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space, the final frontier??
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| so, what comes after the universe? I know that we have our own solar system in the galaxy. and there are more galaxies throughout the universe. but what comes after the universe. |
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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by
on 2004-08-29 13:51:38 |
thats a philosophical question as much as it is a physics question. according to string theory, there are many dimensions that we have yet to understand, and there may be infinite parallel universes out there. although the concept of exploring them like in the TV show sliders is cockamamy. 
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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| There is also the theory that whenever there is a decission to be made, the universe splits into parallal universes each taking a different option. |
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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Maybe we just, go on... Like, maybe our galaxy, solar system, universe- whatever, contracts into whatever it was before (a tiny, compressed, dense piece of matter), then explodes again, and a completely different universe is formed, different in oractically every way to the previous laws of nature and physics in the previous universe. Who knows...we may all be intelligents bananas in a different universe....or even worse........ (Yeah, I'm a freak ;) ) |
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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Actually that goes to the theory of whether time is infinite or finite. It depends a lot on whether there is enough mass in the universe to pull everything back into a ball or if it will continue to expand. This is one of the reasons why dark matter has gathered so much intrest. It was discovered from galactic rotation as matter that we can't detect. Since we can't detect it, it's very hard to know how much is actually out there. We get the same problem with Oort Cloud Objects and KBOs. These are small but we think there are tons of them out there. (some where in the billions) This is also theorized as the origin of Comets. But I degress. Gravity is determened as the square of the distance. Since some objects (notably quasars) are moving away at near the speed of light, and the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light. We get a critical mass nessicary to overcome the retreat of the distant galexies and pull everything together. If the total mass of the universe, including all dark matter, is less then that critical mass, the universe will continue to expand, indicating that there was a defined start of time. If we are over that critical mass, theory says that it's possible for the "Big Bang" to occur each time the universe compresses, giving rise to the idea of infinite time of the universe. |
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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| I belive the universe is infinite because there is nothing to stop it from continue..ing |
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Re: space, the final frontier??
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Time doesn't exist. It is only used to calculated lifespan. The term "year" means nothing, 1 year is simply our planet revolving the sun once. A "second" doesn't exist, you cannot touch it, you cannot taste it, you cannot see it, it simply doesn't exist. For time to exist, would mean that there was less than nothing, before the universe was created.
Wise Man says: "Take a dog off its leash and it will wander."
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