ken1171

**Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real world people or locations are the result of pure coincidence.

As far as we know, we are made of atoms. This is a concept theorized by the ancient Greeks about 2,500 years ago. By definition, "atom" means it cannot be divided into subparts. Later we have formulated that atoms are actually made of 3 other components: protons, neutrons and electrons. According to quantum mechanics, protons are made of quarks, gluons, photons, and a "Higgs Boson", which was only proven to exist in 2012. However, these quantum entities only account for 1% of the mass of a proton, so where the hell is the rest of it? Shouldn't the sum of the parts make the whole?

The answer to that comes from Einstein's special relativity paper from 1905. You have probably heard of his infamous E=mc2 formula, but that is not what this is about. The actual formula is a derivation of it, where m= E/c2. That is Einstein's definition of "mass", and note what it is made of. "E" means energy, and "c" is the speed of light, assuming that is a constant.

All we know of physics comes from what happens to mass, and it's relation with gravity. There is still a lot of controversy on what "gravity" may come to be, but the problem here is that people rarely ever consider what "mass" means, since there is no gravity without mass. For 2,500 years we keep being taught in schools that mass is a "property" of matter, when in reality Einstein's 1905 formula shows something else going on there. Remember m= E/c2?

Energy and the speed of light define "mass", where the speed of light is a constant, so the only remaining variable is energy. The thing is that mass cannot be a "property" of matter, since it can vary with velocity. This explains why the sum of the parts only account for 1% of the mass of a single proton, because mass only exists because of the interactions between quantum particles. It's the product of a probabilistic interaction, and therefore it by itself cannot be a property of anything.

An example of that is when matter is accelerated to the speed of light. The closer it gets to light speed, its dimentions are reduced exponentially, while its mass increases to infinity. However, when it actually gets to the speed of light (if that would be physically possible), it would have virtually ZERO mass, so how could that be a property of it? Doesn't the classic chemistry periodic table defines mass as a fixed property of matter? How come it varies with velocity? For once, we know photon particles exist, but they have no mass. So how could that be a property of it?

This is why the quantum physics periodic table was incomplete until 2012, when the theoretical missing entity was finally proven to exist, the Higgs boson. Depending on interactions between quantum particles, this entity "generates" mass out of nothing, giving us the mass values we see in the classic chemistry periodic table. However, as seen above, this value varies a LOT depending on speed alone, and therefore cannot be considered a "property" of matter. For something to be considered a property, it cannot cease to exist depending on velocity or any other factor.

If m=E/c2 means that mass is defined by energy ("c" is a constant), then mass IS energy. Therefore, matter is made of energy. If accelerated to the speed of light, matter ceases to exist in our 3D world because it would virtually have no mass. We physically exist in this world because we have mass greater than zero. We are literally made of energy, so even when the mass is zero, the energy still keeps existing, but not in this physical world.

According to the laws of thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transformed into other kinds of energy. In theory, the entire amount of energy in the universe is constant, often being transformed from one kind to another over time. That's defined by the Entropy law of thermodynamics.

One extrapolation of all of the above would be that everything that exists in the universe is a current state of energy, which thanks to Entropy, will eventually and inevitably manifest itself into some other form over time. This process has always been, and will keep repeating itself forever. This means the Lego bricks of material existence are eternal, where mass is purely generated by probabilistic interactions between quantum particles. The same atoms you and I are made of have existed since the creation of the universe - they are eternal and never get old. However, over time, Entropy will inevitably convert mass (energy) into another form.

The universe is constantly reinventing itself through destruction and rebirth. Thanks to the Entropy law of thermodynamics, a physical existence is temporary, but its energy is eternal. One could jump to the conclusion that physics and quantum mechanics can end up sounding like a chapter from the bible. We are made of energy, where energy is eternal, and constant in the universe. The only thing that changes is the form in which it exists, which keeps changing over time. Everything that exists with mass in our world will eventually be converted into something else - physical or otherwise. Sounds pretty close to life. Now chew on that food for thought.

The geek has spoken.

**Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real world people or locations are the result of pure coincidence.