So my friend Angie posted a super-neat video on her Facebook page the other day and I decided to take a look. She and I were in the same lab during graduate school, and we both LOVE learning about the creative ways people are making science fun. I have to admit that I don't know much about They Might Be Giants - I've heard a couple of their songs from time to time, but I'm not really a fan and have never bought one of their CDs. But that might soon change . . .
They Might Be Giants - Science is Real
I especially love the simple drawings and the catchy chorus - Science is Re-e-e-e-eal!! The song does a great job (as Angie mentioned on her page) explaining how scientific theories are developed from rigorous testing and measured by how well they align with known facts. Actually, the song touches on a critical point - that science itself is not always a fact, but rather science leads to explanations that are consistent with and explained by facts. A recognizable example is the Big Bang Theory that roughly states that about 12 billion years ago, our Universe was created from the explosion and later expansion of a hot, dense center of particles. Theoretical and experimental data from physics and astronomy fit with that theory, leading Big Bang to be the widely-accepted theory that it has been for decades.
But one of the coolest (and occasionally most frustrating) parts of science is the endless possibilities for developing new theories! Often times, theories won't align with the facts, so they are easily set aside. But what about new theories that explain the existing data quite well, perhaps even as well as the long-held theory? In the Big Bang example, researchers have developed an alternate model for the Universe's creation - the idea that instead of just one big expansion, the Universe is created (and destroyed) in a cycle of expansions and contractions. There is increasing evidence that their model fits the available data as well as, if not better than, the Big Bang Theory.
So if the Cyclic Theory is relatively new and consistent with the facts, could there be other, equally plausible theories developed? And is that possible for other theories, new and old? Absolutely, totally, YES. And I think that rocks.
-Rabiah
Author's Note: Sources:
http://www.allaboutscience.org/big-bang-theory.htm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-recycled-universe
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/06/the_big_bang_no.html
Editor's Note: For more blogs from Dr. Rabiah, visit Science Chicago's website at: http://www.sciencechicagoblog.com
