The big bang theory, and others :)

Gundummy · April 05, 2016, 11:30:05 PM

As far as hubble can see

wgt40w · April 05, 2016, 11:35:36 PM

Which one has got the nearest McDonald's ??

FPVSteve · April 05, 2016, 11:42:41 PM

I like that image but like all things space related, it puts us in the centre.

What if the Universe is oval shaped, and we're right at the left hand side .. we might only be able to see ~12 billion light years to the left, but it might be 12000 billion light years to the right.

Of course if video games have taught me anything, we should travel left and we'll appear on the right once we cross the edge :) Hey presto, warp drive.

wgt40w · April 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM

What I keep thinking about is: what is the universe contained in?
- If it all started with a big bang - what was there before the bang? How big was that space?
- Who is not to say that the universe itself might be as the size of a pin head in relation to the known universe ?

FPVSteve · April 06, 2016, 12:06:58 AM

I like the theory of us being an atom inside someone elses universe. All of the atoms in our universe are universes themselves, infinite propogation.

Sadly we're probably just a really boring game of Sims to some galactic warlord and we'll be killed in various hilarious ways just before he logs off for dinner.

Ratty · April 06, 2016, 12:11:44 AM

Quote from: wgt40w on April 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM
What I keep thinking about is: what is the universe contained in?
- If it all started with a big bang - what was there before the bang? How big was that space?
- Who is not to say that the universe itself might be as the size of a pin head in relation to the known universe ?

There are a few theories, but we just don't know, yet. I think multiverse or string theories sound the most likely imo.

The space before the big bang was infinite. ;D

I think you have the last statement backwards. The known universe (the bit we can see) is probably the size of a pin head compared to the whole universe.

Ratty · April 06, 2016, 12:13:51 AM

Try to think of anything that exists that there is only 1 of.

The only answer at the moment that we know is, The Universe. Which makes it unlikely that there really is only 1. :o

elmattbo · April 06, 2016, 12:52:32 AM

I seem to remember reading that a cosmologist would say there was no space before the Big Bang; It was a singularity.

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Ratty · April 06, 2016, 01:16:38 AM

I am far from qualified to argue either way. ;D

I have seen it described as both. No mass but infinite space, and no anything because it was a singularity. Then counter argued that there can not be nothing as nothing does not exist.

We just don't know about before, or the first few milliseconds, but we have a pretty good idea about the next ~14 billion years after. :laugh:

FPVSteve · April 06, 2016, 01:28:54 AM

Well, we're all simply a series of chemical reactions - what if it's already mapped out for us and we don't actually have freedom of choice due to chemical reactions which have, and will, because of the cascading chain of events, happen.

Our thoughts are not free choices, they are the result of a chemical reaction at a specific point in time based on previous chemical reactions which have formed our environment and influenced our chemical makeup... my next thought is already planned for me.

Chaos Theory :) Gotta love it.

FPVSteve · April 06, 2016, 01:31:15 AM

And if we follow that theory, given a dataset of TRILLIONS of chemical reactions so far, and the relevant computing power, could we predict the future chain of events? Is it predetermined that we'll do so?

*explodes*

Gundummy · April 06, 2016, 10:08:17 AM

It's not to scale by the way :)

FPVSteve · April 06, 2016, 11:20:10 AM

Quote from: Gundummy on April 06, 2016, 10:08:17 AM
It's not to scale by the way :)

lol

keukpa · April 06, 2016, 06:04:33 PM

Quote from: Steve W on April 05, 2016, 11:42:41 PM
I like that image but like all things space related, it puts us in the centre.

That's actually because we are... the universe is expanding faster the further you go away from the earth, in all directions, however, it's also expanding faster the further you go out from any point, thereby all points in space are the center of the universe. Additionally, we are at the center of that image because it's what Hubble can see from our reference point, so it can see the same distance away from us in all directions, thereby making us the center of the image.

keukpa · April 06, 2016, 06:06:25 PM

Quote from: wgt40w on April 05, 2016, 11:58:49 PM
- If it all started with a big bang - what was there before the bang? How big was that space?

Nothing was there before the big bang. Space itself was compressed to the size of nothingness, nothing existed before that. There is no 'void' that the universe is 'expanding' into, the universe is the space it's expanding into.