What is the universe expanding into?
 

Well?

This one just hurts to think about. Ive all but given up.

When I asked my SO, she said "its like..expanding...like into itself" and then started laughing hard lol...no she doesnt drink.

well...what do you think?

As you inflate a balloon, the surface of the balloon expands without expanding "into" anything in the sense I think you mean.

It could not be expanding at all, and all everything is is a dark void which the galaxies and other matter of the universe expand into, not the universe itself

Yeah, on a technicality I would say that the Universe is expanding into nothing.

But understanding what you are really asking, I have no idea. My question has always been "when is it supposed to stop?"

Sure it does, it expands into the atmosphere....

There is a theory that our universe is, or is part of, a membrane-like bubble, which maybe one of many other bubbles.. kinda like cells. Some scientists say that the "big bang" was really our "membrane" coming into contact (tapping.. or maybe smashing into¿) another. This releases a shockwave through the membrane (our universe(s)) , kinda like a ripple through water, super-heating it.

Of course this is just one theory, but its a newer one, that, i think, is emerging out of string theory. The problem with this on,e for humans, is that this may not be a one-time thing.. meaning the other membrane(s) may not have "bounced off" clear of ours, but infact could ripple or bang into our membrane again.. releasing it's shockwave through our universe, super-heating it at any time.

Fun huh?

What a kick in the ass that would be :)

i think its expanding untill it gets to a point where it cant anymore, then it will collapse in on itself. before exploding in a big bang again and expanding again.

oohhh string theory. I am a physics major and I, for the life of me, cannot seem to get past this theory. Ive started reading "the elegant universe"....its about string theory....maybe it will help me...the damn text books are worthless. (well...I did pay 150 dollars for some of them...funny eh?)

I think string theory WILL eventually answer many questions, but first we need to get our little minds to grasp the existance of other dimensions, as the theory requires. According to this theory(as obiex stated) we live in a universal membrane which is one of many....these other membranes represent unseen dimensions that could be inches from you but invisible because we are three dimensional creatures.Think of all these dimentions as sheets of fabric pulled tight while hanging from a clothesline. now put numerous clotheslines in a row, inches from each other....what happens when the wind blows?

my theory is that the universe isnt expanding but everything is shrinking into itself under its own gravity, thus as things get smaller the distance between them looks larger and as our eyes are shrinking as well we dont realise it.
Well thats my theory at least and noone better steal it

The theory I like best is that the universe will expand until it can go no further, then it will suck back into a tiny sphere of matter from whence the big bang came, and it will all start over again! If this is how it happens then there may have been bazillions of people just like us, and then we wouldn't be the most advanced race ever.

Funky eh?

It is expanding into the nothingness that wasn't there before it got expanded into...

Infinity, in both time and space, is a difficult concept for the human mind.

It's the age-old paradox - Our minds are used to boundaries - we find it impossible to imagine an infinite universe, but if there's an end to the universe, what's outside it, and where does <i>that</i> end?

Aww man.. Art you stole my line :p

I guess I should get in and read these threads first.. hehe
yeah expanding into nothing mate :)

My theory is that everyone's been lying to us for centuries, and that the earth is really flat. sk

Haha.
That one is a brain strainer.
Im going with a safe, lame answer; A larger universe..>? :D

God will let us all know in time.

He won't let us down.

I love Him.:icare:

expanding for ever and ever maybe there is no end as such matter moves around but there is not limit to the space

I think we are a bunch of molecule sized beings in a much larger cosmos. We have not even begun to scratch the surface of how small we are in comparison the the expanding universe. Ouch! My brain hurts just to think of the possibilities.

No matter how big we are, there's always something larger.Even if we filled the entire cosmos we wouldn't be anymore important than we are now. People would probably complain that there wasn't enough room instead of complaining about how small we are.

Anyways it makes me happy that we still have so many mystreries hanging right over our heads.

What if there were multiple "big bangs", i mean wouldn't this be possible if the universe is infinite and maybe one day these separate universes may collide? just my thoughts

It's Turtles all the way up... or so the old story goes...

If anyone is really interested in string theory, then check this out.

http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=8881428

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

The universe isn't expanding into anything. Using that word is somewhat of a misnomer. Geometry itself is changing. Fix two points, and the distance between them changes over time. The distance changes more quickly if the points start off further away (more space in between to "expand"). This has nothing to do with string theory btw. Its based in physics nearly 80 years old...

I personally don't put much stock into string theory at the moment. Maybe it will work out in the end, but I don't think its particularly promising right now.

How does anybody really know what the universe is doing? That's right, I'll be the pain in the ass. Their are some nice theories about it, some I subscribe to. Thinking about that stuff is futile. Humans will be long gone before any answer comes along.

This thread makes your brain hurt. The universe cant be infinite, I cant explain what Im thinking but there has to be a end to the matter (i dont think that's the right word) that is out there. And also, where the bloody hell did this stuff come from in the first place? Stuff just can't appear. And what was there before the universe was there? AHH MY BRAIN!

When it is finished expanding, I think it will take on the shape of a giant peanup butter and jelly sandwich that has been run over by a bull-dozer in reverse! I just hope somebody can scrape up the remains and make them into something really cool!

i found this online a few weeks ago. its VERY intersting, and explains a few theories that are very hard to understand, but do make sense once you figure it out. the last chapter really ties all these ideas together and puts creates an interesting theory about what we are made of, and how insignificant we really are. the whole program is at least a couple hours i think, but well worth your time.

its all about string theory and such. i had no idea what it was until i watched all of this.

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