Hi All

I was trawling thru the ADS and found an article by Frank Tipler on Life and Cosmology.

Here's the abstract (I know the date is a bit old, but it's news to me. He's also written a new paper discussing experimental verification of the theory)...

International Journal of Astrobiology (2003), 2:141-148 Cambridge University Press
Copyright © 2003 Cambridge University Press
DOI 10.1017/S1473550403001526
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Intelligent life in cosmology
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Frank J. Tipler

Abstract

I shall present three arguments for the proposition that intelligent life is very rare in the universe. First, I shall summarize the consensus opinion of the founders of the modern synthesis (Simpson, Dobzhanski and Mayr) that the evolution of intelligent life is exceedingly improbable. Secondly, I shall develop the Fermi paradox: if they existed, they would be here. Thirdly, I shall show that if intelligent life were too common, it would use up all available resources and die out. But I shall show that the quantum mechanical principle of unitarity (actually a form of teleology!) requires intelligent life to survive to the end of time. Finally, I shall argue that, if the universe is indeed accelerating, then survival to the end of time requires that intelligent life, though rare, to have evolved several times in the visible universe. I shall argue that the acceleration is a consequence of the excess of matter over antimatter in the universe. I shall suggest experiments to test these claims.

http://tinyurl.com/a28ww [this is a FREE issue of the Journal]

...ok, some of us know of Frank's arguments for the Omega Point theory, that life in this universe (and all possible universes allowed by physics) will process infinite information in a finite proper time and thus reach a space-time singularity a lot like God-hood as the cosmos collapses.

In this article he argues that the accelerating universe is a consequence of the Standard Model of physics as minimally coupled to gravity. The cosmic acceleration comes from the Higgs field being almost cancelled out by the cosmological constant, and this is due to the matter/anti-matter asymmetry. Yet for the laws of physics as we know them to work then there can be no true black holes because these will evaporate away and destroy the entropy information encoded in the matter that fell into them. To stop black hole evaporation then the Universe must recollapse and intelligent life must cause that recollapse...

So how?

Here's where it gets really "Wow! Incredible!" - in both meanings of 'incredible'.

Firstly, the acceleration is due to the existence of baryons. So for the salvation of physics and the universe intelligent life MUST use reverse baryogenesis to convert all matter into energy i.e. total conversion of matter to energy MUST be possible WITHOUT mucking around with antimatter.

Secondly, because accelerated cosmic expansion has pushed regions of space beyond our Hubble volume there must be other intelligent lifeforms out there to cause "reverse baryogenesis" of the rest of the Universe.

Thirdly, he suggests that bacteria are older than the Earth and have seeded planets throughout our Hubble volume - at the fringes of which they will evolve into beings as intelligent as us to cause that "reverse bayogenesis" that sounds REALLY cool. Do you know what a total conversion drive can do??? Firstly it makes a Bussard ramjet viable. Secondly it means you can push planets around. Thirdly it means you can warm them up to nice temperatures.

Downside is that humans won't survive as carbon-based lifeforms - too many baryons - so life will have to figure out how to become a mix of leptons and light. That's ok because in that form the Big Crunch won't hassle us and we have about ~ a quadrillion years before it becomes really pressing.

Anyway, have a read and decide for yourself.

qraal

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The universe is not only weirder than we imagine, it's weirder than we CAN imagine.