Ive spent far too much time in the company of The Discovery Channel.

It has promted me to raise the following question,

Space,how big is it and what is it ?

Originally posted by tango2


Space,how big is it ?


its pretty big.

Originally posted by mr craig
its pretty big.

Thought it was

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Brtain-stretching

Cosy:P

Aparently some say Space goes on forever.
Then there is a theory that space is actually shaped like a very large bubble.
This next bit is what made my mind boggle, is a theory I heard was if you could create a telescope powerfull enough; when you were in space and looked through it... you could see the back of your own head.

How the hell does that work then? If I find the theories I'll post links to em, but it certainly is a big subject.

When I was a kid (like about 9-10 ish) I once though (cos I was that nerdy kid who was into space and aliens etc) what if space and everything around us is actually a cell.
And we are in fact inside a cell of a very large (by our standards) creature just floating around it's body... oblivious.

Our time in comparission is moving much much faster than the time (life wise) of the creature. I know it sounds obsurd but still you never know eh.

Either way... I'll never solve that question... and it wont in my life time I dont think (if ever).

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Aparently some say Space goes on forever.
Then there is a theory that space is actually shaped like a very large bubble.
This next bit is what made my mind boggle, is a theory I heard was if you could create a telescope powerfull enough; when you were in space and looked through it... you could see the back of your own head.

How the hell does that work then? If I find the theories I'll post links to em, but it certainly is a big subject.

When I was a kid (like about 9-10 ish) I once though (cos I was that nerdy kid who was into space and aliens etc) what if space and everything around us is actually a cell.
And we are in fact inside a cell of a very large (by our standards) creature just floating around it's body... oblivious.

Our time in comparission is moving much much faster than the time (life wise) of the creature. I know it sounds obsurd but still you never know eh.

Either way... I'll never solve that question... and it wont in my life time I dont think (if ever).

wow,,,I think I need a lay down now

LOL.... I know... how out there is that theory. :D

Hence I'm a Bouncer rather than a scientist!:thumbsup:

Does anyone support the 'Giant's toenail theory'?

I did have my reservations, but I am beginning to come round to it.

For those not in the know as regards the theory it goes something like this:

The stars/planets etc are in fact molecules that make up the toenail of a giant. Everything on these molecules are the things that make up molecules like atoms and other small stuff. We are just electrical charges and other stuff on those lines.

But here is where the theory gets alittle more complicated. Everyone on this planet is giant and there are loads of other universes on each and every one of our toenails.

And it's not just toenails, you understand, every part of our bodies are effected.

It baffled me at first but once you get your head around it, it's quite simple and easy to relate to.

That's a nice theory DaBouncer ... and how about if in turn ... that creature (that we call the universe) is just inside a cell of another enormously large creature ... ad infinitum.

And you could look in the other direction ... instead of through the telescope ... look through the microscope.

Is scale infinate in both directions !?

I am open to the large toenail therory,but the shear scale of the vastness is just overpowering.
Is there a point where it must end,or does it because at some point the beast in which we all live is going to be a tad on the large side.


The Telescope therory from DB is truely interesting,I must try it later (controled conditions of course) once I get the wife to agree to it,,,lol

This all reminds me of the closing sequence in Men In Black where they are rolling the marbles with galaxies in ...

Hubble space telescope has recently dated the universe [13 billion years] and has shown that there is some weird force out there making it expand at an ever increasing rate... quite what it is expanding towards is mind boggling.

Pity that Hubble is being put on the side lines for repairs by NASA wanting to go to Mars; hope that the ESA manage to get the planned replacement for Hubble. There are many things out there that we dont yet know or understand; some we may be better off not knowing about perhaps...

It just shows how little we actually know.

I always try to think of it like this: there has to be an end to the universe somewhere. No matter how far away that is is irrelevant, but by the very nature of the laws of science, there just has to be an end somewhere, of that there can be no doubt.

Right.

But if the end is like say.... a ceiling or a brick wall, then there has to be something beyond that and so on.

So there can never be and end!

But there has to be!

But there can't be!

Argh!!!!!

If you think that is confusing (the whole space having no end thing) you should try black holes, now there is an enigma.

If you were sucked in past the event horizon of a black hole, and supposing you could actually survive there and not be squashed to the size of an atom (probably less!) then there is no way you can ever escape, even if you reached the event horizon again, there is no physical way you can cross over it again.

From inside the black hole you would not see the event horizon, you perceptions and the way you move would curve round the edge of the horizon and then eventually lead you back in the centre of the black hole!

How the hell does that work? you would turn round without even knowing you's turned round, and yet you haven't turned round either, technically.

Still, it would never happen, anything in a black hole is torn apart and slammed together so fast and so small that you'd cease to exist in microseconds.

Wilf

This guy think's it's possible.

I'm a mentalist and probably have no friends (http://www.johntitor.com)

I dont know,But you wouldn`t want it on your nose as a wart

why oh why do you have to post something like this when i'm pi**ed. Now i have to think about it, which in turn means I have to type about it.
infinity, is one thing that the human mind cannot comprehend. So the idea of something not ending (like the universe), is impossible for us to understand, but that does not mean it's not possible.
What's crazier, is the fact that it's been proven, that not only speed, but also gravity slows time down. ie. there are frequent test flights between london and washington, that carry atomic clocks. It has been shown that the faster the aircraft travels, the slower time passes (all be it a tiny difference). Time is relative (so some fuzzy headed scientist once said). It is also true of gravity, the greater the force of gravity the slower time passes. It's all just nuts. To be fair it's nothing that we'll ever understand in our life time, so lets just ignore it all, and crack on with our lives.

Originally posted by DaBouncer

This next bit is what made my mind boggle, is a theory I heard was if you could create a telescope powerfull enough; when you were in space and looked through it... you could see the back of your own head.

How the hell does that work then? If I find the theories I'll post links to em, but it certainly is a big subject.

Weird, I'd not heard of this before! Are you serious?! That's completely confused me. I always thought space was infinite, but my mind boggles when I try to understand that concept as well! It certainly makes me feel that the human race (plus all our other plants and animals) on planet earth is just a tiny little blip in the Universe. But then in terms of the life time of our planet, humans are just a blip anyway! Blimey this is getting deep!

I watch too much of the Discovery and Discovery Science channels too :) .

The universe is supposedly exapnding all the time.. But what is it expanding into?

Yes, I see what you mean. It must be expanding into itself if the universe is defined as everything that exists, or indeed doesn't exist.

I thought about this last night and the only thing I can come up with is that nothing actually exists and this whole thing is just a dream that isn't actually happening.

Originally posted by tango2
Ive spent far too much time in the company of The Discovery Channel.

It has promted me to raise the following question,

Space,how big is it and what is it ?

What is it? who or what put it there? what is it for? we don't need it, how big is it? it goes on for ever! eternity!

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
Yes, I see what you mean. It must be expanding into itself if the universe is defined as everything that exists, or indeed doesn't exist.

I thought about this last night and the only thing I can come up with is that nothing actually exists and this whole thing is just a dream that isn't actually happening.

Do regular dreams 'happen' !?

Is conciousness (awareness) and physical matter actually the same thing !?

How about if each 'black hole' in turn creates a 'big bang' statring a new universe !? ... are we living in one instance of a multi-universe reality !?

Where is the dividing line between ... on one hand ... what is 'out there' / physical reality ... and on the other ... your perception of what is 'out there' !? ... and is there a difference !? ... how would you know !?

My brain hurts.

Just as mindboggling as the size of the universe is the question of what happened to start it all off. I was reading some science boffin's website about this subject, and there was some fascinating stuff on there. Apparently all the matter in the universe at the point of the big bang was infinitely hot and infinitely dense (density being important as time slows around very dense objects), and that things such as time and the laws of physics didn't apply at that instant. Freaky stuff!

Here's a little theory for you: time is only a process of movement. If everything is completely static, or if there is nothing in the universe, is there no time? In considering the nature of the universe, is it better to discard the concept of time, and think only in terms of movement?

Just something to make your head ache :(

Apparently, recently the clever people of the world, worked out that the big bang wasn't in fact a bang, just a quite humming sound. Just thought i'd share that with you

I thought space was doughnut shaped.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Doughnuts.

Nomme

Originally posted by Funky Dave
Just as mindboggling as the size of the universe is the question of what happened to start it all off. I was reading some science boffin's website about this subject, and there was some fascinating stuff on there. Apparently all the matter in the universe at the point of the big bang was infinitely hot and infinitely dense (density being important as time slows around very dense objects), and that things such as time and the laws of physics didn't apply at that instant. Freaky stuff!

Here's a little theory for you: time is only a process of movement. If everything is completely static, or if there is nothing in the universe, is there no time? In considering the nature of the universe, is it better to discard the concept of time, and think only in terms of movement?

Just something to make your head ache :(

yeah but i sort of dont agree with that because even if we all stopped moving and the earth stopped spinning on its axisi think time would still be happening because it wouldnt stop the process of ageing...

You see, space has to exist so that there is somewhere to put all the lumps and things like planets and stars. And even if there were no planets and stars, space would still be there.

Even if it were classed as 'nothingness', it would still be there even though there would be no evidence of it.

It's like if I said to you: "How many oranges are on that table?" and you said, "none."

The fact there are no oranges on the table proves that their
non-existance is an actual state of not being and so the oranges not being there, is a very real thing in itself.

What I'm trying to say is that a table with no oranges on it is completely different to an identical table with no apples on it.

So empty space with no planets or stars in it is completely different to empty space.

Does the same apply to a table of plums and a table with no plums ?

Plums, tins of beans, mobile phones......it's all the same. Frightening isn't it.