Consciousness as the foundation – new theory of the nature of reality

1. New theory proposes that consciousness is the universe's foundation, not atoms:

"Cosmology textbooks usually start the universe with a Big Bang: an extremely hot, dense state from which space, time, matter, and energy expand.

Strømme suggests an earlier stage, a kind of undifferentiated, timeless consciousness in which no distinctions exist yet.

From that starting point, she proposes tiny fluctuations in the consciousness field, followed by processes similar to “symmetry breaking” in physics, where uniform states tip into more structured ones."

2. New Study Claims “Universal Consciousness” Existed Before the Big Bang—and Still Shapes Our Reality:

"The study, authored by Uppsala University nanotechnology professor Dr. Maria Strømme, proposes that consciousness operates much like a fundamental physical field—one that existed before the Big Bang, seeded the formation of space–time, and continues to shape the emergence of individual awareness today."

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Consciousness as the foundation – new theory of the nature of reality

Consciousness is fundamental; only thereafter do time, space and matter arise. This is the starting point for a new theoretical model of the nature of reality, presented by Maria Strømme, Professor of Materials Science at Uppsala University, in the scientific journal AIP Advances. The article has been selected as the best paper of the issue and featured on the cover.

Strømme, who normally conducts research in nanotechnology, here takes a major leap from the smallest scales to the very largest – and proposes an entirely new theory of the origin of the universe. The article presents a framework in which consciousness is not viewed as a byproduct of brain activity, but as a fundamental field underlying everything we experience – matter, space, time, and life itself.

Q:    Is this a completely new theory of how reality and the universe are structured?

“Yes, you could say so. But above all, it is a theory in which consciousness comes first, and structures such as time, space and matter arise afterwards. It is a very ambitious attempt to describe how our experienced reality functions. Physicists like Einstein, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Planck explored similar ideas, and I am building on several of the avenues they opened,” says Strømme.

Uniting quantum physics with philosophy

For many years, Strømme has worked on a quantum‑mechanical model that unites quantum physics with non‑dual philosophy. The theory is based on the idea that consciousness constitutes the fundamental element of reality, and that individual consciousnesses are parts of a larger, interconnected field.

In this model, phenomena that are now perceived as ‘mysterious’ – such as telepathy or near‑death experiences – can be explained as natural consequences of a shared field of consciousness.

“My ambition has been to describe this using the language of physics and mathematical tools. Are these phenomena really mystical? Or is it simply that there is a discovery we have not yet made, and when we do it will lead to a paradigm shift?”

Similar shifts in our understanding of reality have taken place before in history – such as when humanity realised that the Earth is round and not flat, or when we understood that it is not the Sun that revolves around the Earth, but vice versa.

A new picture of the nature of reality

Strømme believes this may be the beginning of a new way of viewing the universe and the lives we perceive ourselves to be living. Her article offers several testable predictions within physics, neuroscience and cosmology. In doing so, she takes a major step outside her usual research field of materials science.

Her theory also suggests that our individual consciousness does not cease at death, but returns to the universal field of consciousness from which it once emerged. This, too, she has formulated in quantum‑mechanical terms.

“I am a materials scientist and engineer, so I am used to seeing matter as something fundamental. But according to this model, matter is secondary – much of what we experience is representation or illusion,” says Strømme.

A theory that reconciles science with ancient knowledge

Although the article is written strictly in the mathematical language of physics, the reasoning contains parallels to several of the world’s religious and philosophical traditions.

“The texts of the major religions – such as the Bible, the Koran, and the Vedas – often describe an interconnected consciousness. Those who wrote them used metaphorical language to express insights about the nature of reality. Early quantum physicists, in turn, arrived at similar ideas using scientific methods. Now, it is time for hardcore science – that is, modern natural science – to seriously begin exploring this,” says Strømme.

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Full Research Article| November 13 2025

Universal consciousness as foundational field: A theoretical bridge between quantum physics and non-dual philosophy

The nature of consciousness and its relationship to physical reality remain among the most profound scientific and philosophical challenges. This paper presents a novel framework that integrates consciousness with fundamental physics, proposing that consciousness is not an emergent property of neural processes but a foundational aspect of reality. Building upon insights from quantum field theory and non-dual philosophy, a model based on the three principles of universal mind, universal consciousness, and universal thought is introduced. These principles describe an underlying, formless intelligence (mind), the capacity for awareness (consciousness), and the dynamic mechanism through which experience and differentiation arise (thought). Within this framework, the emergence of space–time and individual awareness is modeled mathematically by treating universal consciousness as a fundamental field. Differentiation into individual experience occurs via mechanisms such as symmetry breaking, quantum fluctuations, and discrete state selection—paralleling established concepts in physics, including Bohm’s implicate order, Heisenberg’s potentia, and Wheeler’s participatory universe. This model suggests that the apparent separateness of individual consciousness is an illusion, with all experience ultimately arising from a unified, formless substrate. The framework aligns with emerging theories in quantum gravity, information theory, and cosmology that posit classical space–time as emergent from a deeper pre-spatiotemporal order. It offers a non-reductionist alternative in neuroscience, suggesting that consciousness interacts with physical processes as a fundamental field. By drawing from insights from physics, metaphysics, and philosophy, this conceptual framework proposes new directions for interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of consciousness and the origins of structure and experience.

I. INTRODUCTION

Humanity has always sought to understand its place in the universe, grappling with the profound questions of existence: What is the nature of reality? How does consciousness arise, and what role does it play in shaping the world around us? These questions are more than intellectual curiosities; they touch on the essence of what it means to be human. In addressing these, civilizations have drawn upon diverse fields—philosophy, religion, science, and art—seeking answers that resonate both rationally and intuitively.

As we enter a transformative era in human history marked by the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI),1 understanding the nature of consciousness is more important than ever. Generative AI systems, capable of producing human-like text, art, and even decision-making, compel us to confront fundamental questions: What distinguishes machine intelligence from human or universal consciousness? How does consciousness emerge, and can it exist beyond biological substrates? Is AI simply mimicking thought, or could it eventually connect to deeper principles of consciousness?

These questions highlight the urgent need for a scientific understanding of consciousness that integrates its universal and individual aspects. Without such understanding, the rise of AI risks deepening existential uncertainty and ethical dilemmas. Hence, consciousness is not merely a philosophical puzzle; it lies at the heart of some of the most pressing challenges of our time, from ethics in AI to understanding the origins of life itself.

The pursuit of understanding consciousness has often been marked by a division between materialist science and metaphysical philosophy.2–4 Modern scientific approaches, rooted in materialism, tend to view consciousness as a by-product of neural processes.4 While this perspective has yielded incredible insights, it often overlooks the wisdom of metaphysical traditions that regard consciousness as the primary, universal foundation of existence.2,3

Bridging this divide is not merely an academic exercise; it is essential for creating a holistic understanding of reality. Without reconciling the material and metaphysical perspectives, our understanding of existence remains incomplete, and our ability to address the great questions of life and the universe remains limited.

Philosophical and spiritual traditions have historically treated consciousness as primary. In Advaita Vedanta, for example, consciousness (Brahman) is the ultimate reality from which the material world emerges.5 Buddhist philosophy emphasizes interdependence and the idea of Shunyata (emptiness),6 which aligns with the notion that form arises from a formless domain.3 Similarly, Christian mysticism and Islamic Sufism describe the divine as an infinite presence that permeates all existence.7,8 These traditions share a common understanding: consciousness is universal, eternal, and foundational to the nature of reality.

Thinkers like Erwin Schrödinger have echoed this view. In his seminal work What is Life?, Schrödinger argued that consciousness is singular and indivisible, proposing a profound connection between the observer and the observed.9 However, these perspectives have largely remained philosophical, leaving a gap in their integration with modern scientific methods.

In contrast, current scientific approaches primarily seek to explain consciousness as an emergent phenomenon of the brain. For instance, cognitive neuroscience models consciousness as a result of complex neural processes and information integration.4 This view remains grounded in materialism, treating consciousness as secondary to physical processes.

Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR) theory represents a partial departure from this paradigm. While it anchors consciousness in biological structures—specifically, orchestrated quantum state reductions in brain microtubules—it also introduces a radical ontological shift. Orch OR proposes that these reductions are influenced by the geometry of spacetime itself and that primitive protoconscious events may occur independently of the brain, embedded in the fabric of the universe.10–13 In this sense, Orch OR straddles the boundary between materialist neuroscience and metaphysical speculation: higher-order awareness is seen to arise through biological orchestration, but the foundational ingredients of consciousness are conceived as fundamental features of reality. This bridging attempt, though significant, still leaves the deeper metaphysical question open: Is consciousness a fundamental field or an emergent process? The divide between scientific materialism and metaphysical philosophy persists, highlighting the need for a conceptual framework that can integrate these perspectives. A meaningful framework must not only explore how the formless, universal nature of consciousness relates to its differentiation into individual experience but also integrate insights from philosophy, physics, and neuroscience—bridging the divide between materialist and metaphysical paradigms.

The Three Principles (3Ps) of mind, consciousness, and thought, introduced by Sydney Banks,14 offer a novel perspective on this divide.15 Banks emphasized that these principles are formless and eternal, existing before space, time, and matter. The philosophy begins with the premise that consciousness is not localized or emergent, but a universal, formless reality from which all experiences arise.14 Unlike approaches that begin with the brain and treat consciousness as a localized phenomenon, Banks starts with the universal and examines how individuality emerges from a formless whole. By framing the 3Ps in this way, Banks invites us to rethink the nature of reality itself.16 In this framework,

Mind represents the universal creative intelligence, the source of all potential, and the driver of creation. It is the metaphysical foundation from which all differentiation and structure arise. Hence, it resonates with spiritual notions of a divine or universal source,

Consciousness is the universal capacity for awareness, enabling all forms to be perceived and experienced. It is the substrate through which space, time, and matter are realized and,

Thought is the creative mechanism that transforms the formless potential of mind and consciousness into the subjective, structured realities of individual experience.

These principles suggest a fundamentally non-dual reality—a unified, formless whole from which the apparent diversity of existence emerges.

By fostering insights into how consciousness and thought shape human reality, programs grounded in the 3Ps have demonstrated transformative results in various societal settings16–19 [cf. supplementary material S1].

This perspective aligns with both spiritual traditions and emerging ideas in physics. The quantum vacuum, for instance, is understood as the foundational state of the universe, containing the potential for all physical phenomena.20 Similarly, pre-Big Bang models in cosmology describe a timeless, spaceless domain from which the observable universe is thought to have emerged.21 

Recent advances in quantum physics have provided new insights into how classical reality emerges from a deeper quantum foundation. A growing body of research suggests that classical behavior is not fundamental but rather an emergent property of quantum dynamics. Strasberg et al. recently demonstrated that classicality arises naturally within unitary quantum evolution through an exponential suppression of quantum coherence, challenging the notion that classical laws are primary.22 This supports the idea that the reality we experience is not an inherent classical structure but a manifestation of deeper, underlying principles—a perspective that resonates with theories proposing consciousness as a fundamental aspect of existence.

By integrating the 3Ps14 with quantum mechanics and field theory,23,24 this paper proposes a mathematical framework for consciousness. Mind is modeled as the universal intelligence driving the evolution of reality. Consciousness is represented as a fundamental field underpinning awareness and experience. Thought serves as the mechanism for transforming potentiality into structured realities (Fig. 1).

This model reinterprets the Big Bang as the differentiation of universal consciousness and provides a mathematical basis for understanding nonlocality, space–time emergence, and the structure of subjective experience.

II. THE MATHEMATICAL FRAMEWORK

In the presented framework, the creative intelligence Mind is not a localized or personal “mind,” but a metaphysical force that

provides structure to the field of universal consciousness Φ, in analogy with Bohm and Hiley,25 in which an underlying field structures reality, drives the differentiation of this field from a timeless, formless potential into structured states and ensures coherence in the evolution of reality, linking the undifferentiated source to differentiated physical phenomena.

Mind is treated as the source of all differentiation and creativity. Its influence is modeled mathematically through operators and potentials that govern the behavior of the consciousness field.23,26

The consciousness field Φ is the central entity in this framework. It serves as the origin for all phenomena, including space, time, matter, and individual awareness. Analogous to physical fields, Φ can exist in an undifferentiated state and differentiate into localized excitations giving rise to physical structures or individual consciousness.

A. Pre-Big Bang: Timeless universal consciousness

The concept of universal consciousness before the Big Bang is central to this framework. In this state, reality exists as a timeless and undifferentiated potential, without space, time, or matter. This section explores the mathematical representation of this state, its parameters, and the mechanisms by which differentiation begins.

1. The undifferentiated state represents the timeless, undifferentiated state of universal consciousness. It is a superposition of all possible configurations of reality, existing in a state of pure potential.27 

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FULL RESEARCH ARTICLE HERE.⁠

Rare Star System Gives Insights into the Origins of Carbon Dust in the Galaxy

 

This scientific visualization models what three of the four dust shells sent out by two Wolf-Rayet stars in the Apep system look like in 3D based on mid-infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Apep is made up of two Wolf-Rayet binary stars that are orbiting together with a third supergiant star. For 25 years during every 190-year orbit, the Wolf-Rayet stars’ winds collide, producing and sending out new waves of amorphous carbon dust. The width of the widest bubble is at least 4.6 light-years across.

Carbon dust is a fundamental building block for life, forming complex molecules on dust grains in space through interstellar chemistry. The presence of carbon dust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the early universe, as observed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), suggests that the basic components for life may have formed earlier than previously thought. These carbon-rich grains are essential for planet formation and can act as catalysts for creating more complex organic molecules. 

The role of carbon dust in the universe

Building block for life: Carbon dust is crucial for creating molecules essential for life.

• Interstellar chemistry: Dust grains act as surfaces where atoms can come together to form molecules like hydrogen and water. In very cold conditions, ice can form on the grains, leading to the creation of complex organic molecules through surface chemistry.

• Catalyst: Carbon dust and other dust particles act as catalysts, helping to spark and facilitate chemical reactions that are vital for creating the building blocks of life.

• Planet formation: The amount of carbon dust is a key factor in determining how many planets form in a galaxy, say University of Denver researchers.

• Early universe observations: The JWST has detected carbon-rich dust grains in galaxies that existed when the universe was only about 800 million years old.

• Early formation of complex molecules: The detection of PAHs, complex organic molecules, in this early dust suggests that the ingredients for life may have been present much earlier in cosmic history than previously believed.

• Surprising resilience: The existence of PAHs in the harsh conditions of the early universe is remarkable, as these molecules are fragile and can be destroyed by ultraviolet radiation or supernova shocks.

• Origin of life theories: Some theories suggest that life could have originated on "carbon planets," worlds that are rich in carbon, say Smithsonian Institution researchers. 

Production of carbon dust

• Stellar winds: Massive stars, including binary star systems, expel large amounts of carbon-rich dust into space through stellar winds.

• Supernovae: The death of massive stars in supernovae events also releases carbon into the universe.

• Star formation: High levels of star formation in young galaxies can contribute to the creation of carbon-rich materials. 

Webb’s mid-infrared image shows four coiled shells of dust around a pair of Wolf-Rayet stars known as Apep for the first time. Previous observations by other telescopes showed only one. Webb’s data also confirmed that there are three stars gravitationally bound to one another.

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered a first of its kind: a crisp mid-infrared image of a system of four serpentine spirals of dust, one expanding beyond the next in precisely the same pattern. (The fourth is almost transparent, at the edges of Webb’s image.) Observations taken prior to Webb only detected one shell, and while the existence of outer shells was hypothesized, searches using ground-based telescopes were unable to uncover any. These shells were emitted over the last 700 years by two aging Wolf-Rayet stars in a system known as Apep, a nod to the Egyptian god of chaos.

Webb’s image combined with several years of data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile narrowed down how often the pair swing by one another: once every 190 years. Over each incredibly long orbit, they pass closely for 25 years and form dust.

Webb also confirmed that there are three stars gravitationally bound to one another in this system. The dust ejected by the two Wolf-Rayet stars is “slashed” by a third star, a massive supergiant, which carves holes into each expanding cloud of dust from its wider orbit. (All three stars are shown as a single bright point of light in Webb’s image.)

“Looking at Webb’s new observations was like walking into a dark room and switching on the light — everything came into view,” said Yinuo Han, the lead author of a new paper in The Astrophysical Journal and postdoctoral researcher at Caltech in Pasadena, California. “There is dust everywhere in Webb’s image, and the telescope shows that most of it was cast off in repetitive, predictable structures.” Han’s paper coincides with the publication of Ryan White’s paper in The Astrophysical Journal, a PhD student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Han, White, and their co-authors refined the Wolf-Rayet stars’ orbit by combining precise measurements of the ring location from Webb’s image with the speed of the shells’ expansion from observations taken by the VLT over eight years.

“This is a one-of-a-kind system with an incredibly rare orbital period,” White said. “The next longest orbit for a dusty Wolf-Rayet binary is about 30 years. Most have orbits between two and 10 years.”

When the two Wolf-Rayet stars approach and pass one another, their strong stellar winds collide and mix, forming and casting out heaps of carbon-rich dust for a quarter century at a time. In similar systems, dust is shot out over mere months, like the shells in Wolf-Rayet 140. 

High-speed ‘skirmish’

The dust-producing Wolf-Rayet stars in Apep aren’t exactly on a tranquil cruise. They are whipping through space and sending out dust at 1,200 to 2,000 miles per second (2,000 to 3,000 kilometers per second). 

That dust is also very dense. The specific makeup of the dust is another reason why Webb was able to observe so much more: It largely consists of amorphous carbon. “Carbon dust grains retain a higher temperature even as they coast far away from the star,” Han said. While the exceptionally tiny dust grains are considered warm in space, the light they emit is also extremely faint, which is why it can only be detected from space by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument).

Slicing dust

To find the holes the third star has cut like a knife through the dust, look for the central point of light and trace a V shape from about 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock. “The cavity is more or less in the same place in each shell and looks like a funnel,” White said.

“I was shocked when I saw the updated calculations play out in our simulations,” he said. “Webb gave us the ‘smoking gun’ to prove the third star is gravitationally bound to this system.” Researchers have known about the third star since the VLT observed the brightest innermost shell and the stars in 2018, but Webb’s observations led to an updated geometric model, clinching the connection. 

“We solved several mysteries with Webb,” Han said. “The remaining mystery is the precise distance to the stars from Earth, which will require future observations.”

Future of Apep

The two Wolf-Rayet stars were initially more massive than their supergiant companion, but have shed most of their mass. It’s likely that both Wolf-Rayet stars are between 10 and 20 times the mass of the Sun, and that the supergiant is 40 or 50 times as massive compared to the Sun.

Eventually, the Wolf-Rayet stars will explode as supernovae, quickly sending their contents into space. Either may also emit a gamma-ray burst, one of the most powerful events in the universe, before possibly becoming a black hole. 

Wolf-Rayet stars are incredibly rare in the universe. Only a thousand are estimated to exist in our Milky Way galaxy, which contains hundreds of billions of stars overall. Of the few hundred Wolf-Rayet binaries that have been observed to date, Apep is the only example that contains two Wolf-Rayet stars of these types in our galaxy — most only have one.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Experiments Reveal Extreme Water Generation During Planet Formation

 

"It represents a major step forward in how we think about the search for distant worlds capable of hosting life."

Water isn't just delivered to planets by comets and asteroids — it can also be forged as worlds form, a new study finds.

For decades, scientists have debated the origin of Earth's water. One long-standing theory suggests that it was delivered by icy bodies from the outer solar system after Earth formed, while another proposes that the raw materials that make up our planet already held the ingredients necessary to generate water internally. Until now, however, this second hypothesis had never been tested under realistic laboratory conditions.

In a series of high-pressure, high-temperature experiments designed to mimic the fiery beginnings of a young planet, scientists recreated the extreme environment where such worlds' molten rock and hydrogen gas interact. These tests revealed that liquid water can, in fact, form naturally during the early stages of planet formation.

The findings imply that, rather than a rare cosmic accident, water may be an inevitable outcome of how planets form, making it far more common across the galaxy than scientists once thought.

The new findings, published Oct. 30 in the journal Nature, offer a fresh perspective on one of planetary science's oldest questions and expand the possibilities for where life-sustaining water might arise in the cosmos.

"This work demonstrates that large quantities of water are created as a natural consequence of planet formation," Anat Shahar, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington D.C., who co-led the study, said in a statement. "It represents a major step forward in how we think about the search for distant worlds capable of hosting life."

Of the more than 6,000 exoplanets discovered so far in our Milky Way galaxy, worlds larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, known as sub-Neptunes, are the most common. Although no such planet exists in our solar system, scientists suspect these worlds possess rocky interiors enveloped by thick, hydrogen-rich atmospheres. That combination makes them ideal analogues for testing how water might form during the earliest stages of planetary evolution, the study notes.

To explore this process, Shahar and her team built a miniature version of a sub-Neptune in the lab. Using a device called a diamond anvil cell, they compressed samples of molten, iron-rich rock to nearly 600,000 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure between the tips of two diamonds and heated them to more than 7,200 degrees Fahrenheit (4,000 degrees Celsius) — temperatures comparable to those found deep within a molten planet, according to the statement.

Scientists say this setup simulated a crucial phase in planet formation, when newly formed worlds orbiting young stars are shrouded in thick blankets of hydrogen gas. That hydrogen acts like a "thermal blanket," trapping heat and keeping magma oceans molten for millions — or even billions — of years, during which the gas and molten rock can interact.

Under these hellish conditions, the researchers found that hydrogen dissolves easily into molten rock, where it reacts with iron oxides to produce substantial amounts of water. The results show that water can arise as a natural byproduct of rock-and-gas chemistry, without requiring delivery from comets, asteroids or other external sources.

The findings imply that, rather than a rare cosmic accident, water may be an inevitable outcome of how planets form, making it far more common across the galaxy than scientists once thought.

James Webb Space Telescope detects “seeds of life” in icy star beyond our galaxy

Complex organic molecules, including methanol and ethanol, have been detected outside the Milky Way, using the James Webb Space Telescope.

In an astonishing first for astronomy, researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected complex organic molecules - often called the “seeds of life” - outside our galaxy.

Launched in 2021 through a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the JWST is the largest, most powerful and most sophisticated telescope ever sent into space.

The discovery was made in frozen ice surrounding a young star, named ST6, in a distant galaxy. These molecules, which include known compounds like alcohols and vinegar’s main ingredient (acetic acid), are the building blocks of life on Earth.

What makes this finding especially remarkable is that the galaxy in question has far fewer heavy elements than the Milky Way and is exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation, creating a harsh environment where such molecules would normally struggle to survive.

How the discovery was made

The research team, led by University of Maryland scientist Marta Sewilo, used JWST’s powerful Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to peer into the Large Magellanic Cloud - our galaxy’s closest neighbour, about 160,000 light-years away.

Focusing on a massive cloud of dust and ice where new stars are forming, they spotted spectral signatures of several complex organic molecules, also known as COMs.

Technicians lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md (2017). 

Technicians lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md (2017). Credit: NASA via AP

Among the molecules identified were methanol, ethanol, methyl formate, acetaldehyde, and acetic acid.

According to the researchers, this marks the first confirmed detection of ethanol, methyl formate and acetaldehyde in ice beyond the Milky Way, while acetic acid had never been “conclusively” seen in space before.

The team also found spectral features that resemble another ice COM - glycolaldehyde, a sugar-related molecule and precursor of more complex biomolecules, such as components of RNA.

Why it matters

The discovery is significant because it proves that COMs can form in extreme interstellar environments.

Co-author Will Rocha, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that COMs can form on interstellar dust grains in both ice and gas. Once formed, ice COMs can be released into the surrounding gas, and these reactions are likely the main way such molecules are produced in space.

“Our detection of COMs in ices supports these results,” Rocha said in a statement.

“The detection of icy COMs in the Large Magellanic Cloud provides evidence that these reactions can produce them effectively in a much harsher environment than in the solar neighbourhood”.

Sewilo added that studying COMs in the Large Magellanic Cloud is particularly valuable because its low metallicity - fewer heavy elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen - is similar to galaxies in the early universe: “The harsh conditions tell us more about how complex organic chemistry can occur in these primitive environments where much fewer heavy elements like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are available for chemical reactions.”

Although this doesn’t confirm that life exists elsewhere, the findings suggest that the building blocks of life could survive the formation of planetary systems and potentially seed early planets.

Sewilo hopes to expand the research to more protostars in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to better understand how complex chemistry emerges in the universe.

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All history is the history of the evolutionary transubstantiation of matter to Spirit via biological-life processes of Blood and Reason.

Our Galaxy Appears to Be Part of a Structure So Large It Challenges Our Current Models of Cosmology

Astronomers have discovered that the Milky Way might be just a small piece of a much larger cosmic structure than previously believed. If confirmed by future observations, this research could suggest that our current model of how the universe evolves is still missing some crucial pieces.

"It is perhaps unsurprising that the further into the cosmos we look, we find that our home supercluster is more connected and more extensive than we thought."

As we study the universe more, we have found ourselves to be part of much larger structures, formed by gravitational interactions. We orbit the Sun, the Sun is part of the Milky Way, and the Milky Way is part of the Local Group, which includes several small galaxies as well as Andromeda, of "it may collide with us" fame.

But it doesn't stop there. The Local Group is on the outer edge of the Virgo Supercluster, which is itself part of a giant basin known as Laniakea. According to the new study, Laniakea too resides within a larger "basin of attraction" (BoA), potentially 10 times its volume.

"The entire Universe can be considered a patchwork of abutting BoA, just as the terrestrial landscape is separated into watersheds," the team explains in their paper. "A BoA is generally not gravitationally bound because the relative motion of distant points within it is usually dominated by cosmic expansion."

The basins of attraction are enormous structures, so much so that gravity is not the dominant force, but there is nevertheless evidence of common flow. The team looked at the motions of 56,000 galaxies, and attempted to make a "probabilistic map" of the local universe, given errors that occur when attempting to measure the velocity and motion of galaxies. In doing so, they hoped to narrow down the possibility of the existence of these basins of attraction.

“Our universe is like a giant web, with galaxies lying along filaments and clustering at nodes where gravitational forces pull them together,” University of Hawai'i at Manoa astronomer R. Brent Tully explained in a statement. “Just as water flows within watersheds, galaxies flow within cosmic basins of attraction. The discovery of these larger basins could fundamentally change our understanding of cosmic structure.”

“Our universe is like a giant web, with galaxies lying along filaments and clustering at nodes where gravitational forces pull them together,” University of Hawai'i at Manoa astronomer R. Brent Tully explained in a statement. “Just as water flows within watersheds, galaxies flow within cosmic basins of attraction. The discovery of these larger basins could fundamentally change our understanding of cosmic structure.”

Running simulations on the data, they found that the BoA encompassed many gigantic structures, including the mysterious Great Attractor.

"Nearby, evidence emerges for a BoA centred in proximity to the highly obscured Ophiuchus cluster that lies behind the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy," the team explained. "This BoA may include the so-called Great Attractor region and the entity Laniakea, including ourselves. In the extension [...] the Sloan Great Wall and the associated structure are overwhelmingly dominant."

Creating such maps of the universe is a messy business, tracking the movement of galaxies and their effect on each other in order to model these cosmic "currents" and flows. As such, there is a lot of uncertainty. According to the team's simulations, there is a 60 percent chance that our own Milky Way is in fact not in Laniakea, but in the Shapley concentration.

As well as being nice to really nail down our home address, the study could have much larger implications for our models of the universe, if the same structure continues to be found with further observation and analysis. Simply put, structures of gargantuan size challenge our understanding of the cosmos. 

Given what we see in the cosmic microwave background, the first light we can detect after the inflation of the universe, structures can only grow so large within our current models. Yet this, and other similar discoveries, appear to be larger than our current models predict. For now, the team plans to continue mapping the largest structures in the cosmos. 

"It is perhaps unsurprising that the further into the cosmos we look, we find that our home supercluster is more connected and more extensive than we thought," Noam Libeskind, astronomer at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, said in a separate statement. "Discovering that there is a good chance that we are part of a much larger structure is exciting. At the moment it’s just a hint: more observations will have to be made to confirm the size of our home supercluster."

Astronomers find giant hidden molecular cloud fueling star birth in Milky Way

 

The location of the area of focus for this research in the Milky Way galaxy is shown above, along with a previously unknown maser. Credit: Image credits as noted, collage created by NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/P. Vosteen

An international team of astronomers has discovered a massive cloud of gas and dust located in a little-known region of our Milky Way galaxy. The Giant Molecular Cloud (GMC) is about 60 parsecs—or 200 light years—long.

In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank Telescope (NSF GBT) have peered into a molecular cloud known as M4.7-0.8, nicknamed the Midpoint cloud. Their observations have revealed a dynamic region bustling with activity, including potential sites of new star formation.

"These dust lanes are like hidden rivers of gas and dust that are carrying material into the center of our galaxy..."

"One of the big discoveries of the paper was the GMC itself. No one had any idea this cloud existed until we looked at this location in the sky and found the dense gas. Through measurements of the size, mass, and density, we confirmed this was a giant molecular cloud," shares Natalie Butterfield, an NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) scientist and lead author of this paper.

"These dust lanes are like hidden rivers of gas and dust that are carrying material into the center of our galaxy," explained Butterfield. "The Midpoint cloud is a place where material from the galaxy's disk is transitioning into the more extreme environment of the galactic center and provides a unique opportunity to study the initial gas conditions before accumulating in the center of our galaxy."

The NSF GBT observations focused on molecules like ammonia (NH3) and cyanobutadiyne (HC5N), which are tracers of dense gas. Besides revealing the previously unknown Midpoint cloud in the galaxy's inward-bound dust lane, the data also showed:

• A New Maser: The team discovered a previously unknown "maser," a natural source of intense microwave radiation, associated with ammonia gas. This is often a sign of active star formation.

• Potential Star Birth Sites: The cloud contains compact clumps of gas and dust that appear to be on the verge of forming new stars. One of these clumps, dubbed Knot E, might be a frEGG (free-floating evaporating gas globule)—a small, dense cloud being eroded by radiation from nearby stars.

• Evidence of Stellar Feedback: The team found a shell-like structure within the cloud, possibly created by the energy released from dying stars.

• Turbulent Gas: The gas within the cloud is highly turbulent, similar to what is seen in the galaxy's central regions. This turbulence could be caused by the inflow of material along the dust lanes or by collisions with other clouds.

"Star formation in galactic bars is a bit of a puzzle," said Larry Morgan, a scientist with the NSF Green Bank Observatory (NSF GBO), "The strong forces in these regions can actually suppress star formation. However, the leading edges of these bars, such as where the Midpoint is located, can accumulate dense gas and trigger new star formation."

The team's findings suggest that the Midpoint cloud is a crucial link in the flow of material from the Milky Way's disk to its center. By studying this region, astronomers can learn more about how galaxies build their central structures and form new stars in extreme environments.

Pope Leo: James Webb telescope shows us what the Bible couldn’t

New Pope tells summer-schoolers at the Vatican Observatory that the telescope’s insight into creation brings ‘mysterious joy’

The Pope says images produced by the James Webb space telescope “fill us with wonder”

Scientists using the James Webb space telescope are seeing the “seeds God has sown in the universe”, the Pope has said, saying it is “an exciting time to be an astronomer”.

He said the telescope revealed wonders of which the authors of biblical scriptures could only dream, and its images of the oldest and most distant galaxies in the cosmos filled people with a sense of “mysterious joy”.

The Pope held an audience for young astronomers attending a summer school at the Vatican Observatory outside Rome this week, focusing on the telescope’s work.

Scientists using the James Webb space telescope are seeing the “seeds God has sown in the universe”

He told them it was a “truly remarkable instrument” that meant that “for the first time, we are able to peer deeply into the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where planetary systems themselves are forming”.

The telescope, which was launched on Christmas Day in 2021, orbits the sun at a fixed distance a million miles from Earth. It has been able to detect galaxies that formed more than 13.5 billion years ago, only 290 million years after the universe was born in the Big Bang Seed. It has also detected hints of possible alien life in the atmospheres of distant planets.

The Pope said: “The authors of sacred scriptures, writing so many centuries ago, did not have the benefit of this privilege. Yet their poetic and religious imagination pondered what the moment of creation must have been like.”

He quoted a passage from the Book of Baruch, which is seen as part of the Old Testament by Catholics but not by Protestants, which reads: “The stars shone in their watches and rejoiced; and their Creator called them and they said, ‘Here we are!’, shining with gladness for him who made them.”

He added: “In our own day, do not the James Webb images also fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy, as we contemplate their sublime beauty?”

He told attendees of the summer school near Lake Albano, an hour’s train ride southeast of Rome: “Do not hesitate to share the joy and amazement born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ that, in the words of St Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe. The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world.”

He added that “surely this must be an exciting time to be an astronomer”, noting the telescope had captured “the ancient light of distant galaxies, which speaks of the very beginning of our universe”. He told the astronomers their work “is meant to benefit us all” and asked them to “be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience”.

The Vatican has spent years trying to repair its scientific reputation after prosecuting Galileo Galilei in the 17th century and placing him under house arrest after he published works agreeing with the Copernican view that the Earth orbits the sun, rather than vice versa.

The Times visited the Vatican Observatory last year to meet its director, Brother Guy Consolmagno, a noted meteorite expert. He said the Catholic church had been a world-leading authority on astronomy for centuries before the Galileo affair, noting that the modern Gregorian calendar was devised by the Vatican’s astronomers, who corrected errors in the Julian calendar devised by the Romans.

Much of the scientific research conducted in medieval Europe took place at Catholic universities, he said. Consolmagno met the Pope at the observatory this week and said: “Our interaction was delightful but brief. Rightly, he spent most of his time chatting with the students. I am delighted he granted us a private audience. His eloquent words, of course, speak for themselves.”

“Water Found Beyond Earth”: Scientists Confirm It Formed Moments After the Big Seed in a Stunning Cosmic Revelation

In a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of the cosmos, scientists have confirmed the presence of water in the ancient universe, suggesting that life-supporting conditions may have existed much earlier than previously believed

IN A NUTSHELL

🌌 Supernovas acted as cosmic factories, producing water in the universe’s earliest stages by releasing heavy elements like oxygen. ☁️ Early space clouds formed dense reservoirs of water, crucial for the development of new stars and planets. 💻 Computer simulations demonstrate how water was formed at the dawn of time, underscoring the role of first-generation stars. 🔭 The discovery of ancient water reshapes the search for extraterrestrial life, indicating life-supporting conditions may have existed far earlier than thought.

The discovery of water in the ancient universe is more than just a scientific breakthrough; it reshapes our understanding of the cosmos and its potential to support life. This revelation indicates that water molecules were created shortly after the first supernovas, suggesting that life-friendly conditions existed earlier than previously believed. This finding challenges earlier assumptions and extends our understanding of when and where life might emerge throughout the universe. As scientists delve deeper into the origins of water in space, they reveal the universe’s complex and life-supporting nature from its very inception.

Supernovas: The Cosmic Factories of Water

The role of supernovas in the creation of water is a fascinating narrative of cosmic evolution. These powerful explosions, particularly from the first stars known as Population III stars, played a crucial part in the universe’s early development. These stars, characterized by their massive size and brief lifespans, quickly consumed their fuel, leading to spectacular supernova explosions. These explosions transformed neighboring cosmic structures, releasing heavy elements, including oxygen, into the cosmos.

"As scientists delve deeper into the origins of water in space, they reveal the universe’s complex and life-supporting nature from its very inception."

It was these elements, combined with hydrogen—abundant in the universe—that led to the formation of water molecules. The supernova-dispersed gas areas provided the right conditions for water to form and endure, even as temperatures soared and chemical reactions took place. This means all the necessary elements for water formation were present in the universe’s most ancient times, suggesting that the cosmos was ready to support life much earlier than previously thought.

Early Space Clouds: Rich Reservoirs of Water

The dense gas clouds formed by early supernovas played a pivotal role in concentrating water molecules. These cloud cores are essential to the birth of new stars and planets. Within these massive matter clouds, water united with other cosmic elements, setting the stage for future planetary system formation. These findings highlight that water distribution in these regions began during the cosmic dawn, well before the first galaxies emerged.

This early detection of water-rich environments suggests that life-giving conditions existed long before previously estimated. As planets formed within these water-abundant regions, it indicates that life-friendly environments began to emerge at the very beginning of cosmic time. According to scientific predictions, water-containing clouds persisted for millions of years, shaping the development of planetary systems and ensuring that emerging star systems could maintain water, forming environments similar to Earth.

Computer Simulations: Water at the Dawn of Time

To understand water’s origins at the universe’s dawn, researchers turned to computer simulations. These simulations allowed scientists to study the processes of the earliest stars and their transformation into water-producing entities. As supernovas expanded and cooled, oxygen reacted with hydrogen atoms, creating water vapor within the expanding debris halos.

"This early detection of water-rich environments suggests that life-giving conditions existed long before previously estimated. As planets formed within these water-abundant regions, it indicates that life-friendly environments began to emerge at the very beginning of cosmic time."

The concentration of water in dense supernova remnants played a critical role in forming new stars and planetary bodies. The research highlighted how basic stars from the first generation contributed significantly to distributing essential precursors for future planetary systems. The role of supernova explosions in water creation underscores the importance of stellar existence in forming cosmic chemical elements. Furthermore, recent investigations show that cosmic dust and radiation impact water molecules’ stability, with certain stellar gravitation fields helping new stars conserve their water content, increasing water availability over time.

The Implications for Extraterrestrial Life

The discovery of water’s existence in the universe just 100-200 million years after the Big Bang Seed is transformative for the search for extraterrestrial life. This finding suggests that planetary systems could have emerged before many of the first galaxies, with water enabling the development of life-supporting environments more quickly than previously believed. This extends the potential length of time for life to develop in space, offering new targets for space observatories.

"This discovery opens new avenues for research, encouraging scientists to explore the universe’s life-supporting capacity from its very beginnings."

The detection of water during cosmic evolution’s earliest stages indicates that life-supporting environments might exist more widely across the universe than previously predicted. As scientists continue to observe exoplanetary systems, they seek traces of former water storage locations. Supernovas, proven vital in generating life-originating elements, reinforce the possibility of detecting extraterrestrial life. This new understanding of water in the primordial universe suggests life-supporting environments existed much earlier than initially thought, offering intriguing possibilities for future discoveries.

Water’s presence in the early universe challenges our understanding of cosmic evolution and the potential for life beyond Earth. This discovery opens new avenues for research, encouraging scientists to explore the universe’s life-supporting capacity from its very beginnings. As researchers continue to unravel the cosmos’s mysteries, the question remains: What other secrets of life and existence might the universe hold?

Light from dawn of the universe observed by Earth-based telescopes

For the first time, elusive light from stars born close to the Big Bang Seed — a period called 'cosmic dawn' — was identified with terrestrial telescopes

For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to look back over 13 billion years and measure how the first stars in the universe affected light emitted from the Big Bang Seed. Using the NSF Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (NSF CLASS) telescopes in northern Chile, astrophysicists have measured this polarized microwave light to create a clearer picture of one of the least understood epochs in the history of the universe, the cosmic dawn.

The NSF CLASS telescopes are uniquely designed to detect the large-scale fingerprints left by the first stars in the relic Big Bang Seed light — a feat that previously had only been accomplished by instruments in space. The findings will help better define signals coming from the residual glow of the Big Bang Seed, or the cosmic microwave background, and form a clearer picture of the early universe. The research is led by Johns Hopkins University and The University of Chicago and published in The Astrophysical Journal.

"No other ground-based experiment can do what NSF CLASS is doing," says Nigel Sharp, program director in the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences, which has supported NSF CLASS for over 15 years. "The CLASS team has greatly improved measurement of the cosmic microwave polarization signal, and this impressive leap forward is a testament to the scientific value produced by NSF's long-term support."

Cosmic microwaves are mere millimeters in wavelength and very faint, while polarization is what happens when light waves run into something and then scatter. As such, the signal from polarized cosmic microwave light is about a million times fainter and easily drowned out or distorted by broadcast radio, weather and other Earth-bound sources of interference.

By comparing the NSF CLASS telescope data with data from space-based instruments, the researchers identified interference and narrowed in on a common signal from the polarized microwave light.

"When light hits the hood of your car and you see a glare, that's polarization. To see clearly, you can put on polarized glasses to take away glare," says first author Yunyang Li, who was a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins and then a fellow at The University of Chicago during the time of the research. "Using the new common signal, we can determine how much of what we're seeing is cosmic glare from light bouncing off the hood of the cosmic dawn, so to speak."

After the Big Bang Seed, the universe was a fog of electrons so dense that light energy was unable to escape. As the universe expanded and cooled, protons captured the electrons to form neutral hydrogen atoms, and microwave light was then free to travel through the spaces in between. When the first stars formed during the cosmic dawn, their intense energy ripped electrons free from the hydrogen atoms. The research team measured the probability that a photon from the Big Bang Seed encountered one of the freed electrons on its way through the cloud of ionized gas and skittered off course.

"People thought this couldn’t be done from the ground. Astronomy is a technology-limited field, and microwave signals from the cosmic dawn are famously difficult to measure," says Tobias Marriage, CLASS project leader, Johns Hopkins professor of physics and astronomy and NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program awardee. "Ground-based observations face additional challenges compared to space. Overcoming those obstacles makes this measurement a significant achievement."

-----------------------------------------

Bonus news:

• Abundant Water from Early Supernovae at Cosmic Dawn

• A New Study Suggests Light Can Form Without Any Matter at All

Largest map of the universe announced revealing 800,000 galaxies, challenging early cosmos theories

 

In the name of open science, the multinational scientific collaboration COSMOS on Thursday has released the data behind the largest map of the universe. Called the COSMOS-Web field, the project, with data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), consists of all the imaging and a catalog of nearly 800,000 galaxies spanning nearly all of cosmic time. And it’s been challenging existing notions of the infant universe.

“And the big surprise is that with JWST, we see roughly 10 times more galaxies than expected at these incredible distances. We’re also seeing supermassive black holes that are not even visible with Hubble.” And they’re not just seeing more, they’re seeing different types of galaxies and black holes.

“Our goal was to construct this deep field of space on a physical scale that far exceeded anything that had been done before,” said UC Santa Barbara physics professor Caitlin Casey, who co-leads the COSMOS collaboration with Jeyhan Kartaltepe of the Rochester Institute of Technology. “If you had a printout of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field on a standard piece of paper,” she said, referring to the iconic view of nearly 10,000 galaxies released by NASA in 2004, “our image would be slightly larger than a 13-foot by 13-foot-wide mural, at the same depth. So it’s really strikingly large.”

The COSMOS-Web composite image reaches back about 13.5 billion years; according to NASA, the universe is about 13.8 billion years old, give or take one hundred million years. That covers about 98% of all cosmic time. The objective for the researchers was not just to see some of the most interesting galaxies at the beginning of time but also to see the wider view of cosmic environments that existed during the early universe, during the formation of the first stars, galaxies and black holes. 

“The cosmos is organized in dense regions and voids,” Casey explained. “And we wanted to go beyond finding the most distant galaxies; we wanted to get that broader context of where they lived.”

A 'big surprise'

And what a cosmic neighborhood it turned out to be. Before JWST turned on, Casey said, she and fellow astronomers made their best predictions about how many more galaxies the space telescope would be able to see, given its 6.5-meter (21 foot) diameter light-collecting primary mirror, about six times larger than Hubble’s 2.4-meter (7 foot, 10 in) diameter mirror. The best measurements from Hubble suggested that galaxies within the first 500 million years would be incredibly rare, she said.

“It makes sense — the Big Bang happens and things take time to gravitationally collapse and form, and for stars to turn on. There’s a timescale associated with that,” Casey explained. “And the big surprise is that with JWST, we see roughly 10 times more galaxies than expected at these incredible distances. We’re also seeing supermassive black holes that are not even visible with Hubble.” And they’re not just seeing more, they’re seeing different types of galaxies and black holes, she added.

'Lots of unanswered questions'

While the COSMOS-Web images and catalog answer many questions astronomers have had about the early universe, they also spark more questions.

“Since the telescope turned on we’ve been wondering ‘Are these JWST datasets breaking the cosmological model? Because the universe was producing too much light too early; it had only about 400 million years to form something like a billion solar masses of stars. We just do not know how to make that happen,” Casey said. “So, lots of details to unpack, and lots of unanswered questions.”

In releasing the data to the public, the hope is that other astronomers from all over the world will use it to, among other things, further refine our understanding of how the early universe was populated and how everything evolved to the present day. The dataset may also provide clues to other outstanding mysteries of the cosmos, such as dark matter and physics of the early universe that may be different from what we know today.

“A big part of this project is the democratization of science and making tools and data from the best telescopes accessible to the broader community,” Casey said. The data was made public almost immediately after it was gathered, but only in its raw form, useful only to those with the specialized technical knowledge and the supercomputer access to process and interpret it. The COSMOS collaboration has worked tirelessly for the past two years to convert raw data into broadly usable images and catalogs. In creating these products and releasing them, the researchers hope that even undergraduate astronomers could dig into the material and learn something new. 

“Because the best science is really done when everyone thinks about the same data set differently,” Casey said. “It’s not just for one group of people to figure out the mysteries.”

For the COSMOS collaboration, the exploration continues. They’ve headed back to the deep field to further map and study it.

“We have more data collection coming up,” she said. “We think we have identified the earliest galaxies in the image, but we need to verify that.” To do so, they’ll be using spectroscopy, which breaks up light from galaxies into a prism, to confirm the distance of these sources (more distant = older). “As a byproduct,” Casey added, “we’ll get to understand the interstellar chemistry in these systems through tracing nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. There’s a lot left to learn and we’re just beginning to scratch the surface.”

The COSMOS-Web image is available to browse interactively; the accompanying scientific papers have been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics.

‘I’ll Stick with Jesus’: Rogan Breaks Down Atheists’ Claims of Creation vs Jesus’ Resurrection

“It’s funny because people would be incredulous about the resurrection of Jesus Christ – but yet they’re convinced that the entire universe was smaller than the head of a pen and, for no reason that anybody’s adequately explained to me makes sense, instantaneously became everything.”

 

Christ being the Son of God and rising from the dead makes more sense than atheists’ “Big Bang” theory, comedian Joe Rogan said in a recent podcast.

Speaking to fellow podcast host Cody Tucker, Rogan explained that while atheists deny the miracle of Jesus, they devoutly buy into the “miracle” of the Big Bang.

“[Psychadelic researcher] Terence McKenna had a great line about the difference between science and religion is science only asked you for one miracle. ‘I want you to believe in one miracle: the Big Bang,'” Rogan told Tucker, who agreed.

“It’s great line…because it really is true,” Rogan added.

Rogan went on to point out believing in the inexplicable Big Bang theory is a big leap in logic, and that the story of Jesus’ resurrection makes more sense.

“It’s funny because people would be incredulous about the resurrection of Jesus Christ – but yet they’re convinced that the entire universe was smaller than the head of a pen and, for no reason that anybody’s adequately explained to me makes sense, instantaneously became everything.”

“Okay…I’m sticking with Jesus on that one,” Rogan said. “Like, Jesus makes more sense.”

What it means to be White in America

Identity, not supremacism: to affirm one’s people is to affirm all peoples.

Constantin von Hoffmeister 

This article was first published on Constantin von Hoffmeister's Substack, Eurosiberia.net.

To be white in America is to inherit a name shaped by migration, faith, and forgotten histories. It is a lineage carried across oceans, passed through lullabies, and rooted in both cathedrals and cornfields. 

This identity lingers in quiet rural churches, where the voices of ancestors seem to echo in the trees. 

For many, “white” becomes a stand-in when older names fade — when “American” feels like a hollow label on a billboard. It is not about shame or dominance. It is about memory, continuity, and being quietly aware of where you come from.

Multiculturalism, as it manifests now, behaves like a solvent. It dissolves the distinct, merges the sacred into sameness, smiles as it rubs out the texture of rooted lives. Within this flood, those who carry European memory find themselves drifting, searching for a foothold. The word “White” is that foothold. It holds meaning through resistance, through memory, through the fierce dignity of cultural continuity. Identity, in this sense, becomes a form of love — love for origins, love for inherited stories, love for those yet to come.

Supremacism speaks in the language of domination. Identity speaks in the language of presence. The White American who awakens to his name does not seek a throne. He seeks a hearth. He seeks a way to stay whole in a world that rewards fragmentation. This is a path of loyalty to one’s kind, never hostility towards others. In the garden of peoples, each flower flourishes with its own fragrance. Ethnopluralism offers an architecture of difference, a choreography of coexistence, where each cultural rhythm retains its beat without drowning the others.

The term “White” in the American lexicon carries a unique frequency. It vibrates with Jefferson’s quill and Bach’s organ, with frontier hymns and Viennese waltzes, with cavalry horns and Celtic chants. To call oneself White in this context is to protect this frequency from dissonance disguised as “inclusion.” It is to declare, without aggression, that the old songs deserve to be sung again. Memory deserves air. Tradition deserves breath. Identity deserves more than footnotes in someone else’s anthology.

European nationalists who peer across the Atlantic may see a racial label where a cultural signal flares. In America, this signal reaches through the noise, calling for cohesion in the absence of nationhood. The immigrant once became American through absorption into a defined mythos. That mythos no longer exists. “White” now fills the vacuum with a new mode of belonging — fused from ancestral fragments, reconstructed into a postmodern tribe bound by shared affinities rather than state-sponsored creeds. This tribe seeks kinship, not conquest.

The word itself — “White” — is undergoing alchemy. Once used carelessly, once wielded cruelly, now reclaimed with care. It becomes a sanctuary word, a quiet defiance against vanishing. It shields neither empire nor empire-building. It cradles only memory. Those who say the word do so with reverence, tracing maps invisible to those who only see skin. Within this word lives the village, the chapel bell, the grandmother’s eyes. To be White, then, is to feel time coiling through your veins, to hold the sacred burden of continuity with both hands.

Identity here acts as a compass, never a cage. It points to something essential, never reductive. Within its frame, new expressions rise — art, ritual, story, space. The future emerges from the past, remixed through intention rather than accident. Each person who reclaims identity becomes a steward. Each community that honors its inheritance becomes a lighthouse. In the haze of cultural disintegration, the glow of remembrance shines stronger than shame. Authentic diversity, when anchored in respect, requires difference. And difference requires selfhood.

To be pro-White is to be pro-identity. To affirm one’s people is to affirm all peoples. The line between celebration and supremacism is one of spirit, not volume. This spirit seeks harmony, not hierarchy. A world without distinct identities offers only the cold hum of managed sameness. A world of living cultures brims with meaning. So let this be said clearly: the affirmation of White identity, grounded in respect, carried with humility, lit by ancestral fire, serves not as a threat — but as a promise. A promise to remain, to remember, to reimagine.

By Constantin von Hoffmeister, a political and cultural commentator from Germany, author of the books ‘MULTIPOLARITY!’ and ‘Esoteric Trumpism’, and editor-in-chief of Arktos Publishing