2036 The Proof: A Thrilling Science Fiction Novel

by Speiser, Zvi

  She called Rick immediately. “He promised to think about it,” she said. “What are you doing?” she raised her voice when she saw Will twisting around in bed, attempting to sit up.

  “That’s it, I’ve had enough. I’m trying to get out of ved,” he said.

  “Why don’t we call a nurse who can confirm whether you’re allowed to get up? If she does, I can help you.”

  “That’s exactly what I don’t want,” he replied. “I feel like I can get uf, so I don’t care what the nurse thinks.”

  “You haven’t changed,” she said with a smile. “You’re still stubborn and opinionated.” She watched him with wonder as he took two tentative steps, after which he straightened and took several more steadier ones.

  “Way to go,” she said softly. “I didn’t believe you’d get better so quickly. I’m really glad to see it.”

  “That’s it. I’m going home today,” he said, setting out for the nurses’ station, with Melissa following. As they walked, they continued to argue whether they should go to his place or to hers. “The doctor confirmed that I don’t need any physical sufort or sufervision.”

  “Yes, that’s right—he did, but only based on a remote assessment. I’m not sure I’d trust an examination from a doctor who never physically touched the patient.”

  “Things have changed,” he replied. “Remote assessments vy doctors are in use in every hosfital. Instead of making the doctor rush around vetween fatients, wasting his time, the doctor can assess the entire course of the disease and treatment, and through a sfecialized system, can frovide the vest diagnosis. I’m certain, of course, that I can get along by myself, although I’d ve very haffy if you came with me.”

  Chapter 29

  Lia Publishes the Anomaly

  California, Wednesday, July 23, 2036

  Briefly, Lia considered staying for the rest of the interesting lectures at the conference, perhaps sitting down with Sheffy and brainstorming some more. But she was too agitated. She had to keep going and publish the anomaly as soon as possible. Throughout the course of her work, she had invested plenty of time in writing the scientific paper. All that was needed now were some brief additions and a final fine-tuning.

  There was no point in returning home. A brief roam revealed a quiet area consisting of several small conference rooms, most of which were occupied. The empty room she found suited her purposes. It was very small, guaranteeing that it would be of interest to few people, and therefore, that her work would not be interrupted.

  Within less than an hour, she was looking at a properly phrased scientific article, laden with the names of stars, measurement data, and detailed calculations. But she was not tempted, even for a moment, to submit it yet. She had to get Sheffy’s opinion.

  It’s interesting, she thought. Until yesterday, she had not even known him, and had occasionally published papers in astronomy on her own, without needing the opinion or approval of any colleagues. What had happened this time to make her feel insecure? As if she needed Professor Sheffy’s approval to publish. It’s true, she had included his name in the credits, and therefore required his consent for that reason alone. But even if she hadn’t included his name, she would still feel that she needed his approval. Somehow, she felt that such a dramatic paper required plenty of support and another critical perspective, especially by a reputable, experienced scientist such as Professor Sheffy.

  After one more pass, she sent him the article. He might have time to read it during one of his breaks. It wasn’t too long, and could be skimmed in about fifteen minutes.

  Now all she had to do was recruit all the patience she could muster and wait for his response, which, much to her surprise, arrived before she even had time to sit down in the nice café she knew in the neighborhood.

  It’s true, he told her, he was attending a lecture that was quite interesting, but he was impatient as well, and had been certain she would get back to him fairly quickly. The article was good, precise and succinct. Its publication would make waves within the astronomy community, primarily among the astrophysicists. It would be a field day for the astronomers. Her discovery would open up a new quest to seek similar stars in the universe. The astrophysicists would have to come up with a fresh theory capable of explaining this new data. Things would get interesting within the scientific community.

  He was happy, of course, to be credited for the paper, although he did not think he deserved this honor. “In fact, I didn’t help you in any way,” he repeated several times. “You did all the work. You discovered the anomaly. All I did was confirm your findings.”

  “You have no idea how much you helped me. It’s such a strange phenomenon that I was afraid I was missing something major. It takes courage to publish such groundbreaking findings. I needed support and confirmation from a leading scientist. Thanks to you, I’m not afraid of publication.”

  “Shall we celebrate over dinner, and wait together for the reactions?” he asked, half joking and half serious.

  “I’m posting it right now,” she said slowly, and in a clear, confident voice, added, “And…Send.” The article glided into the virtual astronomy community.

  “I’ll pick you up at eight,” he said. “My treat. It’s not every day that a scientist uncovers the sort of discovery that might change the face of science, and maybe even humanity as a whole.”

  “Aren’t you getting carried away?” she asked. “All we actually discovered was an anomaly in the part of the universe that’s closer to us. Who knows how many similar phenomena are still hidden away in the immense universe?”

  “That’s true,” he said. “The universe truly is wondrous and enormous. Who knows what else we might find.”

  Lia glanced at her assistant. It was now 6:43 p.m. “I wonder what the reaction time of our astronomer colleagues will be.”

  “I wonder who’ll be the first to react,” Sheffy responded. “Astronomers, astrophysicists, or physicists? My bet is on the astrophysicists. They’ll want to get their hands on the raw data of the unprocessed measurements. They don’t trust anyone, especially when it comes to disproving a well-established theory that’s been around for years. Then we’ll hear from the physicists, who’ll claim measurement errors or some other form of error. I don’t think the astronomers will react. They tend to leave the quantum physics to others.”

  “I guess we’ll wait and see. I’m starting to time it right now,” she said, activating the timer.

  Once again, there was no point in driving home. She would take a leisurely stroll down the campus’s broad walkways. This would be her first hours of relaxation for many months now. Previously, even when walking down the street, she could not see a thing. Not the wintry sun shining through in the afternoon, or the beauty of the rain-drenched flowers illuminated by the streetlights. Sheffy could collect her from wherever she ended up by dinnertime.

  She wondered when the reactions would start to appear, and what they would be. When she peered at her assistant again, it was already 7:22. More than half an hour had gone by with no responses. They must be going over her calculations and planning their replies. Who might be the first to respond? Everyone on the East Coast had already gone home for the day. Europe was fast asleep. Only in the Far East, China, Japan, and Australia were people working now.

  Actually, there was no reason for stress. Her calculations were correct, and had been verified by a reputable scientist. The telescope measurements had been reconfirmed again and again. She had done her part. From this point on, the hot potato had been tossed at the scientific community. They could knock themselves out. She wasn’t an expert on quantum physics, anyway.

  Sheffy had found the time to change into a more casual outfit, and looked much younger than his age. The early spring evening seemed suited to their celebratory feeling. He had skipped lunch, and preferred to avoid filling up on snacks, and was therefore very hungry. They decided to go wil
d. After all, it wasn’t every day that a theory that had been working reliably for many years, providing accurate predictions, was challenged. Their discovery would shake up the understanding of a basic physical process. It would provide research fodder for many scientists and researchers attempting to develop a better, more accurate, and more comprehensive theory.

  This was the way physics worked. Many theories had been considered excellent for quite a while, until emerging cracks in their predictive ability, sometimes very slight ones, had led to in-depth research resulting in the emergence of better theories. However, ultimately, they were only theories. The universe was apparently too complex for simple theories, with the best example, of course, being Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which had generated more accurate predictions than Newton’s laws, previously dominating science for many years.

  The assistant proposed two good restaurants within walking distance.

  “Today we’re celebrating,” Sheffy said, “and when you celebrate, you eat the best food. Which of those two is more expensive?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve never been to either of them.”

  “Susannah’s is pricier and has better reviews,” the baritone voice of his assistant rang out.

  Sheffy responded with an impish smile and a nod. “Off we go to Susannah’s,” he cheered, and they were on their way.

  Sheffy did indeed celebrate. The bottle of wine he ordered was among the most expensive on the menu.

  As the waiter poured the costly wine into their glasses, Sheffy asked, “Where do you think the first response will come from?”

  “People aren’t at work yet anywhere other than the Far East, from India eastward. If we get anything this evening, it’ll be from there.”

  The wine was wonderful; Sheffy had chosen well. As they sipped it leisurely, her assistant beeped. One quick glance at it effectively ended the celebration. The wine goblets were placed back on the table. Lia sent the message to his assistant, and they both immersed themselves in reading it.

  Dr. Sabrang Chandrasekhar, grandson of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, from New Delhi, had written that he was stunned and frustrated, unable to understand what was going on. He was certain that some error in the observations or calculations would eventually emerge. It was impossible that his grandfather, winner of a Nobel Prize in physics, after whom the maximum possible mass for a white dwarf had been named, had been wrong, especially in light of the multiple verifications of his calculations since they were initially made.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “Nothing. You’ll get plenty of responses of this kind, which don’t merit a reply. There’ll also be harsher reactions from physicists and astrophysicists who will propose convoluted and unclear explanations and mathematical derivations. The storm hasn’t even started yet. Just wait for the scientists from Russia and Israel. They won’t be polite and pleasant like Chandrasekhar’s grandson. They’ll be followed by the Europeans and the Americans.

  “I wonder why Chandrasekhar’s grandson returned to the East. His grandfather actually spent most of his life in the States after leaving his homeland of Pakistan. Anyway, there’s no point in letting it spoil your mood. Let’s order. I’m starving. I’m also silencing my assistant, and I suggest you do the same. We’re allowed to disengage from the world for one evening. The responses can wait.”

  Chapter 30

  Benny Has an Idea

  California, Thursday, July 24, 2036

  It was a good thing he had anticipated what was about to happen, Benny thought as he glanced at his inbox. It was bursting with emails from Avi Tsur, from his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science, from several of the department’s PhD students, from prominent scientists throughout Europe, some of whom he knew well, and even two scientists from Boston, apparently early risers.

  He had been right to propose that Lia silence her assistant as well; otherwise, there was no chance they would have been able to sleep. He wondered how many messages she had received, and briefly considered asking her. Perhaps she still hadn’t woken up. After all, this was her first night of rest since she had immersed herself in working on the discovery.

  Finally, however, he was unable to overcome his desire to find out who had responded, and how many responses had arrived. Yes, she said, she had been up for a while. Although she could finally sleep peacefully, she was excited to see the first global reactions. She’d even had time to read some of them in the blogs and in various astronomy and general scientific columns. She had slept very little, and had already skimmed some of the many emails she had received. No, she wasn’t interested in competing with him over the number of responses, but would be happy to meet him soon to go over the responses together, and perhaps start planning the next stages.

  She had time to book a small, comfortable conference room for them, brew some coffee, and make sure the projector was tuned and linked to the computer, just as Benny showed up with a bag containing several pastries and sandwiches from the hotel’s dining room. As they snacked and sipped, they started by perusing several science and astronomy columns that cited the study and quoted parts of it. These did not include any criticism, but focused on the facts, as befitting respected scientific publications.

  The personal responses arriving via email were different in nature. Lia and Benny divided them into several categories. More than half of them questioned the accuracy of the measurements, dismissing the conclusion without even attempting to explain it or deal with its possible implications. Benny nicknamed this category “The Fixated,” those for whom a good day was one that resembled the day before as much as possible, with no significant changes, no alarms, and no surprises, and mostly, no need to deal with any new challenges. As he sarcastically phrased it, they preferred to “go with the flow and not to make waves.”

  About a quarter of the responses did not state any position. They asked to receive the raw, unprocessed measurement data, as it had been received from the telescope. Some even asked for the specifications of the mirrors and the stabilization systems, as well as the STA’s degree of accuracy. Benny termed these “The Serious Researchers”: thoughtful, cautious people who did not shoot from the hip. They were willing and able to dedicate significant time to testing the precision of the measurements, and would contact the manufacturers of the telescope’s components and the providers of its raw materials in order to interrogate them, as well.

  “The Thorough Overachievers,” Lia suggested with a smile.

  That left two smaller groups, “The Enthusiasts,” as Benny called them, researchers yearning for information or a discovery that would excite and shock them, challenging them to investigate fresh new directions in which no research had been conducted. Some of them began with a thorough examination of the calculations, while others turned to the most difficult option—a renewed, careful re-examination of the calculations of Noble Prize winner Professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The last two responses were from the Weizmann Institute. One was from a group of colleagues and PhD students, while the last was from his own graduate students, who congratulated them for the discovery and expressed their hopes that it would withstand the scrutiny from other scientists.

  “Not even one response that accepts the findings and tries to explain them,” Benny said.

  “Would you act differently? Or more precisely, how would you respond if you were surprised by a discovery like this, the way the others were?” she asked.

  “That’s a good question. I think I would respond the way my Israeli colleagues did, by expressing my hope that the findings are indeed valid. Simultaneously, I’d do all I could to check the accuracy of the measurements and the calculations that led to it. Only after I was convinced would I delve into the possible physical reasons for those very large masses.

  “You have to remember that this disproves a theory that has been dominant in astrophysics for decades now, and was a corn
erstone for the conclusion that not only is the universe’s expansion not slowing down, as expected, but it’s actually accelerating. This is a phenomenon that’s been investigated for decades, and its cause still remains unclear. There’s also something else that we mentioned briefly yesterday, and has been bothering me since.”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “You know, my detractors have often claimed that I hover at forty thousand feet, the altitude at which commercial aircraft fly, and look down at the ground from there. This comment is usually intended to insult me, and to emphasize that I’m disconnected from the sea of details that constitutes reality. There’s something to that claim. I think that from a low altitude, you can see an abundance of tiny details whose importance I’m not dismissing, but from a high altitude, it’s an entirely different picture. It’s more inclusive, and often provides essentially different insights than the ones seen from a lower altitude.”

  “What are you getting at?” she asked, sounding concerned. “What are you seeing that I can’t see?”

  “You know what? I have an idea. Try to summarize the discovery in a few words. Write them down on a piece of paper and focus on them. Try to avoid thinking about the long path that brought you here, and the countless details that kept you busy on the way. Just focus solely on the facts describing your discovery. I’m sure that in a short time, you’ll see what I see.”

  Lia’s nerves felt as if they were too frayed to withstand the test with which he now challenged them. “Look,” she said tensely, “what you’ve just said is stressful and disturbing to me. Yesterday we both published an article that, assuming all the measurements and calculations it’s based on are accurate, should shock the global physics and astrophysics community, and lead to further studies whose results are impossible to predict. On the other hand, if we were wrong, we’ll be depicted as empty vessels, and our entire academic future will be swallowed up by a black hole. At a time that’s so rife with pressure, you remember that you didn’t talk to me about an idea concerning the discovery, and expect me to relax and think outside the box? You really think so? Either tell me immediately what your idea is, or I’ll promptly lose my mind,” she concluded, her lungs entirely drained of air.