Realm of the Quanta

The Realm of the Quanta

Third in the Size May Really Be Everything series.

Noun: quantum pl. quanta
1. A discrete amount of something that is analogous to the quantities in quantum theory. 2. (physics) the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess (according to quantum theory).

A quantum of light is called a photon.

In an observable, measurable uninverse that is a lot of things, one of the more extraordinary qualities we find is the wide range in the sizes of everything that exists. From the largest collections of things, such as a galaxy or group of same, to the smallest sub-atomic aggregates of particles that comprise coherent arrangements of molecules and atoms. And from there, we descend ever further, deep within the interiors of atoms, and ultimately arrive at the realm of the quanta. Regions so small that to shrink even more would take us to places where the laws of physics themselves begin to lose all meaning -- perhaps all relevancy whatsoever.

At the upper end of the scale, as discussed in other segments of this series, exist the true giants which roam the cosmos as individuals. Typically a huge star, but more recently as super-massive black holes which not only dwarf the largest of stars, but may rival in size, entire planetary systems as well.

Within such a disparity of things that are very big, and those which are smaller than the tiniest that we might ever imagine, where does the planet Earth reside? At first glance, it almost seems like we're roughly in the middle of it all. That there are nearly as many things smaller than ourselves, as there are larger. If true, what significance, if any, might such a frame-of-reference indicate. Is it important or simply coincidental?

One of the great universal constants is that coincidence rarely plays more than the most minor of roles in the overall scheme of things. Without the presence of life -- as we know it -- would the Earth stand-out for any reason, whether in regard to size or any other respect? Indeed, is life itself the chief arbiter of planetary scale and size?

Such a proposition carries profound implications. The suggestion is thus posited that life (as we know it) not only exists within a fairly narrow set of parameters, but may not or cannot evolve outside these same limitations. Not only must an Earthlike planet be located in just the right spot relative to its parent star, but such a world must be of a certain size which is neither larger nor smaller than is allowed by a strict set of constants.

Too big -- or too small -- and life simply doesn't happen. This isn't to say, however, that within a given "scale-of-permissibility", that a wide range of sizes are not possible. There may be giant life forms found among the atmospheres of Jupiter or Saturn, or microbes swimming in subterranean oceans of the smallest moon. Almost irrespective of such circumstances, however, would be the implication that solar systems identical or similar to our own, represent a kind of prerequisite model in multiple ways, none the least of which are the sizes of the planetary bodies themselves.

If life exists on microscopic specs of space dust, or on planets twenty or fifty times larger than Earth, we should expect it to be of forms that are hardly recognizable to us. If at all. And vice versa.

Such postulations would go far in explaining some of the many quandaries that surround us, both as living beings on Earth, and the apparent absence of same on other worlds. If valid, the arguments put forth in this little essay portray a dim, if not dismal, prospect for the existence of life as an abundant, fertile and vigorous process that arises with little provocation.

On the contrary, if limitations of size are subsequently configured into the Drake equation, and other formulations that forecast a universe brimming with life, the formerly optimistic numbers that describe alien contact as virtually imminent, may well drop to only a small fraction of their former quantities.

Thus it is likely far less important as to where the Earth sits in comparison to the largest and the smallest of all the things that exist, but rather in whether or not it could be otherwise. That were the Earth a little smaller, like Mars, or some fraction of Jupiter's size -- larger -- no one would be around to ask these kind of questions.

Most probably, no one would be around at all.