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How the Universe and Its Mirrored Version Are Different
From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms.
Pasteur’s work on molecules rested on a previous discovery by Augustin-Jean Fresnel, who in 1822 realized that different quartz prisms could send light’s electric field twirling in one of two directions—clockwise or counterclockwise. Because a massive particle travels more slowly, a speedy observer could overtake it and effectively reverse its direction of motion, thus flipping its apparent handedness. In looking-glass world, Alice finds all logic turned on its head: People run in order to stay in place, and they celebrate “un-birthdays” on all the days they weren’t born.
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