חדש באתר: NotebookLM עם כל תכני הרב מיכאל אברהם

Q&A: Astrophysics

Back to list  |  🌐 עברית  |  ℹ About
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

Astrophysics

Question

Hello Rabbi,
Is it possible, in light of the recent discoveries of the Webb Space Telescope, which cast doubt on some of the accepted assumptions in astrophysics, that we have no way at all to determine that there are fixed laws of physics? After all, this telescope is simply more technologically advanced, and its discoveries are already shaking many accepted views in the field. If so, perhaps we have no empirical way to ground the laws of physics. Even if we manage to reconcile this telescope’s new findings with the laws of nature, who can guarantee that the discoveries of an even more advanced telescope will not once again undermine what we know? And the conclusion from all this would be that perhaps the cosmos does not behave according to fixed laws, and nothing can be grounded on the empirical principle (or is that claim itself an empirical attempt)?

Answer

I have no idea. I’m not familiar with the latest discoveries. I don’t believe this really undermines the laws of physics. It’s possible that some of them will turn out to be wrong, but that does not mean there are no laws. It only means that we were mistaken about them. If there are no fixed laws of nature, then scientific research is pointless. So it is unlikely that such research would uncover such a discovery.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button