If you know your science and physics, read this!

[TheRadical]

Nothing is as mind boggling as space IMO.

The concept of the universe and the fact that it is always growing is crazy stuff. Not everything has to have an endpoint. For all we know space could be a physical depiction of infinite.

Modest Mouse put it best, " The universe works on a math equation that never even ever really ends in the end. Infinity spirals out creation..."

[Zylark]

(regarding why the universe is flat and might resemble a donut)

Originally Posted by Highbinder

Do you have a source? I'd like to know more!

Astronomy Cast on the shape of the universe.


A great podcast which should answer most questions (basically a College cosmology minor, withouth the math, in podcast form) regarding what we know about our universe, and more importantly, what we do not know. And why.

[BMactoker]

Your point is a very valid one that I can honetsly say I've never thought about. We do have significant evidence for the theory that the universe is rapidly expanding and to this date the only explanation we have for it is "Dark Energy". WTF is dark energy?! Our best explanation is that some invisible thing that we have no idea about is ripping our universe apart!!!! I like your idea. Maybe there are many, many other universes outside of ours all exerting a gravitational force on our universe, thus ripping it apart from all sides nearly uniformly(but certainly not uniformly).

We seem to have come to some sort of a crossroads on our scientific exploration. We are getting more and more evidence by the year that everything may not be as it seems and we certainly have to be scepticul, but inquisitive. As we look at the history of our understanding of the material world, we have always been partially wrong erring on the side of hubris. At first the Earth was the center of the universe but we soon learned that it was the Earth that revolved around the Sun. So surely the Sun must be the center of the universe right? Well no, it's orbiting in the Milky Way around the center of the Universe, so pretty close still. Then Hubble figures out that one of the stars in the sky was an "island universe" and we pretty much figure out that the universe it terrifyingly large. So we arrive to our present day. As far as we know, our universe is the only one but if look at our past errors in estimating the size and age of the universe, it is very reasonable to assume there there is much out there that we just don't have the capabilities to see yet.

[Mr. bojangles]

well we have come to the conclusion that the universe is expanding because of the doppler effect, all the light coming from stars is shifted to the red spectum (longer wavelenghts) because they are moving away from us.

[nitrum]

+ rep for BMac. You definitely know your science history.

Seriously though, that is total bullshit when people say we are reaching the limits of science. People have always said that. In 1899 the commisioner at the patent office said that everything had already been invented. Shows how much that logic works. Same thing with Newtonian physics for about 400 years, until Einstein came along. Of course there has to be a limit somewhere, but I'm sure we aren't even close.

I think the question of whether there are other universes or what started the big bang will someday be answerable. Everything leaves behind some evidence, we just need to know where and how to look.

[Smokinscientist]

Originally Posted by nitrum

+ rep for BMac. You definitely know your science history.

Seriously though, that is total bullshit when people say we are reaching the limits of science. People have always said that. In 1899 the commisioner at the patent office said that everything had already been invented. Shows how much that logic works. Same thing with Newtonian physics for about 400 years, until Einstein came along. Of course there has to be a limit somewhere, but I'm sure we aren't even close.

I think the question of whether there are other universes or what started the big bang will someday be answerable. Everything leaves behind some evidence, we just need to know where and how to look.

Yeah, in the early last century. Most believed all science was discovered.


I believe in science, both macroscopic and microscopic, we are only beginning to find patterns. I think that quarks and electrons aren't necessarily fundamental particles, but that we will find another series of particles underneath there. Same thing with space. We had, earth, sun, galaxie. Now we think we know the size of the universe. BUt what if we are just part of a larger universe, which in itself is part of an even larger sustem, and so on.