Expert: Philip Stahl - 3/24/2011

Question
Hi my name is Joshua Davis of Rusellville TN I was just wondering if we are just a cell or atom of god ? When you look at the photo's of NASA taken for all of our universes put together it looks like your looking throw a microscope at a cell or something ! I no that we don't have a full vu of what is really out there but just the part that I saw it looks like a cell or atom. I am refuring to the photo's that NASA should on the discovery cha. About when they should what all of our universes would look like together ! I don't remember the name of the show ! But it was about the computer that did its thing to show how our universe looket with all the other universes together ! Thanks Josh

Answer
Hello,

The problem underlying your conjecture is that it's based only on how things look, which is a very dangerous thing! We are basically, as humans, programmed to see what we want to see. We can see "faces" in clouds, human forms in star constellations, and even images of the Virgin Mary in a pizza pie! None of these proves that there is anything real associated with the perception, and the same applies here.

The concept of "cell" or "atom" is very specific and means certain definite things in a biology or physics context, respectively. Neither of those emerges when you look at any stellar photo or whatever, because no true connection has been made to validate it. For example, cells divide (mitosis) and also carry DNA. No one has measured any such thing, nor seen or detected mitosis in stars or galaxies - not as these are specifically measured or defined!

"Looking through a microscope" is also not the same as looking through a telescope. It may superficially appear similar but it isn't. In the telescope (e.g. a refractor) the objective lens forms a real, inverted image of a *distant* object near the focal length of the eyepiece. In the microscope, a *NEARBY* object (placed just beyond the focal length of the objective) forms a *virtual, inverted* image near the focal length of the eyepiece. Thus, there's no comparison between the two.

If you would wish to look at the universe "through a microscope" you'd have to use a microscope not a telescope. But since the universe is comprised of distant objects, that won't work. Hence, you are only looking at distant objects and can not discern anything that would normally be seen via a microscope.

As for the idea of multiple universes, that is still a conjecture that needs much more evidence to be supported. Right now it is still mainly in the realm of speculative science.