What is Digg?114 Comments
- inactive, on 06/03/2008, -3/+43๏̯͡๏)
explain that - lead2thehead, on 06/03/2008, -1/+14Of course not. Everyone knows that if you sail your shaceship too close to the edge of the universe, you'll fall off.
- aserer511, on 06/03/2008, -0/+12what baffles me is, in this picture http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/02/sci ... what is teh white space the universe is expanding into? does the universe not in and unto itself comprise of all the space, occupied or not, in the universe
- MacEnvy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+12Pretty much. It's expanding into nothing (or rather, what is "something" is growing). It's not easy to wrap your head around, but it's best understood if you realize that it's not expanding in the same way as a balloon expands - that is it's not expanding into anything that already exists. It's creating new boundaries of existence via expansion.
Doesn't make a lot of sense from our own human perspective, I know. - MidnightRealism, on 06/03/2008, -1/+12Congratulations on brushing off an interesting, well-written piece about an exciting field based on a statement that isn't even in the article, you absolute *****.
- geobay, on 06/03/2008, -1/+12Well...I guess it's explained now. No need for that physics degree.
- bimtott, on 06/03/2008, -1/+11Dug for NYTimes graphics department. They do some amazing *****.
- syphern, on 06/03/2008, -1/+9They used it for LOST!! thats how the island disappeared!
- MacEnvy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8The sheer number of made-up words and misused scientific concepts in that video series is astounding. I could understand how it would *sound* good to a layman though.
- OliveStreet, on 06/03/2008, -3/+10My waist is expanding faster than my clothes can accommodate. And there's LOTS of dark matter involved ... {flush}
- xxTazxx, on 06/03/2008, -2/+9TEACH ME GREAT ONES!
- lead2thehead, on 06/03/2008, -0/+7The title is a bit misleading here. The universe has not been explained. All we have are some theories that appear to match our observations. The whole "universe is expanding" theory is based solely on the red shift of distant galaxies. It's entirely possible that the universe is not expanding, but rather the intense gravity created by those galaxies is altering the wavelength of the light they emit, thus making it appear to have red-shifted. (See gravitational red shift.)
- inactive, on 06/03/2008, -3/+9It's not expanding, we're shrinking. We're being infinitely divided. That's how you get many things from one thing.
But nobody believes me, no matter how loudly I scream at people on the street while wearing a sandwich board. - Jexie, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6This may come as a shock - it is possible that the world's most cutting edge scientists using our most state of the art labs at our best universities might know a bit more than you pulled out of your astronomy course recently.
- Murdats, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6unicode is fu̯͡n.
- inactive, on 06/03/2008, -0/+6That's got to be the word of the day "*****".
- Atomike, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5Ummm - how about all the others? Electro-magnetic, Weak, Strong - ALL are stronger. Gravity is a very, very weak force by comparison. When you jump off a building, gravity takes you to the pavement, but the MUCH stronger forces which hold atoms together stops you cold. Your gravity does not trump the forces holding the pavement together.
Read a book. - darkhand, on 06/03/2008, -1/+6If we assume that the Universe is infinite and always has been, then the Big Bang would be more accurately described as the Local Bang. A tiny spark in the 'greater' universe, with the CMB radiating out into it, the ever expanding limit of our visible universe. If there are other 'bangs' out there, then they have their own matter, energy, and more importantly, gravity. Could the acceleration of our 'universe' simply be its gravitational attraction to matter on the other side of the CMB? Could the perturbations and imperfections in the CMB be explained by the same gravitational tugs? This could be tested experimentally as well. One could test for redshift in galaxies and compare it with the CMB perturbations. If, for example, a high redshifted patch of galaxies matches up with a cool spot in the CMB, and this effect is the same across the entire visible universe, then it could be theorized that something from beyond the CMB is tugging on those particular areas of our 'local universe'.
- TheSeekerV2, on 06/03/2008, -1/+6Can this "dark energy" power my car?
- EricBoyers, on 06/03/2008, -0/+5The dark energy clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.
- DarthTatr, on 06/03/2008, -1/+6http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/03/sci ...
- derek20cali, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4Well I'm glad you were able to clear things up for all the scientists with their fancy Ph.D.'s and stuff. (Translation: No *****, Sherlock!)
- TomFrost, on 06/03/2008, -1/+5Unicode. That's not even close to anything in the ASCII table ;-)
- BadAssFlip, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4define nothing. what is everything around you made out of? like electricity with negative and positive charges. the universe is made out of a bunch of matters and anti-matters. even nothingness is very unstable. Go read some modern physics and quantum physics books before you lay out your old arguement.
- stealthc, on 06/03/2008, -0/+4EM, weak and strong atomic forces exert almost irresistible energy just by the presence of one or a few particles. Gravity is so weak it takes a whole planet to be very noticeable, and even then you can resist that force with your own two feet, and we can overcome a whole planet's worth of gravity with a single rocket.
- robertallen, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Where's the "You Are Here" arrow marker?
- JPMaximilian, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Gravity just bends an otherwise flat earth to look round. This is no defeat.
- donkz, on 06/03/2008, -2/+5The Universe Explained
42 Comments - FecalHurler, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Musn't forget Quarks and possibly Hadrons.
- revjustin2, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3What I find interesting about this article is the insight into the psychological state of the physics community. Faced with having to rethink almost everything they assumed to be true about the universe is causing a bit of an (understood) meltdown. While discouraging in some aspects, I really hope that this is seen as a huge opportunity for some new and exciting big ideas.
- scribby, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3Well said. The energies involved in the interactions between protons, neutrons, and electrons on various scales is very intriguing however.
- akilleen, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3YOU'RE nothing but a collection of Protons, Neutrons, & Electrons!
- lead2thehead, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3ascii stroke victim
- SteelChicken, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3wrong about being the most powerful force. Bzzzzttt try again.
- derjames, on 06/03/2008, -0/+3or maybe just a collection of 'strings'...
- robotirl, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2there's the problem, gravity has been wasting time on the phone
- RubineBoy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2probably expanding from nothing too
- inactive, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3๏̯͡๏)
- teh_techie, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2You know what?... maybe the universe IS INDEED static, and everything relatively IS shrinking giving the appearance of expansion..
You sound nutty, sure, but I enjoy nutbarism occasionally! - iamaelephant, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2You couldn't be more wrong.
- inactive, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Huuuuuge defeat for Flat Earthers!
Huge - Atomike, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2I'm sorry, but I can't believe you're this ill-informed. You're obviously intentionally trolling. You can't possibly be this ignorant.
Not worth even responding to your posts.
All we can do is laugh.
If you're actually serious, then I would suggest you do some reading on the "strong force" and "weak force". And tell us what you come up with.
Man I wish Digg had an age requirement. - TechMike, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3Interesting choice of words, olasonn. Good double entendre!
- nowhereelse, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2I take issue with the phrase "The discovery of dark energy...". Nobody has discovered anything. Dark energy is a widely-held idea that is invoked to explain observations. Phlogiston was an idea that was equally widely believed by scientists at one time but which ultimately turned out to be fallacy.
- Jexie, on 06/03/2008, -2/+4Let me guess, a god who came from nothing and has always just been around is your solution to the problem?
- McShr3dd3r, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2I don't see any DC-10s mentioned in the origin of the universe....
hmm - RicDesan, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1These guys need to look outside the box and kick the ***** out of Einsteins assumptions. This dilemma posits a much more fundemental answer. There is no dark energy at work to account for the accelerating expansion. The issue is a question of matter interaction that goes on the assumtion that space isnt empty and that like all things in the universe it seeks stasis in reaction to the matter and gravitational forces around it that try to interrupt its stasis. Inertia is indeed from my perspective unassailable. So when you exert force on what I call static matter it exerts force on everything around it in an equal and oppisite manner generating inertia where by a purely matter based perspective, non should exist. Static matter in a space-time continum like ours will continue to seek stasis by shedding inertia and thus force to achieve its natural quiescent balance.
With this sort theory kept in mind ... its easy to understand how the expansion of the universe continues to accelerate while at the same time moving toward entrophy on a purely checmical level as more space is created.
Next! - BoredDotNet, on 06/03/2008, -1/+2His noodly appendage is a great answer, more than likely correct.
I don't believe in dark matter or energy. My best guess as to what's pushing the acceleration lies with what caused the "Big Bang" to begin with. The "Big Bang" was a warping (or bending) of space to such an extreme that it broke at the top of the warp, creating matter from the break. The acceleration is being caused because the matter is now sliding down the slope, however slight it is at this point in time. So what's being dubbed as "mysterious dark matter" is just the bend in the space plane that started everything off. - OfficialJoe, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Expansion can be the result of a single point explosion, or through stretching. Somewhat like a trampoline. I am suggesting that it is possible that some really big things are pulling our universe apart.
Another point of view is that the universe is in fact growing, like a plant. Plants don't fall the the ground after all, they grow against gravity. With dark matter possibly being the same life force that drives growth in plants one may be able to assume that expansion is in fact the result of growth. Kinda like we are inside the growing entity.
I wonder what the universe looks like from the outside... - mathcreative, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Basically an article outlining how much-"we don't know about the universe"
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