#quantum loop gravity

[carolkeiter]

A Seahorse Tale ~ A Spin on the Matter of Motion

A Seahorse Tale ~ A Spin on the Matter of Motion is a young adult educational eBook cloaked as a sci-fi. Each of the 170 pages have beautifully illustrated art and science diagrams. Interwoven throughout the story are non-fiction links to various topics and state-of-the-art science, which corroborate the storyline and substantiate the possibility of the occurrence of these fantastical and…

[whats-in-a-sentence]

A one-sentence comparison would hold that string theorists start with the small (quantum theory) and move to embrace the large (gravity), while adherents of loop quantum gravity start with the large (gravity) and move to embrace the small (quantum theory).⁹

9. This statement is more one of sociology than of physics. String theory grew out of the tradition of quantum particle physics, while loop quantum gravity grew out of the traditional general relativity. However, it is important to note that, as of today, only string theory can make contact with the successful predictions of general relatively, since only string theory convincingly reduces to general relativity on large distance scales. Loop quantum gravity is understood well in the quantum domain, but bridging the gap to large-scale phenomena has proved difficult.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" - Brian Greene

[simpsforscience]

⁉️ What if you're told to forget smooth spacetime and imagine the universe as a cosmic quilt made up of loops? 💭 ➰ That's Loop Quantum Theory! which proposes that space itself is made of tiny, 🤏🏻 interconnected loops, ➿ a fabric of reality finer than any thread. Swipe ➡️ through this post to find how it is a potential quantum upgrade to Einstein's gravity, where the universe isn't just curved, it's knotted!🪢☄️🌠

📸 Image Credits:

Abhay Astekar :- PennState Eberly College of Science

Carlo Rovelli :- Foto LaPresse

Lee Smolin :- footnotes2plato

[tenth-sentence]

By contrast, loop quantum gravity grew out of a tradition tightly grounded in the general theory of relativity; to most practitioners of this approach, gravity has always been the main focus.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" - Brian Greene

[nicolae]

Epistemology of Loop Quantum Gravity in the Context of Canonical Quantum Gravity

Sfetcu, Nicolae (2024), Epistemology of Loop Quantum Gravity in the Context of Canonical Quantum Gravity, Cunoașterea Științifică, 3:2, xxx,   Abstract In the quest to comprehend the fundamental nature of the universe, physicists have delved into the realms of quantum mechanics and general relativity. However, joining these two pillars of modern physics into a unified framework has been a…

[hrrtshape]

you can manifest literally anything. full stop.

not because the universe is your barista or because "alignment!!!" or "vibrations!!!" or because some instagram witch told you the moon wants you to have clear skin. no. you can manifest anything because your assumption is the only constant. i'm not saying that in a disney channel way. i'm saying that in a quantum decoherence theory way. i'm saying your interpretation writes the rendering. the world is not fixed. it is responsive. it is made of probability states until observed, until decided.

this is called the observer effect. not spiritual fluff. actual quantum theory. until something is observed, it's a waveform, a soup of all possible states.

only when measured does it collapse into one outcome. this isn't poetry, more so the double slit experiment. electrons literally behave differently when you're watching. particles perform. reality trims itself to fit the assumption you've brought into the room.

now zoom out.

apply that principle up the scale. consciousness doesn't just witness, it edits. interpretation becomes architecture. you think that's dramatic, let's talk about how the placebo effect alone proves it. you believe a sugar pill is medicine and your body heals.

belief overrides chemistry. that's clinical data. belief changes blood pressure. hormone levels. immune response. cells obey narrative.

now add cognition.

your brain is a filter, not a camera. you are not receiving reality, you are constructing it from probabilistic fragments.

thalamic gating, hippocampal priority, dopaminergic valuation, it's all conditional. perception isn't passive. it's curated. the "real world" is just what your nervous system has decided is relevant enough to show you. the rest gets black-boxed.

meaning: your assumption is the algorithm. you assume wrong, you perceive wrong. and perception is reality, because that's all you'll ever interact with.

so when we say "you write the rendering," we're not being mystical. we're being disgustingly literal. your interpretation of reality becomes the blueprint your senses and brain then work to confirm. you're not stuck in a shared objective truth. you're running a custom simulation based entirely on the lens you're holding. change the lens. change the world.

which means: you are not "tapping into" power. you are the origin point. if you assume something is real, it is, because there is no shared objective anchor without your consciousness confirming it.

this is not magic. this is observer effect. heisenberg. the copenhagen interpretation. it's also the gospels. it's also berkeley's immaterialism. it's also every single philosophical system that isn't moronic. assumption is not wishful thinking. it's the only epistemological mechanism you've ever had.

you've literally never confirmed anything was "real" without believing it first. santa, cancer, gravity, your name. all of it's scripted by belief loops. and belief isn't "oh i hope this is true," it's "this is true and i will notice every detail that proves it." your mind filters for agreement.

confirmation bias.

neuroplasticity.

the thalamus as epistemic gatekeeper.

not metaphor. this is neurobiology. this is how propaganda works. how trauma works. how religion works. how capitalism works. if belief weren't a generator, the advertising industry would not exist. the cia would not use sigil-based psy-ops. cults would not function. your childhood wouldn't have ruined you.

so when people say "you are god," it doesn't mean you're a sparkly celestial daddy with a clipboard. it means there is no world without you. you do not "observe" reality. you generate it, composition, focus, structure, all of it. it's reactive architecture. if you think you're unwanted, the world will produce evidence accordingly. if you decide you're irresistible, it recalibrates. not because it "likes" you more, but because it doesn't exist without your parameters.

there is no neutral. there is no objectivity. if you assume it, it is. that's it. that's the mechanism. you are not manifesting through effort. you are manifesting by default.

you've always been doing it.

you're just doing it badly because you think it's meant to feel earned. you think godhood is a personality trait. it's not. it's default mode.

it works because nothing else ever has. you've never lived in a world you didn't believe in first. and you never will. so assume better. not because you "deserve it," but because your consciousness is the only axis this entire plane spins around.

manifesting isn't hard. unlearning the lie that you're powerless is. but that's not a cosmic test. it's just bad programming.

rewrite it.

you are god because there is no proof otherwise. and if there were, you'd be the one perceiving it. which means: it would still be you. still yours. still scriptable.

[by-wronged-hands]

That ford fic was so jdjskdjds could you maybe do Ford overstimulating m!reader :000?

“Permission first, love”

Ford Pines x M! Reader

A/N: Thank you for reading, and of course I can. Enjoy!

TW: 18+, overstimulation

Ford had began ranting about quantum physics about an hour ago. And though you loved how excited he seemed, you grasped the smallest percentage of every single one of his words. He was an expert, after all.

“Now, to comprehend this, you need to know about what we call the Loop Quantum Gravity!” It seemed almost eternal, but you wouldn’t wish to break his heart. His passion for science, specifically physics, pushed him through every day.

Your head already hurt by this point, and the amount of equations Ford had tried to explain in under thirty minutes was for sure worsening it…Until he stopped. Stopped pacing around and babbling nonsensical (to you) phrases.

“It seems I have exceeded the limit. I am very sorry, love.” He said, shamefully. He was out of breath for how much he had talked. It was adorable to you.

“I was willing to keep going. It makes you look attractive.” You playfully added, before approaching him.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, before looking up at you. He opened his arms, receiving a warm embrace. He touched your back with his palm, bringing you closer. Rapidly, his lips were over yours.

As the kiss intensified, Ford took off your shirt…then unzipped your pants. Before you could realize, your thighs touched the cold surface of his desk. You lied down over it, he position himself in between your legs.

Wearing only underwear, he stared at your body with a lustful gaze. Today, Ford was wearing a simple white shirt and black tie.

You awaited for his touch, but instead, Ford began taking off his tie. Confused, you were surprised by his strong grip. He turned your body around, tying your wrists together against your back. You turned your head to look at him, you found only an irrational and impulsive stare.

“I have been indulging in physics more often, not because I wanted to, but because I needed to.” Ford spoke. “I could not seem to take my mind off of you. Off your body, your face.”

His rough, big hands traveled up and down your chest. He rubbed slightly against your nipples, now hard. Still facing the opposite direction, you could only twist your neck and stare at him. It was not enough.

He pressed his hips against you, edging you but by bit. You could feel his erection growing inside his pants, rubbing against your barely covered hole. You could hear his grunts, but after you let out a small moan, Ford pulled away. You were a bit confused, before he flipped you once more. Now , you faced him.

His face full of desire had changed, and it made you a bit fearful…but excited.

“Let’s do an experiment, shall we, love?” Asks Ford, putting his fingers around your underwear. He pulls it down rapidly, and your own erection is uncovered.

He began caressing your cock, from the base to the tip. His soft touch made you clench, letting out several sighs of pleasure. His fingers touching you were the most delightful thing you had ever experienced.

Ford kept on slightly touching your tip, toying cruelly with it. He saw each twitch of yours, he heard every beg of yours. He only smiled in satisfaction.

“Please, Ford.” You said to him, as he drove you mad bit by bit. He chuckled, and shook his head.

“I will do whatever I want with you,” he said, before approaching, going down on his knees, and this time licking your cock, “you are mine to enjoy.”

Ford sucked on your cock mercilessly, yet stopped as soon as he felt you were close.

“Ford, p-please!” You begged, though it was pointless. He adored the view. You, defenseless, with a wet tip and a need for pleasure.

“Oh, your attempts will all fail.” He said, as he kissed your length. “I cannot resist any longer, love.”

Ford continued this cycle. His tongue wrapped around you, and as you were close to reaching your climax, he would stop abruptly. He would wrap his hand around your cock, and put his thumb over your tip.

Again and again, you felt your body reach pure ecstasy and it would be taken away from you. You moaned his name, begged him to let you finish. Ford ignored your requests.

At some point, he stood up and with one hand choked you, with the other he masturbated you. You became a complete mess, Ford knew well your sensitive spots. He knew your body like the back of his hand, from top to bottom. Your most disgusting desires, he knew. And was definitely willing to fulfill them.

Suddenly, Ford took his hands away from you. He went to his own pants and pulled them down. You stared almost hypnotized at his body. His hips roughly hit yours, making you moan once more. He hurriedly took off his underwear, and fucked you brainless.

“Ask me for permission,” he whispered in your ear, “beg me again…”

Of course, you did as he said. And the more you groaned, the more you begged, the harder he got.

“Oh, god—” moaned Ford, with desire. When he felt his own legs weaken for the pleasure of your insides, he allowed you to finish alongside him.

He allowed his body weight down on you. You huffed in exhaustion, but wrapped your arms around his shoulders. You pulled Ford closer, and whispered sweet words of love to him.

He smiled from time to time, and it was enough for you.

[malkon-dova]

oh my stars. outer wilds,,

HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW | 1st playthrough update | no tips n guides if commenting please :)

So, today's session- went a little crazy. uhm. uhm

Just as like, a prelude-- Times outer wilds has made me cry: (1) But we're not there yet

First off, the statue workshop- finally got in and.

oh

my

god. uhm. okay. okay. okay so. the "looping" is just my memories being stored into the masks in ash twin- and then reinserted into my character as to keep them aware upon either success or failure of the probing project (i forget exact details atm; it's late)

also shout out to the lovebirds who decided to max out the power into the canon instead of listening to cassava and co at the construction island- explains the utter obliteration i see whenever i wake up

speaking of utter obliteration; i finally was able to get into the dang thing!!!! and ouhhh, it was SO COOL !!!!!!!! I LOVED LOOKING AROUND!!! i wish i really wish i took more screenshots but i was gasping the entire time i explored!!! gosh i need to look over the logs again to get a better grasp of what i learned here but OUUHHHHHH WOAW!!!!

anyways!!!! i also finally went and explored the gravity cannon on ember twin (ive always gone by to get the shortcut to the city, but never explored the actual cannon itself) and huh! interstellar has stuff to explore!! i guess let's go there!

oh.

oh.

well. there's poke and pye :( and there's the lore about the ghost matter

it's awfully beautiful, but. man.

oh well, can't sit on these feelings for too long, yknow? gotta keep going- where else.. where else.. hmmm

3rd escape pod it is! :)

..

they're. huddling together.

yea so- may or may not have cried; who could really say

but god. god.. this game. oh my god this game dude. this game. this game.. this gamee... what the hell. what the hell. oh my god. what the hell. this game is peak. holy shit it's so peak. it's so good. it's so so good. i'm. oh my god. oooh my god. oh my god.

but yeah, next session? doing one last puzzle/exploration thing i need to do in sunless, and uhm. !! i'm gonna continue my hunt into one particular tower at the ash twin and (hopefully) warp to the sun station from what i'm assuming (i saw theres the blackhole/warp symbol on the station). oh and- quantum tower in brittle is still a need to do thing- haven't figured that one out yet

but man. man oh man. this game. this game dude.

oh and lastly: crunchy quality log

good game 10/10

[jacethebeltsculptor]

Continuing to explore Outer Wilds, continuing to learn! I felt like I wasn't making much progress on Brittle Hollow (a planet collapsing into a black hole) so I fucked off to Giant's Deep (Space Florida) instead. Here's what I've learned so far:

The sun will blow up in about 30 minutes, and I was put into a time loop by a statue left behind by some guys called the Nomai. The Nomai loved building spaceships and crashing them. My people also love building spaceships and crashing them. We are definitely the Nomai, aren't we?

Presumeably, I am here to try and stop the sun from blowing up, since that inevitably resets the loop. However, one of my fellow explorers also found an alien statue and also knows time is looping, but doesn't seem all that inclined to do anything about it. Instead, he taught me how to commit suicide by waiting, then a tornado picked up the island we were on and threw it into space. This lazy fuck somehow remained rooted in his hammock, even after my ship landed on him and fell into the ocean. If we pay this guy, it's too much.

There was a Nomai ship that came here looking for the Eye of the Universe, an impossibly old signal that they think has something to do with a previous universe. I found a bunch of crazy technology on Brittle Hollow like a Gravity Cannon and a Black Hole Forge but couldn't quite find out what to do with it, or how to get into the Observatory. That last one seems important, since there's also a quantum ghost moon out there that hasn't 100% committed to existing or not yet.

I found out that the statue that functions as my only form of health insurance came from an island on Giant's Deep, and that there's apparently a workshop full of them under the surface. There's probably a way in there under the waterline, but the sun blew up on me before I got a chance to go searching for it.

I also learned that the islands on this planet are less islands and more floating rocks. I learned this when I tried to dodge a tornado by sheltering in a cave, and when it looked like the sky was brightening up, I suddenly died of having my knees violently grafted to my spleen.

Last thing I discovered was that there's a huge tower here dedicated to training Nomai for Quantum Pilgrimages, which seems helpful in finding that ghost moon I talked about. Unfortunately, the sun blew up again on me, so I need to go back and re-do all the puzzles faster this time.

Loving this game so far, will keep posting about it.

[mysticstronomy]

IS TIME INFINITE IN BLACK HOLES??

Blog#365

Wednesday, January 10th, 2024.

Welcome back,

The singularity at the center of a black hole is the ultimate no man's land: a place where matter is compressed down to an infinitely tiny point, and all conceptions of time and space completely break down. And it doesn't really exist. Something has to replace the singularity, but we're not exactly sure what.

Let's explore some possibilities.

It could be that deep inside a black hole, matter doesn't get squished down to an infinitely tiny point. Instead, there could be a smallest possible configuration of matter, the tiniest possible pocket of volume.

This is called a Planck star, and it's a theoretical possibility envisioned by loop quantum gravity, which is itself a highly hypothetical proposal for creating a quantum version of gravity.

In the world of loop quantum gravity, space and time are quantized — the universe around us is composed of tiny discrete chunks, but at such an incredibly tiny scale that our movements appear smooth and continuous.

This theoretical chunkiness of space-time provides two benefits. One, it takes the dream of quantum mechanics to its ultimate conclusion, explaining gravity in a natural way.

And two, it makes it impossible for singularities to form inside black holes.

As matter squishes down under the immense gravitational weight of a collapsing star, it meets resistance. The discreteness of space-time prevents matter from reaching anything smaller than the Planck length (around 1.68 times 10^-35 meters). All the material that has ever fallen into the black hole gets compressed into a ball not much bigger than this.

Perfectly microscopic, but definitely not infinitely tiny.

This resistance to continued compression eventually forces the material to un-collapse (i.e., explode), making black holes only temporary objects. But because of the extreme time dilation effects around black holes, from our perspective in the outside universe it takes billions, even trillions, of years before they go boom. So we're all set for now.

Another attempt to eradicate the singularity — one that doesn't rely on untested theories of quantum gravity — is known as the gravastar. It's such a theoretical concept that my spell checker didn't even recognize the word.

The difference between a black hole and a gravastar is that, instead of a singularity, the gravastar is filled with dark energy. Dark energy is a substance that permeates space-time, causing it to expand outward. It sounds like sci-fi, but it's real: dark energy is currently in operation in the larger cosmos, causing our entire universe to accelerate in its expansion.

As matter falls onto a gravastar, it isn't able to actually penetrate the event horizon (due to all that dark energy on the inside) and therefore just hangs out on the surface. But outside that surface, gravastars look and act like normal black holes. (A black hole's event horizon is its point of no return — the boundary beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.)

However, recent observations of merging black holes with gravitational wave detectors have potentially ruled out the existence of gravastars, because merging gravastars will give a different signal than merging black holes, and outfits like LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo are getting more and more examples by the day. While gravastars aren't exactly a no-go in our universe, they are definitely on thin ice.

Originally published https://www.space.com/

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, January 13th, 2024)

"JUPITER HAS A LARGE MAGNETIC FIELD THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED??"

[carolkeiter]

A Seahorse Tale ~ A Spin on the Matter of Motion

A Seahorse Tale ~ A Spin on the Matter of Motion is a young adult educational eBook cloaked as a sci-fi. Each of the 170 pages have beautifully illustrated art and science diagrams. Interwoven throughout the story are non-fiction links to various topics and state-of-the-art science, which corroborate the storyline and substantiate the possibility of the occurrence of these fantastical and…

[churchofnix]

Hypothesis of Indeterminacy

No Quantum of Reality

Reality is not quantized; it's infinitely divisible. There is no fundamental "smallest" unit of space, time, or any other physical quantity.

Infinite Reality

The universe, at its core, is infinite. This could mean infinite in extent or infinitely divisible, or both.

Emergent Reality

Macroscopic properties and phenomena emerge from the interactions of infinite underlying components.

Statistical Probability

Due to the infinite nature of reality, every outcome is ultimately a statistical probability, leading to indeterminism.

Potential Criticisms and Counterarguments

- Criticism: Even if reality is infinitely divisible, couldn't it still be deterministic? If the laws of physics governing the infinitesimal components are deterministic, the overall system would also be deterministic.

- Counterargument: This assumes a "bottom-up" causality where the behavior of infinitesimal components rigidly determines macroscopic events. In an emergent system, the infinite interactions and complexity could lead to unpredictable outcomes. Think of it like this: even with deterministic rules (e.g., the laws of physics), if you have an infinite number of "players" (infinitesimal components) interacting in an infinite space, predicting the overall outcome with certainty becomes impossible. This is analogous to chaos theory, where even simple deterministic systems can exhibit unpredictable behavior due to their sensitivity to initial conditions.

- Criticism: Quantum mechanics already incorporates indeterminism. Your theory seems to just "push the problem down" to a sub-quantum level.

- Counterargument: Quantum mechanics introduces indeterminism at the Planck scale, but it still assumes a quantized reality at that level. This theory goes further, suggesting that even the Planck scale is not the fundamental limit. This leads to a deeper level of indeterminacy where the very concept of definite states and fixed laws may break down.

- Criticism: How can we make any predictions or have any scientific understanding in a completely indeterminate universe?

- Counterargument: Even in an indeterminate universe, patterns and probabilities can emerge. While specific events might be unpredictable, overall trends and statistical distributions can still be observed and studied. This is similar to how we understand weather patterns: we can't predict the exact path of a single raindrop, but we can make probabilistic forecasts about overall weather conditions.

- Criticism: Is there any evidence to support the idea of an infinitely divisible reality?

- Counterargument: Currently, there is no direct empirical evidence for or against the infinite divisibility of reality. However, the concept has a long history in philosophy and mathematics (e.g., Zeno's paradoxes). Furthermore, some theoretical frameworks, like certain interpretations of string theory or loop quantum gravity, hint at the possibility of a reality without a fundamental quantum.

The Infinity of a Circle

A circle is a continuous curve, meaning that there are no gaps or breaks in its path. Mathematically, we say it contains an infinite number of points.

Here's why:

- Divisibility: You can divide any arc of a circle into two smaller arcs. You can then divide those arcs again, and again, and again, infinitely. There's no limit to how small you can make the arcs.

- No "Smallest" Unit: Unlike a pixelated image on a screen, a perfect mathematical circle doesn't have a smallest unit. There's no "circle pixel" or smallest possible arc length.

The Challenge of Specifying Points

While a circle has infinitely many points, it's surprisingly difficult to precisely specify the location of any individual point. Here's the catch:

- Irrational Numbers: The coordinates of most points on a circle involve irrational numbers like pi (π). Irrational numbers have decimal representations that go on forever without repeating. This means you can never write down their exact value.

- Approximations: In practice, we use approximations for pi and other irrational numbers. This means any point we specify on a circle is actually an approximation, not its exact location.

Four Special Points

There are only four points on a circle that we can specify precisely:

- (1, 0): The point where the circle intersects the positive x-axis.

- (0, 1): The point where the circle intersects the positive y-axis.

- (-1, 0): The point where the circle intersects the negative x-axis.

- (0, -1): The point where the circle intersects the negative y-axis.

These points have coordinates that are whole numbers, making them easy to define.

Even though the circle is a well-defined mathematical object, the precise location of most of its points remains elusive due to the nature of infinity and irrational numbers.

This could suggest that even in a seemingly well-defined system (like a circle or, perhaps, the universe), the infinite nature of reality might introduce a fundamental level of indeterminacy due to the approximation required at the point of determination.

In other words, at the point of any decision, there are infinite approximations of reality statistically coalescing/emerging into a decisive result.

This fundamental indeterminacy could extend to the neural processes underlying decision-making.

That is the basis of free will.

Past experiences, beliefs, and values shape the probability distribution of potential decisions, but don’t determine the outcome. And events are even influenced by conscious intention, allowing for agency in decision-making. Moreover, this ability to shape decision probabilities can be developed over time, supporting the idea of moral growth and education.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Many string theorists, including me, strongly suspect that something along these lines actually happens, but to go further we need to figure out the more fundamental concepts into which space and time transform.*

* I might note that the proponents of another approach for merging general relativity and quantum mechanics, loop quantum gravity, to be briefly discussed Chapter 16, take a viewpoint that is closer to the former conjecture – that spacetime has a discrete structure on the smallest of scales.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" - Brian Greene

[iced-cofi]

I kinda just wanna write game reviews here sometimes. *Ahem*

It's pretty damn rare that you find a piece of media like this throughout the course of your life.

One that elegantly, carefully, and lovingly traverses infinite despair in an infinitely more hopeful way. One that shows you that no true problem can be solved in a single day. One that teaches of the compassion in our hearts, for those around us and the world we all live in.

And, for me, one that teaches that in the face of despair, fear, and sadness, beauty can also be found, and that no matter how pointless it can seem, fighting, trying, and persistence is how we can push through the end of the world. And now matter how all encompassing it may seem, the end is never truly the end. It's just a new beginning.

I am, of course, referring to...

Before I continue, I must clarify, as I did in my ACT review, this will feature spoilers, and moreso than almost any other game I've played, you simply must play this blind if you can.

Ok, a brief, completely spoiler free review. *Ahem again*

Outer Wilds is a beautiful, relaxing yet occasionally stressful first person space exploration game, in which the only currency you collect through the game is knowledge. The solar system is your own journey through the puzzle box the devs made. The music is beautiful and touching, the visuals are distinct yet simple, and the story is like nothing else. The only genuine 10/10 I can give. It's brilliant.

Ok, I will now put a funny picture, this is your opportunity to leave spoiler free.

3

2

1

Ok now time for the real gamers to chat.

This game. This fucking game. It reaches deep to the innermost part of my mind and soul and shows me a more accurate depiction of the human experience than any other game, and it don't even got humans.

It is the absolute definition of existential optimism, and I think it's refreshing, and borderline spiritual.

And this fact is helped because the way you get to the end is entirely up to you. Every single person who plays this game will play it differently. Everyone follows what they find amazing and interesting, and everyone finds what they think is, and they fly and crash and die and laugh and love every moment they spend in this dark, enrapturing galaxy.

The combination of nostalgic foresty landscapes, crumbling planets, shoddy craftsmanship, and banjo laden melancholy music make for a uniquely sentimental game, which allows you to connect with what theyve done.

I mean fuck some of the coolest ideas for planets and worlds I've ever seen.

Brittle Hollow and it's crumbling deadly surface, and infinitely heavy black hole at the center

Dark Bramble, always enshrouded in fog and mystery, endlessly repeating dangerous, vine coated voids filled with the most terrifying creatures in the known universe

The Hourglass Twins, the most clearly time based astral body of all, as two planets pirouette through the sky, trading impossible amounts of sand due to a shift in gravity

And of course, the Quantum Moon, a blend of all other planets with an ethereal, eternally shifting vibe layered thickly on top.

It's brilliant, and scary, and add layers and layers to your story.

And the characters and all so clearly defined, with interests and dreams and hopes. Reibeck hates space but is obsessed with the Nomai technology and history, so he can't help but explore. Feldspar and his sporadic attitude and wealth of courage allowing him to explore anywhere, as long as it's got beasties. And of course, the one, the only, the best o Outer Wilds character, Gabbro!

This chill as mother fucker got trapped in the same time loope as you, and is simply to chill and content to give a single fucking shit, while still helping where he can with advice and knowledge. It's awesome, and he also teaches you how to speed up your death with meditation, so that's... Cool.

And of fucking course I gotta talk about the music.

It's hypnotic. It permeates your body and makes you happy and sad and lonely and any other thing you can imagine, while still fitting the game, and any individual story moment. It's brilliant.

Like, listen to this shit.

And what about this???

And how about this, which is from the dlc, which i will write about in another review when I'm not exhausted!!

I gotta say, this isn't a review in the way I'd like it to be, cause I'm tired, but fuck me play this game it's amazing and the music and visuals and every piece is just... Oh my God.

I hope you enjoyed reading this delirious mish mash of words I wanted to say about a game I really love.

No joke, 10/10

Would crash into the sun again.

Thanks!!

[tenth-sentence]

One harmonious possibility is that string enthusiasts and loop quantum gravity aficionados are actually constructing the same theory, but from vastly different starting points.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" - Brian Greene

[decks-writing-blog]

Campfire Fest Day Five: Ring World

For @outerwilds-events Campfire Fest Event.

~

Auri jogged into Gabbro’s camp, already raising a hand in greeting. “Hey Gabbro!” Their excited tone matched their rush over. They’d found something then and were eager to share.

Gabbro lowered the flute as they reached the hammock. “Hey, time pal, what’s up? Other than the clouds, that is.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Hmm… let’s see, I believe I arrived not quite a full day before the loop began. And today’s partway through the first day of the loop so about a day and a half, maybe.”

“Ha, real funny. I mean like, relative to our sense of time, how long have you been here for?”

Well Gabbro had tried to dodge the question. “I don’t know. It’s hard to keep track of time when it keeps resetting every three days.”

The excitement in Auri’s stance dimmed. “Have you left the planet even a single time?”

“Nope. I like it here.” And getting to their ship took a lot of effort that would always be undone at the end of the loop and thus didn’t feel worth it.

Leaning in, Auri grabbed the side of the hammock, ceasing its sway. “You’re doubly for sure coming on an adventure with me then. I should’ve dragged you on one sooner, actually. But I have something cool to show you.”

“You could just tell me.” Gabbro liked how animated they got when talking about things that excited them. It was especially nice to see when often they came here for emotional support when the horrors of the universe and time loop dragged them down.

“No. I’m gonna show you. It’s too cool not to see with your own four eyes.Let’s go.” Stepping back, they pointed towards the tunnel. “Also, before you try to say no again, I’m not gonna cave this time and just tell you. You have to come with me to see it. It’s the coolest thing like ever, I promise, and you need to get out of that damn hammock.”

Last time Auri had come to Gabbro, wanting to take them on an adventure, it had been the Quantum Moon and the Nomai, Solanum, upon it. After hearing about it, Gabbro almost regretted refusing to go but… “The hammock’s comfortable. I like it here.”

Auri’s face was unreadable in the helmet but they were probably frowning. They were silent for a long few seconds as they stepped back up to hammock to grab its side again so they could lean over it, putting their face directly above Gabbro’s. “There’s lying around all day because you’re relaxing and taking it easy but then there’s lying around all day because you’re depressed and literally can’t bring yourself to get up. Which are you doing, right now?”

That was a fair question. Auri was struggling with the time loop of course they’d think that maybe Gabbro was too. It was very sweet of them to worry but unnecessary. Gabbro was fine, they could get up any time they wanted. They just… didn’t want to. No particular reason for it, they just weren’t in the mood to get up and go do something. And the time loop gave them all the time in the world to relax so it was fine. They could go with Auri next time they found something cool or just later in general.

Before they could say any part of that though, Auri cut into the gap their hesitation left. “You’ve told me multiple times to take more breaks and to take it easy and stuff. I’m always rushing everywhere and should slow down. You’re the opposite though. You’re going nowhere and doing nothing but lying here, alone and bereft of sunlight. Taking time to relax is great and all but… there’s a limit, right? A point when it goes from resting to a depressive episode. I’ve been thinking about that a lot since you first refused to come to the Quantum Moon with me even though quantum stuff is like, your thing, right? You made a whole quantum poem but you don’t want to go see the Quantum Moon? I don’t believe it.

“So you’re coming with me to see this new thing even if I have to pick you up and carry you all the way there. Don’t think the heavier gravity on this planet will stop me either. And then later we’re going back to the Quantum Moon and then maybe even later after that we’re gonna go on more adventures. You’re done with lying in this hammock all loop, every loop.”

Gabbro didn’t exactly have a solid argument against that. From Auri’s perspective it did look bad, didn’t it? And… they did have a point, huh? Gabbro rarely left the island for the entire time they’d been in the loop and never the planet unless getting tossed up by the cyclones counted as such which would be a stretch. That entire time they only sunlight they’d gotten was when they were tossed into space and that didn’t last long enough to count for a lot. And for a while now, the only socialization they’d been getting was from Auri; radioing any of the others had long since stopped feeling worth the effort. Isolation took a while to become an issue but if not for Auri seeking them out, they might’ve surpassed the threshold by now.

The silence held long and tense as Auri waited for a response. Did they know they’d already basically won the argument? If it could even be called an argument. It was more of a call out. Auri was calling Gabbro out for their laziness passing into a point of being unhealthy. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d lost that balance.

Finally they had to sigh. “You have a point. So I suppose…” Gabbro forced themself to sit up. It was harder than it should’ve been and not just because their body was never allowed the time to fully adjust to the heavier gravity. “…to save you the trouble of forcing me, I’ll go willingly. Show me your cool thing.”

With a delighted cackle, Auri took their offered hand to help pull them the rest of the way to their feet. Still holding it, they dragged Gabbro towards the tunnel. Gabbro didn’t fight it. Probably they needed a little excitement in the life, much like how Auri needed the opposite.

~

“Okay, okay, okay. We’re here!” Auri’s voice was vibrating with excitement. It was endearing. “Come see!”

Lowering the flute, Gabbro stood and walked over to stand behind the pilot seat. Putting one arm hand on the back of it, they leaned slightly over Auri’s shoulder to get a good look through the cockpit window.

It was dark out there, almost unnaturally so. Dark enough that it was hard to see anything at first before it clicked. A massive something loomed in the darkness, impossible to see the whole of even though they seemed to be a fair distance from it. Part of it was rotating almost like a clock gear. Whatever it was wasn’t natural nor was it of Hearthian make and it didn’t look anything like the Nomai tech they were familiar with either. It had to be from the Nomai though, right? Unless there was a third space faring race in the same galaxy. Not impossible but statistically unlikely.

“What is it?” Gabbro had to ask both because they wanted to know and because Auri was no doubt eager to say more. There was no way they’d found this and then abandoned it to go grab Gabbro. They’d probably explored it until the end of last loop at the very least.

“A space ship!”

“Awful big for a space ship.” Gabbro was no expert on the math but knew enough to know that to get something that massive off a planet would take a tremendous amount of force even if the planet had low gravity. Perhaps whoever had built it had done it the same way the Nomai had made the Orbital Probe Canon.

“I know. I’m pretty sure they lived on it, like permanently. There’s a whole… well you’ll see when we get inside. It’s super cool. And probably you’ve figured it out by now but it’s not made by the Nomai.”

“A third space faring species then. That uh… yeah, that is pretty cool.” Not even Gabbro was immune to the excitement that the implications of that news brought. The Nomai were long dead but what about the species that had built this? Were they still around? And even if not, they’d had to have come from out of system, right? If they could do it, that meant it was physically possible and thus others could to. And maybe, just maybe, the Hearthians could as well. They could flee their dying solar system and go somewhere else. Maybe not under their own power, three days wasn’t long enough to build a ship capable of such a feat even with a proof of concept right here, but if this massive ship still functioned or if they could fix it… It was too early to really explore the thought much but it sure was something to consider.

The ship lightly jerked as Auri set it moving towards the massive vessel again. “See? Words wouldn’t do it justice. I had to show you.”

“Yes. Words would not have done it justice. Thanks for… just thanks. This is quite the adventure you dragged me on. I think maybe I needed it.”

“You should come on them with me more. It’d be good for you.”

“Maybe.” More like probably. That was a discussion for later though. First came seeing more this.