Open the windows! Open the windows! shouted a third.
Lurt joined the small crowd hurrying out into the clean, open air outside the building. It would be at least a quarter of a day, Lurt knew, before the smell would dissipate enough to make going back indoors possible.
She hoped that would be enough time for Adikor to accomplish what he was trying to do.
Mary went to Laurentian University the next morning, having finally managed to get rid of the reporters waiting in the lobby of the Ramada. Theyd been disappointed that Ponter hadnt turned out to be staying there, as well. Apparently Reuben had implied to the journalists that he might bepresumably as a way of putting them off Ponters trail; Mary had returned him to Reubens house last night, which, as far as she knew, was where hed stayed.
At 10:30 A.M., Mary was surprised to run into Louise Benoit in the corridor outside the Laurentian genetics lab. Louise was wearing tight-fitting denim cutoffs and a white T-shirt tied in a knot over her flat midriff. Well, thought Mary, it was blisteringly hot today, but reallyshe looks like shes asking for it
No.
Mary cursed herself; she knew better than that. No matter how a woman dressed, she was entitled to safety, entitled to be able to walk around without being molested.
Mary decided to be friendly and trotted out her few words of French. Bonjour, she said, as she got closer to Louise. Comment sa va?
Im fine, replied Louise. And you?
Fine. What brings you here?
Louise pointed down the hall. I was visiting some guys I know in the physics department. Theres not much for me to do at SNO right now. Theyve finished draining the detector chamber, and a team from the original manufacturer is just beginning work on reassembling the sphere, although that will take weeks. So I thought Id talk over an idea with a couple of the people heresee if they could shoot any holes in it.
Mary was heading toward the vending machines, looking to get a bag of Miss Vickies sea-salt-and-malt-vinegar kettle chipsan indulgence she could only afford in a monetary sense, but it had long been traditional for her to start each work week with a 43-gram bag.
And did they? Mary asked. Shoot any holes in it, I mean?
Louise shook her head and fell in beside Mary as she continued on down to the lounge.
Well, thats the best kind of idea, isnt it? Mary said.
I suppose, said Louise. Once they reached the lounge, Mary fished in her purse for some change. She pulled out a loonie and a quarter, and fed them into one of the vending machines. Louise, meanwhile, got herself a cup of coffee from another machine.
Remember that meeting we had in the Inco conference room? said Louise. Well, as I said then, the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics states that whenever a quantum event can go two ways, it does go two ways.
A splitting of the timeline, said Mary, leaning her bum against the arm of a vinyl-padded chair in the lounge.
Oui, said Louise. Well, I spent some time talking to Ponter about this.
Ponter mentioned that, said Mary. I must have missed it.
It was late at night, and
You went into Ponters room again after wed finished the language lessons? Mary was astonished by the rush ofof, my God, of jealousyshe felt.
Sure. I like to be up at night; you know that. I wanted to learn more about the Neanderthal view of physics.
And? said Mary, trying to keep her tone even.
Well, its interesting, said Louise. She took a sip of her coffee. Here in this world, weve got two major interpretations for quantum mechanics: the Copenhagen interpretation and Everetts Many-Worlds interpretation. The former postulates a special role for the observerthat consciousness actually influences reality. Well, that idea makes some physicists very uncomfortable; its seen as a return to vitalism. Everetts Many-Worlds interpretation was an attempt to work around that. It says that quantum phenomena cause new universes to split off constantly, with each possible outcome of a quantum interaction occurring, but in a separate universe. No observers are required to shape reality; instead, every reality that can conceivably exist is automatically created.
Okay, said Mary, not because she really understood, but because the alternative seemed to be an even longer lecture.
Well, Ponters people have a single theory of quantum mechanics thats sort of a synthesis of our two theories. It allows for many worldsthat is, for parallel universesbut the creation of such universes doesnt result from random quantum events. Rather, it only happens through the actions of conscious observers.
Why dont we have the same single theory, then? asked Mary, munching on a particularly large chip.
Partly because theres a lot of math that seems irreconcilable between the two interpretations, said Louise. And, of course, theres that old problem of politics in science: those physicists who favor the Copenhagen interpretation have devoted their careers to proving that its right; same thing for the guys on Everetts side. For them all to sit down and say, Maybe were both partly rightand both partly wrong just isnt going to happen.
Ah, said Mary. Its like the Regional Continuity versus Replacement debate in anthropology.
Louise nodded. If you say so. But suppose the Neanderthal synthesis of quantum physics is actually correct. It implies that consciousnesshuman volitionhas the power to spin off new universes. Well, that raises a significant question. Presumably in the beginning, at the moment of the big bang, there must have been only one universe. Sometime later, it started splitting.
I thought Ponter didnt believe in the big bang? said Mary.
Yes, apparently Neanderthal scientists think the universe has always existed. They believe that on large scales, redshiftswhich are our principal evidence for an expanding universeare proportional to age, rather than distance; that is, that mass varies over time. And they think the gross structure of galaxies and galactic clusters are caused by monopoles and plasma-pinching magnetic vortex filaments. Ponter says the cosmic microwave backgroundwhich we take as the residue of the big-bang fireballis really the result of electrons trapped in these strong magnetic fields absorbing and emitting microwaves. Repeated absorption and emission by billions of galaxies smoothed out the effect, he says, producing the uniform background we detect now.
Does that seem possible to you? asked Mary.
Louise shrugged. Im going to have to look into it. She took another sip of coffee. But, you know, after telling me all that, Ponter said the most astonishing thing.
What? asked Mary.
I guess you showed him a church service, right?
Yes. On TV.
Louise took a seat on one of the other vinyl-covered chairs. Well, she said, apparently he spent some time that night watching Vision TV, soaking up more religious thought. He said our story of the universe having an origin is just a creation myth, like from the Bible. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that. Even your science, Ponter said, is contaminated by this error of religion.
Mary sat down properly as well. You know I mean, physics is your field, not mine, but maybe hes right. I mentioned Regional Continuity versus Replacement a moment ago; sometimes thats called Multiregionalism versus Out-of-Africa. Anyway, there are those whove observed that Replacement, which is what I and other geneticists favor, is also basically a biblical position: humanity came full-blown out of Africa, ejected from a garden, and theres a hard-and-fast line between us and everything else in the animal kingdom, including even other contemporaneous members of the genus Homo.