Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA #134: Testing Asumptions

Taking nothing for granted.

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Is space really empty?

Well, the universe is filled with stars, planets and galaxies, but sure all the big gaps between those things are mostly empty. Although, let's not forget dark matter. It's likely to have a wider and denser distribution than visible matter, since we think there's four times more of it than there is of light matter - but all we can really say is 'we think' since we can't see dark matter and we don't actually know what it is.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Just how strange is reality?

So, this is an unusual question insofar as the word strange implies a divergence from normal - whereas reality is by definition normal. Therefore, whatever strangeness it may possess is mostly defined by our own subjective expectations. Every day the Sun comes up and when we make a cup of tea, the water still boils the way that it has ever other day and the tea bags and milk you bought the day before haven't spontaneously dematerialized overnight. These are things we consider normal and indeed represents the apparent blandness of reality - something that can only be spiced up by the application of our imagination.

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].