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Was the entire universe created by the Big Bang, or is the space/time generated by the Big Bang part of a larger universe?

Lownotes — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:55:20 -0800

Was the entire universe created by the Big Bang, or is the space/time generated by the Big Bang part of a larger universe? I was astounded recently to discover that the known universe has been measured from end to end, and it is 165 billion light years wide.

So, if you look at it that way, all of space/time is now a big egg-like ovoid of matter and energy.

If all the matter and energy generated by the Big Bang is now a gigantic ovoid:

1. Where is the Milky Way located in that ovoid?

2. If we are closer to one end than the other, do the photos we have of the most distant reaches of the known universe depict the far end or the near end?

3. Is this giant egg the entire universe, or is there space/time beyond the ovoid in which other Big Bangs could have occurred.

4. If there are other ovoids, will we ever be able to detect them?

I'm not a physicist but I play one in front of my friends

Navelgazer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:46:39 -0800

Help me explain why the Large Hadron Collider doesn't spell our doom. I know that all the doom-saying is bullshit, and that the (American) Media keeps talking about the paranoia because it's sexier than talking about the science, but my understanding of physics, while better than average, is still not authoritative. This is essentially what I've been saying to people (and all of the people I've been talking to are highly intelligent, at least enough to care about the LHC, but not really scientifically educated) who bring up the "destroy the earth" theory:

The LHC was just fired up, in a month CERN will start firing beams in the other direction. The expected result is to produce in miniature conditions similar to those at the very beginning of the universe. It is possible that such collisions will produce a microscopic black hole, which sounds bad, but even if that happens, it's not anything to worry about, because the destructive power of a black hole comes from its mass, and the mass of a few protons won't have enough gravitational power to do anything destructive to something with so, so much more mass (i.e. the earth.)

I feel like this explanation must be somewhat correct, but I've also been talking out of my ass. Can someone with better understanding help me with my argument, please?

Thank you.

My god, it's full of Stars

Artw — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:27:24 -0800

I'm looking for a series of hardback science fiction anthologies I dimly remember from childhood (sometime in the mid 80s). I think it had a one word title with a number, and the series went up to at least number five. I remember two stories in particular... In one a childs home starmaking experiment goes wrong when he puts too much matter into his simulated universe, creating a spinning cylindrical black hole which escapes and destroys the earth.

In another two creatures, essentially sentient stars, play a game in which they throw their cores at each other. The cores are of different colors, and the color difference is analogous to a gender difference. In the end the "male" star impregnates the "female" star but loses it's core. As a dying act it creates life on an earth like planet and then flings the planet out into space.

Any ideas?

Black Holes for dummies

np312 — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 14:34:47 -0800

Can someone please explain to me in very basic terms the modern understanding of black holes and worm holes as a conceivable means of space/time travel? I have been reading up on Kip Thorne's theories, and I think they are fascinating. However I'm sure that I'm not really grasping it all due to the advanced language and terms-- I have no science background.

Can someone give me a 'for dummies' version of how Kip Thorne (and others who share his view) think the black hole/worm hole phenomena can be harnessed for space/time travel? I'm getting a bit buried in all the 'naked singularities' and 'membrane paradigms.'

I have Wiki'd and googled Kip Thorne's work, but I'm hoping for something reasonably straightforward I can read or watch and feel I have a solid understanding of the concepts at play here. Thanks!