Space & Physics: Are we in the "darkest timeline?"

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November 14 — This week's top stories include a meditation on the physics of "darkest timelines," an interview with an especially overachieving NASA astronaut, a celebration of the Martian New Year, and more. Enjoy! --Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space and Physics

Alternate Timelines Can't Help You, Quantum Physicists Say The multiverse offers no escape from our reality—which might be a very good thing

On the morning of November 6, the day after Donald Trump had been reelected as President of the United States, the phrase "darkest timeline" trended for a few hours in Google searches. People around the world—and many feeling especially blue from Trump's "red wave" of voter support—were seemingly questioning some core tenets of reality. Could a "darkest timeline" really exist alongside our own—and might we actually be in it? Or could there be some other branch of the notional multiverse in which the electoral outcome had been different—and if so, could anyone disgruntled with our own plane of existence swap over to it? Far from being a mere minor internet meme, the notion of a "darkest timeline" cuts deep to the core of multiple interpretations of quantum mechanics, and even to the application of quantum effects in computers, communications and biology itself. So here at Scientific American we decided to unpack all that, offering if nothing else a bit of erudite distraction from the ongoing chaos of U.S. politics. Our top story this week, by contributing editor George Musser, delves into some of the science and philosophy behind speculations about the multiverse. Yes, Musser writes, alternate timelines almost certainly exist—but our current understanding of physics offers no way of reaching them. And that, he argues, may be to our great benefit. --Lee Billings

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Top Stories

This 'Human Computer' Created a System for Measuring Vast Distances in Our Universe Visual artist Anna Von Mertens looks to astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt and her vision of the universe for inspiration Carol Sutton Lewis; Sophie McNulty; The Lost Women of Science Initiative

NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim Is a Rarity among Rarities Jonny Kim—a former Navy SEAL and ER doctor—is now a NASA astronaut who will soon launch to the International Space Station as flight engineer for the crew of Expedition 72/73 Saima S. Iqbal, intern writer

How Geometry Revealed Quantum Memory The unexpected discovery of a geometric phase shows how math and physics are tightly intertwined Manon Bischoff

Happy New Year! (If You're a Martian) The Martian new year arrives with the Red Planet's vernal equinox. Explaining why requires a deep dive into celestial mechanics and Earth's calendrical history Phil Plait

Mud Bath Really Does Make Baseballs Easier to Grip Droughts in 48 of 50 U.S. states, evidence of microplastics mucking up wastewater recycling and the science of a baseball mud bath in this week's news roundup. Rachel Feltman; Jeffery DelViscio, staff editor; Anaissa Ruiz Tejada

Consciousness Might Hide in Our Brain's Electric Fields A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brain to explain our awareness Tamlyn Hunt

How I Overcame Solastalgia Damage to your environment can bring a profound sense of loss; that feeling, called solastalgia, can also provide inspiration Queen Essang, contract writer

What We're Reading

What's in store for U.S. space policy in the aftermath of the 2024 election? | Ars Technica NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory is short on cash and laying off more workers—again. | Space News This is how Elon Musk rebranded President-elect Donald Trump. | The New Yorker

From the Archive

Nil Communication: How to Send a Message without Sending Anything at All Physicists have exploited the laws of quantum mechanics to send information without transmitting a signal. But have they, really? Joshua Roebke

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