Discussion Similarities of the micro- and macro-universe

[R. A.]

In 2019, NASA released the first ever image of a black hole, taken with the Event Horizon Telescope:



Two years later, researchers at Cornell and elsewhere used one of the most powerful electron microscopes to create one of the "smallest" images ever, of "atoms of oxygen, scandium, and praseodymium at a magnification of 10 million"



If you zoom in on the single particles and blow up the image, they look not so unlike the first (minus, of course, the "hole" part:



Of course, there may be something to be said for the fact that these are captured images, where choices must be made when it comes to how things not perceptible by the human eye will be visualized - especially in the case of the TEM photos, which don't even use light as a medium due to their subjects being smaller than light waves. Still, it is a fascinating similarity...

 

[DarkRange55]

At its core, the universe operates on patterns that repeat across scales-galaxies, ecosystems, your brain, even your thoughts mirror the same principles of complexity and interconnectedness. Think about it: a neuron in your brain looks eerily like a galaxy cluster, with its web of connections. The branching of a tree resembles the veins in your body or the rivers carving through a landscape. This isn't just poetic-it's a deep truth about reality. The universe isn't just "out there"; you are a microcosm of it, a tiny but intricate reflection of the whole.

Some pattern similarities are from similar physics (spiral galaxies and whirlpool eddies,, and the similar branchings of some trees and veins are from similar fluid flows), while others aren't that similar (neurons have some very long connections that galaxy clusters don't have).

Yes, we are 'wired' to see patterns.

The infinitesimal and the infinite are indeed the two ends of the same concept, but that does not mean that they eventually meet.

 

[fedup1982]

It's a fascinating post! I wasn't expecting from the title that the body would live up to the summary so well!

But that aside, to burst the bubble a bit, it's probably not hard to have two extremely blurry blobs like somewhat alike

But it's definitely a poetic post. Thanks for sharing it was a nice thought to have distracting me from life!!

 

[Pluto]

 

[R. A.]

At its core, the universe operates on patterns that repeat across scales-galaxies, ecosystems, your brain, even your thoughts mirror the same principles of complexity and interconnectedness. Think about it: a neuron in your brain looks eerily like a galaxy cluster, with its web of connections. The branching of a tree resembles the veins in your body or the rivers carving through a landscape. This isn't just poetic-it's a deep truth about reality. The universe isn't just "out there"; you are a microcosm of it, a tiny but intricate reflection of the whole.

Some pattern similarities are from similar physics (spiral galaxies and whirlpool eddies,, and the similar branchings of some trees and veins are from similar fluid flows), while others aren't that similar (neurons have some very long connections that galaxy clusters don't have).

Yes, we are 'wired' to see patterns.

The infinitesimal and the infinite are indeed the two ends of the same concept, but that does not mean that they eventually meet.

Hadn't thought of the tree/veins one before, I love it.
Yes, to see our selves and more immediate world as somehow "distinct" from the universe is absurdly false. Where else would be be, and what a part of?
Who knows what lies at the extreme ends. I'd like to think if you zoomed in or out forever, it'd be a weird loop where you just saw the same stuff over and over.

it's probably not hard to have two extremely blurry blobs like somewhat alike

I could probably take photos like either of these with my phone.
The fact that each was taken with some of the most advanced and high-powered purpose-built machines though, that is something.

Pale blue dot, grumpy cat.