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How big is the universe?

Stonefree69

Veg & Flower Station keeper
Veteran
I just saw a new show called “How big is the universe?” and it was very interesting.

It explained how the universe really does go on forever. They plotted a triangle from the background radiation map and found the sums of the angles formed were 180 degrees (degrees measured to 3 decimals which is said to be adequate enough). This proves that space is flat and therefore the universe is infinite. If the sum of the angles formed were greater than 180 degrees then this would've shown space is curved and the universe would have a limit (similar to how Ptolemy calculated circumference of the earth).

When the big bang happened it didn't expand from a central point. Space itself was created from the big bang so it essentially happened everywhere (in infinity). Space expanded faster than the speed of light. There really is no relative center to the universe. Like a cell in a body, this universe does essentially have a beginning and an end time wise but there are an infinite number of other universes perpetuating the cycle.

Physicists even think there may be an infinite number of infinite universes. The Great Attractor, which is named from a big section of the universe moving towards it, may just prove the existence of another universe nearby (relatively).

On another note lately some physicists may think the universe is a big computer simulation. They say it's more than a 50-50 chance this is so from observations. It does seem hard to swallow being how big the universe is and the number of counter arguments that can be made. Maybe it's just some geeks with fogged up glasses thinking "god" himself is a geek. They say nothing's impossible, so maybe just a bunch of monkeys creating it by accident from an infinite amount of possibilities and universes on some typewriter program. That's really stretching the bell curve of possibilities though, even given an infinite amount of outcomes.
 

Sandnut

Active member
Intresting question indeed. But I have to say that I think our conception and knowledge about the universe and it's size will come to change many times over again. I find it hard to believe that we suddenly know the answer to some of the biggest questions in life, meanwhile we haven't even discovered all life on our own planet yet, everyday we find new species. not to talk about the depths of the ocean.
 

pearlemae

May your race always be in your favor
Veteran
I always wondered..... if space has a far edge and stops then whats on the other side?
 
D

drifting

imo the universe can be infinitely big. we have an ever expanding universe
 

Stonefree69

Veg & Flower Station keeper
Veteran
I always wondered..... if space has a far edge and stops then whats on the other side?
Exactly that was my thought. I had considered the known view of the universe (furthest galaxies seen) was just relative to looking at a light on your front porch. There was a heck of a lot more to see.
 
D

drifting

we can only see the light that has reached us from far away galaxies. whos to say there isnt light that hasnt reached us yet. i guess time will tell
 
O

OrganicOzarks

It's all just a dream like state. You are controlling your avatar in this thing we call life.
 

Stonefree69

Veg & Flower Station keeper
Veteran
Interesting though infinity can't progress to a higher amount, however the universe is progressing thru time. Entropy is increasing and progressing as well.

Another note on space being "flat". Einstein says space can be curved or bent in space-time and relates to gravity:


upload pic
 

Tripsick

Experienced?
Veteran
Its a simulation and the algorithm will always keep the end out of reach making it infinite.

Infinite..

The paradox

Consider a hypothetical hotel with countably infinitely many rooms, all of which are occupied. One might be tempted to think that the hotel would not be able to accommodate any newly arriving guests, as would be the case with a finite number of rooms.

Finitely many new guests

Suppose a new guest arrives and wishes to be accommodated in the hotel. Because the hotel has infinitely many rooms, we can move the guest occupying room 1 to room 2, the guest occupying room 2 to room 3 and so on, and fit the newcomer into room 1. By repeating this procedure, it is possible to make room for any finite number of new guests.

Infinitely many new guests

It is also possible to accommodate a countably infinite number of new guests: just move the person occupying room 1 to room 2, the guest occupying room 2 to room 4, and, in general, the guest occupying room n to room 2n, and all the odd-numbered rooms (which are countably infinite) will be free for the new guests.

Infinitely many coaches with infinitely many guests each

For more details on this topic, see Pairing function.

It is possible to accommodate countably infinitely many coach-loads of countably infinite passengers each. The possibility of doing so depends on the seats in the coaches being already numbered (alternatively, the hotel manager must have the axiom of countable choice at his or her disposal). First empty the odd numbered rooms as above, then put the first coach's load in rooms 3n for n = 1, 2, 3, ..., the second coach's load in rooms 5n for n = 1, 2, ... and so on; for coach number i we use the rooms pn where p is the (i + 1)-st prime number. The problem can also be resolved by looking at the license plate numbers on the coaches and the seat numbers for the passengers. Regard the hotel as coach #0, and the initial room numbers as the seat numbers on this coach. Interleave the digits of the coach numbers and the seat numbers to get the room numbers for the guests. The hotel (coach #0) guest in seat (original room) number 1729 moves to room 01070209 (i.e., room 1,070,209.) The passenger on seat 4935 of coach 198 goes to room 4199385 of the hotel. In general any pairing function can be used to solve this problem. Another way to approach this is to assign everyone a number, , and which coach they are in, . Those already in the hotel will be moved to room , or the th triangular number. Those in a coach will be in room , or the th triangular number, plus . In this way all the rooms will be filled by one, and only one, guest.
[edit]Analysis
 
A

Alfred

It is infinitely small, or big, whichever way you look at it. :)

I am surprised there doesn't seem to be as much exploration into the microscopic universe.

To me, i think it is ego-driven that there can theoretically be infinite bigness, but people wince at the prospect of infine smallness.
But, if there is one there has to be the other, doesn't there? As they are ultimately one and the same....... (goes cross-eyed)

Thinking about this kind of shenanigens makes me sweaty. lol
 
A

Alfred

For those who have yet to be totally mind-boggled in general, here is a link to a picture called the 'Hubble Deep Field'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HubbleDeepField.800px.jpg

It is a picture (or multiple pictures layered to enhance clarity) of a TINY portion of our heavens above.
'a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75 feet away'

Isn't that AMAZING. :)

I imagine the first person to see that image literally fell off their chair.
 

Fuzz420

Ganja Smoker Extraordinaire
Veteran
Holographic 2D Universe!!!!

That our eyes inverts, and our brain decodes it as a 3D reality
 

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
Not only does the universe go on for what looks like and endless void but the thing I find fascinating is multiverses headband 707
 

Stonefree69

Veg & Flower Station keeper
Veteran
I am surprised there doesn't seem to be as much exploration into the microscopic universe.
They go to great lengths to find sub-atomic particles. There's the LHC collider which recently discovered the Higgs Boson. There's also elaborate neutrino detectors undeground. Amazing how much smaller a neutrino is than a quark, which is a sub-atomic part of a proton or neutron (most stable). A proton or neutron is what makes up a nucleus of an atom, which itself is about as small as a pea in a cathedral if the atom was that big. A photon is small too, not sure what mass it has but it does have both particle and wave characteristics.

Thanks for the link, I'm familiar with Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins too.
 
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