Is it possible to be bad at math and understand the structure of the universe? [more inside]
posted by diogenes on Aug 20, 2008 - 19 answers

How is the universe 156 billion light years across if it is only 13.7 billion years old?
posted by plexi on Mar 12, 2008 - 17 answers

"A human is halfway in size between an atom and the known universe"... This is a paraphrased quote I have come across several times. I like it. Who said it first? How true is it in the most literal sense? And, finally, what errors arrive in postulating a universe, or an atom, which can be measured AT ALL from our singular, relativistic, perspective? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 18, 2007 - 14 answers

Can anyone recommend any good recent articles or papers on whether the universe is infinite or finite? I've heard that scientists suspect that the universe is flat, which lends credence to the infinite-universe hypothesis. I've decided I don't know enough about this. Nothing too technical, please, though I'd prefer something more complex than an article from a newspaper science section.
posted by painquale on Jan 12, 2005 - 20 answers