"Dudes, we're surrounded by energy waves that we cannot see. The visible light is just one part of a spectrum that is invisible. In the future where I'm from, we use this spectrum to send sound and images across the air, see through people, see in the dark, heal ourselves, control machines at a distance, and even look for other beings in distant worlds. I swear I'm telling the truth."
That's how I imagine my conversation with the Roman Inquisition would go, if I were to travel back in time. I can't think of anything beyond that because I'm fairly certain that I'd end up burning at the stake before I could finish. I am reminded here of Giordano Bruno who was burned alive in 1600 for having the audacity to believe that the sun was the center of our system, not the earth as orthodoxy would have it; and for also believing in an infinite universe with multiple worlds and extraterrestrial beings scattered across the firmament.
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It is tragically poetic and symbolic that at the moment of his execution, Giordano's tongue was bound. After all, it was his tongue that got him into trouble. He didn't murder, stole, or committed any criminal act. His only crime, or rather sin, was thinking for himself and holding views that were considered heretical. We're a funny bunch who like to put symbolic fences around our mental territories.
So just imagining myself explaining to the Holy Inquisition the delightful intricacies of the electromagnetic spectrum, (which to be honest has always seemed a little spooky to me), makes me shake my head with a wry smile.
"What do you mean there are forces that we cannot see with our own eyes? Sounds like witchcraft to me, so that's a burning for you! 🔥
What has inspired this time-traveling alternate-history strawman rant? On a recent visit to a science centre called Science World, I came across a digital table (as seen on the cover image) on which the EM spectrum was illustrated using a side-scrolling animation that showed the nature of energy waves. I think that these are fantastic dynamic visualizations because they allow viewers to better grasp and experience these complex scientific concepts.
I was contemplating the beauty of the EM spectrum when the AI demon suddenly possessed me, and soon I found myself invoking and conjuring up an image of the spectrum in a space anime situation.
"The gateway was hidden from us because we were looking in the wrong wavelength and frequency, Miki."
"We can now calculate the accurate coordinates and rescue the others before this universe collapses."
"It's about time. Let's get ready for the jump."
"Aye aye, Captain!"
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