davef

It seems pretty absurd, a vehicle sitting out there beyond the edge of the universe in nothing. But is there anything resisting the universes' expansion? What would prevent this very fast and durable imaginary craft from entering pre-existence conditions? If it is out there then it could examine nothing. If it could launch a thermometer on a tether from the outside of the craft, couldn't it measure the temperature of nothing? The vehicle itself is a measuring device at least as far as establishing minimum dimensions. It would be worth checking out in that even though there is nothing there-that is where something comes from (they say.) I see your point. I guess I'm just implying that a physicall edge to reality, a line between something and nothing, is bothersome and playing around with it. I also think that the idea of there being a starting point timewise to the universe is kind of weak. Science has been doing big metaphorical gorrilla dunks all over religion on a lot of things but it doesn't seem like anyone can even buy a layup as far as definitely explaining how there is all this stuff around. Just BAM there it is, it's fast and getting faster.

I might not be up on the latest but it seems like many people believe that the universe,or not nothing, starts at a point in what is now time. I think something like 15,000,000,000 years ago? And I think people believe that it started at a certain point in what is now space. So by that model, if you had a vehicle that could travel fast enough, say 100,000,000,000 times the speed of light or more, couldn't you travel past the outer edge of something, the universe, and into nothing. You would be in whatever existed before something. It seems like you would be in endless nothing except you and your vehicle.

If there is something now, then doesn't that leave you with one of two possibilities? 1. There was always something or 2. something can come from nothing

It was a good little show. I just watched it specifically to see what he thought about there being nothing and then a universe. That seems like a tough one to me. I think he implied that to say god created the universe is the same as early peoples saying that an eclipse was a coyote eating the sun (or something like that.) That seems prety solid. But, it seems like the big bang is extremely different from sub-atomic particles popping in and out of existence in terms of what happens after they pop into existence and in terms of number of occurences. I guess he is emphasizing that there is a passable "membrane" between existence and nonexistence. And I guess there are rules as to what can pass between this "membrane." Universes via a big bang can and sub-atomic particles can but not much else? Also, if there is only one big bang at at time, that's a lucky break.

I watched Hawkings 'Did God Create The Universe' on TV the other day. I wanted to rewatch before asking someone but it is no longer avaliable. He said that since very small sub-atomic particles popped in and out of existence, then the universe could pop into existence. It seemed like a stretch.

Thanks for the reply birdo. I have been pressed for time lately and I haven't been able to devote any time to these interesting subjects. Edit: Oh I get it. I get an e-mail whenever someone adds to the thread; whether it is a reply to my post or not. Duh.

I thought of a theory once, but I haven't had time to check it out. Maybe we have only been sleeping all night for a relatively short time. A lady told me one time that she hurt her toes when she fell because they curled inside her shoes, implying that her automatic reflexes had her trying to grasp with her feet. Maybe something in our nature has us wanting to get up every two hours but it cant overide our current paterns of sleep and wake. So instead we create these little fake realities as a solution. edit: sorry, I just went back and read some other posts and see this is similiar to them.

Thanks for the link senexa and thanks to EVERYONE for their valued thoughts. Elegant Universe is on my list as are the textbooks.

Hello forum; I am interested in learning more about the universe and science in general on my own time. I read A Brief History Of Time recently and I couldn't grasp for example the importance of spin particles. I went only as far as highschool physics. I am thinking maybe low level college texts. Are there any books you can recomend? Thank you.

I know that sounds stupid and doesn't fit the current model. I was going to go somewhere with it but now I don't want to.

Could all of those galaxies be in the same very thick disk in rotation around a universal center?

"All atoms eventually decay, though the process could take an exponential number of years. " When atoms decay, what does that mean exactly. Does it mean that the matter they have becomes energy and the energy that held the thing together is released ad becomes free energy? Does that make sense?