Scientists Already Discover A 5th Dimension

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00:00For the whole of human history, we've been able to explore reality in three spatial dimensions

00:05and one temporal.

00:07Everything we know is guided by these fundamental rules.

00:10But for some truly outside-of-the-box thinking, we could ask, what if there's more than

00:16just length, width, height, and time?

00:19In the modern day, the search for extra dimensions is clearly alive and kicking, to the point

00:24where some believe that we should already be adding another to our established bank

00:28of four.

00:29This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question, did scientists

00:34already discover a fifth dimension?

00:36Do you need the big questions answered?

00:38Are you constantly curious?

00:40Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?

00:43And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!

00:46In everyday life, we navigate three familiar dimensions – length, width, and height.

00:51The physical reality surrounding us is made up of and realized thanks to these three fundamental

00:56points of reference.

00:58Additionally, time is considered the fourth dimension, because as it moves forward linearly,

01:03it also assumes a crucial role in how we perceive reality.

01:07We can always find a measure for all four dimensions, but we all move through time at

01:11the same rate, rather than being able to freely move through it like we can with the spatial

01:16dimensions… which is one reason why time is really quite different.

01:21Nevertheless, all together, our four dimensions combine to define the 4D fabric of space-time,

01:28which is ultimately the stage on which all of reality plays out.

01:32At first, it might feel that there's really nowhere else we can go from here.

01:36If reality is four-dimensional, then surely that's just an immovable fact of life.

01:42However, scientists and theorists have long sought to break this most ingrained of systems

01:47by adding in extras.

01:48They've long speculated that the universe is far more complex than we ordinarily observe.

01:54The discovery of even one new dimension would signal a true paradigm shift for our species…

02:00but finding that extra dimension isn't easy.

02:03If it does exist, then it's likely to be buried from view from our perspective, or

02:07else so intricately woven into the fabric of space-time that we might never actually

02:12locate it even if we did come to realise that it was there.

02:16Of course, regardless of the difficulties involved, for those researching extra dimensions,

02:21the supreme dream is usually to uncover a way, any way, to break through to the fabled

02:26other side.

02:27There's a rich history to the field.

02:30Theodor Kaluza, a German mathematician, made arguably the first significant breakthroughs

02:35in 1921.

02:36In short, he proposed to extend the model of general relativity by adding in a fifth

02:42dimension.

02:43By doing so, he believed the fundamental forces of gravity and electromagnetism could be unified.

02:49Kaluza is said to have written to Albert Einstein regarding his ideas, and Einstein

02:54is said to have encouraged him to publish as soon as possible.

02:58Fast forward to today, and perhaps Kaluza's name has been lost to time, but his quest

03:03to unify gravity with the rest of physics is one that is still ongoing.

03:07The search for the famed theory of everything is really what drives today's scientists

03:12to study the possibility of extra dimensions in the first place.

03:16Later on in the 1920s, Oskar Klein expanded on Kaluza's idea, suggesting that the extra

03:22dimension is compactified on such a small scale that it's invisible to us.

03:27According to Klein, it's as though the fifth dimension exists something akin to an incredibly

03:32tight loop within the fabric of spacetime.

03:35Again, it's a loop that's entirely imperceivable to us in the here and now.

03:40The work of both physicists, Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein, eventually became known as

03:45the Kaluza-Klein theory.

03:47It laid the groundwork for all later explorations of extra dimensions.

03:51But the path hasn't been easy.

03:53After just a few decades, the Kaluza-Klein theory was largely dropped.

03:57None of its predictions could be experimentally tested, which is something that still dogs

04:02similar models today.

04:03The fact that it's notoriously hard to even devise a way to try to prove that a fifth

04:08dimension is even slightly possible.

04:11That said, there have been other theories that have emerged in the wake of Kaluza-Klein,

04:15and by far the most notable and famous of all is string theory.

04:20During the late 20th century, string theory really shook things up, dramatically expanding

04:25upon all that came before.

04:27The theory posits that the most fundamental particles in the universe are not points,

04:31as was and is traditionally thought, but are tiny, vibrating strings.

04:36It's then the frequency at which these strings vibrate that determine what particles they

04:40are and their fundamental properties.

04:43To a degree, it's like how the frequency of the vibrations of a guitar string is what

04:47determines the note that gets played… only, rather than just music, we're applying the

04:51same thing to how the whole of reality is rendered into being.

04:55Suffice to say, it can be a tricky idea to even contemplate, let alone accept.

05:00Sit for a moment and try to recalibrate everything you see, think, feel… everything you everything…

05:07So that, at its most basic level, it's just endless, wobbly strings.

05:12It's not easy.

05:14The key point, though, is that for string theory to work, advocates calculate that it

05:18requires as many as ten, eleven, or even twenty-six total dimensions.

05:24These extra dimensions are also thought to be compactified, as per the original Kaluza-Klein

05:29theory.

05:30They would need to work at an even smaller scale, though.

05:33Tiny, to us invisible, loops, inside loops, inside loops, and so on.

05:38All to say that the ever-mystical fabric of our reality becomes more and more detailed

05:42and complex, to an almost incomprehensible degree.

05:46For those who support it, string theory is a mathematically elegant idea.

05:51But the problem remains the same.

05:53Testing it in reality is an enormous challenge.

05:56As of now, there's no experimental evidence to confirm string theory.

06:00The extra dimensions are just too unfathomably tiny to get a hold on.

06:04To measure them directly, we'd probably need to be able to track below the Planck

06:09Scale, which is currently completely out of reach, even for our most advanced particle

06:13accelerators.

06:14Therefore, the race is on to detect indirect evidence as a starting point.

06:19Some researchers are keeping their eyes peeled for general gravitational anomalies with this

06:24in mind.

06:25It's thought that if extra dimensions exist, they could, even should, have subtle effects

06:30on the nature of gravity.

06:32For example, one proposal is that gravity might leak into extra dimensions all the time…

06:38which potentially explains why it's by far the weakest of all the fundamental forces

06:42in our reality.

06:43This is one interpretation of what's called the Randall-Sundram model, which, to a point,

06:48ponders whether gravity might become diluted across extra dimensions.

06:52Again, at our current level of technology, we can't yet expect to just discover that

06:57this happens.

06:59Instead, the study of high-energy particle collisions, like at CERN's Large Hadron

07:03Collider, might one day provide indirect evidence from which we can infer the truth.

07:09Interestingly, another route toward proving extra dimensions might also come from, in

07:13many ways, the opposite to sub-Planck length study.

07:17Some are looking to the universe as a whole to provide the answers.

07:20The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, or CMBR, is the heat left over from the Big

07:26Bang.

07:27It's everywhere in the universe, and therefore acts as a lens into reality's very earliest

07:32moments.

07:33Theoretically, distortions or unusual patterns within the CMBR could also suggest the influence

07:39of hidden dimensions… although nothing so far has led to this conclusion.

07:44Elsewhere, and there are theories that another potential indicator of extra dimensions might

07:48be carried through space via gravitational waves.

07:52These are ripples in space-time produced by massive cosmic events… but could they also

07:56be influenced by the presence of hidden dimensions?

07:59It's at this stage almost entirely speculation… but the monitoring of gravitational waves

08:04is a relatively new field, and scientists hope that some truly profound answers as to

08:09the true nature of everything could soon be incoming.

08:12So, did scientists already discover an extra dimension?

08:16This could very much be one of those cases when we're just never truly sure of what

08:21it is that we're looking at.

08:22The universe, on both its smallest and largest scales, continually throws up puzzles to solve

08:28and mysteries to decipher.

08:30We famously don't have a theory of everything… which means that there are still huge gaps

08:35in our understanding of how things really work.

08:38For some, those gaps can only be plugged by our realisation that we live in a more-than-4D

08:43world.

08:44And as we continue to test, probe, study and conceptualise the reality around us, it might

08:50be that a fifth dimension, at least, has always been there, holding the worlds together…

08:55but in a way that our eyes simply cannot see.

08:58What do you think?

08:59Is there anything we missed?

09:00Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

09:04subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

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