The Universe Will Expand Forever

[Warik]

For those interested:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030212.html

Pretty cool stuff. Only 4% of the universe consists of good ol' atoms wheras 96% of it consists of dark matter/energy... and it will continue to expand forever.

Now if only we could get off of this goddamn rock and take a little look-see.

 

[naturally anabolic]

care to give me a quick rundown on this dark matter/energy stuff?

 

[Warik]

Actually I was hoping that Mr. Fonz could step in and give us a crash couse - as my overpriced college education never even mentioned the terms "dark matter" and "dark energy" even though I've been through two astronomy courses and labs.

-Warik

 

[Warik]

I just released some dark matter in the men's room.

Was it solid or liquid?

I released some gaseous dark matter in my web design class earlier today.

Though I think it was dark anti-matter because there was a violent reaction when it came in contact with matter (other students).

-Warik

 

[WODIN]

So if the universe is expanding then what is it expanding into or against and what is "outside" the universe?

 

[Norman Bates]

Neutrinos are a by-product of nuclear reactions.
They can hardly be detected because they almost never interact with matter.

Scientists were able to determine that stars move in a way they should not. So they coined the term dark matter as explanation for the gravity that could not be explained by the observable matter.

Dark matter is supposed to be neutrinos mostly.


And that´s really a shame, i always hoped the whole universe would collapse into a big black hole in the end. Dooh.

 

[Warik]

WODIN, supposedly it's not expanding "into" anything because it "is" everything. The very fabric of space and time is getting larger.

That part doesn't make much sense to me, though. When you inflate a balloon, it continues to get larger until it's so big that it hits the walls of your room, then it can't go anymore... unless you expand the room, which keeps getting bigger till it's as big as the house... unless you expand that till it's as big as the world... etc... etc... etc... and eventually you reach the point where you can expand the universe until it reaches the walls of whatever is beyond it.

And stuff.

-Warik

 

[naturally anabolic]

it is because u are trying to take something much larger then those examples u have made and tried to rationalize it...

 

[Fonz]

Actually I was hoping that Mr. Fonz could step in and give us a crash couse - as my overpriced college education never even mentioned the terms "dark matter" and "dark energy" even though I've been through two astronomy courses and labs.

-Warik

Damn.

Then that means the eventual heat death of the universe, if the universe keeps on expanding and expanding.

Fonz

 

[MortyJackson]

In reality they have no proof that this is true. Theories like this come and go. It doesnt really matter to me as ill be long dead before i have to worry about this stuff.

 

[Optimus B]

i shudder to think of the kinds of crazy theories and science that will be occurring in 1000 or 10000 years (if mankind doesn't extinguish itself first). just think of the rapid progress of the last 500 years or even the last 50 years. science of the future (ie 1000 or 10000 years from now) will make things today look like childs play. too bad we'll all be dead.

 

[Spruceman]

But our universe may merely be one of many black holes [singularity] in some macro universe. According to some, the universe has enough mass within its estimated size to have enough gravity to have an "escape volocity" greater than the speed of light. Or maybe our known four dimensions is merely one of an infinite number of points along a line within an unknown, undetectable five-dimension universe, which in turn is a point along a line in a six-dimention universe, etc. etc.

 

[WarriorPL]

I read that article in the New York Times this morning. They even showed a picture of the entire universe... shaped like an egg sideways. They also said that it is flat, meaning the top and bottoms are parrallel and will never meet. They also said that its 13.5 billions years old, meaning they were off by a shit load before. Very cool read.

 

[Burning_Inside]

In reality they have no proof that this is true. Theories like this come and go. It doesnt really matter to me as ill be long dead before i have to worry about this stuff.

Did you read the page?

 

[MassiveGunz]

The universe is like my fuckin gunz then bro!!!!!

:LOLOOLOOOLO:

 

[MortyJackson]

Did you read the page?

Yes, why do you ask? They dont know this for sure and the chances are that they are wrong.

 

[Nathan]

Being in astrophysics, I'd like to thank you all for thinking of me when this question was posed. You can all go fuck yourselves. Dark energy and dark matter are not the same thing for the record.

 

[JohnyJuice]

The universe is like my fuckin gunz then bro!!!!!

:LOLOOLOOOLO:

lol.. Your Gunz are ever expanding.

 

[danielson]

whatever happened to the big crunch? i take it physicists could account for the ctual lack of matter compared to the calculated amount

 

[Warik]

Being in astrophysics, I'd like to thank you all for thinking of me when this question was posed. You can all go fuck yourselves. Dark energy and dark matter are not the same thing for the record.

No clue you were in astrophysics chief. Would love to hear your input.

And I know dark energy != dark matter. But: "96% is composed of dark energy/matter" was faster than saying: "73% is dark energy and 23% is dark matter" since I was in a hurry.

-Warik

 

[Nathan]

No clue you were in astrophysics chief. Would love to hear your input.

And I know dark energy != dark matter. But: "96% is composed of dark energy/matter" was faster than saying: "73% is dark energy and 23% is dark matter" since I was in a hurry.

-Warik

Well, as far as I know (and I can't be bothered to read that article), dark matter is all the matter in the universe we cannot observe. So that excludes baryons, leptons, hadrons, etc. It is stuff like black holes really that are only observable indirectly like via gravitational lensing for instance. As for dark energy no one really konws what the fuck is going on there. Theoretically, matter and energy are essentially equivalent in a sense, but one should not think of it like that in this case. Not sure what else to say really. Though I didn't read that article, I suspect the whole thing is based on assuming a certain theoretical model for the universe, so that the indefinite expansion of the universe is still really only theory and will remain so for quite some time.

 

[Lao Tzu]

Does anyone know if time & space are the same thing (i assume they are due to the fact that the faster you travel in space, the slower time becomes). and time is just the amount of time between space, and space is necessary for time (i guess)

anyway, my point is is the universe couched in a time free/space free zone the same way Nathan's mom is couched in blubber? does it surround everything, making time & space rather than the rule for existence, just an attribute of this existence?

 

[MortyJackson]

Does anyone know if time & space are the same thing (i assume they are due to the fact that the faster you travel in space, the slower time becomes). and time is just the amount of time between space, and space is necessary for time (i guess)

anyway, my point is is the universe couched in a time free/space free zone the same way Nathan's mom is couched in blubber? does it surround everything, making time & space rather than the rule for existence, just an attribute of this existence?

blah?

 

[Fonz]

Does anyone know if time & space are the same thing (i assume they are due to the fact that the faster you travel in space, the slower time becomes). and time is just the amount of time between space, and space is necessary for time (i guess)

anyway, my point is is the universe couched in a time free/space free zone the same way Nathan's mom is couched in blubber? does it surround everything, making time & space rather than the rule for existence, just an attribute of this existence?

LOL

Super-string theory is probably the best plausible theory for Space-time we have going at the moment.

Its too complicated to explain here though in detail.

Nathan has probably studied it in detail.

Fonz

 

[spentagn]

I read that article in the New York Times this morning. They even showed a picture of the entire universe... shaped like an egg sideways. They also said that it is flat, meaning the top and bottoms are parrallel and will never meet. They also said that its 13.5 billions years old, meaning they were off by a shit load before. Very cool read.

There are 3 different "shapes" to the universe that are debated. Flat, parabollic, and a saddle shape, I believe. If they reported the article as fact as opposed to theoretical, the Times showed a pathetic disregard for integrity. Sur-fucking-prise.

 

[manny78]

and eventually you reach the point where you can expand the universe until it reaches the walls of whatever is beyond it.

and what is beyonf that ? If there's something beyond that then the universe is not expanding, just one part of it into another one. Like your example with the balloon. I always thought the universe was endless. What happens if you reach the limit ? is there a big wall ? A border ? I hope therE's a duty-free shop too.