/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.4302988]

Hey, /sci/

Does the universe extend infinitely? If i go in one directed for enough amount of time, will i eventually come to a place where there is no "space"?

[Anonymous No.4302990]

*Direction

[Anonymous No.4302998]

Pretty sure it doesn't extend infinitely. But you can never leave, sorry.

[Anonymous No.4303001]

the /sci/fans will probably vehemently insist it either does or doesn't. the correct answer is that this is one of the major unsolved questions of cosmology. the people in the field are currently totally on the fence about it.

[Anonymous No.4303005]

>>4302998
>dat image
>all of my why

seriously America what the fuck

[Anonymous No.4303006]

>Pretty sure it doesn't extend infinitely
So you could say I if one traveled long enough they would fall off the edge of the universe?

>But you can never leave, sorry.
Why is that?

[Anonymous No.4303008]

It is finite in volume, but expanding such that you could never reach the border.

[Anonymous No.4303009]

>>4302988
No and no. You cannot come to a place where there used to be no space, but by the time you get there it would have expanded. You can't go faster than the universe expansion.

[Anonymous No.4303014]

>>4303009
I mean you *can* come to a place where there used to be no space

[Anonymous No.4303019]

Wouldn't it be more interesting to ask whether the universe is cyclic?
If you infinitely follow a straight line, you'll end up where you started.

[Anonymous No.4303022]

>>4303006
The universe is everything by definition. If you "left" it you would be extending it just by being where you are.

[Anonymous No.4303031]

donut shaped universe, no exits

[Anonymous No.4303043]

You guys are fucking blowing my mind! I was pondering thoughts like these on Psilocybin mushrooms, and I was and since i'm ignorant of things of this nature I had to ask someone because it felt like i was being eaten by the fucking questions i couldn't make sense of.


>It is finite in volume, but expanding such that you could never reach the border.
>You can't go faster than the universe expansion.

>Wouldn't it be more interesting to ask whether the universe is cyclic?
>If you infinitely follow a straight line, you'll end up where you started.

Thanks guys

[Anonymous No.4303071]

>>4303022
>The universe is everything by definition. If you "left" it you would be extending it just by being where you are.

You just pretty much answered all other questions I had.

[Anonymous No.4303075]

>>4302988
Space is the void. It's the emptiness, It doesn't have a width, length or height. it was there before big bang and it will always be there. we define the universe and space by the matter that fills in it.

So no, you can't reach somewhere, where there is no space

[Anonymous No.4303087]

>>4303075
Oh i was under the impression that the big bang was the reason we had space if the universe was in it's most condensed form, that there would be no space outside of it

[Anonymous No.4303096]

As far as we can tell, space has no edges.

Now, what is still an open question is whether the topology of the universe is open or closed (which will determine whether the universe has infinite or finite volume). If it has a closed topology, you can keep going and then end up back where you started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_Universe#Spherical_universe

But almost certainly there is no "edge" to space. I don't think any of the viable models of the universe allow for that.

[Anonymous No.4303098]

>>4303087
if there would be no space outside of it, what would there be ?
hint : answer is space
yes, its the same space that our planets and stuff float right now.

[Anonymous No.4303106]

>>4303087
Yeah, the big bang was not an explosion of "stuff". It was the event where all space suddenly expanded.

As such (and according to what we see), there is no center to the universe.

[Anonymous No.4303117]

>>4303005
You'll love this.

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos

[Anonymous No.4303127]

>>4303098
>if there would be no space outside of it, what would there be ?
I thought that the universe was surrounded by "nothingness" but i'm thinking in human terms, so I really as far as my imagination went.

[Anonymous No.4303135]

>>4303127
nothingness = space

[Anonymous No.4303133]

We're talking about space, and the people in your picture take up a lot of space.

I get, OP.

[Anonymous No.4303159]

>>4303135
>>4303135
but if our universe has space, and surrounding it is space, then wouldn't that mean the universe is infinite?

[Anonymous No.4303167]

>>4303159
you're hopeless
have a nice day

[Anonymous No.4303173]

>>4303167
I just can't get my head wrapped around it sorry

[Anonymous No.4303191]

for fuck's sake, none of you have a fucking clue what you're talking about. none of you. why are you in sci if you don't know this basic shit?

just read a fucking cosmology book or watch a good documentary.

bullshit about 'nothingness containing nothingness' or whatever belongs in /lit/, it's not science you retards.

to answer all of the dumbfaggotry and epic failures of understanding:

in general relativity, space is a mathematical structure which is not passive.

space is not 'expanding into' anything, the expansion is a local effect of space itself. the big was not an explosion, it was a rapid stretching of space itself which happened at every point in the universe.

nobody currently knows what the topology of the universe is. it could be finite, like the surface of a sphere. it could be infinite. nobody knows yet.

there, thread finished.

[Anonymous No.4303202]

>>4303191
Holy shit, you're mad.

[Anonymous No.4303203]

>>4303191
0/10

[Anonymous No.4303205]

good luck defining these first:

universe
extend
infinite
direction
time
space

[Anonymous No.4303215]

>>4303191
>just read a fucking cosmology book or watch a good documentary.
Could you recommend a good documentary on this?

[Anonymous No.4303232]

>>4303205
0/∞

[Anonymous No.4303238]

[Anonymous No.4303237]

>>4303205
things like direction and time are defined ostensively.

oh wait, was that supposed to be impossible?

>>4303215
Jim Al-Khalili, 'Everything'.

[Anonymous No.4303263]

the universe has an edge at the end and if you go beyond that you will fall off the universe

[Anonymous No.4303273]

>>4303263
Yea, you'll fall straight into HELL

[Anonymous No.4303284]

>>4303273
It would suck so much if that was true. Boring

[Anonymous No.4303286]

>>4303273
please no cross board memes.

[Anonymous No.4303386]

The ancient atheists say you would end up where you started.