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OT- Possible Remnants of Black Holes from Another Universe.

Possible Remnants of Black Holes from other Universes. Now you're talkin'!

Physicists Think They've Spotted the Ghosts of Black Holes from Another Universe
By Rafi Letzter, Staff Writer | August 21, 2018 01:48pm ET

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An image of the cosmic microwave background
Credit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration


We are not living in the first universe. There were other universes, in other eons, before ours, a group of physicists has said. Like ours, these universes were full of black holes. And we can detect traces of those long-dead black holes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) — the radioactive remnant of our universe's violent birth.

At least, that's the somewhat eccentric view of the group of theorists, including the prominent Oxford University mathematical physicist Roger Penrose (also an important Stephen Hawking collaborator). Penrose and his acolytes argue for a modified version of the Big Bang.

In Penrose and similarly-inclined physicists' history of space and time (which they call conformal cyclic cosmology, or CCC), universes bubble up, expand and die in sequence, with black holes from each leaving traces in the universes that follow. And in a new paper released Aug. 6 in the preprint journal arXiv, Penrose, along with State University of New York Maritime College mathematician Daniel An and University of Warsaw theoretical physicist Krzysztof Meissner, argued that those traces are visible in existing data from the CMB.

An explained how these traces form and survive from one eon to the next.

"If the universe goes on and on and the black holes gobble up everything, at a certain point, we're only going to have black holes," he told Live Science. According to Hawking's most famous theory, black holes slowly lose some of their mass and energy over time through radiation of massless particles called gravitons and photons. If this Hawking radiation exists, "then what's going to happen is that these black holes will gradually, gradually shrink."

At a certain point, those black holes would disintegrate entirely, An said, leaving the universe a massless soup of photons and gravitons.

"The thing about this period of time is that massless gravitons and photons don't really experience time or space," he said.

Gravitons and photons, massless light speed travelers, don't experience time and space the same way we — and all the other massive, slower-moving objects in the universe— do. Einstein's theory of relativity dictates that objects with mass seem to move through time slower as they approach the speed of light, and distances become skewed from their perspective. Massless objects like photons and gravitons travel at the speed of light, so they don't experience time or distance at all.

So, a universe filled with only gravitons or photons will not have any sense of what is time or what is space," An said.

At that point, some physicists (including Penrose) argue, the vast, empty, post-black-hole universe starts to resemble the ultra-compressed universe at the moment of the big bang, where there's no time or distance between anything.

"And then it starts all over again," An said.

So, if the new universe contains none of the black holes from the previous universe, how could those black holes leave traces in the CMB?

Penrose said that the traces aren't of the black holes themselves, but rather of the billions of years those objects spent putting energy out into their own universe via Hawking radiation.

"It's not the black hole's singularity," or it's actual, physical body, he told Live Science, "but the… entire Hawking radiation of the hole throughout its history."

Here's what that means: All the time a black hole spent dissolving itself via Hawking radiation leaves a mark. And that mark, made in the background radiation frequencies of space, can survive the death of a universe. If researchers could spot that mark, then the scientists would have reason to believe that CCC vision of the universe is right, or at least not definitely wrong .

To spot that faint mark against the already faint, muddled radiation of the CMB, An said, he ran a kind of statistical tournament among patches of sky.

An took circular regions in the third of the sky where galaxies and starlight don't overwhelm the CMB. Next, he highlighted areas where the distribution of the microwave frequencies match what would be expected if Hawking points exist. He had those circles "compete" with one another, he said, to determine which area most nearly matched the expected spectrums of Hawking points.

Then, he compared that data with fake CMB data he randomly generated. This trick was meant to rule out the possibility that those tentative "Hawking points" could have formed if the CMB were entirely random. If the randomly generated CMB data couldn't mimic those Hawking points, that would strongly suggest that the newly-identified Hawking points were indeed from black holes of eons past.

This isn't the first time that Penrose has put out a paper appearing to identify Hawking points from a past universe. Back in 2010, he published a paper with the physicist Vahe Gurzadyan that made a similar claim. That publication sparked criticism from other physicists, failing to convince the scientific community writ large. Two follow-up papers (here and here) argued that the evidence of Hawking points Penrose and Gurzadyan identified was in fact the result of random noise in their data.

Still, Penrose presses forward. (The physicist has also famously argued, without convincing many neuroscientists, that human consciousness is the result of quantum computing.)

Asked whether the black holes from our universe might someday leave traces in the universe of the next eon, Penrose responded, "Yes, indeed!"

Originally published on Live Science.
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Football Quick Hits/Footnotes - Tuesday (8/21)

USC practiced in full pads Tuesday. Here's the news:

LB Cam Smith, S Ykili Ross, OG Andrew Vorhees, OTs Clayton Bradley and Austin Jackson, TEs Tyler Petite and Erik Krommenhoek, and DL Liam Jimmons all returned to practice.

WR Michael Pittman participated in all but 11-on-11.

OT Chuma Edoga did not practice. Helton said he expects him to return Wednesday.

RB Markese Stepp and WR Josh Imatorbhebhe remained out. LB Eli'jah Winston also did not practice. DL Jacob Lichtenstein was limited.

LB Porter Gustin is still out. But I get that feeling that he'll practice in some capacity next week.

I asked USC WR Michael Pittman if he thinks Gustin will play vs. UNLV.

"Knowing him, there's a good chance that he does play Game 1," Pittman said. "My personal opinion, I don't think that they're gonna be able to hold him out."

***
Jack Sears took the majority of reps today, with JT Daniels a close second. Matt Fink was again the odd man out. Just went back through my notes and found that Daniels has never had a day where he only received a handful of reps. Sears and Fink have been alternating those days for the past two weeks. I would say that is as telling as anything.

Helton said he sat down with each of the quarterbacks again following Saturday's scrimmage and told them what they needed to progress in this week.

"I want to continue the process because I want the guys to continue to compete. They all need to progress. And I want to make sure I'm right, too. Another week does not hurt, to be able to put us in that situation. We're getting plenty enough work with all three, which is good. And I think it makes all three of them better plays if called upon this season."

I then asked what he wants to see from Daniels this week. Helton said his decision-making was great in the scrimmage but h missed a couple throws. Daniels, mind you, completed all but two passes. The intended target got a hand on the ball in both instances, but one would have been a tough catch and neither was placed as well as Daniels usually puts it.

"I really want this week to be precise -- aim small, miss small, be accurate," Helton said. "He's been a deadly accurate quarterback and hen you get in those live game situations, I want to see that accuracy."

***
Cornerback Greg Johnson and safety Bubba Bolden primarily worked with the first team.

Hunter Echols got an extended run with the first team. It looks like he and Kana'i Mauga are the first outside linebackers off the bench, behind Jordan Iosefa and Christian Rector. Juliano Falaniko is also in the mix.

ICYMI: USC announced its team captains for the season: C Toa Lobendahn, LBs Porter Gustin and Cam Smith, and S Marvell Tell. It's the second consecutive years that the defense has had three and the offense one. It's also the first time in five years that a quarterback is not an offensive captain. I asked Helton how that might manifest in the locker room and he grinned.

"It kind of makes me smile because I think our defense is leading the way right now," Helton said. "You can feel a lot of leadership with our defense, and defense wins championships. So it's an OK thing. That's what I told the guys when they voted for those four captains, you don't have to have two offense and two defense, name the guys that are leading our football team and they took it to heart."

***
1-on-1s (OL vs. DL)
Jordan Iosefa beats Jalen McKenzie
Erik Krommenhoek stops Echols
Krommenhoek stops Bryce Matthews
Falaniko beats Liam Douglass
Vorhees stops Malik Dorton
Dorton beats Vorhees
***
Brandon Pili beats Brett Neilon
Jay Tufele beats Jacob Daniel
Kana'i Mauga beats Bernard Schirmer
Abdul-Malik McClain beats Vorhees
Jordan Austin stops Liam Jimmons
Chris Bown stops Caleb Tremblay
***
Connor Murphy beats McKenzie
Echols beats Douglass
Jimmons beats Alijah Vera-Tucker
Lobendahn stops Marlon Tuipulotu
Tremblay beats Brown
Lobendahn stops Murphy

***
Impressions:
I thought the run defense was strong again. I spoke with Tee Martin afterward how he felt about the run game and he expressed a lot of confidence in what he's seeing. He said the fact that there aren't a lot of negative plays is a good sign that what the offense will be successful running the ball in games. I'd agree that we're not seeing a ton of TFLs, but we are seeing a lot of stops near the line of scrimmage.

In today's run period, which is always slanted because the defense knows the play is either a run or a short pass, Biggie Marshall, Bubba Bolden and C.J. Pollard all recorded tackles for no gain. The period was somewhat marred by bad snaps, one from Toa Lobendahn and one from Justin Dedich. Vavae Malepeai broke off the lone run that went for a first down. Aca'Cedric Ware, in the final 11-on-11 period, bursted through the hole for a long gain. It's hard to judge from practice, but some might say he's running faster.

Sears didn't seem to have a lot of time to operate in his reps during the passing period. He was sacked immediately on his first play. He resorted to running on a few others because the D-line was in the backfield almost instantaneously. He managed to complete a couple screens, first to Malepeai for about 20 yards, and then to Carr for a first down. Both of these guys are real pluses in the passing game, their vision allowing them to turn short gains into potentially long ones. Sears had one long completion to Tyler Vaughns and just missed a second one with an overthrow to Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Sears also hit Devon Williams on a pass over the middle. Williams was subsequently popped by Marvell Tell, who knocked him down but didn't drive him to the ground. (I'm pretty sure they've been instructed not to.) Williams, who caught the ball a step before the hit, held on.

Something I don't know if I've stressed enough with Daniels is that he's very calm in the pocket. He doesn't look uncomfortable if it's not clean, and if he does have time you expect him to do something good. You just don't get that feeling with the other guys. It's like he's been steering the ship for years.

With that said, he had maybe his worst day. Daniels was picked off twice, in a span of three throws. In both instances, he was baited by the corner on an intermediate throw. The first one was an out to St. Brown that Jonathan Lockett reached high for and snagged. Without the benefit of knowing the play, it looked to me like he telegraphed that he was going to St. Brown. I heard the defensive players on the sideline talking amongst themselves about knowing what was coming. The second one was up the seam, intended for Trevon Sidney, and Olaijah Griffin stepped right in front of it. Helton said it was a veteran play from the freshman corner. One play after the second pick, Daniels threw a strike to Williams, who eluded one tackle and scooted upfield for a long TD. Pittman said afterward that Williams has really impressed in how he's adjusted to the speed of the game. That can take a while for a bigger wideout.

Daniels wasn't rattled by the interceptions, completing the pass he threw between them and then trying for Velus Jones over the top of the D. The latter attempt was slightly overthrown and fell incomplete, but I'd consider it a good miss. Jones had a step on Lockett and Daniels put it where only Jones could get it. His last pass was a short completion to walk-on Matt Nyman.

Fink only got a handful of reps in the passing period and his one completion was a screen to Carr that went for about 15 yards. The coverage was strong on a couple of his throws, thanks to Griffin and Pollard.

***
USC practices tomorrow. As I mentioned in the mailbag thread, I will be absent for the next week. Tajwar and the rest of the staff will hold things down in my place. We'll also have They Said It posted later, and Tajwar wrote up a nice piece sizing up the QB competition.

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Football Maya Mailbag (+ announcement)

Hi guys, I know I’ve disappointed some of you by not producing a podcast in the past month, and not recording as many this year. It has not been easy at home. Aside from some serious health challenges within my immediate family, my wife was bed-ridden for a significant portion of her pregnancy. And for those scoring at home, she’s past her due date and officially miserable. The good news is, we’re scheduled to go to the hospital tomorrow and have her induced. God willing, I plan to be away for exactly one week starting tomorrow and return in time for the season opener. Tajwar and our staff behind the scenes will hold things down in my absence.

For now, I want to open things up for a Q&A. Ask me anything within the next 12 hours (by 4:30 a.m.) and I’ll be sure to answer. Thanks for your support!

USC MBB: Getting to know Nathan Bittle

Hey guys, I caught up with 2021 power forward Nathan Bittle and his dad Ryan earlier in the week. Nathan hails from Crater High School in Central Point, Oregon. USC, Cal, Oregon, Tulane, and Portland are his offers. They didn't get into specifics about how things are progressing with what schools, so my article really just serves as a get to know you kind of piece. Click here to check it out if you are interested.

Line up

QB: DANIELS... It will be difficult at first for a freshman. Like to see Sears and Fink run with it a few times.
TB: CARR...Ware and Malepeai will get plenty of touches as well to mix it up.
WR: PITTMAN... Going to have a big year. St. Brown will play a lot in multiple WR sets.
WR: VAUGHNS... Will have a lot of catches. Williams if he knows the playbook will get a chance. Josh I nicked up again.
SLOT: V. JONES... him and Sidney will have increased roles for sure. Will Keyshawn Young ever stay healthy?
TE: PETITE... Solid and steady. Falo a red zone threat. Krommenhoek blocking. Daniel I. How bad is he hurt?
LT: JACKSON... His time is now, Bradley will back up both Tackle spots, McKenzie still raw. Schirmer will get some sweep up time.
LG: BROWN... Has been steady, Austin reliable back up, Daniel sweep up duty.
C: LOBENDAHN... Needs one good healthy year. Neilon will be the guy next year. Dedich I would like at LG next year. Deep at center.
RG: VORHEES... I think moves back to RT next year to give this spot to Tucker, Not enough info on Martin.
RT: EDOGA... Better impress the scouts this year. Douglass redshirt for sure.
DT: DORTON... but Tufele going to play a lot. Jimmons coming on lately.
NT: PILI... Big space eater, Marlon T back him up, Trout maybe raw.
DE: TUIPULOTU... Strong and will be fine. Tremblay, I think is going to surprise us big time, Lichtenstein needs to be healthy.
STRONG SIDE LB... IOSEFA...ready for prime time, Mauga surprise recruit, Falaniko, special teamer, Winston will probably redshirt, Betiku out for a while.
PREDATOR: GUSTIN All American in week two hopefully or week three, Rector is already special, Echols looking good, Murphy's body is ready now, McClain probably needs some weight and redshirt. Good position for us.
MLB: SMITH... will be All American, Jones is ready now, Peters get some clean up and special teams, Gaoteote, see what happens. Scott might redshirt but sounds like might play some special teams.
WLB: HOUSTON...a little bigger and played well at the end of the year, Jones a bit bigger and ready for prime time, Taliaupupu when he comes back will help special teams.
DB: MARSHALL... I am confident he is going to shock us,Langley time is now. Griffin will get some time, Godfrey, i need to see play, Johnson I believe will be a stud, Williams i bet redshirts, Taylor Stuart will rotate in.
NICKEL: HARRIS seems to be a play maker, Lockett, finally gets to show us, Davis, I wish with his speed could return the kicks.
SS: BOLDEN... Future star, Ross, rotating a lot, Pollard special teamer, Hufanga will get some time.
FS: TELL... All American 2nd rounder. Pola Mao will make some big hits on kick offs and play some.
PR:?????????
KR: Jones, Davis I hope, Maybe St. Brown. leave Vaughns off so he does not get banged up.
P: TILBEY or BUDROVICH?
K: McGRATH but BROWN on kick offs?
LS: JOHNSON... let us hope we never hear his name.
HOLDER: SCHMIDT... has been awesome

Forecast, and things to know about the PAC12 North

North division:

1 (Tie) Stanford: Last Year 9-5 all/ 6-3 P12. Key Losses: Off- QB Chryst,TE Shultz (R4), OL Bright. Def-DL Phillips (R3), LB Kalambayi (R6), DB J Reid (R3).Starter Losses: TE, LG, DT, DE, OLB (2), CB.
This year Ret Starters: O-9, D-6, Kicker &Punter. Projected: #2P/ #15 National.
Stanford Offense has #1 Love at RB, an average #6- in PAC12 QB in Costello and 9 position returners overall. That's not bad from an O that averaged 32 ppg.. It however lost 5 starters on D from one that gave up 23 ppg (high for them). The front seven and DBs are less than depth than last year. Overall they lost 4 of their top 6 tacklers.3 were drafted into NFL. They have road games at Oregon, Notre Dame, ASU, Washington, Cal and UCLA. Too many chances for losses here IMO. I believe they lose some 3 games. Stanford plays WSU at home, and UW plays a physical Cal team away, before they meet for what should be the ultimate P12N winner. Their bye is before the ASU away game.

1 (Tie) Washington: Last Year 10-3 all/ 7-2P12. Key Losses: Off- WR/ST D. Pettis (R2), TE W, Dissly (R4). Def-DL Vita Vea (R1), LB Bierra (R6), LB A. Victor (R6), DB J Reid (R3).Starter Losses: TE, WR, RG, K, DT, 2 LB, DB.
This year: Ret Starters: O-8, D-9, P. Projected: #1PN/ #7 Nat.
This is a team that many selectors rank as a top 6, final 4 contender. They do have a well balanced team and averaged 36ppg, and gave up 16 ppg. And have many returning starters. But they lost 3 games last year and nearly a 4th. They lost some good players to the NFL in top receiver and Punt returner (4 TD returns LY) Dante Pettis (R 2), DL Vea (R1) , TE Dissly (R4) , plus LB Victor (R6) and Bierra (R6). Their offense was OK (#6 in P12 Total yards). Their D was superior (#1 in yards and pts against). They were near the best on takeaways last year at +13, after a +18 the year before. That helps an offense immensely (Field and time possession). This year the D may be less, and with that the takeaways may drop. A key factor in close games. QB Browning is highly efficient, but doesn’t dominate a game. Gaskin is a good, not great RB. Tough games are home vs. Stanford and Away at Utah, Oregon, and Cal. In OOC, Auburn, the first game away, will tell us a lot. I think they will lose to Stanford (better running game) and the Trees will go to the PAC12 championship game. Their bye is before the home game vs. Oregon State.



3. Oregon: Last Year 7-6 all/ 4-5P12. Key Losses: Off- RB R Freeman (R3), OL T Crosby (R5) Def- DB A Springs, LB J Swain. Starter Losses: TE, WR, RG, K, DE, ILB, CB. S.
This year: Ret Starters: O-7, D-7, P. Projected: #3PN/ #24 Nat. New HC, though an assistant OC for Oregon and former 6 yr.FIU HC. He is well liked by the players and has recruited well This team struggled with injuries such as QB Herbert (missed 5 games in which UO went 1-4). But if healthy UO has some good talent on offense, averaging 36 ppg. On D they gave up 29 ppg, which is still an improvement of 12 ppg. They will miss RB Freeman and Benoit. But Herbert when healthy may possibly be the top returning P12 QB. The defense has improved and will determine how far they go. I think they are quite a bit behind Stanford and UW but could well surprise one of them in their game. Their OOC schedule one of the PAC12 softest allowing them to tune into the "new" coach (Did coach the UO Bowl game). Their bye is before the home game vs. UW.


4. California: Last Year 5-7 all/ 2-7 P12. Key Losses: Off- K M Anderson Def-DL J Looney (R7), LB D Downs (R7), Starter Losses: WR, K, DE, NG, WLB, P.
This year: Ret Starters: O-10, D-8. Projected:#4PN/ #53 Nat. HC Justin Wilcox has a team that played well at times last year and returns most everyone but Kicker and Punter.They lost 3 conference games by a total of 7 points. The D improved under Wilcox by giving up 12 less ppg than in 2016. But the Offense was up and down scoring 30 or more in 4 games and 20 or less in 3 games. Jr. QB Ross Bowers was emblematic of that, throwing 18 TDs and 15 picks. He will have to improve. Cal has plenty of receivers but is a little light at RB. Toughest away game is USC. Home challenges are Oregon, UW and Stanford. The OOC has BYU and UNC that will show what they have. They may win 4 PAC12 games so they can't be taken lightly. Weakness may be ST (lost K&P), DL. and possibly QB?.


5. Washington State: Last Year 9-4 all/ 6-3P12. Key Losses: Off- QB L Falk (R6) and backup Hilinski, RB J Morrow, OL C Madison (R5),WRs T Martin and I Johnson-Mack. Def-DL H Mata'ala, LB F Luvu, DB R Taylor. Starter Losses: QB, RB, WR, RG, LG, RT, K, NT, Rush, MLB, FS. Seemingly, a cast of thousands.
This year: Ret Starters: O-4, D-6, P. Projected: #5PN/ #62 Nat. Watch out below! which in this case is likely only OSU.This team lost 25 lettermen across the board, many were impact players. It's definitely a rebuild but an easier OOC (E. Washington is the top team played) leads directly into a date on Friday night with USC in a revenge motif. It doesn’t get much better with Utah, Oregon, UW, and Stanford away in other games. Still, Leach is a good coach that can pull wins out, but the O isn't the same and the D lost both impact linemen and their D coach, in Alex Grinch. Rough sledding ahead is likely . Weaknesses : RB, QB, OL and ST.


6. Oregon State: Last Year 1-11 all/ 0-9 P12. Key Losses: Off- QB D Garretson,RB R Nall . Def- LB M Hungalu.Starter Losses: TE, WR, RG, K, DT,OLB.
This year: Ret Starters: O-7, D-8, k. Projected: #6PN/ #102 Nat.,What can one say?The team had a net differential of negative 22 ppg. Yikes. At least there was a change of coaches, with ex-OSU QB Jonathon Smith, who likely said this is his "dream job". Well Ohio State at Columbus is first up, with or without Urban Meyer. That’s a nightmare! The team hasn’t been good since Mike Riley left, but he is now the assistant HC/ TE coach for Oregon State. One can see the team getting better-which may mean winning 2-3 games this year. They did give Stanford a scare losing 14-15. I'll be there for the USC game, bringing my rain gear.


Bottom line: The PAC 12 North will have a similar look to last year, but with Cal and Oregon likely to move up and WSU down. Next- The PAC12 South will look different IMO.
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