Well folks, it has been a while since I wrote a blog and it is definitely overdue for another update. My summer travel was excellent and lots of fun as always. I feel that Kona, Hawaii is really my home. The attitude of the people is great, the weather is nice, the oceans are blue, the sunset view is pretty, traffic is light and the food is good. What more can I ask for? I mingled with the locals during the entire stay over there and hanged out at all the local places where tourists don’t even know. This is what I call travelling. I can see myself living in Kona very soon and I am getting tired of the bay area. It is time for me to move on, closing the chapter in the bay area and opening a new chapter in Kona, Hawaii. The quality of life and the people are so much better. Who knows, maybe I will live a longer life there.

Even when I am travelling around the world, I often make time to keep up with the latest development in science, particularly in cosmology. For those of you who know me well, I am a strong supporter of the dark matter/ dark energy theories. On August 3, 2017, Dark Energy Survey reveals the most accurate measurement of dark matter structure in the universe using a technique called gravitational lensing, mapping out the distribution of dark matter in 26 million galaxies. The result supports the theory that 26% of the universe is made up of dark matter and that space is filled with dark energy pushing the universe apart, causing the accelerating expansion of the universe, and it is made up  about 70%. The primary instrument for Dark Energy Survey ( DES) is the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera which is capable in capturing digital images of light from galaxies approximately 8 billion light years away from Earth. Gravitational lensing is the method used to map out the shapes of 26 million galaxies and therefore the patterns of dark matter over billion of light years away. This result is no doubt very exciting and more data to come in the near future to establish the dark matter/ energy theory. This is exactly what we do in science, using the data to show support of our theory, not proofs.

Now we need to ask what the meaning is of an expanding universe. There are two things I can think of immediately. 1) Space is constantly getting larger due to the accelerated  expansion meaning the universe is getting bigger all the time, therefore the total energy of the universe is constantly increasing. 2) Since the universe is getting larger, we become even more insignificant as space expands. The reality is that we are drifting in this seemingly purposeless universe dealing with the inevitability of our own death at the end, and pondering what any of this means to us. Do we really need to create a ” Supreme Being” for comforting purposes and promising eternal lives so to avoid the fears within us? As a scientist, I look at the universe as being unbiased, uncaring and guided solely by the laws of physics. The universe along with the existence of human beings are simply miraculous. We all live different lives, some are far better, much happier, more comfortable and secured while many others suffer and face extreme hardships that we don’t have any experience of. Yes, not all of us share the same lives, but we do share the same universe, subject to the same laws of physics, and assume the same responsibilities of creating meaningful purposes for ourselves and those we love within our limited time that we have in this world. Our lives are short, unpredictable and definitely precious in that sense.

As a son, I miss my father dearly because of his unconditional love and care he provided for me, but as a scientist, I am not going to pretend that his soul is living in a different dimension of the universe watching out for me and guiding me along until I reunite with him once again when I die. This is simply not going to happen. When I pay my respect at his grave site, it isn’t about having expectations that he will protect me, but it is simply a way for me to show the honor of having him as my father and he lives in my memories forever. He contributed by opening up a path for me to walk on and I was the one who executed the actions to be where I am today. I treasure all those memories, good or bad in the past, and I have great hopes for the near future and definitely enjoying every moment of the present. I love the life that I have because I walked the path given to me and have fallen many times during that long journey and finally made it in this world. Now I have different paths to walk for the future and I don’t anticipate too many falling this time around because I have established strong roots . I accepted the universe the way it is and I don’t practice of having false hopes. Science has taught me about the nature and how it works( not why), but I am not pretending that science will be able to answer all of the questions. I do know that science provides me with adequate knowledge about the universe , about the way life is and there is no need to be fearful when it comes to an end. Life is inevitable as much as death. Treasure every moment and contribute as much as we can for the next generation to make this world a better place to live because our time is limited. This is a meaningful purpose that we created for ourselves and we all share that responsibility in this universe. As I am writing this blog, the clock is constantly tic-tocking away. So precious to me!