OT - Is the universe finite in size?

[Renegade 13]

Even if the universe is only 70 billion light years across, it will continue to expand. Approximately 66% of the universe is made up of the mysterious "dark energy", an anti-gravitational form of energy that is forcing the universe into a continual and accelerating expansion. When examining the spectral shifts in light from distant galaxies, astronomers find that nearly all are moving away from us at high speed, showing the expansion. Therefore, the universe really has no limits, as it will continually expand before we could hope to hit the edge.

[TerranC]

Originally posted by Renegade 13:
Approximately 66% of the universe is made up of the mysterious "dark energy",

95-98%.

[CW]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Boy, we're really, getting the easy questions this week: What's the meaning of life? Is space truly infinite? Just how bad was "Contact"?

quote:

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only about 70 billion light years across

only 70 billion light years? Is that all?

I have to say I'm not surprised- after all, if you believe in the big bang then a finite universe is kind of inevitable. I like the idea of it wrapping back round on itself, too. The way the combat area should in se4...

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If there was a big bang whose cigarette lighted the stuff up?

[dogscoff]

If there was a big bang whose cigarette lighted the stuff up?

Dave Lister, using jump leads from Starbug (according to the brummie BTL attendant in "Back to Reality". =-)

[Cyrien]

I have always found it funny that we as humans are constantly making these predictions that encompass everything despite the fact that we can't even manage to get off our own planet and visit the next closest planet. The best we have so far is visiting our own moon.

So we haven't left our planet we haven't explored our solar system we haven't checked out the galaxy, if you follow dark matter theory then the majority of everything out there we still know nothing about and yet we now know the size of the universe how old it is and when it was made?

Don't make me laugh.

Edit - Don't get me wrong. I am all for going out and exploring and finding new stuff and theorizing about it. But I don't think anyone should be taking this stuff about the UNIVERSE too seriously. Our knowledge base and point(s?) of observation are far too narrow and small to make anything even resembling an accurate guess.

[ October 10, 2003, 16:10: Message edited by: Cyrien ]

[PvK]

I'm with you, Cyrien.

PvK

[Alpha Kodiak]

Years ago I saw a show expounding the "Rubber Band Theory" of (I think) sub-atomic particles and their relationships to each other. I really don't remember too much about it, other than thinking, "You guys sure are making very certain statements about stuff you really don't know too much about." The theory might be true for all I know, though I haven't heard anything else about it. I just find it interesting that the guys on TV never say something like, "Well, we noticed that the particles seemed to act kind of like rubber bands, so we think that things might be this way...." Instead they say, "Having observed this phenomenon, we now believe that things behave in this manner...." They neglect first to mention how big a group "we" is, and second neglect to mention just how accurate their observations might be, or what other possibilities might explain their observaions. This is nothing against the actual scientists doing the work, just the guys who get on TV and try to look like they are sure of what is going on. In that particular case, I found it humorous to hear someone expounding on the fact that everything is really held together by rubber bands (my interpretation, not his ).