard the news about Cajuzi the Curious Orangutan..?”

Conclusion

Just one thought, well a concern really.  Will it be the first time that people actually discover what I achieved during my life time?

I hope not.

Will my great great grandchildren have any idea why they knew my name other than being mentioned in an old scrap book?

I hope so, but I accept there’s a good chance they won’t.

Finally

You see, I haven’t actually achieved anything yet so I’ll just be referred to as an old non-descript family member.  Mind you, maybe I have achieved greatness already and you just haven’t read about it yet. Who knows?

Makes you think though…

Right, I’d better be going. My time machine is ready and waiting for its next journey.  Oh, damn!  You’re not supposed to know about that… well not yet anyway.

Speed of Darkness

During my time at school and college I loved Mathematics.  It was definitely my best subject and I clearly had a logical mind that fitted in well.

Another subject that I was pretty good at during college was Physics.  In fact, I received my highest grade in it, and that’s something that still amazes me to this very day.

Don’t get me wrong, I worked extremely hard for it.  Physics had a lot of logic in it too so in theory most of it just followed a typical logical path for me I guess.

That is, until now…

Oh, Should We Panic?

Last week whilst reading the news I noticed a headline that puzzled me for a moment.  You know the type, the ones you have to read half a dozen times to understand it.  Well this one confused me.  It said, “Earthquake in Physics!”

Er… really?  Don’t you mean Geography, and not Physics?  Well, apparently not. 

WHOOSH!

I’m sure you may have heard about this.  A group of scientists in Switzerland have announced an amazing discovery.  They claim to have clocked particles called Neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light.

Impossible!  No!  Never!

Surely this can’t be true (stay with me), because in 1905 Albert Einstein said it could never happen, and we know he was a genius.  Well, for decades that’s how he’d been portrayed in Physics lessons around the world.

A Quick Technical Bit…

The speed of light is 186,282 miles per second, or 299,792 km per second if you prefer.  Einstein’s theory of relativity focused on the formula of E=mc².  Out of this he said anything other than light is a physical object and therefore it has a mass, meaning it will travel slower than light. 

The experiment on the other hand showed the neutrinos arriving 60 nanoseconds before the light arrived.  Hardly a huge difference but it is faster, and a difference none the less.

Right, that’s the technical bit over with.

Time To Prove It

Scientists from all over the world are now trying to prove whether the findings are flawed, and if the experts at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) have simply made a big embarrassing mistake.

If proven to be correct then Physics can never be taught the same ever again.  It just wouldn’t work. A teacher can’t say to their class “because of… Einstein’s theory is… well except for”.

What Would It Mean?

The exciting and interesting, but possibly worrying part of these findings, is that if it’s proved to be correct then it could open the door for time travel as ultimately it’s all to do with speed and time. 

Back to the Future… No, the Other Way

So, I’ve been thinking this through.  Let’s say it is true and Einstein was wrong.  I have a question.

Why didn’t someone from the future travel back in time to 1905 and tell Einstein his discovery simply wasn’t true?

Conclusion

So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.  As no one can be bothered to go back, I’ll do it!

Right, so I’m off then.  I’ll be back shortly.  In fact, as far you know I could’ve been already. 

Oh, hang on a minute!  If it is true then you’ll be wondering who this chap Einstein is.

Hmm.  Well that solves it then.  By the very fact that I’m writing about it now means it can’t be true.  So by simple logic I’ve solved it. 

I always knew Physics was easy…