Science is usually pretty amazing, but take
a turn around the wrong corner and you might
end up in the bad neighborhood, where the
terrifying scientific theories like to hang.
Like all science, they can teach you all sorts
of stuff, but unfortunately the things they
will make you learn are nothing less than
the stuff of nightmares.
We’ve already told you about some of the
most horrifying scientific theories and hypotheses
out there, but guess what?
We were just getting started …
8.
A gamma ray burst or a supernova could trigger
a huge mass extinction
A gamma ray burst is basically the biggest
gun the Universe has to offer: An ultra-powerful
electromagnetic blast caused by a collision
between two neutron stars or the collapse
of a single one.
Neutron stars are the most massive ones in
existence, so the blast is quite destructive
… to the point that if one hit planet Earth,
it could easily “eviscerate” our ozone
layer.
This, of course, would be A Bad Thing and
could potentially trigger a mass extinction,
which is quite concerning especially as some
scientists think the same effect could also
be achieved by a more mundane supernova.
Oh, and if you think that a galactic neutron
star cannon shooting Earth in the face sounds
somewhat far-fetched, there’s a chance it
has actually already happened at least once.
Some researchers think that a gamma ray burst
from somewhere inside the Milky Way hit the
planet during the 8th century, peppering Earth
with radiation from somewhere between 3,000
and 12,000 light years away.
Today, such an impact could have “devastating
effects” for life on earth, and it would
also destroy our satellites to be extra mean.
What’s more, the scientists who believe
in this theory think the 8th century blast
was only a short gamma ray burst.
There’s no telling what a longer, stronger
one — or one that came from a closer range
— could do.
7.
The universe we experience might be embedded
inside a much cooler one
Every once in a while, you might bump into
an idea that there are way more dimensions
than we are aware of, or can even experience.
The ones we currently know about are the three
spatial dimensions (length, height and depth),
along with a fourth one, which scientists
are fairly sure is time.
However, some theories posit that there could
be up to ten dimensions, which would all open
up the universe in different ways, from observing
infinite alternate worlds and universes to
freely travelling in time.
Mastering all ten dimensions would lead to
a godlike state where “everything possible
and imaginable is covered.”
Pretty cool, right?
The thing is, why can’t we experience or
even observe any of those higher, really neat
dimensions?
Well, buckle up for the bad news: According
to the embedded universe theory, the reason
we’re unable to do this is that our particular
universe genuinely has only three spatial
dimensions (along with time as the fourth
one) because it’s “embedded” within
the truly neat, multi-dimensioned parts of
the space-time as a separate “brane,”
and since we live there we’re unable to
experience the higher dimensions.
Basically, our universe is a piece of paper,
and we’re ants that can only move on said
piece of paper, without really experiencing
the larger world outside its confines.
If this theory turns out to be correct, the
only way we’re able to sneak a peek at the
glorious properties of the dimensions beyond
our reach would be through gravitational interaction
particles known as gravitons.
The embedded universe theory posits that gravitons
can’t be confined within our universe’s
“brane,” and therefore could move in all
spatial dimensions even when hanging out in
our boring three-dimensional corner of existence.
6.
The Dark Forest Theory is a terrifying explanation
to the existence of extraterrestrial life
The Dark Forest Theory was originally posited
by a science fiction writer named Liu Cixin
in his book The Dark Forest, but actual scientists
like David Brin have also embraced it as a
possible solution to the reason we can’t
seem to find any radio evidence of alien life.
According to this theory, the universe is
the equivalent of a dark forest, and every
lifeform is a hunter creeping inside it, armed
and afraid, and whenever they see something
there’s only one thing they can do: Fire.
Here’s how it works: We know that all life
“desires to stay alive.”
We also know that there are no guarantees
whether other lifeforms could (or, for that
matter, would) annihilate us should they get
a chance.
Therefore, the logical choice for a species
would be to kill other life forms before they
get a chance to do it.
In practice, this means that risk-averse alien
life forms prefer to live “in the dark,”
maintaining radio silence and hoping that
no neighbors from other planets notice them.
This means that the universe could be brimming
with alien life, but they’re way too wary
of us and each other to make their presence
known.
And if one of them eventually does come to
visit us after spotting the radio waves we
have been transmitting in space … well,
they might very well be that metaphorical
hunter
in 
the dark forest.
5.
Every single thing you do might be influenced
by sheer terror
Terror Management Theory posits that basically
every single thing any human being ever does
is fueled by sheer, primal fear.
Fortunately, this is all largely unconscious,
so we’re not just screaming “Aaaaargh!”
24/7 while we take out the garbage and run
our errands.
The idea behind this goes as follows: Humans
are self-aware, which means we’re alive
and realize it.
As an unfortunate side effect to this, we’re
also extremely aware of the inevitability
of death, which could potentially overwhelm
us with terror, and also gives us a slow-burning,
non-stop existential crisis because despite
our advanced nature, we’re still no less
mortal than, say, a vulture or a guinea pig.
According to Terror Management Theory, the
way humanity deals with this is culture.
Groups of people have subconsciously managed
their sheer existential horror by creating
works of art and science, trying to earn lots
of money, building huge monuments and forming
complex beliefs about the nature of reality.
This would mean that essentially everything
we do, up to and including the way we vote,
is just a desperate attempt to distract us
from the fact that death is coming for us
all.
Ouch.
4.
Super-microbes may eventually evolve to render
antibiotics useless
For years, medical professionals have warned
the world about antibiotics … or rather,
the worrying trend of prescribing too much
of them, both to people and to the animals
we eat.
The constant “misuse and overuse” of antibiotics
has allowed certain bacteria to develop resistance
to them, which is a bad thing, seeing as a
huge chunk of modern medicine from chemotherapy
to caesarean sections and various surgeries
relies heavily on antibiotics.
This has caused many experts to raise the
possibility that humanity may be heading toward
an “antimicrobial resistance apocalypse,”
where antibiotics don’t work and superbugs
(and, for that matter, many simple ailments
that used to be easily treatable) can run
rampant through humanity, killing people left
and right.
This, of course, is a problem.
If we can’t use antibiotics or if they become
ineffective, modern medicine is essentially
thrown back to the dark days before penicillin
was discovered in 1928.
Of course, this is just a theoretical worst
case scenario that can still be avoided if
we put our antibiotics use in check.
Then again, antibiotic-resistant bacteria
are very much already around, and one particular
bacteria has already developed resistance
to the “last resort” super-antibiotic
colistin, so…
3.
Ghosts are even more terrifying than you think
Scientists can be quite wary of paranormal
concepts such as ghosts, so as you might assume,
they’re not exactly admitting that ghostly
spirits do exist.
Unfortunately, the potential explanations
they’ve offered for sensations of supernatural
presence are often even more terrifying.
The human body and psyche can potentially
be affected by any number of things in a way
that can make us literally see ghosts — or
at least feel the terrifying dread that is
often associated with haunted places.
Frequencies below 20 hertz can’t be heard
by human beings, but they may very well affect
us with irrational feelings of terror, distress
and anxiety.
This “fear frequency” may even vibrate
our eyeballs to induce ghostly hallucinations
— and because we can’t hear it, there’s
no way to know we’re being subjected to
the noise.
Certain electromagnetic fields can also create
similar sensations, as can the simple power
of psychological suggestion.
If you’re clearly seeing or hearing things,
or even being grabbed or held by ghostly creatures,
it might be carbon monoxide poisoning.
If it’s all happening in your bedroom, it
might be a condition called sleep paralysis:
Your brain’s and the naturally paralyzed
state of REM sleep temporarily carries over
to an awake state, and if the wires get sufficiently
crossed, there may be a short period of terrifying
hallucinations.
So, don’t worry.
The next time you see a ghost, you’re not
seeing proof of an afterlife, or a restless
spirit trying to deliver you a message, Sixth
Sense -style.
If you ask science, you’re probably just
… uh, poisoned, suffering from a terrifying
sleep condition, subjected to electromagnetic
and aural sensations you can do nothing about,
and/or someone’s toying with your mind.
Wait, that’s actually worse.
2.
Man-made black holes
Ah, black holes!
They’re scary and unfathomable enough where
they are, which is far away from us in space,
but can you imagine if one turned up near
Earth — or, worse, on Earth?
Turns out, scientists totally can do that!
We’ve known for at least a decade that man-made
versions of the all-consuming terrifying space
things are possible, though they’d most
likely be rather small “micro” black holes.
In fact, scientists actually created one in
2016 in laboratory conditions in order to
look into “Hawking radiation,” a quantum
particle radiation that blinks in and out
of existence, as proposed by famed theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking.
CERN’s esteemed Large Hadron Collider particle
accelerator has been suspected of potentially
creating a world-destroying black hole since
its inception, though it completely failed
to destroy the world then and continues to
not kill our planet with Earth-swallowing
black holes on a daily basis.
Besides, even if the LHC did create black
holes (which it absolutely can do, for the
record), they would be microscopic and soon
evaporate thanks to the aforementioned Hawking
radiation.
However, some experts, such as astrophysics
doctor Hossam Aly, have posited a theory that
even a teeny, tiny black hole could tear the
Earth apart with ease.
Fortunately, it would have to be bigger than
the microscopic ones we’re currently creating,
but still uncomfortably close, seeing as scientists
are already dabbling with artificial black
holes.
According to Dr. Aly, a black hole that would
be just one millimeter (0.04 inches) in diameter
could have a tenth of the entire Earth’s
mass, and its “gravitational pull would
cover a third of the planet.”
This means that even such a small black hole
would tear up a giant chunk of planet Earth
at an estimated speed of … 7.46 miles per
second.
Talk about an Earth-shattering discovery!
1.
We might be living inside a black hole
Somehow, man-made black holes ripping the
Earth apart is only the second most terrifying
black hole -related theory out there.
According to certain theoretical physicists
(including Stephen Hawking himself), there’s
a chance that we’re already inside a black
hole.
This theory aims to answer some of the biggest
cosmological questions, such as the nature
of dark energy, the exact reason for the Big
Bang, and the truth behind why time flows
like it does.
Unfortunately, all of the answers for this
particular question it gives are: A black
hole sucked us all up ages ago and made it
all happen.
Here’s how the theory works, according to
theoretical physicist Lee Smolin: “A star
that collapses into a black hole very quickly
squeezes down to infinite density and time
stops…and rather than collapsing to infinite
density, the star collapses to a certain extreme
density, and then bounces back and begins
to expand again.”
Thus, the Big Bang of a new universe that
builds itself from a matter of a different
universe and is located inside a black hole
in that universe.
The idea of not just our galaxy, but everything
we see being merely the guts of a black hole
from another place is creepy enough on its
own, but it also means that every black hole
can potentially do that, creating a “foam
of interconnected pocket universes,” where
the new universes inherit their laws of physics
from the “parent” universe, along with
things like the direction where time flows.
Yes, according to this theory, there are lineages
of universes where time passes backwards.
Theoretical physics can be strange
that way.
