Features
Is Modern Cosmology Avant Garde Witchcraft?
by Kumar David
You will remember that before religion took centre stage people whispered that phenomena they could not explain were the influence of dark forces and evil spirits. These mysterious goblins were hidden in a nether metauniverse, a multiverse of dark energy and dark matter. Religion came along and Christianity and Islam substituted God for the good and the devil (Lucifer, hell) for the dark side. The latter derived power from dark energy, a manifestation of poltergeist like dark matter. If you take astrophysicists at their word it seems we have made little progress in the last 5,000 years. Ok, ok this is tongue-in-cheek; some of my best friends are outstanding physicists, but let’s take the micky out of these clever people just for fun this corona dampened festive season. But first everyone: Season’s Greetings and take good care of your Health.
Today’s column is for simple folk not nerds and buffs, but I need to introduce what PhD, FRS, ABCDEF astrophysicists say about the uncertainties at the forefront of their trade. In the spectrum from learned papers to magazine articles, videos and popular TV shows the refrain is the same: “We don’t have answers to the two biggest mysteries”. The two crucial concepts about which they frankly declare themselves clueless have names reminiscent of medieval witchcraft; ‘dark matter’ (DM) and ‘dark energy’ (DE). Surely these great men of science were awake to the esoteric associations when they zeroed in on these labels.
Dark Matter (DM)
The way cosmologists say it, the stuff we see and all the world’s optical and radio telescopes explore in the night sky make up less than 5% of the matter and energy in the universe. All the visible stars and galaxies to the outer bounds of the universe 13.7 billion light years away make up less than one-twentieth of the universe. What the devil is the rest? “We don’t know!” they declare. That’s not the worst, most of them also say science intrinsically will never be able find out! It’s a fine how-do-you-do isn’t it when genius science tells you “The truth is unknowable”! I am not in the field but my innate sense of scientific epistemology is averse to this.
Two precise observations have brought cosmology to the conclusion that DM exists. When one examines the structure of a galaxy (Milky Way, Andromeda, billions more) and takes account of the visible mass each contains, no way can the galaxy not swirl apart. The visible mass is too small to hold its spiral arms in place. Galaxies should display a tendency to fly apart like whirling stones at the end of a broken string because there is not enough gravity to bind it together in perpetuity, but the spiral arms are in no great hurry to do so. A great deal more gravity than is visible is needed to explain why galaxies don’t spin apart. Cosmology has no idea where the extra gravity needed to hold things in place comes from, so by reductio ad absurdum it must be an unobservable poltergeist – call it dark matter.
The second reason is the behaviour of light reaching us from a galaxy faraway in the universe. General Relativity (GR) says that light bends as it passes massive objects, so light from this galaxy will be bent a bit if it passes close to an intermediate galaxy or a massive black hole en route. Light rays passing around all sides of the intermediate galaxy are bent inwards, therefore an earthly observer will see a ring of light termed an Einstein Ring. So far so good. But voila, the observed rings are much bigger than they should be; light is bent more than it should be. The intermediate galaxy seems to contain greater mass than it should from considerations of its visible size. A huge amount of DM entwined within the galaxy is declared to be the culprit.
In ancient days the boom-and-flash of lightning was declared to be the grind of thunderbolts flung by Zeus; in medieval times women were burnt at the stake as witches if they bore an “evil sign”; hence gods and devils. Today DM is convicted for want of a discernible culprit. The analogy goes deeper. DM has never been detected though it is said to penetrate all space and go through everything even your bones and body. It is deemed omnipresent but no lab has detected or isolated it. What is it made of, electrons, protons, leptons, muons or what type of elementary particles? No clue. Humans have yet to overcome the custom of calling anything not yet explained God, angels or transcendent. According to the aforementioned school of physics DM bears a singular resemblance to my grandmother’s conception of spirits in that she says we will never ever corner them. Five millennia of civilisation has done the rounds and decided that the old lady was right after all.
Dark Energy (DE)
DE is in some ways stranger than its accomplice DM. Like DM it too is from precise and reliable observations. There is no dispute about that; the confounding observations are rock solid. This time the mystifying observation is the accelerating expansion of the universe. The universe is expanding like an inflating balloon; its parts moving away from each other. That was expected from non-fudged General Relativity (GR), more on that in a moment. But the crazy thing is that it is expanding at an accelerating rate. Billions of years ago it was not expanding as fast as it is now. DE theory claims to dissolve the paradox. As new space is created the new empty space is born with intrinsic additional energy, DE, it claims. Expansion creates energy in its emptiness, so expansion implies positive feedback. More energy pushes more expansion.
The gravitational attraction of ordinary plus dark matter which make galaxies fall inwards is defeated and the universe is ever more forcibly pushed outwards by DE. A crude analogy is the explosive energy of a detonation which makes things fly away; the release of energy pushes things out. However the explosion analogy does not explain why the bits are flying away faster and faster. Matter and DM slow down expansion by gravitational pull, DE speeds it up. So hypothesising the positive feedback of DE being created all the time in newly emerging space, if you buy the story, explains everything.
Scientists, unlike politicians, medical quacks and witch doctors are honest chaps. They admit it when they are foxed. NASA frankly concedes “Theorists don’t know what the correct explanation is, but they have given it a name. It is called dark energy. More is unknown than is known.
We know how much dark energy there is because we know how it affects the universe’s expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery”.
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy
Serious explanations
That’s enough poking fun at avant grade astrophysics. What are the explanations for all these funny goings on? Let us recall Einstein’s great fudge. In 1915 he derived general relativity (GR) to describe a gravity-dominated universe but the maths displayed a puzzling expanding universe. So he fudged and included an arbitrary factor called the cosmological constant lambda () whose value was carefully contrived to stop the universe of his equations from expanding and stay put. Horror of horrors! In the late 1920s Hubble’s observations proved that the universe wasn’t static, it wasn’t staying put, it was expanding. A sheepish Einstein abandoned lambda calling the episode the “biggest blunder of his life”.
https://www.space.com/9593-einstein-biggest-blunder-turns.html
Now comes the next twist. Avant garde cosmology now abruptly wants lambda back! By picking a certain value for lambda it can make the acceleration of expansion in the equations fit the observed acceleration of real expansion. This is a modern day counter-fudge because there is no physical reason why it should have this value or even why lambda should exist at all. This to my mind however is not a problem. Why does the attraction or repulsion between charges depend (inversely) on the square of the distance between them, or why does Newtonian gravitation do the same with the distance between masses? That’s just the way the laws of physics are, the way the physical universe functions; full stop.
A more radical view of some cosmologists is that the time has come, after a century, to go beyond GR and formulate an all-new theory of gravitation. This will be a huge upset because GR has worked to perfection in every domain such as the solar system and in all cosmology except inside a black-hole and this bothersome DM-DE distraction. Some restructuring of GR equations may eliminate the need for DM/DE concepts entirely. And there is no alternative candidate visible that will preserve all that GR has achieved, let alone do more.
A more comic heresy (Alice in Wonderland cosmology) is that there are more universes, maybe millions floating around – the multiverse hypothesis. Poor Steven Hawking’s mathematics dragged him in this counterintuitive direction. Our universe is said to be one among many and the others are pulling and pushing. To keep the figurative description, DM is stuff from parallel universes spilling over into ours and the accelerating expansion of our universe is the outward pull of another universe. This is their substitute for DM and DE. Ah well, I think my grandmother’s version is more charming and convincing.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
