Twitter and other social media platforms are abuzz with the so-called ‘parallel universe’ that NASA has discovered. According to the claims, NASA has detected a parallel universe in Antarctica, where time runs backwards.

ANITA experiment is significant for prelims. It can be asked in prelims in such match the pair questions-

Q. Consider the following pairs :

Terms sometimes seen in news                                Context / Topic

1. Belle 2 experiment –                                        Artificial Intelligence

2. Blockchain technology –                               Digital Cryptocurrency

3. CRISPR – Cas9 –                                               Particle Physics

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (CSP 2018)

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

What is a Parallel Universe?

• In quantum mechanics, a parallel universe is theorized as existing alongside our own, although undetectable.
• The recent reports claiming that there is evidence of a parallel universe appear to be based on ANITA findings that are at least a couple of years old.
• A science magazine had published a feature, discussing some anomalous results coming from neutrino detection experiments in Antarctica.
• It discussed a speculative cosmological model that posits there’s an antimatter universe extending backwards from the BigBang.
• This theorem was also proposed by famous scientist Stephens Hawking.

What were the anomalous detections in Antarctica?

The ANITA experiment

• Four years ago an experiment had spotted a handful of instances of what seemed to be highly energetic neutrinos coming through the Earth.
• It was named Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment — a high-altitude helium balloon with an array of radio antennas, partially funded by NASA.
• The telescope could spot these neutrinos coming from the space and hitting the ice sheet in Antarctica.
• ANITA detected these particles, but instead of coming from the space, the neutrinos were found to be coming from the Earth’s surface without any source.
• These detections happened in 2016, then again in 2018, but there was no credible explanation.
• Physicists have been working to figure out if these results can be explained with our current models of physics or have something to do with the experimental set-up itself, or if something like the parallel universe does exist.

Back2Basics: Neutrinos

• A neutrino is a subatomic particle very similar to an electron.
• But it has no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero.
• Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe.
• Because they have very little interaction with matter, they are incredibly difficult to detect.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now