Astrophysicists create the first accurate map of the universe: It’s very flat, and probably infinite
I think this points out some problems for the big bang and for general relativity. Thoughts?
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Like Robert Fl, I wonder how one would distinguish between a flat universe and an immense one with a curvature that is beyond our current ability to measure.
Jan
It still comes down to a question of tools, though: One must have good enough tools to measure a tiny difference. If the sphere is many times larger than the Hubble limit, we may not be able to measure the difference...yet.
Jan
I move west on its surface, and it slows slightly when I move
east. . but measuring the difference is currently impossible.
and if we can "only" see at the speed of light, parts of
the universe would have to be receding faster than that
to become invisible to us. . maybe that's the infinite part!!! -- j
.
Jan
.
What if it is curved (sphere) but we perceive it as flat? How can we trust our observations?
You'd either see something beyond (so, you weren't at the edge) or, you'd see yourself looking back in.
Unless you push and stretch the balloon beyond - then you have extended the boundary.
If space does not exist beyond as far as we can see, does it exist? Not until you go look beyond. If you can't look beyond, then anything would have to be reflected back in.
Put an Engineer and Math major against one wall in a room and a naked woman on the opposite wall.
Each is allowed to move towards the woman 1/2 the separation distance each step
Can they reach her?
The Math major says he can never reach her. The Engineer replies that he'll get close enough.
guarantee, say, public safety, then I won't do the job. . as my
first father-in-law said, "Good enough is perfect." -- j
.
an assumption (there are probabilities in everything) that
the steel has a strength of 100,000 psi and that the car has a weight
of 3,000 pounds, the variabilities (plus or minus) will magnify
when the steel has an actual strength of 90,000 psi and
the car actually weights 3,300 pounds, full of vacation gear.
then, the outdoor temperature will drop to minus ten degrees
and the whole family is in jeopardy. . Check Your Premises!!! -- j
.
I can't grasp that, but hey, I'm a mere engineer, not an astrophysicist. Seems to me that either the universe is infinite, or if there is a boundary, there must be something (another universe?) on the other side.
Personally, I have strong reservations about applying the word "infinite" to the physical world.
(Good article - love this stuff! - should have said that. Oh and whatever I "did there" was probably an accident.)
I wrote about the whole infinity thing a little while back so I won't go into at length here.
But the short answer is that I think that concepts of "infinity" are fine - as concepts - but are problematic when applied to the physical world.
I think "infinity" says more about the limits of our understanding than the "limits" of the physical world.
Here's the link if you're interested.
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...
It wasn't particularly well received but - oh well. Not my problem! Ha!
(So embarrassing - I couldn't figure out how to fix the typo in the title. The TITLE for christ sake! That's probably why they didn't like it. Yeah - that's the ticket! Ha!)
If G (and thus the gravitational pull of each object) were decreasing, the fact could in principle be observed, because all planets and moons would shift into slightly larger orbits. But the assertions I've seen that this is happening posit a very slow increase, taking at least millions of years to be significant.
Capt. Kirk beat someone in another starship who was thinking "two dimensionally."
Now I feel old - thanks.
Haven't seen either again for a long time. My age 68 memory gets creaky sometimes.
Love this stuff
This discovery raises all sorts of speculative fantasies. A "relatively flat, infinite universe" sounds a lot like a disk or spiral galaxy. A galaxy of galaxies.
But where are we in this universe? I hoped to find a "map" showing our location - are we close to the edge? If we are supposed to be close to the center, that sounds very familiar and somewhat medieval ;-) But I think it may say more about either how far we can see, or how old the universe is. If it's only ~14billion years old, we could only see 14 billion light years. Assuming a constant speed of light. But I've also heard that the speed of light may not be constant over time, especially in the early fractions of a second after the big bang.
If this discovery doesn't make the big bang a quaint, old fashioned notion. Wait a minute ... isn't the big bang "settled science"? ;-)
Ah, the possibilities!
Have you seen the work of Laniakea-our home super cluster? It's fascinating!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rENyy...
In the end there are three truths. Birth, life, and death. One per customer. the proofs are statistically indisputable. If not show me the statistics.
We must suffer from the same human conditions. I was 5'11.5" (pretty close to 6). I am now 5'9.5" and counting. In between birth & death is a roller coaster ride we call life. Unlike a roller-coaster, however, we are in charge of everything except the unexpected. Hmm - I can carry this analogy on for several more paragraphs. BORING!
As there is no evidence that the universe is actually "flat" - there is no way to exclude very slightly "positively curved" spacetime, which implies a finite but unbounded universe - there is no scientific justification for claiming such a infinity.
The door to true outer space of course is one of many and always marked '51.'
See what happens when the wifi shuts down?
We also found static motors.
Cheers!
Edit I forgot the Universal Theory of Relativity. The answer to that is how the door was located. First remember that the speed of light is not a constant. There is only one constant in the Omniverse.....the location of the most interior bang!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Watch for the Movie ...Music by Bryan May
never-ending, including the universe. It is what it
is. But it could be that it is round, (either spherical,
or flat-round), and that at some point, there is the
end, and it starts all over again.