“There could be shadow galaxies, shadow stars, and even shadow people.”
- January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018
- British
- Theoretical physicist, science writer
- Announced the black hole singularity theorem and Hawking radiation, and contributed to the popularization of science with his book “Talking about the Universe”
Quote
“There could be shadow galaxies, shadow stars, and even shadow people.”
Explanation
In this quote, Stephen Hawking is exploring ideas that challenge our conventional understanding of the universe. The term “shadow galaxies” and “shadow stars” likely refers to concepts in theoretical physics related to dark matter and dark energy, which constitute a significant portion of the universe’s mass-energy content yet remain largely invisible or undetectable by conventional means. These “shadow” objects would not be directly observable in the traditional sense, as they may exist in dimensions or states of matter that are not easily perceived by human senses or current technologies.
The mention of “shadow people” takes this concept a step further, perhaps suggesting the possibility of alternate or hidden forms of life that exist alongside or within the observable universe but are completely undetectable with our current tools and understanding of physics. This idea touches on speculation in multiverse theory and the possibility of parallel universes or extra-dimensional beings. In modern physics, there are hypotheses that other universes or dimensions might overlap with our own, existing in a “shadow” form that could be hidden or difficult to perceive.
Hawking’s comment points to the broader potential of scientific discovery in the field of cosmology and quantum mechanics. As technology advances, especially with the detection of gravitational waves and the study of dark matter and dark energy, such “shadow” phenomena may one day be understood or observed. This perspective is especially relevant today as researchers push the boundaries of what we know about the universe, and ideas once considered speculative may increasingly gain scientific traction.
