Broad Thinking: The Universe

[Raiser]

I've always been the type of person who thinks about random things to a great extent.
But one topic in particular is the universe; I'm constantly thinking up questions for myself.

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'?
If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen?
Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living? Have any of them seen us?
Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole?

I mean, there's just so much that we don't know about.
But ultimately- will we ever be able to answer our own questions?

Any responses or thoughts you guys wants to share?

 

[Deleted member 473940]

I also think about all that. But you know, I feel that our knowledge of Science, technology etc etc is not developed well enough to know anything for sure.

For example, the talks about Black hole, how do we know it for sure how many light years it was away bla bla..
10 Years from now, someone will pop up with a different theory and different image proving this wrong.

How would we really know things for sure unless someone experienced it?

All just theories..

 

[Raiser]

I also think about all that. But you know, I feel that our knowledge of Science, technology etc etc is not developed well enough to know anything for sure.

For example, the talks about Black hole, how do we know it for sure how many light years it was away bla bla..
10 Years from now, someone will pop up with a different theory and different image proving this wrong.

How would we really know things for sure unless someone experienced it?

All just theories..

Most definitely.

But what do you think?

 

[Pyrmon]

I've always been the type of person who thinks about random things to a great extent.
But one topic in particular is the universe; I'm constantly thinking up questions for myself.

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'? The Universe is finite, but has no "edge".
If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen?You will simply end back were you started, a bit like how if you walk around the Earth, trying to find it's edge, you will end up at the start point.
Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living? Have any of them seen us?There probably are other species of sentient beings somewhere in the Universe. And they probably don't have the same metabolism as Earth creatures.
Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole?At the other opening in the Wormhole. Which could be Light-years away.

I mean, there's just so much that we don't know about.
But ultimately- will we ever be able to answer our own questions? As theoretical physics develops, and theories such as M theory sprout, we will eventually come to a somewhat clear understanding of the nature of our Universe and of the nature of the other Universes(according to string theory, there are parallel Universes).

Any responses or thoughts you guys wants to share?

 

[LunaWofl]

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'?
Currently can be thought of as infinite, its a nice positive outlook even if it turns out to be incorrect, life would be kinda depressing if we thought otherwise *coughflatworldcough*. I like to think of it as one of the optimistic viewpoints of scientific theory.

If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen?
Yeah, we'd be displaced X (insert measure of quantity for how far you traveled) in the direction your traveling through space in regards to your original position.

Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living?
I dont see why this wouldn't be plausible. As for your example, yes, thats also plausible, a little complex to explain, but plausible.

Have any of them seen us?
If they have, them not contacting us is proof that they are intelligent.

Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole?
Id end up in alot of pain

;

 

[Zorua]

Yeah, stuff like that happens to me as well. I have a few questions that probably will never be answered in my life time. Here:

1) What was there before the universe was created?
2) How was the first particle of matter created?

 

[FAST6191]

"If you started travelling"
As a twist on heat death of the universe you probably would not get far- each point in the universe is expanding it eventually could be said (this assuming no wormhorms or viable FTL) that two points are effectively travelling faster than the speed of light thus limiting your range.
Even if you managed to to get there though it would probably get interesting, I do not know enough to speculate here though (obviously entropy would come into play, I am not sure about the distant effects of gravity and/or "dark" matter/fluid/energy/flow or indeed lack thereof not to mention changes in fundamental forces.

"they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such"
I can see it being different (astrobiology is not something I am overly familiar with) but food chain as a function of entropy tends to say a collection of energy is a better prospect than a diffuse one (whether the would be life form can stave this off by some other means is a different matter).
What I like to think of is something like a diffuse/replicator style life form- effectively a large network rather than a single being if only because it makes a bit more sense in my head as a viable means of exploration.
I fail to see how life (even information at some level appears to require energy) could exist without at least being an expression of energy though (dormant life at best).

"where you would end up [going through a wormhole]"- not when as well?

"will we ever"- probably not as is but whatever we create/become/transform into might (is humanity a failed branch of evolution) so the question becomes will it still be us.

My favourite video to share at this point http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Gk_Ddhr0M

Edit
@Zorua perhaps a look at the big bang, big crunch cycle (well there are several models including entirely different but as a broad heading/starting point that works).

 

[_Chaz_]

I've always been the type of person who thinks about random things to a great extent.
But one topic in particular is the universe; I'm constantly thinking up questions for myself.

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'? If you believe that the Universe is forever expanding, than yes, there is an edge. However, this edge is never in the same spot and continues to move outward as the Universe grows.
If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen? I don't know if anything would change, but I think it'd depend on how fast you were going. Chances are, you'd collide with something. You'd only reach the edge if you could travel faster than the expansion rate of the Universe, which is believed to be close to the speed of light.
Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living? Have any of them seen us? Naturally, there are other life-forms out there. It is highly unlikely that they would be similar to us in any way, but it is possible. I doubt that they've seen us, and if they have they certainly haven't shown interest.
Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole? I've always wondered this. I would love to see if it lead into another universe parallel to this one. If that is the case, I wonder if it'd be possible to control such a thing.

I mean, there's just so much that we don't know about.
But ultimately- will we ever be able to answer our own questions?

Any responses or thoughts you guys wants to share?

 

[Shockwind]

I've always been the type of person who thinks about random things to a great extent.
But one topic in particular is the universe; I'm constantly thinking up questions for myself.

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'? The Universe is expanding, but it has no 'edge'.
If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen? Just like pyrmon24 said, you will just end back on where you started, because the Universe is similar to Earth, it has no 'edge'.
Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living? Have any of them seen us? Hmm... Probably, but maybe this kind of creatures are in the other galaxies instead of Milky Way.
Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole? I watched National Geographic Channel that time that when you go inside the 'wormhole', you'll go to the other dimension. But I don't think it's true and I don't think that wormholes even exist at all.

Some astronomers said that a 'wormhole' is just very near to our Earth.

I mean, there's just so much that we don't know about.
But ultimately- will we ever be able to answer our own questions? Probably, if we discovered the mystery of our own questions. Or like, we know the answer to our own questions after some years, because people today are very smart and almost knows everything, so I think it's a yes.

Any responses or thoughts you guys wants to share? Well... I shared mine already. Wow this like KyT.

 

[KingdomBlade]

I've always been the type of person who thinks about random things to a great extent.
But one topic in particular is the universe; I'm constantly thinking up questions for myself.

How big is the universe? Is their an end or 'edge'? It's expanding and there's no edge.
If you were to keep traveling in one direction through space, would anything change / happen? You would go back to the other end of the Universe.
Are there life forms with similar or even completely different (as in, for example, they don't need to prey on others or even need to eat and such) ways of living? Have any of them seen us? I believe there are. The earth can't possibly be the only planet in the Universe with such livable conditions.
Ever wondered where you would end up if you actually survived a trip through a wormhole? Perhaps I'd end up in one of these.
1. A different time within that universe.
2. A different place within that universe.
3. A different place and time within that universe.
4. A parallel universe.

I mean, there's just so much that we don't know about.
But ultimately- will we ever be able to answer our own questions? Maybe. Depending on the advancements science could have in the future.

Any responses or thoughts you guys wants to share?
I've always thought that the Universe was much like a Balloon. It continues to grow and expand, without an edge, and just continues on. Then, in the end, it pops, which symbolizes the big crunch in the end.

 

[Raiser]

They're just rhetorical questions guys.

Things to get you thinkin', you know?
But thanks for the input!

Do we actually know that the universe "has no edge"? If so, how (do we know)?
Solely through theories?

And what I mean about the other life thing- of course there will be other life besides us. What I mean is how different they could possibly live, or maybe, how similar to us.

It's just... the whole "time and space" thing baffles me. Kinda makes me sad that I won't be around if and when we ever experience it all first-hand.

 

[FAST6191]

I know I already went but

"Solely through theories?"
Be awfully careful throwing words around like that- theories tend to have a bit of backing and a few experiments to match. I agree theoretical physics is a bit of an odd place to be these days but there are still observations and experiments that have been made/done. A hypothesis is what you seem to be heading towards implying.

As for edge I am still sticking with expansion causing an effective edge.

How different- that is certainly a question to ponder. I think there is an increasing idea of how life on earth works (see artificial creation of a bacteria along with a lot of other biology), came to be (see evolution) and how it started off (not quite as much but those in early earth simulation are doing very interesting things as are those playing with RNA) but what else could also work given the conditions is a huge question with not all that much being answered yet (silicon is usually dismissed owing to weak bond strength and there was that arsenic bacteria but in terms of possibilities that was a minor substitution) and that is what I sense you are heading towards.

 

[nryn99]

I think the universe is part of something bigger. Like the Galaxies are something like red blood cells to humans.

Since there are some things smaller than us, isn't it possible that we are also some sort of bacteria in something bigger?

 

[Clydefrosch]

as far as metabolisms go, we've recently discovered some kind of microscopic creature that uses arsenic material in its metabolism... something that was thought to kill everything on earth so far, but those little thingies somehow survive it while having that stuff pass though their bodies.

and i think that just some time ago, they found microbacteria remains from outside of this planet as well?

yeah, im pretty positive theres other forms of life somewhere, maybe its already at the point of there have been other forms of life, but theyre gone already.

but im also more than sure, that theres lifeforms will never come into contact with us... as travel beween planets and galaxies is still rather impossible for us, and communication by radio transmission will never work out as well (since it might take as much as 100 years beween our signal ariving somewhere and theirs comming back to us and so on)

 

[Tokyo Jihen]

I think about the same things as you, Raiser. I wish I could live long enough to actually be able to travel the universe.

Btw, I found this cool thingy that shows you like the scale of the universe. Sorta. Clicky here.

 

[Uncle FEFL]

I also think about all that. But you know, I feel that our knowledge of Science, technology etc etc is not developed well enough to know anything for sure.

For example, the talks about Black hole, how do we know it for sure how many light years it was away bla bla..
10 Years from now, someone will pop up with a different theory and different image proving this wrong.

How would we really know things for sure unless someone experienced it?

All just theories..

Er...not really. Relatively speaking, the confidence in knowing distances is pretty high.

Personally, I wish I was born in a different time, a time where space travel is a known world reality. Or, I'd like to live long enough to live Zubrin's dream, to travel to Mars.

 

[Sterling]

I think the Universe is infinite. That it does and doesn't end. The edge is where the stars end, and pure darkness becomes the norm. When you approach the end, there is no more light in front of you.

 

[Raiser]

I just keep thinking of how vast the Universe is. All the galaxies in the world, and how there are probably countless numbers of civilizations with our dilemma (unable to conveniently travel through space).

Who knows? Cybertron might be real.

But seriously- how much do we (mankind) know about the Universe so far? In terms of other galaxies or distances?

 

[godreborn]

I don't claim to be an expert, but I am currently taking an astronomy class. from what I understand, distances to other galaxies is actually determined based on light. we choose the brightest object in a galaxy and determine the distance based on the inverse light to distance ratio.

also, most of the mass of a galaxy is near the nucleus which is similar to how our solar system has most of the mass (99 percent I believe) at and near the sun. using this information, u can determine ur place in the galaxy. I think our solar system is at the outer edge of our galaxy. I believe there r giant black patches of no stars in between galaxies btw.

there r conflicting theories on the size of the universe: some say it's infinite, others finite. however, the most likely theory, according to astronomers, is that the universe is expanding due to an explosion (big bang) that happened giga-years ago. of course, an interesting thing to know is that the stars that u see at night r actually light from the past. in fact, it takes the sun's light eight minutes to reach earth. so, if u look at the sun, ur actually seeing the sun from eight minutes ago. as for the stars, u could be seeing the light from millions of years ago.

 

[Sop]

I try not to think about stuff like that.. Messes up my mind