Re-Discovery part two: electric boogaloo https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02447-f257-solid-documented-scientific-evidence -- Anon Guest
With enough instrumentation, it is possible to find things you don't understand. With enough inclusive cogniscent contacts, you can also find someone willing to explain it to you.
Human Kev had been hired by the Sciencer EVR890 to scare of anything big enough and mean enough to be a threat to the Havenworlders within. Now, in spite of being hired to be the 'muscle', they were holding what they called a TED talk.
"Light's a part of the electromagnetic spectrum," Kev began, and stopped at the chorus of inquisitive chirps from the audience. "This is a set of radiation frequencies that are both electronic and magnetic. You know how electronics emit magnetic radiation, right? You know how magnets can make electrons move. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."
"We are aware of that paradox, yes," allowed a Pterops. "How is this linked to the particle-wave phenomenon?"
"Some of this electromagnetic stuff has frequencies you can sense. Like... heat. That's the infra-red section of the spectrum." Murmuring amongst the audience. "Yeah, it's a real shocker to discover that you're mildly radioactive. But it's okay because it's radiation you've evolved to live with. It's others that can get interesting - like the ultraviolet range, or radioactive decay sections like gamma radiation."
Another chirp, the Crystate's answer to a raised hand. "What are 'red' and 'violet'? You have used such words on other things, and called them 'shades'?"
"That's what us Terran's call part of the visible spectrum. That's the part of the electromagnetic radiation we've evolved to sense -ah- visually. We have special organs that allow us to sense a certain range of the electromagnetic spectrum and interpret it as our means of understanding the environment around us."
"Wait wait wait wait... we needed instruments to find this and you can just walk around and sense it?" one of the Crystates was incensed at this knowledge.
"Dude, what did you think all the viewscreens and light panels were for?"
This time, a Pterops had a question. "Is this how you could sense things within a certain range without supersonic sounding?"
"Yeah, I just looked at it," Kev knew the next question and answered before it was asked. "Vision - my ability to sense the electromagnetic spectrum within a set field of limits - lets me sense things without using echolocation like you do. Or whisker senses like some among you do. We call that 'looking'. It's why the engineers had to retrofit this ship with tactile displays. I can read off the viewscreens. You go to your three-dimensional touch pallets or audio translators."
"You still have not answered - how can such radiation be both particle and wave?"
"That's honestly one that's confused my lot for a really long time," said Kev. "I don't know all of it, but I can explain a bit... but I have to explain about Schroedinger's Cat, quantum state theory, the slit experiment, and what happened when someone tried to measure it in progress..."
It was, for Kev, going to be a very long workday.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / normaals]
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Ahh that age old particle and wave thing 😆
Poor incensed Havenworlder, I’m sure there’s stuff they can detect naturally that humans need instruments for 😆
It does go both ways. There's a kind of mutual "what do your Elf eyes see" deal going on between the species, too.