Raw Kuts

No, this has nothing to do with relationships, friends, or anything. This is about space, and the general understanding of what's happening with it.

So I was watching Stephen Hawking's Universe , and it was talking about the ultimate fate of the universe. Weather there was enough matter in the universe to "pull" it back and crunch everything together or if there wasn't it would continue to expand forever. This was made in 1997 and I seemed to remember an article that I read about a year ago that talked about evidence the idea that the universe is just going to expand forever. I didn't hear it on the news, or my local public radio station, I saw it on a forum like this one made possible by viewers like you. Although I would have probably seen it in the news if I had not been 13 in 1998. So when I looked it up just now I was suprised to see that the date of finding was 1998.

So I start to look for more information about it, and there is quite a lot. So I got to thinking that if I got the information 4 years late, how long does it take for everyone to get it? As far as I read, it it pretty much "accepted" in the cosmology community (not that I'm a part of it, but any pages I saw that argued for a Big Crunch doesn't really give the arguments, it just says the arguments are there, so maybe it isn't accepted.

But what about everyone else. What happened to the days of Fred Hoyle coming on the radio and disputing the Big Bang with the public. I don't know about the timelines of these debates, maybe it takes decades and I'm being impatient. But did you know about this before this post? If you knew about it, did it feel like it was pretty conclusive, or just something to add a bit of fuel to the hypothesis? Am I wrong to say that it is generaly accepted (nothing will ever be completely accepted) in the cosmology community, and if it is how does it get spread to the populace? Does it have to get into textbooks and stuff so an entire generation is brought up on it, or will it become "news"?

Do we just not care about the universe and everything anymore? Do people think that we "did" space back in the day and that's it? Is it a waste of time for use to look for answers to these kinds of questions?

EDIT: Added a BBC article I found. It was dated Feb, 2003. That must of been the one I was talking about when I said I read something about a year ago.

__________________
( o< --!"Take that bass out you're voice, you talk to me in treble."
/ / \
\/_/_ -->Mos Def

Booboo

I think its safe to say that there is a decent amount of people that know this. I'm also sure there are a ton if ignorant people that just dont care either way. I already knew it btw.

__________________
"Your life is yours to live, go out and live it" - Richard Rahl

Lebell

Some scientific theories/discoveries are so obvious they are recognized almost immediately.

-Discovery of the DNA structure by Francis/Crick.

Others may take a decade or two:

-Plate Techtonics

Others may take decades or MORE for generations of scientists/lay people to die out.

-Evolution
-Sun concentric solar system.

In my experience learning about these, I've come to the conclusion that the dearer the old theory is held, the harder it is for people to give it up and as a result, they will fight to hold onto it.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU!

Please Donate!

Gortexfogg

For some reason this topic reminded me of a scene from a Woody Allen movie,"Annie Hall" (1977)

MOTHER
(To the doctor)
He's been depressed. All off a sudden,
he can't do anything.

DOCTOR
(Nodding)
Why are you depressed, Alvy?

MOTHER
(Nudging Alvy)
Tell Dr. Flicker.
(Young Alvy sits, his head down. His
mother answers for him)
It's something he read.

DOCTOR
(Puffing on his cigarette and
nodding)
Something he read, huh?

ALVY
(His head still down)
The universe is expanding.

DOCTOR
The universe is expanding?

ALVY
(Looking up at the doctor)
Well, the universe is everything, and if
it's expanding, someday it will break apart
and that would be the end of everything!

Disgusted, his mother looks at him.

MOTHER
(shouting)
What is that your business?
(she turns back to the doctor)
He stopped doing his homework.

ALVY
What's the point?

MOTHER
(Excited, gesturing with her hands)
What has the universe got to do with it?
You're here in Brooklyn! Brooklyn is not
expanding!

But back to the subject at hand... learning about the universe is something we humans should definitely keep up. Since the universe in constantly expanding, we'll always have more than enough stuff to figure out. I think once we figure out just about everything on earth, people will look to the stars more and start looking out there for stuff to know...

Cynthetiq

there's too many other things that are pressing at the moment to be concerned about, not to mention things that we may be able to do something about.

the hurtling asteroids, the universe expanding... reserved for the nerds, the geeks, the scholars.

most people have a hard time grasping simple day to day things like how an gravity works.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

GoldenOuroboros

O_o
Gravity?
o_O

I'm not to concerned with the thought of the universe expanding, I'm more worried about the hear, the now and near future.

__________________
Can you see me grin grin grrriiiiinnnning?!

SkanK0r

I'm most worried about spelling.

Darkblack

I am most worried about spelling Nazi's.

Fremen

Don't quote me, but I believe I read somewhere that some scientists theorize that once the Universe is through expanding it will start all over again. Another "Big Bang", maybe.
I think it was Popular Science.

__________________
Google

Battlefield

Frankly I'm sure many people knew this. I'd hardly call someone who didn't know "ignorant" because knowing this has little or no bearing on daily life. Most people's knowledge of space or astronomy comes from school--most likely elementary and high school--so once they leave that period in their life there not as likely to keep up with the changes in theories.

Yes the media doesn't cover it as much as it used to, probably because the advancements are much more marginal than say--when man first landed on the moon. Just my 2 cents