As far as hubble can see
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Observable_universe_logarithmic_illustration.png)
Which one has got the nearest McDonald's ??
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.
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 ?
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.
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.
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
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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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:
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.
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*
It's not to scale by the way :)
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.
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.
Quote from: keukpa on April 06, 2016, 06:06:25 PM
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.
into what?
Quote from: Steve W on 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.
This is actually a strongly held theory by some people. We don't make 'conscious' free will decisions, what we do is act based on the chemicals in our brains / bodies, making us make the decisions we do....
And again, another theory is that if we could get over the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and at the time of the instant of the big bang, work out the state of all matter then if we fully understood all physics we could extrapolate from that point, to where we are now, and past this and into our future, after all, atoms only follow laws of physics (albeit known or unknown laws).
Actually, I don't think of chaos theory as being 'random', rather I consider it a pattern that we can't see through not having a full understanding of the universe and physics of the universe.
Quote from: Steve W on April 06, 2016, 06:08:36 PM
into what?
You're thinking too three dimensionally. Into nothing, the universe is the space that the universe creates as it expands.
What if the Universe isn't expanding, but something else is contracting, pulling us with it. Think like a wave when it crashes and starts pulling back into a foaming breaker (or crushing gravity well).
I like this thread - split it off? :D
(http://bigbag.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BIG_BAG_large.png?6e81ec)
:D
I went to a Stephen Hawking lecture many years ago.
Someone asked him "If you could know, for certain, one single thing....what would it be?"
His reply....
Is the universe infinite?... No.
Will the universe expand forever and have a cold silent death?... No.
Does God exist?... No.
His answer was "The temperature of the universe ten to the minus thirty four seconds after the big bang"...
Jees. Different world...
10E-34 second ?
Light travels less than the diameter of an electron in that time - probably..
Strange people about.
:o
Quote from: Steve W on April 06, 2016, 08:44:40 PM
(http://bigbag.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BIG_BAG_large.png?6e81ec)
:D
Hehehe corrected :)
I preferred bag.
It added a certain je ne sais quoi...
LOL
:D