[ad_1]
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a deep source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in a vastness of light years and the passage of ages, when we grasp the complexity, the beauty and the subtlety of life, then that feeling of soaring, that feeling of exhilaration and d humility combined, is surely spiritual. – Carl Sagan “The world haunted by demons.”
While learning about the Universe, I felt these spiritual moments by better understanding my connection with the whole. Like when I first learned that I was literally made from the ashes of stars – the atoms in my body spilled out into the Eternal Aether through supernovae. Another spiritual moment was seeing this image for the first time:
A neuron in the brain juxtaposed with clusters of galaxies and their connected filaments of matter and dark matter. The resemblance is immediately clear. The implication? You can have a whole universe in your head. But the similarity between the pictures could simply be a case of apophenia – perceiving a resemblance where none actually exists. After all, how can these two things be similar given the big difference in scale between them? But what if beyond the visual similarity between the neural networks in the brain and the webs of galaxies in the Cosmos, an objective measure could compare how similar they really are? This is what Franco Vazza (astrophysicist at the University of Bologna) and Alberto Feletti (neurosurgeon at the University of Verona) set out to discover by combining their two disciplines for a publication in “Frontiers of Physics”.
An intergalactic bond
The human brain is literally one of the most complex structures known to exist in the Universe – which is itself the greatest of all complexities. Your brain has around 80 billion neurons – cells that process input to the senses and send signals to your body through the nervous system. Neurons are also networked, communicating with each other through connections called axions and dendrites. There are approximately 100 trillion connections between the neurons that make up the neural network that creates who you are.
– Patrick Hsieh CC BY-SA 4.0
The Universe is also networked. While we may think of space as objects separated by vast expanses… well… space, that’s not quite the case. The Universe we see with our scientific equipment is called an “Observable Universe” about 90 billion light years in diameter and containing on the order of hundreds of billions to a few trillions of galaxies. These galaxies, like our Milky Way, collections of billions of stars, are themselves grouped into clusters of galaxies. Our Milky Way is part of the “Local Group” which contains the neighboring galaxies of Andromeda and Triangulum as well as 50 other galaxies. These galaxies are in turn part of a larger group called the Virgo Supercluster. The space between clusters and clusters is not empty but rather harbors connecting filaments of ordinary, dark matter that span millions of light years. In this way, the Universe can be thought of as a giant network of clusters of galaxies, all interconnected in a similar fashion to neural networks in the brain. This network is called the Cosmic Web.
A universe within a universe
The research to find quantifiable similarities between the two networks arose out of a partnership between neuroscience and astrophysics. Using techniques and tools from both disciplines, Vazz and Feletti examined these two networks to find quantifiable similarities beyond perceived visual similarity. Were these networks comparable and, if so, what does this mean?
The researchers used 4-micron-thick slices of the human cortex – the outer layer of the brain that is responsible for processing language, sensory information, thinking, memory and consciousness. These were compared to 25 megaparsec (1 parsec = about 3.26 light years) thick “slices” of the Universe taken from a computer-simulated volume of 1 million cubic megaparsecs of space. . The slices of the brain and the universe are relatively comparable in thickness, since both are 27 orders of magnitude of different size from each other.
– Vazza F and Feletti A (2020)
Depending on the scale, the slices were examined – similarity in structure was not always apparent. But at 40x magnification in brain tissue, researchers began to see similarities in structure. The 40x magnification represents a scale from 0.01 to 1.6 mm in the brain and from 1 to 100 megaparsecs in the universe. Here, the neural network appears as clusters of galaxies. Additionally, network similarity can be objectively measured and compared using two techniques. The first is “network degree centrality” which measures the length of network connections and the degree of connectivity in a given network. The nucleus or center of a neuron has a radius much smaller than the length of the connecting axions and dendrites. Likewise, galaxy clusters have a radius much smaller than the length of the connecting filaments. The second method to objectively compare the two networks is the “aggregation coefficient” which quantifies the amount of structure adjacent to each connecting node (neuron or cluster of galaxies) and compares this structure to a random point in the network. This comparison contrasts the organization at random in the two networks.
By applying the techniques to these scales, Vazz and Feletti found “remarkable” similarities between the brain and the Universe. They also found that the networks looked more alike than other biological and physical structures, including tree branches, the dynamics of cloud formation, or water turbulence. These other structures are fractal in nature. Fractal patterns repeat on their own and look the same no matter what scale you observe. In contrast, the Universe looks completely different on smaller than larger scales. Galaxies and solar systems don’t look like the Cosmic Web they create. Likewise, the brain no longer resembles the neural network when viewed at different scales. The scale itself could be important to the creation of these structures in terms of how they organize themselves.
Researchers conclude their findings “Allude to the fact that similar network configurations can emerge from the interaction of entirely different physical processes, resulting in similar levels of complexity and self-organization, despite the dramatic disparity in spatial scales of these two systems. In other words, networks like the brain and the universe can share a similar structure while being completely different in size and formed by different processes (gravity vs biology). Yet, it is possible that something has evolved and grown in the same way.
The researchers noted two other interesting similarities between the brain and the Cosmic Web. The first was the composition ratios. The brain is 77% water, while the cosmic web contains about 73% dark energy. Water and dark energy are not part of the grid itself but are considered “passive material” or passive energy. The presence and the passive material / energy ratio could be relevant for the formation of these networks. A second fascinating similarity is that the amount of computer data required to map simulated universe models is comparable to the theoretical limits of memory storage in the human brain. Between 1 and 10 petabytes (1 petabyte = 1000 terrabytes) of data is needed to simulate the evolution of the observable universe at scales where the Cosmic Web becomes apparent. Estimates of the total storage capacity of the human brain are around 2.5 petabytes. A human could then theoretically store a good part of the structure of the observable Universe … inside his brain. Or, even more amazing to consider, the Cosmic Web could theoretically store the data of a lifetime of human experiences.
the most distant galaxies ever imaged. – NASA / ESA
In addition to the similarities, there are differences between the Cosmic Web and the brain. While the brain samples used came from the cortex, the whole brain is not uniform. Different parts of the brain are structured for different purposes, while a key characteristic of the Universe is its uniformity in almost all directions. The links between neurons in the brain are intended for the transmission of sensory information while the links in the Universe transmit energy and matter only. Vazz and Feletti hope their research will inspire the development of more powerful algorithms to uncover even more similarities between the brain and the universe. We may discover the conditions which make two networks born of completely different processes so closely alike.
We have heard Carl Sagan describe how our bodies are literally made of stars. Now we are starting to understand that our brains can be shaped like them too. A whole universe of connections is in your mind – a universe within a universe – and one capable of reaching the other that spawned it. Billions of neurons touching billions of stars – surely spiritual.
More to explore:
The actual simulated universe images used in the research: https://cosmosimfrazza.myfreesites.net/cosmic-web-and-brain-network-datasets
Does the human brain look like the universe? | EurekAlert! Scientific news
As above as below art exhibition
How is your brain like the Cosmic Web (nautil.us)
[2008.05942] Explore the connections between the cosmos and the mind through six interactive art installations in “As Above As Below” (arxiv.org)
Ask Ethan: Is the universe itself alive? (forbes.com)
How big is the universe? – The universe today
[astro-ph/9512141] How Filaments Are Woven in the Cosmic Web (arxiv.org)
Aquarius Dark Matter Simulation Video – ESO
[ad_2]
Source link