Do We Live in a Multiverse?


(Victor De Schwanberg/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

EXPLAINER
SCIENCEALERT STAFF

As far as we currently know, there is a single expanding blob of spacetime speckled with trillions of galaxies - that's our Universe. If there are others, we have no compelling evidence for their existence.

That said, theories of cosmology, quantum physics, and the very philosophy of science have a few problems that could be solved if our blob of 'everything' wasn't, well, everything.

That doesn't mean other universes must exist. But what if they do?
What is a universe?

It should be a simple question to answer. But different areas of science will have subtly different takes on what a universe even is.

Cosmologists might say it describes the total mass of stuff (and the space in between) that has been slowly expanding from a highly concentrated volume over the past 13.77 billion years, becoming increasingly disordered with age.

It now stretches 93 billion light years from edge to edge, at least based on all of the visible (and invisible) stuff we can detect in some way. Beyond that limit, there are either things we can't see, an infinite expanse of nothingness, or – in the unlikely scenario that all of space bends back around on itself – a round-trip back to the start across a hyperspherical universe.

If we're talking quantum physics, though, a universe might refer to all fields and their particles, and their combined influences over one another. As a general rule, a universe (like ours, at least) is a closed system, meaning it can't suddenly lose or gain a significant sum of energy.

Philosophically speaking, a universe might be a discrete set of fundamental laws that governs the behavior of everything we observe. A universe would be defined by its own rules that set its unique speed for light, tell particles how to push or pull, or space how it should expand.

What is a multiverse in cosmology?

A century of astronomical observations has told us a lot about the age, size, and evolution of galaxies, stars, matter and the four dimensions we sum up as spacetime.

One thing we know with great confidence is that everything we see now is expanding at an accelerating rate. This logically implies the Universe, at least the one we live in, used to be a lot smaller.

(NASA/JPL)

We can theoretically squeeze all of the matter of the Universe down to a point where the concentration of energy reduces atoms to a soup of simpler particles and forces combine until we can't tell them apart. Any smaller than that? Big shrugs.

If we go with what's known as a cyclic model of cosmology, the parent universe preceded ours in some way. It might even be a lot like this one, only running in reverse compared with ours, shrinking over time into a concentrated point only to bounce back out for some reason. Played out for eternity, we might imagine the respective universes bounce back and forth in an endless yo-yo effect of growing and collapsing.

Or, if we go with what's known as a conformal cyclic model, universes expand over trillions upon trillions of years until their cold, point-like particles are so spread out, for all mathematical purposes everything looks and acts like a brand new universe.

If you don't like those, there's a chance our Universe is a white hole – the hypothetical back end of a black hole from another universe. Which, logically, just might mean the black holes in our Universe could all be parents, pinching off new universes like cosmic amoebae.

What is a multiverse in quantum physics?

Early last century, physicists found theories that described matter as tiny objects only told half of the story. The other half was that matter behaved as if it also had characteristics of a wave.

Exactly what this dual nature of reality means is still a matter of debate, but from a mathematical perspective, that wave describes the rise and fall of a game of chance. Probability, you see, is built into the very machinery that makes up the gears of a universe like ours.

Of course, this isn't our daily experience as vast collections of atoms. When we send a bucket of molecules called a rocket to the Moon as it zooms past 300,000 kilometres away, we're not rolling dice. Classical old physics is as reliable as tomorrow's sunrise.

But the closer we zoom in on a region of space or time, the more we need to take into account the possible range of measurements we might find.

This randomness isn't the result of things we don't know – it's because the Universe itself is yet to make up its mind. There's nothing in quantum mechanics explaining this transition either, leaving us to imagine what it all means.

In his 1957 doctoral dissertation, American physicist Hugh Everett suggested the range of possibilities are all as real as one another, representing actual realities – separate universes, if you like – just like the one we're all familiar with.

What makes any one universe in this many worlds interpretation distinct is how each wave correlates with a specific measurement taken of other waves, a phenomenon we call entanglement.

What 'we' means, and why 'we' experience one entangled set over waves over another, isn't clear, and in some ways presents an even bigger problem to solve.
What is a multiverse in philosophy?

One of science's most fundamental starting assumptions is that in spite of what your mother tells you, you're not special. Nor is any other human, or our planet, or – by extension – our Universe.

While rare events occur from time to time, we don't answer The Big Questions with 'it just happened that way'.

So why does our Universe seem to have just the right tug-of-war of forces that allow not just particles to appear, but to congeal for long enough periods into atoms that can undergo complex chemistry to produce thinking minds like ours?

Philosophically speaking, the anthropic principle (or principles, since there are many different ways to spin the idea) suggests we might have it backwards. Without these conditions, no minds would have arisen to consider the amazing turn of events.

If just a single universe 'just happened that way' early one spring morning, it'd be one big coincidence. Too big really.

But if there were infinite universes, with infinite combinations of forces pushing and pulling, some would inevitably give rise to minds that just might ask 'are we part of a multiverse?'

Will we ever discover other universes?

Given the very definition of a universe relies on some kind of physical fence keeping influencing factors apart, it's hard to imagine ways we might ever observe the existence of a sibling for our universe. If we did, we might as well see it as an extension of our own Universe anyway.

That said, there could be some cheats that could give us a glimpse.

Any experiment to find one would have to rely on that 'fence' having some holes in it that allow particles or energy to leak across, either into ours, or away from it. Or, in the case of universes existing in our past, monumental events that left enough of a scar that not even a rebirth could erase.

For now, we still have no good reason to think our blob of everything is anything but unique. Given we're still learning how our own Universe works, the current gaps in physics could yet be plugged without any need to imagine a reality other than ours.

In countless other versions of this article scattered throughout the multiverse, however, the question of whether we are alone just might have a different answer.


All Explainers are determined by fact checkers to be correct and relevant at the time of publishing. Text and images may be altered, removed, or added to as an editorial decision to keep information current.

The Mysterious Ice Worm


July 12, 2021



Biologist Peter Wimberger holding an ice worm in the snow.

Nell Greenfieldboyce/NPR

On the mountaintop glaciers of the Pacific Northwest lives a mysterious, and often, overlooked creature. They're small, thread-like worms that wiggle through snow and ice. That's right, ice worms!

NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce talks to Emily about how they survive in an extreme environment and why scientists don't understand some of the most basic facts about them.

For more of Nell's reporting, you can follow her on Twitter @nell_sci_NPR. You can follow Emily @emilykwong1234.

Email the show with suggestions or thoughts at ShortWave@NPR.org.

This episode was produced by Thomas Lu, edited by Gisele Grayson and Viet Le, and fact-checked by Indi Khera. The audio engineer for this episode was Josh Newell.

NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE

EMILY KWONGTwitter

THOMAS LUTwitter

LISTEN· 13:3013-Minute 

Study says known geochemical processes can’t explain Enceladus’ methane

Shane McGlaun - Jul 12, 2021,

A new study was recently published in Nature Astronomy that concluded known geochemical processes cannot explain the levels of methane measured by the Cassini spacecraft on Saturn’s frigid moon Enceladus. The team says an unknown methane-producing process is likely at work hidden in the ocean underneath the moon’s icy shell. Scientists know that giant water plumes erupt from Enceladus, and they have long wondered if the sub-surface ocean believed to lie between the moon’s rocky core and its icy shell might harbor life.

The Cassini spacecraft detected relatively high concentrations of certain molecules associated with hydrothermal vents on the bottom of the ocean on Earth. Molecules detected included dihydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. High levels of methane discovered in the plumes Cassini investigated were particularly unexpected.

Researchers on the project wanted to know if it’s possible that earthlike microbes could be eating the dihydrogen and producing methane in the amounts detected by Cassini. Microbes of that type are known as methanogens. Scientists want to explore that sub-surface ocean, but note doing so would require an extremely challenging deep-dive mission not in sight for a couple of decades.

Study researchers constructed mathematical models to calculate the possibility of different processes, including biological methanogenesis, to explain Cassini’s data. The team used new mathematical models combining geochemistry and microbial ecology to analyze the plume data and model potential processes that could explain the observations.



The conclusion was that Cassini’s data was consistent either with microbial hydrothermal vent activity or processes that don’t involve life forms but are different from those known to occur on earth. Hydrothermal activity on Earth happens when cold seawater seeps into the ocean floor and circulates through the underlying rock. Then, when it passes close to a heat source, such as a magma chamber, it spews out into the water again through hydrothermal vents. Scientists suspect similar processes on Enceladus are responsible for the plumes erupting from its surface.

South African telescope captures stunning image of radio galaxy


By Samantha Mathewson 

Cosmic threads, ribbons and rings are caused by radio emissions from matter falling into the black hole at the center of the galaxy.

The Fanaroff-Riley Type I radio galaxy IC 4296 dominates this spectacular vista, wider than the full moon on the sky. MeerKAT radio data are represented in red/orange hues in this composite view. (Image credit: SARAO, SSS, S. Dagnello and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF))

A stunning new image from the South African MeerKAT telescope captures powerful radio emissions woven through space.

The radio emissions emanate from an enormous rotating black hole that lies at the center of an elliptical galaxy known as IC 4296. Energy released by matter falling into the black hole generates two radio jets of high energy gas on opposite sides of the galaxy — creating what is also known as a double-lobed radio galaxy.

Using the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory's (SARAO) MeerKAT telescope, located in the southwest Karoo region of the country, researchers detected the radio waves from IC 4296, along with other unique cosmic features that may reveal new clues about large radio galaxies, according to a statement from the SARAO.

Recent observations of IC 4296 revealed that the radio jets become unstable as they travel beyond the outer reaches of the galaxy, allowing some of the charged electrons to escape into intergalactic space. These stray electrons create several faint radio "threads," which appear below the galaxy in the new image.

The MeerKAT radio data — represented by the red-orange colored gas in the composite image — also captures smooth "ribbons" between the bright emission jets and outer lobes located on either side of the galaxy. The radio lobes are caused by the interaction of a jet with its surrounding medium. The ribbons fill channels that the jets have carved into the surrounding gas. Nearly 1 million light-years from IC 4296, the ribbons are met by intergalactic gas, creating "smoke rings" in the radio lobes, according to the statement.

"Only MeerKAT's unique combination of sensitivity, angular resolution and dynamic range allowed the discovery of these threads, ribbons and rings," Jim Condon, lead author of the study from the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, said in the statement.

The intergalactic threads, ribbons and rings captured in the recent MeerKAT radio data represent a never-before-seen combination of cosmic features, according to the SARAO statement.


STEREO-A's view of the inner solar system between May 25 and June 1, 2020. Comet ATLAS streaks down across the screen as the planet Mercury enters at the left of the frame; meanwhile, the solar wind blows out from the sun on the left. (Image credit: NASA/NRL/STEREO/Karl Battams)

"Only MeerKAT's unique combination of sensitivity, angular resolution and dynamic range allowed the discovery of these threads, ribbons and rings," Jim Condon, lead author of the study from the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, said in the statement.

The intergalactic threads, ribbons and rings captured in the recent MeerKAT radio data represent a never-before-seen combination of cosmic features, according to the SARAO statement.

The South African MeerKAT radio telescope, which saw first light in 2018, is a precursor to Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which aims to answer fundamental astrophysical questions about the nature of objects in the universe with dishes scattered across South Africa and Australia.

"It is clear that new results like this from MeerKAT and other SKA pathfinders are set to overhaul our understanding of extragalactic radio sources," according to the statement.

The recent findings have been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Samantha Mathewson
Samantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. Previously, her work has been published in Nature World News. When not writing or reading about science, Samantha enjoys traveling to new places and taking photos! You can follow her on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on NGC 6380

Jul 12, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful close-up shot snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the globular cluster NGC 6380.

This Hubble image shows NGC 6380, a globular cluster some 35,500 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. The very bright star at the top of the image is HD 159073, which is only around 4,000 light-years from Earth. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / E. Noyola.

Globular clusters are densely packed, spherical collections of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars.

They are among the oldest known objects in the Universe and are relics of the first epochs of galaxy formation.

About 150-180 such clusters are known to exist around our Milky Way Galaxy.

One of them, NGC 6380, is located approximately 35,500 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpio.

“NGC 6380 is not a particularly exciting name, but it indicates that this cluster is catalogued in the New General Catalogue (NGC), which was originally compiled in 1888,” Hubble astronomers said.

“This cluster has, however, been known by many other names.”

“NGC 6380 was originally discovered by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop in 1826, and he rather immodestly named it Dun 538,” they added.

“Eight years later, in 1834, it was independently rediscovered by the British astronomer John Herschel and he — similarly immodestly — went on to name it H 3688.”

“The cluster was re-rediscovered in 1959 by the Armenian-Mexican astronomer Paris Pişmiş, who catalogued it as Tonantzintla 1 — and who, to continue the pattern, also referred to it as Pişmiş 25.”

“In addition to its colorful history of rediscovery, up until the 1950s NGC 6380 was thought to be an open cluster,” the astronomers said.

“It was the British astronomer A. David Thackeray who realized that it was in fact a globular cluster.”

“Nowadays, this cluster is reliably recognized in widely available catalogues as a globular cluster, and referred to simply as NGC 6380.”

UH OH

Earth's Atmosphere Is Retaining Heat Twice as Fast as It Did Just 15 Years Ago


Sunset over the Indian Ocean as seen from the ISS, showing Earth's atmospheric layers. (NASA)

ANDY TOMASWICK, UNIVERSE TODAY
12 JULY 2021

These days it seems you can't walk through a bookstore without bumping into a book or magazine pointing out the negative consequences of climate change. Everything from the hottest years on record to ruining astronomy can be tied to climate change.

Now some new science lays another potential problem at climate change's feet – Earth is retaining more than twice as much heat annually as it was 15 years ago.

A team from NASA and NOAA found that Earth's "energy imbalance" doubled between 2005 and 2019. The energy imbalance is simple to understand but complex in its causes and impacts. It is the difference between the amount of energy absorbed by Earth and the amount of energy emitted by it.

Any increase in the energy imbalance means the overall Earth system is gaining energy, causing it to heat up

To quantify this change, the team used data from two separate sources – NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and a system run by NOAA called Argo. CERES specializes in how much energy is entering and leaving Earth.

Most of the energy entering is in the form of solar radiation, while energy leaving the system could take a variety of forms, including some of that solar radiation bouncing off of white clouds.

Argo, on the other hand, estimates the rate of temperature increase for the oceans. Ninety percent of the energy that is absorbed by the Earth system is absorbed into the oceans, so any significant energy imbalance would be seen as a heating up of the oceans.

Graph of the radiation measured as part of the experiment. (NASA/NOAA)

Data from both sensing platforms pointed to the same conclusions – that Earth was absorbing more energy than it was emitting, that energy is then stored by the ocean, and the annual amount of energy stored has increased dramatically in the recent past. All of these findings have important implications for the future of understanding and coping with climate change.

First, understanding what caused the increase in absorbed heat in order to potentially mitigate it in the near future would be helpful. The researchers cite two main causes of the increasing energy imbalance.

First was a decrease in sea ice and clouds, the white surfaces of which increase the planet's albedo and therefore the amount of energy that is reflected back out into space. Some of that decrease in cloud coverage was caused by what is known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

In the middle of the survey period, a warm phase of this oscillation took hold, which caused a widespread reduction in cloud coverage, and thus lower albedo.

The second cause was an increase in both greenhouse gases caused by human emissions and water vapor, which can prevent specific types of radiation from escaping, increasing the overall energy amount of the system. So our own emissions are making it harder for heat to escape Earth.

Consequences of such a change in the energy imbalance are slightly less clear, as is the case with much climate science. There is a chance that this heat-trapping effect could speed the melting of the polar ice caps, thereby speeding up the rise in sea levels that many scientists fear will occur over the next 100 years.

Alternatively, higher ocean temperatures could mean more acidic oceans, which has its own impact on the ecosystems that are reliant on ocean chemistry.

(NOAA/Thomas G. Andrews)

IMAGE: Over the course of a year the orientation of the axis remains fixed in space, producing changes in the distribution of solar radiation. These changes in the pattern of radiation reaching earth's surface cause the succession of the seasons.

No matter the consequences, this research is another data point in the argument that climate change is real and that humans are causing it.

It is also something we could potentially reverse in our efforts to fight climate change globally. So it is worth keeping an eye on the overall energy imbalance for the foreseeable future.

This article was originally published by Universe Today. Read the original article.

Changes in Our Planet’s Orbit May Have Allowed Life to Survive during ‘Snowball Earth’ Glaciations

Jul 8, 2021 by News Staff / Source


A team of researchers led by Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Professor Ross Mitchell has studied a succession of rocks laid down when most of Earth’s surface was covered in ice during severe ‘snowball Earth’ glaciations, about 720 to 635 million years ago (Cryogenian period).


An artist’s impression of a ‘snowball Earth.’ Image credit: NASA.

Professor Mitchell and colleagues ventured into the South Australian outback where they targeted kilometer-thick units of glacial rocks formed about 700 million years ago.

At this time, Australia was located closer to the equator, known today for its tropical climates.

The rocks the scientists studied, however, show unequivocal evidence that ice sheets extended as far as the equator at this time, providing compelling evidence that Earth was completely covered in an icy shell.

They focused their attention on ‘banded iron formations,’ sedimentary rocks consisting of alternating layers of iron-rich and silica-rich material. These rocks were deposited in the ice-covered ocean near colossal ice sheets.

During the snowball glaciation, the frozen ocean would have been entirely cut off from the atmosphere.

Without the normal exchange between the sea and air, many variations in climate that normally occur simply wouldn’t have.

“This was called the ‘sedimentary challenge’ to the snowball hypothesis,” Professor Mitchell said.

“The highly variable rock layers appeared to show cycles that looked a lot like climate cycles associated with the advance and retreat of ice sheets.”

“Such variability was thought to be at odds with a static snowball Earth entombing the whole ocean in ice.”

“The iron comes from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor,” said Dr. Thomas Gernon, a researcher at the University of Southampton.

“Normally, the atmosphere oxidizes any iron immediately, so banded iron formations typically do not accumulate.”

“But during the snowball glaciations, with the ocean cut off from the air, iron was able to accumulate enough for them to form.”

Snowball Earth - Wikipedia

Using magnetic susceptibility, a measure of the extent to which the rocks become magnetized when exposed to a magnetic field, the authors made the discovery that the layered rock archives preserve evidence for nearly all orbital cycles.

Earth’s orbit around the Sun changes its shape and the tilt and wobble of the planet’s spin axis also undergo cyclic changes.

Known as Milankovitch cycles, these astronomical cycles change the amount of incoming solar radiation that reaches Earth’s surface and, in doing so, they control climate.

“Even though Earth’s climate system behaved very differently during the snowball, Earth’s orbital variations would have been blissfully unaware and just continued to do their thing,” Professor Mitchell said.

The team concluded that changes in Earth’s orbit allowed the waxing and waning of ice sheets, enabling periodic ice-free regions to develop on snowball Earth.

“This finding resolves one of the major contentions with the snowball Earth hypothesis: the long-standing observation of significant sedimentary variability during the snowball Earth glaciations appeared at odds with such an extreme reduction of the hydrological cycle,” Professor Mitchell said.

The results help explain the enigmatic presence of sedimentary rocks of this age that show evidence for flowing water at Earth’s surface when this water should have been locked up in ice sheets.

“This observation is important, because complex multicellular life is now known to have originated during this period of climate crisis, but previously we could not explain why,” Dr. Gernon said.

“Our study points to the existence of ice-free oases in the snowball ocean that provided a sanctuary for animal life to survive arguably the most extreme climate event in Earth history.”

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

_____

R.N. Mitchell et al. 2021. Orbital forcing of ice sheets during snowball Earth. Nat Commun 12, 4187; doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24439-4

Beautifully Carved Sandstone Relief Uncovered at Vindolanda

Jul 5, 2021 by News Staff / Source

A sandstone relief which depicts a horseman has been uncovered during at the site of Vindolanda, an ancient Roman military fort and settlement on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England.



The ancient sandstone relief found at Vindolanda, England. Image credit: Vindolanda Trust.

The sandstone relief was uncovered by two Vindolanda volunteers, Richie Milor and David Goldwater, who had been assigned to uncover a flagged floor inside a 4th century building of the ancient fort.

They quickly realized the rugged stone that lay face up amongst the larger smooth flag was something special.

“I saw one of the legs of the horse first and then the pointed top of the relief,” Goldwater said.

“We are just absolutely elated, very proud to be part of this discovery, it was actually very emotional,” Milor added.

“Whether you find something or not we love coming to this site, playing our small part in the research that takes place, but finding this made it a very special day indeed.”

The complete sandstone, which measures 16 by 31.5 cm (6.3 by 12.4 inches), would have originally been fitted into a recess.

Vindolanda archaeologist Marta Alberti and colleagues are now piecing together all the clues to try and establish who the carving may represent.

The nakedness of the man means he is probably a god, rather than a mere cavalryman, he is also carrying a spear in his left arm, a common attribute of the god of War — Mars,” Alberti said.

“However, when you look at his head, the two almost circular features could be identified as wings: a common attribute of Mercury — god of travel.”

“Horses and donkeys are also often associated with Mercury as a protector of travelers.”

“Another clue is not in the find itself but where it was found,” she added.

“The stone floor was very close to that of a large 4th century cavalry barrack.”

“The units residing in the part of the fort may have had their own interpretation of Mars, or Mercury, or a third and so far unidentified version of the god merging the qualities of both.”

CAPITALI$M IN SPACE

Can Europe’s satellite companies like Arianespace take on Elon Musk’s SpaceX?

 2021-07-12

Last year, Arianespace’s Vega launcher completed the first European “rideshare” mission for small satellites with 53 satellites for 21 customers on board. The launcher, which is part of the European Space Agency (ESA) programme, is tailored to carry small scientific spacecraft but in order to share the launch cost, it offers the service to private companies as well.

“We are moving on from a sector of launching, which was mostly geostationary satellites for 30 or 40 years to what is now called the new space,” Marino Fragnito, Arianespace’s senior vice-president and head of the Vega Business Unit, told Euronews Next. The rideshare service called Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) has attracted the attention of start-ups as well as bigger tech companies.

Traditionally, satellites have been used for communications and TV services but in recent years, tech companies have needed to launch their own satellites to create space internet networks to send data directly to people’s devices. “Start-ups are looking for opportunities in space because space is the new frontier,” said Fragnito, who added start-ups from the US are now also using the Vega launcher.

Why do we need satellites? “We’re moving on from the old space to the new space”.

“Space is full of new opportunities for a new kind of business to help life on Earth”. It’s communication and Internet of Things companies, however, that are the biggest sectors showing a real interest in space satellites, he explained.

Typically, sending a small satellite weighing 25-50 kilograms into low Earth orbit can cost between €85,000 and €840,000. But Arianespace is not the only company to offer such a service. SpaceX is leading the market for tech companies with its Falcon 9 rocket and has made satellite orbiting much cheaper. Since 2018, it has been launching batches of small satellites into orbit in order to form what is called a “constellation” to provide instant broadband on Earth.

News Highlights Space

Why Are Cauliflowers So Mathematically Beautiful? A New Study Has The Answer



TASTY ON A FRACTAL LEVEL. IMAGE CREDIT: MPH PHOTOS/SHUTTERSTOCK


By Katie Spalding 

09 JUL 2021, 16:35


If somebody asked you for a real-world example of transcendent mathematical beauty, it’s unlikely you’d reach for the vegetable drawer.

But if, in a moment of domestic self-reflection, you ever find yourself gazing into a head of cauliflower, you might be surprised at what you find. Hundreds of spirals of all different sizes form the florets of the vegetable, all of them replicas of each other. And the closer you look, the more intricate the pattern becomes.

These kinds of patterns are called fractals, and they can be found just about everywhere: from the littorally unending to the literally mindbending. As we’ve already seen, they can even turn up in the produce aisle. But there’s something particularly special about the cauliflower – and a new study published today in Science now has an explanation for it.

If you’ve ever looked at a sunflower, or a pinecone, or cactus, or really most any plant, you may have noticed that the petals seem to spiral out in a particularly satisfying way. Scientists have puzzled over just why this happens for more than two millennia, and they’ve come up with some pretty amazing explanations for the phenomenon over the years.

But cauliflowers, with their nested spirals repeated over many scales, have remained elusive – so elusive, in fact, that today’s study originated twelve years ago. That’s right: the vegetable you thought was just broccoli’s more pale cousin took over a decade to decode.

The clue came from a plant called Arabidopsis thaliana. It’s just a weed – you may even have it in your own backyard – but it’s important for two reasons. First, it’s been studied extensively, so there’s a lot of information out there about it. Second, it’s a brassica – just like cauliflower. That meant that by comparing the genetic makeup of Arabidopsis with a computer-generated model of a cauliflower, the team could figure out what was going on.

Now, while fractals in math repeat themselves forever, in the real world there’s a limit on how small things can get. When you look at a cauliflower, you can see the spirals getting tinier, but just how far down does this self-similarity go? You might be surprised to learn that the first spiral in every plant is actually microscopically tiny, and it governs precisely how the rest of the plant will grow via specific gene expressions.

“The genes expressed in a spot determine whether this spot will grow into a branch, a leaf or a flower,” study co-author Etienne Farcot wrote in a piece for The Conversation. “But the genes are actually interacting with each other, in complex “gene networks” – leading to specific genes being expressed in specific domains and at specific times.”

Farcot explained that there are four main genes that govern how a plant will develop: “their initials are S, A, L and T, which we obviously joked about,” he said. But in cauliflower-like Arabidopsis plants, one of these genes is missing: the “A” gene. Normally, this is the gene that triggers the development of flowers, so its absence explains why the vegetables are notably more “cauli” than “flower”.

But just because a cauliflower can’t grow actual flowers doesn’t mean it won’t try – and that’s how it grows its distinctive fractal geometry. Instead of being able to grow flowers, the spiral can only develop a stem, Farcot said, which in turn develops a stem, and so on until eventually a cauliflower is formed. Leaves and flowers cannot be grown, and so we are left with these layers upon layers of intricately spiraling cauliflower buds.

“It is amazing how complex nature is,” concluded Farcot. “The next time you have cauliflower for dinner, take a moment to admire it before you eat it.”