is space infinate?

[Flap Jack452]

Now there's a mind-fuck.

Oh... err, right then.

 

[Godavari]

In the beginning, there was nothing - not even space. When the big bang happened, space came into existence and began expanding rapidly. If it can expand, it must have an edge. We just can't detect it.

 

[zehydra]

Only problem Godavari, is that there's no evidence that supports that the big bang (if such a thing occurred), is what created "space" as we know it.

 

[ike42]

You're going to want to look it up if you want a real answer. Best I can so is this:

If you go in a staright line, you'll eventually get back to where you started.

Yes. Of course it is. It's infinite and expanding.

So wait, space is like Ms. Pacman?

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

The universe is always expanding, when it stops, say goodbye to your ass.

 

[Bassman_2]

Space is as long as 1 space. Not so infinite now, eh?

 

[grimsprice]

I don't know. Common logic would lead me to believe that nothing is infinite and it has to end somewhere, but where?

What's at the edge? Is it just blackness? Would it just be like a wall that you can't pass through? Would I become a Reaver like in Firefly if I went to the edge?

I'm not going to pretends that I know a great deal about this sort of thing, but here goes.

Assuming that the universe is infinite (and expanding):

The probability of the Reavers being real, in exactly the same way as in Firefly, are astronomically low. However, if the universe is infinite, then surely the odds of their existence at some point in the course of history become greater than or equal to one. Following this line of thought, everything anyone has ever imagined actually exists.

If someone can point out any scientific flaws in this logic, I would much appreciate it, because I have spent months thinking about everything with this logic,and it kind of bums me out to think that every time a favourite character in a book has been killed off, then somewhere out there a corresponding person has actually died.

The flaw you make is in assuming that "space is infinite" and "There are an infinite number of planets/stars/galaxies".

Space =/= Stuff. Space is a multi-dimensional area, not 'stuff'.

 

[Deleted]

I like to think that there is a universe made of candy right outside the universe.

 

[Doctor_Insano]

considering that the universe compromises everything, whether this everything is matter or lack thereof, then it is probably infinite, although i would argue the shape of the universe. In a 3 dimensional environment: the easiest and laziest (requiring the least amount of energy) is a sphere (a 3 domensional circle, so my mypothesis is that the universe is a sphere, and if the matter in our universe is expanding in all directions, that would logically make it a sphere. This sphere has a point of origin, i.e. a center, so in an ever expanding, yet already infinite universe, there is an exact center, and if i could find said center: i would put a buoy there, that reade: center of the universe.
it's not mind blowing, ther idea that the universe, that by it's definition encompasses everything is limited in size, then what lies beyond it? emptiness? BAH more universe: empty space is still part of the universe =p some would say multiverse, which encompasses all universes, but now we are splitting atoms

 

[Tolerant Fanboy]

We can only see out to someteen billion light-years away, so it's hard to say for certain, especially if spatial dimensions we can't perceive genuinely exist. If that is the case, we could be but a grain of sand on an infinite beach...

That said, we know the universe began, and generally speaking, in order for something to be truly infinite, it can neither begin nor end.

 

[grimsprice]

Empty space is infinite (don't try to think why just know that you could walk forward for all eternity and never get to an end) but the universe as we know it is made up of stuff that is traveling outward and filling a portion of space.

Thank you, i think that makes maybe three of us on this thread who know what scientists actually think. Oh well.

I like when someone says " well since when we look out into space and we see black, so we must be seeing the end of it! Because its black!! so whats behind the blackness?"

lol. Sometimes i'm embarrassed to share 99% of my genetic coding with other humans.

 

[Callate]

I don't think anyone really knows. And I'm not inclined to accept pat explanations until a) we succeed in travelling outside our own solar system and b) physicists come up with a better explanation for things they don't understand than "dark matter".

 

[The Atomic Irishman]

To be honest, we may never know.

 

[ninja555]

Space is so large it might as well be infinite

 

[Acidwell]

Just going to check brb

 

[skywalkerlion]

I think so. I'd really like to know how one would get stopped at the end of the universe.

Like, would you hit an invisible wall, or would you die instantly?

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Infinate? No. Infinite? Nobody knows. What we do know is that it's tearing itself apart, and eventually things will be so stretched out that the atomic structure of existence itself will be torn apart.

 

[CobaltBomber]

Eventually the universe will end, one way or another. But then another will eventually take its place. Or maybe more. I think that's awesome.

 

[crabwaffles]

This topic is one big mindfuck.

But why do we care?

All the stuff is waaaaay over there, and everything that matters to me in my lifetime is down here. The inner workings of the universe is none of my business.

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

I believe the accepted theory is that the universe is ever expanding, and that eventualy it will been too spread out to support itself, and it will collapse under it's own gravitational pull, and revert to a small and compact space, which will then explode(big crunch and big bang, repsectively)