Question of the Day

[Tx_Diablous]

If all that is in the universe came form the big bang then what was in the space of the universe before the big bang and where did all of it come from?

Ok now my answer: The universe is now in its expansion stage. What is in the universe has always been in the universe. It will expand until all the positive energy is expended and then will contract in its negative phase. At the end of the contraction it will be time for another big Bang..All that is here has always been here and will always be here.

 

[Chris _Scott]

It has been recently proven that there will NOT be another big bang.

the red shift suggest that the universe is NOT slowing down, and will continue to expand and the universe will eventually die out and be dark and freezing after all the stars burn out.

Basically the only way to save the universe [if you would even call that] is if there was enough black energy to overpower the expansion of the universe, so that it will contract again and reach another big bang. We do not know enough about the nature of black energy to predict whether this will happen or not. So as of now, the Universe will just become a cold dark place.



If you want to get into the string theory's aspect of it though, the big bang occurs when parallel universes come into contact with one another, 'bouncing' off of each other and expelling large amounts of energy [which is the big bang obviously].

 

[crash549]

discovery channel FTW!:lol:

 

[Chris _Scott]

I was majoring in Physics and this would have been my senior year.. but I just recently switched to double majoring in Engineering. I decided it would be better for a job.

Kinda not surprising... considering I keep tearing my car completely apart.

I also wrote a 15 page paper and gave a 40 minute presentation on String Theory...I got to the pick the topic in Composition, I'm sure my teacher regretted that [she didn't understand a word of it]. Though she announced to the class I had the best paper, so I guess it worked out.

 

[Wynn]

Wow, it hurts my brain to try to think about that stuff. Sure, it's interesting, but I figure I won't be around when that stuff goes down anyway, so I guess what happens happens lol.

 

[kwikie]

Jesus anyone?:coolman:

 

[KazooGS-T]

I was majoring in Physics and this would have been my senior year.. but I just recently switched to double majoring in Engineering. I decided it would be better for a job.

Kinda not surprising... considering I keep tearing my car completely apart.

I also wrote a 15 page paper and gave a 40 minute presentation on String Theory...I got to the pick the topic in Composition, I'm sure my teacher regretted that [she didn't understand a word of it]. Though she announced to the class I had the best paper, so I guess it worked out.

I'm also a double major with engineering being one of those... It makes sure you never have a dull moment... Or a moment when you're not doing a decent amount of work. :kaboom:

 

[crash549]

i should have gone to college. too many big words.:sleeping:

 

[Chris _Scott]

I don't look it, but I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to things like that.

I've been fascinated with astronomy/physics ever since I was a child.

 

[James Snover]

Imagine Tx_Diablous's disappointment when I came to work Monday morning, and he had this idea all prepared, he had worked on it all weekend long ... and I told him it had been thought up already. 60-80 years ago, but I don't remember by who.

Jim Snover

If all that is in the universe came form the big bang then what was in the space of the universe before the big bang and where did all of it come from?

Ok now my answer: The universe is now in its expansion stage. What is in the universe has always been in the universe. It will expand until all the positive energy is expended and then will contract in its negative phase. At the end of the contraction it will be time for another big Bang..All that is here has always been here and will always be here.

 

[James Snover]

But here is an observation, and a question:

We look out and see the universe receding from us, the farther out, the faster it is expanding. We _think_, we're pretty sure, it is not going to stop. But the only thing we really know, is that billions of years ago things were receding. We do not know for certain what is going on out there right now. So we could be in the process of the next big collapse right now. Since the farthest reaches are fifteen billion light years away, if they are coming back at us, it will take fifteen billion years before we know it, assuming the collapse proceeds at or near the speed of light.* Now for the question:

If that were the case, what would be our first clue? My guess: those of us who wear dosimeter badges as part of our jobs, i.e., anybody and everybody in a radiology/radiation/nuclear power indisutries, will see an average increase on our dose reports for the quarter. It will be worldwide, by the same amount, and the dosage will have increased most during the end of that monitoring cycle. Any and all types of daily dosimter will record the increase.

Anybody else want to take a stab at this?

Jim Snover

*Which is another big assumption, because if, I think it was Alan Guth, is right, the early universe went through an inflationary period that far exceeded the speed of light. Who says if it collapses it won't undergo another super-luminal contraction phase?

 

[uh0h50]

* Now for the question:
*Which is another big assumption, because if, I think it was Alan Guth, is right, the early universe went through an inflationary period that far exceeded the speed of light. Who says if it collapses it won't undergo another super-luminal contraction phase?

Isn't faster than the speed of light impossible?

 

[CBrowning84]

Isn't faster than the speed of light impossible?

Who really know's what's possible or impossible? :shrug:;-)

 

[James Snover]

Not at all. Einstein's theory of Special Relativity says you cannot make anything that has mass accelerate to, or beyond, the speed of light.

It says nothing about riding along on space at speeds in excess of the speed of light.

As it turns out, the whole secret to a black hole is that gravity exceeds the speed of light, so any light falling in cannot ever get out again.

In other words, there is a limit to how fast you can push yourself, but there is no limit to how fast you can fall.

Jim Snover

Isn't faster than the speed of light impossible?

 

[DRTHV8R]

Not at all. Einstein's theory of Special Relativity says you cannot make anything that has mass accelerate to, or beyond, the speed of light.

It says nothing about riding along on space at speeds in excess of the speed of light.

As it turns out, the whole secret to a black hole is that gravity exceeds the speed of light, so any light falling in cannot ever get out again.

In other words, there is a limit to how fast you can push yourself, but there is no limit to how fast you can fall.

Jim Snover

isn't it said that if we were ever able to travel faster than the speed of light (i.e bending space) we can travel far enough where we would be able to see images of earth millions of years ago?

 

[James Snover]

Yep. We look out in space, and the farther out we look, the farther back in time we look. If you could instantaneously travel two-thousand light years away from earth, and had a good-enough telescope, you would see Earth as it was 2000 years ago.

If you can do that, and you have a good enough telescope, I'd really like to get the plans for those!

Jim Snover

isn't it said that if we were ever able to travel faster than the speed of light (i.e bending space) we can travel far enough where we would be able to see images of earth millions of years ago?

 

[Tractorman]

Dear Jim, please quote, THEN discuss. It's like reading Yoda or something.

 

[ESVEETEE]

Jim, is it not possible that they're mistaken on that the universe is expanding?

That instead, the universe is collapsing, but we're heading inward faster than what we perceive as traveling outward from us is?

Just wanted to see your thoughts on this.

 

[WP64]

...what was in the space of the universe before the big bang...

Your guess is as good as anyone elses, so here's mine

 

[James Snover]

Derek would be the guy to answer that question. The Standard Model, starting with the Big Bang, early inflation, etc. pretty well explains everything we see.

But it is not a consensus.There are competeing theories out there. Hoyle could not stand the idea of the Big Bang, and he named it the Big Bang to describe exactly how dumb he thought it was. He advanced the idea of "constant creation," saying the universe as it is could be explained by the spontaneous appearance of one atom of hydrogen per acre of space every 100 years. There are virtual particles that pop in and out of existence all the time, so the idea of an atom appearing from nowhere is not all that far-fetched.

There was also the idea of the cyclic universe. I cannot remember who advanced it, I've been trying all day. The dea is the universe is born in Big Bang, expands, evolves, and contracts again into an infinitely dense, infinitely small particle, waiting to get started again.

In the standard model, there is still a pretty good debate on what role was played by gravity and what role was played by electromagnetism, in the formation and appearance of the universe as we see it today. I can't prove it, but I think the gravity-trumps-all crowd has got it right. Though electromagnetic currents cannot be ignored, and play a large role in some cases, like a dwarf star siphoning off material from a nearby star.

So yeah, the red shift could be something else. We think it is an indication of expansion, and it fits what we see pretty well. But then, we think the universe is only fifteen billion years old, except some stars seem to be considerably older ... so there is still room for something else to explain it all.

Jim Snover

Jim, is it not possible that they're mistaken on that the universe is expanding?

That instead, the universe is collapsing, but we're heading inward faster than what we perceive as traveling outward from us is?

Just wanted to see your thoughts on this.