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Space

This mathematical trick can help you imagine space-time

Visualising space-time can be a mind-melting exercise, but mathematician Manil Suri has a trick that makes it easier

By Manil Suri

8 December 2023

High resolution images presents creating planets of the solar system. This image elements furnished by NASA.

Illustration of the creation of planets of the solar system

NASA

The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we hand over the keyboard to a physicist or two to tell you about fascinating ideas from their corner of the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time for free here.

Space-time is a curious thing. Look around and it’s easy enough to visualise what the space component is in the abstract. It’s three dimensions: left-right, forwards-backwards and up-down. It’s a graph with an…

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