APOD: Our Story in One Minute (2012 Nov 14)

[DosBoot]

Skyscaper - Burj Khalifa with Burj Khalifa Lake below.
Mountain - Beats me but definately not Everest.
Video - Great fun!

[florid_snow]

...From whence came the banging material, what was there before there was a before, why is there something rather than nothing...

I'd bet you're familiar with the type of responses which usually surround these types of questions, and I too am unsatisfied. But I think I might have thought of something which might add to these age old questions...?

Why is there something rather than nothing? I think one problem with the perspective that leads to this question is that you are not taking the nothing that does exist seriously enough. Are you so sure you live in a world with only "something" and no "nothing"? Some people think there is a "firmament" to outer-space, that it is a created empty space, and that all matter and space is like in a big bubble of existence called The Universe. I changed my view in a physics class. I found while studying that I could solve hard problems if I could get an intuitive feel for them, like feeling the weight of a baseball. But when I got to relativity, I was stumped.

I found that the theory of general relativity was both consistent with observations and mentally counter-intuitive (why should speed and the passage of time be related?) I thought it should be possible to change my perspective so it was not counter-intuitive. The perspective change I experienced which led to a more intuitive understanding was to take the "nothing" in outer space much more seriously, not as a background grid or created space, but as truly nothing.

An idea Einstein starts with is something like "imagine that only 2 homogeneous tiny spherical objects exist in space. There would be no such thing as rotation in such a universe." When that made intuitive sense, I knew I had the right perspective.

[neufer]

If we assume that the mountain at the end was photographed from a helicopter, then I believe that eliminates Everest and many other of the highest peaks in the world. My understanding is that helicopters cannot fly in altitudes that high. Of course, it could simply be a well done CG animation.

I'm interested to know the right answer.

The 'summit' of Mount Sunflower

<<Mount Sunflower is the highest point in the state of Kansas. At 1,231 m, it is 1,010 m feet above the state's topographic low point in Montgomery County in southeastern Kansas due to the gradual rise towards the Rocky Mountains to the west. Located in Wallace County, it is less than half a mile (0.8 km) from the Colorado state border and close to the lowest point in Colorado.

Mount Sunflower is located on private land owned by Mike and Rae Marie Jones, who encourage visitors to the site. Amenities include a picnic table, a sunflower sculpture made from railroad spikes, and a plaque that states "nothing happened here in 1897."

Access is via county dirt roads to the edge of the property, then across a cattle guard and onto a private dirt road through a cattle grazing pasture to the summit.>>

[guess what]

not impressed, but that did look like brian cox standing on the mountian at the end of the show.
its never too late to have a great childhood.

[Polygonszs]

Wouldn't it be delightful to see an artistic impression of the big bang that didn't include preformed spiral galaxies whizzing by? I was happy to see that the final scene wasn't the human species buying Facebook stock. There's hope for us yet.

[Carole]

Sorry, guys. I'm a Christian, and I do not believe in the big bang theory. God created the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. No, it doesn't make logical sense. Yes, it takes faith to believe it. And I believe it. Just wanted you to know that you don't speak for me. It's not my story at all.

[LShirley]

This reminded me of the much less moving opening credits of the CBS-TV show of "Big Bang Theory" which attempts a similar challenge.

[neufer]

This reminded me of the much less moving opening credits of the CBS-TV show
of "Big Bang Theory" which attempts a similar challenge.

[Crass Novice]

I liked today's APOD except for the fact that Ms. Sheep forgot about the turtles.

[StarCuriousAero]

Humble Suggested Title Revision:
Our Story in One Minute (Except Creationists, since they didn't evolve with the rest of us)

[ta152h0]

I knew this was going helter skelter with religion. Unavoidable.

[stowaway]

It's sort of cute. I hope they didn't spend much time making it.

[tiorfino]

Definitely the Burj Khalifa, but also definitely not Everest (there is a river winding around the base, and a fairly large one at that).

[StarCuriousAero]

That skyscraper is definitely in Dubai.
I noticed a lake below that mountain, and I don't think Everest has a lake, although a helicopter HAS landed on Everest so the shot alone being aerial (likely from a helicopter) does not rule out Everest. Kind of looks like it though, but I don't know for sure. Don't think it's Mt McKinley and I know it's not Mt. Whitney and I don't know many other notable/big mountains in actual ranges.

For anyone complaining about the quality of the video, try changing to 720P in the settings, it defaults to 480p I think (or at least it did for me). I didn't get a commercial luckily, maybe just a quirk of YouTube. Great video by the way, loved the music.

[BDanielMayfield]

I was a little hesitant to watch the video at first, since I believe in both Creation (vs. Evolution) and that the Big Bang was not a spontanious event, but actually controlled by a higher power. But that is a discussion for another time. The point is that I didn't think that the video would agree with my beliefs on the subject. However, I plucked up my courage and watched the video. And to my surprise I liked it. It portrayed the different species in such a way that someone who believes in evolution could see the connection between the species, and someone who believes in creation could see it as a representation of the different species that inhabit (or inhabited) this planet. To the makers of this video a huge "Good Job" and "Thank You" is in order.

I agree completely. Well stated.

[skywatcher62]

I don't know which mountain he's standing on, but I'm pretty sure the person in question is Brian Cox, and the clip is from Wonders of the Solar System (or maybe Wonders of the Universe).

[emc]

Today’s APOD seems to have struck a nerve in some folks… perhaps from reading too much in.

First thought that came to mind while watching the video… if my life flashes before me as I’m dying (which is reported to happen by people that didn’t actually die) I hope my life’s organic video edits out the more embarrassing moments… I hope to die with a smile on my face.

While the video impressively compresses a huge epic of time, I was disappointed at the immediate post big bang imagery… the zooming of static 2D cosmic images was bland. I liked the ending though with the aerial pan of the (what I supposed to be a human) creature standing on the mountain peak… apparently taking an accomplished look around at the surrounding earth. It is good to enjoy an accomplishment for a little while. I don’t believe we've reached the peak of our existence however.

[BMAONE23]

I suppose the parting image was supposed to represent "MAN" at the pinnacle of existence.
We must be at our apex because 12-21-12 is just a mere 5 weeks away

[Anthony Barreiro]

... . However, the concept of colliding membranes is on the grand scale indistinguishable from the concept of God. I say this not because of a belief in any particular answer but a dis-belief in our ability to know the ultimate truth in the matter. In the end our theories and models are just that, theories and models. They are tools in understanding how the universe works, not the final answer. In ages past we created gods in the image of humanity, we should take care in this current age not to create gods in the image of mathematics.

Well said, although it would also be good to remember that mathematics is a human activity.

I find fundamentalism equally unsatisfactory and frustrating regardless of the sacred text chosen as the foundation of belief, whether it be an ancient religious book or current scientific theory. The best religious perspectives have the advantage of taking mystery seriously and thus cultivating humility. The scientific method has the advantage of testing beliefs against observations and thus developing better models of reality. But we all crave greater certainty than the world provides, so we cling to our familiar and comfortable beliefs and attempt to silence those whose experience and beliefs are different than our own.

By the way, regarding this particular video:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel

[Steve62]

Complete Science Fiction. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.
The Religion of Evolution requires belief in chance and time and life coming from nothing. Great faith, not science.
I do love seeing the photos of God's creation though in APOD.

[pgp566]

The Twitter effect on science.

[BMAONE23]

Complete Science Fiction. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.
The Religion of Evolution requires belief in chance and time and life coming from nothing. Great faith, not science.
I do love seeing the photos of God's creation though in APOD.

It would seem to me that Belief in Big Bang and Belief in Biblical creation are basically the same thing, the belief in something from nothing. One ascribes it to a Supreme Being describing the possible order of occurances and the other describes the method that possible Supreme Being used to bring things together during the period of creation/big bang

[cvg]

As always, no matter how grand the Universe is or how amazing, Man's primary point of concern will always be Man.
The skyscraper , I thought, might be the one in Taipei. The mountain could be Mont Blanc.

[Boomer12k]

Awesome music....great animation depictions....hope our story continues and has some sort of happy ending....

:---[===] *

[Guest]

The mountain is the Brocken in the Harz Mountains, with Mephistopheles triumphant.