welcome to summer, e=mc2, we are all just atoms

solstice was yesterday, we had a great night - real chill.
celebrated with friends and food!

there is a new vegan restaurant
right across from the bike kitchen
and scoops (ice cream delectables - 4 flavors vegan everyday fresh)

it is in the pure luck restaurant space
which had great food, but this
this is a vegan restaurant that is cheap for vegan food
and it is a couple hundred yards away...

we had their spring rolls
so delicious...i'm really excited about this because
there is such a vibrant community here, and this is the cherry on top!

***

so i have been reading a book published in 1948
about einstein and his revolutionary new envisioning of the universe...
at the time the book was written he was in his early sixties

i have an avid interest in physics,
especially as it relates to metaphysics
and this book (thankfully only 100 pages or so)
is a great bit of reading
that makes me appreciate being a human being
in this vast seemingly endless and ever expanding universe.

a most fascinating thought was that a certain star: arcturus
sent out light that reached the optic nerves of scientists "now"
(being 1948)
but that is just ghost light which left in 1910 to reach earth
at that moment in time...
the author lincoln barnett writes:
"whether arcturus even exists "now" nature forbids us to know until 1986"

i had known that stars light reach us much later than
they are actually burning where they are at,
but i was so intrigued by the idea that i could
as a member of the year 2007
research and find out if the star still exists...

the theory of relativity disavows the previously newtonian concept
of the universe as a machine,
and einstein basically determined that everything can only be measured
by the relative systems it is part of,
and that the whole universe has hugely diverse patterns of gravitation
and energy.

so i finally understood the famous equation...
(more than i did before anyway)
mass is energy stored, energy has mass
it is all matter...
so e is the energy
m is the value of mass
and c is the speed of light
a mind-blowing 186,284 miles a second
and it has been established
that this is the fastest thing we know of
(at least by 1948)

as i'm reading this book,
i feel like i know even less of what is going on today in physics
if only because the increse of knowledge is so great...
but these principles seem to still hold true,
even though i recall in recent years
an article that could possibly shed more light on our
vast universe than even einstein did...

the book is written only with "he" as the scientists
but i've trained myself to include "she"
in any sentence that leaves "her" out...

i remember reading the poetry of an astronomer
who was accomplished in both fields,
and the metaphysics, the beauty of our four dimensional existence,
was captured so eloquently.
she was quite an inspiration to me...
since i have always held the belief that a writer
or any artist
creates more relevant and valuable work
when interested in learning the most about everything...

my dear friend from school
recently finished his novel
and it made me realize again that
i have been exceedingly lucky to pursue art
and that someday, when my novel is done,
(perhaps when i'm 80 if i live that long)
i hope to synthesize all the knowledge i've sought
and been taught
because physics seems to make me feel connected,
interconnected and lucky to be the favored human being
in a whirling mass of energy and space
our lives are a gift,
and i only hope that we can learn how important
every little thing is in our eco-system and universe
how delicate the balance,
how important the consciousness of our small planet's resources.

and the most exciting thing is that
someday with improved technology and research
we could really tap into the energy we are surrounded by
thus ending our suicidal dependence on energy sources that pollute
which we get only a fraction of their actual potential to
generate energy.

"one kilogram of coal (about two pounds" barnett writes,
"if converted entirely into energy,
would yield 25 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
or as much as all the power plants in the u.s. could generate by running
steadily for two months."

beyond knowing a bit more about mass and energy,
the initial description of how relativity is related to our
limited senses, was comforting...
that may seem odd, to take away all perception...
to show that there is no "middle c" and there is no "red color" truly
that endless points of distinction exist between any two points
which blows away even the system of microtonal music...
but i find it comforting...
these "new" understandings of the universe and our relation to it
very much feel like the math behind zen.

i am only half way through this book, and i'm really enjoying it.
it makes me realize how little i know...
and how little even scientists know...
i hope it can humble us as a vastly distant group of humans.
i hope that the fact that potable water is not accessible
in cities except to purchase,
and is so contaminated that it causes diseases in children,
will someday soon bring the people to rise up
and demand that where they live,
be respected as part of them...

these are grand ideas,
all i do is recycle and bike whenever possible,...
but small changes - if everyone, or even thousands of people made them
would make a huge difference.

we are all just atoms....everything is....
no matter where in the world