There has been a hugely significant development - perhaps - in the field of physics at the University of Konstanz in Germany, according to this article from our friends at Phys.Org, and shared by P.O.L. Briefly put, scientists there are claiming in a recent paper to have detected the very small electrical fluctuations of vacuum space called the "zero point energy" (or sometimes, the quantum vacuum flux):
Research team claims to have directly sampled electric-field vacuum fluctuations
As the article itself points out, the zero point energy has, until now, been a theoretical construct, i.e., it is predicted by quantum mechanics, but so far, no one has been able to detect it:
Theoretical physicists believe that empty space is not empty at all, instead it is filled with quantum particles that pop in and out of existence creating what are known as electric-field vacuum fluctuations. Prior research has led to efforts that have measured such fluctuations indirectly, but no one, until now, has claimed to be able to measure them directly.
Not surprisingly, this detection has been based upon careful use,, and observation, of information(for all you information and James Gates fans out there), in this case, the polarization of light:
The experiment conducted by the team in Germany involved using a long pulse of light to study a shorter pulse of light by firing both through a crystal at the same time. The long pulse had a horizontal polarization while the shorter pulse had a vertical polarization. In such an arrangement, properties of the crystal are dependent on the electric field that exists inside of it, which in turn causes a change in the polarization of the beams that are fired into it and then emerge on the other side. The researchers adjusted the timing of the light pulses to map out fluctuations in the electric field. To offset vacuum fluctuations related to their own existence, they put in just the probe pulse—nothing else. When repeated many times, the researchers found the polarization varied slightly, which the researchers attributed to vacuum fluctuations. To be able to actually see what was going on, the team varied the width and duration of the pulses but not the number of photons in a given beam. They noted that the shot noise should have stayed constant as the pulse grew in size, but it did not, which the team claims was due to electric-field vacuum fluctuations.
As the article also points out however, this is not yet a "wow!" moment, perhaps only two-thirds of a "wow!", if even that, for the fluctuations "could have come from something else."
But let's indulge in some high octane speculation anyway, and assume that the experiment did what its performers claim: it detected, for the first time, the zero point energy or quantum vacuum flux. If so, then the implications are enormous, not the least of which is that if a technology has indeed been contrived to detect these fluctuations, then this is the first, tiny, but significant step in a long technology tree to the actual engineering and use of the zero point energy for all many of things, from a virtually limitless supply of energy - and ponder that one for a moment, and its enormous financial, social, and cultural consequences - to, well, yes, weapons that would make a hydrogen bomb look like a firecracker, to cite my oft-used phrase in connection with the zero point energy. Additionally, the use of information to detect these fluctuations - again, if indeed it is the zero point that has been observed - then this implies a profound connection between that energy and information itself, which would seem to confirm the suspicions of not just a few theoretical physicists.
But back to our high octane speculation of the day. Over the years, I have advanced the speculation that possibly such technologies of detection, if not outright utilization(engineering) of the zero point or quantum vacuum flux might have been achieved, secretly and covertly, in black projects research. My argument has in part been based upon the fact of the establishment of an enormous and very secret system of finance instituted by President Truman in 1947, and in part that this system has continued, more or less undetected, over the decades until recent years, when public indicators of this system have in my opinion definitely come to light. Breifly put, this means that a hidden system of massive finance, and research, has been in place in the decades since the end of World War Two. Additionally, I have advanced the argument that the real problem for the power elites of the world, is not so much the need to suppress any such technological utilization of the vacuum flux from financial reasons, but rather, that the weaponization of such capabilties, would cause endless proliferation nightmares until such a time as a global grid or network of surveillance could be put into place to check any unwanted development of such capabilities by rogue elements. It is thus the timing of such stories - whether they concern developments in fusion technologies (such as the Lockheed story from a few years ago), cold fusion, and so on - that intrigues me, for we have seen a spate of such stories precisely during a time that this surveillance network, as everyone knows, is up and running full tilt. It would be highly interesting, therefore, to know the history of how the idea for this experiment came about, and what the connections are of the indivuduals and institutions behind it, for of course, just down the road to the west from Konstanz, so to speak, one has CERN and its colossal machine.
In any case, this is a story to watch over the next few years, and for the moment, from our amateur-hack-from-South Dakota point of view, this one deserves at least a fractional "wow!" And if you're not convinced of that "fractional wow!", then check out this article, also from our friend at Phys.org, and linked to the article above:
We can get a measure of the significance of these developments and their implications, by pointing out the huge geopolitical implications, for conventional wisdom has it that the American unipolarism in the world, and particularly the Middle East and Central Asia, has been all about controlling the world's assumed-to-be-dwindling oil supplies, ala Zbgnw Brzznsk's Grand Chessboard idea. In a world of access to the zero point energy, all such endeavors are about as useless and pointless as the pony express. And in such a world, whoever gets to that capability first, wins the big prize... call it "zero point energy" geopolitics. Forget about nuclear weapons, fusion, everything else. This is the big prize...
See you on the flip side...