Part 38 (1/2)
”Talking faster than light.”
Albert's eyes went wide.
”But I don't know what that means.”
”Our theory,” said Ralph at a whisper to no one in particular. ”Quantum spreading as the facilitator of communication.”
Liam looked innocently up at his dad. ”Don't you believe me? I mean about h.e.l.lo.”
”I ... Does Rex Snoopy Biscuit believe you?” Why did I say that?
”I couldn't really understand the sky people,” said Liam, ”but Rex Snoopy Biscuit could. He told me what they were saying.”
”Oh,” Albert managed, struggling to put it all into a logical context.
”I believe you, Bluey,” said Ralph.
Liam returned a smiled, then looked back at Albert. ”Do you believe me, Dad?”
Albert hesitated, then said, ”I think so.” He felt he had to give that comfort to his son. Or rather I can't say I disbelieve you.
”Let's go back and dry off,” said Kimberly. ”I'd hate to see us all come down with colds.” She put an arm around Liam and urged him toward the observatory building.
”We can commandeer one of the visiting scientist apartments,” said Albert. ”There's a communal laundry. We can throw our clothes in the dryer.”
Liam protested. ”I can't go around without any clothes on.”
”While our clothes are drying,” said Kimberly, ”we can dress in sheets, togas, like the Romans did.”
”Well,” said Liam in tacit acceptance.
Ralph whispered to Albert. ”Do we announce any of this to the SETI Foundation?”
”I don't think so.”
”I don't know if anything really happened, but if it did, it was profound,” said Albert, as he and Ralph, dressed in ersatz togas, walked into the control room. Kimberly was in a visiting scientist bedroom, trying to coax Liam to sleep.
”How do you feel now about ... Guriada?”
”Extrasensory perception is...” Albert began, heatedly, primed to deliver the strong denial that he'd so often given in the past. ”It's...” He paused. ”I don't know. I just don't know.”
”Excellent!” said Ralph as he padded over to the astronomy monitor. ”Welcome to Club Heisenberg.”
”Yeah. Right.”
Albert and Ralph leaned in over the display.
”The signal is gone,” said Ralph, sadly. ”I'm afraid there's no way we can verify our alien encounter.”
”We have the data recordings.”
”Not precisely what I'd call a verification.”
Albert smiled at the incongruity of two scientists dressed as Roman senators talking philosophy. ”Some things that are real aren't verifiable.”
”True,” said Senator Ralph. ”And there are many modes of communication, not just at the higher cerebral level.”
Albert nodded. ”I'd always thought that if it weren't repeatable and verifiable, it wasn't science. But...”
”Nature is uncertain, mate. Ambiguous.”
”Ambiguity. Yes.” Albert gave a sad smile. ”But I really have to ask: was it a genuine SETI positive or just a spurious signal and the rich imagination of a child?” He slumped into a chair.
Ralph shrugged. ”In any case,” he said, ”we've come up with a really spiffy theory. We should publish.”
Albert sighed. ”And keep searching.”
The phone rang and Albert looked idly at the caller ID, then snapped erect. ”The Murchison Array!” With the speed of a cobra, Albert snaked out his hand to the phone.
THE MANDELBROT BET.
Dirk Stra.s.ser
What is reality?
Does the physical universe actually exist or is it, in the words of Edgar Allan Poe, ”a dream within a dream”?
Or look at it another way. Does mathematics truly describe the physical universe, or is the world of mathematics actually the universe itself?
And what do these concepts have to do with the hopes and fears and pa.s.sions that we human beings feel with every beat of our hearts?
Thereby hangs Dirk Stra.s.ser's tale.
There are lines which are monsters.
Eugene Delacroix Voice notes to self on the development of the escape-time algorithm-Daniel Rostrom Remember, the answer is always simple. That's not to say the simple answer is the correct one. The danger to avoid is the a.s.sumption that the simple answer, by the sole nature of its simplicity, is the correct one.