How can the universe be infinite, does it end, what is outsi

[SpeedFreek]

It should have been "The Earth's <i>surface</i> is unbounded", in the same way as a 2-dimensional manifold wrapped onto a 3rd dimension. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000">_______________________________________________<br /></font><font size="2"><em>SpeedFreek</em></font> </p> </div>

 

[Anonymous]

Earth is infinite, in the sense, that it does not have boundaries. It has no edge that leads to space, beacause it is a sphere.<br /><br />We come to know that universe is expanding, this means that there must be something greater than universe, something just "space", empty, or many other "universes".<br />Universe should have space to expand.<br /><br />I do not claim universe to be a sphere but its an idea, it probably makes sense( if I did not miss anything). <br />Everything in universe is moving, it may be a two dimesional motion, both round and away, since things in universe moves close and away from one another. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font size="2"><p align="center"><br /><img id="a9529085-d63d-481e-9277-832ea5d58917" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/9/2/a9529085-d63d-481e-9277-832ea5d58917.Large.gif" alt="blog post photo" /><br /><font color="#339966">Oops! this is my alien friend.</font></p><p align="center"><font color="#ff6600">╬→Ť╠╣є ’ M€ ’<br />╬→ Ðôŵņ2Ëãřŧĥ ๑<br />╬→ ЙДm€ :Varsha<br /></font></p></font></strong> </div>

 

[xmo1]

Let's keep it simple. The universe is what is. There is nothing else. It can be infinite just because that is, maybe, the way it is. Give it that, and we won't discuss multi-verses.<br /><br />I always thought that S. Hawking was messing with Catholic Church doctrine as a sort of hmm message to them to stay out of Astronomy.<br /><br />On the other hand, the cosmic background radiation people have said that within a 2% error that the geometry of the universe if flat; meaning it has a top and bottom, and is not curved and is not infinite. What is outside of it? My guess is that they are talking about the universe that contains matter or energy. The rest would be classified as empty space. Could be that empty space is infinite, or not. No one knows. Don't be surprised. There are a lot of things no one knows. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>DenniSys.com</p> </div>

 

[origin]

<font color="yellow">What is outside of it? My guess is that they are talking about the universe that contains matter or energy. The rest would be classified as empty space.</font><br /><br />No it is not empty space. Empty space is still part of the 4th dimensional space-time continuum, so it would be part of our universe. <i>The universe is not expanding <b>into</b> something</i>, it is just expanding. What is 'outside' the universe? Nothing. No matter, no energy, no space, and no time, just nothing.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[weeman]

There is no 'nothing' outside the universe because there is no 'outside the universe' in the first place. Space expands into itself because space is all that there is. <br /><br />To say that there is nothing outside the universe almost gives it a boundry between universe and void, which does not exist. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[shadow735]

the "outside" is something I dont think man will ever understand, I know I still dont get it, I still cant comprehend it, that there is nothing containing the universe that there is no outside of it, I guess its because I think of it in terms of the earth I can understand that. outside the earth is space and out solar system. But I still dont understand the universe,<br />just something I will have to deal with, after all humanity has been trying to figure it out and still has no idea, it has theories but no concrete truth of how things lie, mainly because theories we dont currently have the technology to explore.<br />well as long as we dont blow ourselves up I guess we have time to find those things out, too bad I wont be around by that time though <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

<font color="yellow"><i><br />There is no 'nothing' outside the universe because there is no 'outside the universe' in the first place. Space expands into itself because space is all that there is. <br /><br />To say that there is nothing outside the universe almost gives it a boundry between universe and void, which does not exist.</i></font>/i><br /><br />Excellent summary! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Everyone should pay attention to your statement, because that's all there is to it, and nothing more. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[xmo1]

There was a context there; the CBR research. Puzzle yourself with the word 'nothing.'<br /><br />If there is a geometry then the fourth dimension does not exist outside of it. The fourth dimension requires the two fundamental properties; energy and matter. Space can be mutually exclusive. There could be places in space where time has not traveled, on the other hand there cannot be time without space. Eternity requires infinity. Existence requires both, and the imaginary requires existence. This is my logic. I could be way wrong. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>DenniSys.com</p> </div>

 

[origin]

<font color="yellow">There is no 'nothing' outside the universe because there is no 'outside the universe' in the first place. Space expands into itself because space is all that there is. <br /><br />To say that there is nothing outside the universe almost gives it a boundry between universe and void, which does not exist.</font><br /><br />Yep, you said it better than me! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[weeman]

<font color="yellow"> the "outside" is something I dont think man will ever understand, I know I still dont get it, I still cant comprehend it, that there is nothing containing the universe that there is no outside of it </font><br /><br />I'd say there's about a 99.99999% chance that we aren't meant to know the answer. If the universe represents everything that is all of existence, then we could argue that it represents infinity (even if it doesn't visually appear to be infinite). It is for this reason that our minds will never understand it, because we can't possibly understand infinity. <br /><br />It's possible, that to know the answers to the origins of everything, we must have the knowledge of the creator (God), which to be honest, is impossible. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[tdamskov]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>the "outside" is something I dont think man will ever understand, I know I still dont get it, I still cant comprehend it, that there is nothing containing the universe that there is no outside of it, I guess its because I think of it in terms of the earth I can understand that.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />That is actually a very logical way to see things considering the way we perceive the world. Based on our senses there's always something outside something else - or at least, we can imagine it based on the model of our environment that our brain builds. <br /><br />When it comes to cosmology, our analogs break down. The way the universe seems to work on astronomical scales is simply beyond our everyday experiences and perceptions.. For example, you're used to understanding that everything must be bounded by something else. But what if I asked you, what is "outside" time?<br /><br />Time can't have an outside, time IS time - the definition of causality - and what bounds time is space and matter. Similarly the universe doesn't have an outside, although it's bounded - it IS all. And that leads us to the theory of space-time: The universe seems to be bound not in 3 dimensions, but 4 - considering time the last dimension. Thus, the "edge" of the universe is the beginning of time, that is, the big bang. Whether or not the universe has another edge (the other end of time), we will probably never know.<br /><br />Does this make sense?

 

[shadow735]

I understand it fuzzily if that makes sense. I understand what you are saying but I have trouble applying it to an example (such as my example of the earth being contained).<br /><br />It did get me to wondering though, if our understanding is based on our environment (Earth) what would happen to humanity if it started to explore the universe. If man developed the technology to create a space craft that was self reliant such as created its own food, energy, air water. Like a mini earth.<br /><br />If man wasn’t bound to the earth and lived in space how would humanity change, mentally and physically. Would our minds develop so that we can comprehend the universe better?<br />I know something like this would take eons? But if man was exposed to cosmic influences how would his psyche develop to comprehend the universe and its rules, boundries and other mysteries, let alone any possible intinctual developments that relate to cosmic travel?<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>