What if life never happened? Millions, Billions, or trillions of years ago when the first group of elements accidently got together to form the first lifeforms on earth, a giant meteor hit destroying them. The universe would be nothing more than a floating bunch of rocks, dark matter, comets, etc.. Would the univese exist if no one was there to live in it? Would life miraculously spring from nothingness on a distant planet? Do extraterrstials exist? Does life find a way like in Jurassic Park?
This question will probably make this thread grow extremely long. On occasion, we have a similar discussion at work where we discuss the Big Bang Theory. One of my coworkers is a math genius and a science fiction freak and generally an all-around smart guy. I once asked him about the Big Bang and what existed before it. He then went on twenty different tangents as to the different possibilities and ultimately settled on the view that there was a "nothing-ness" that existed. So, during our discussion (still assuming the Big Bang happened), we talked about the ever-expanding universe and how it is practically impossible to catch up to the leading edge. I wanted to know what was on the other side of the leading edge of the universal expansion and he could not come up with an answer other than "nothing-ness". I don't understand how from nothing comes something. And if the universe is actually expanding into nothing, will that nothing eventually run out. I know that no one has a proven answer, but I'm curious to know other opinions.
Oh boy, yet another interesting read! Wow, this ClutchCity.net rules! Well I would like to go even further with your questions, boomboom, by simply asking: Is nothing is finite? On second read, I think that's what you are asking!
if life never happend than cato would still find a way to suck... he played very well last night though.
BK, That's my assumption. I then question my assumption by asking if there is extraterrestial life. In a scientific view of the universe, life is an accident. Then it evolved. The probability of life being generated is infinitesimal. As far as I know life was created only once on earth and has evoved ever since. Evolutionist always try to track life back to earlier forms of life. I just remember in the detailed discussion on the placement of the monsters in Tremors in the fossil record. "No way these are local boys". This was based on the "fact" that life just doesn't happen very often if more than once. Does life just happen? I'm interested on peoples views both ways. BTW. I have an unusual belief that I believe God created evolution and he may or may not have done this on other planets or eslewhere in the universe. Could life form on something that wasn't a planet or on nothing?
Current theory believes that the universe expands, but then collapses on itself to repeat the whole process. The rate of expansion is slowing down according to some.
If the universe is that which we know, does this imply that what we don't know doesn't exist? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth" We have an expanding universe, most likely caused by a huge explosion (Big Bang) at the universes center. What caused that bang? Isaiah 40:26 "Raise YOUR eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one [of them] is missing."
There is an awesome book on this subject. I think its called something like - Black Holes and Speed of Light. Thats not the exact title of the book. Its written by some guy whose name is something like Al-Halilli. I will try to find out the exact title of the book and the name of the author. Anyways the book basically answers all your questions in simple terms. I checked it out from the library to find out what happens to time when it reaches the speed of light. Of course my lazy butt only finished half of it before I had to return it. I think I will check it out again this weekend. DOD is right in that the Universe is getting smaller again. Soon enough (relatively speaking) all matter will conjoin once again. Then the Big Bang will happen again and the whole cycle repeats itself. I mean we could be like the Billionth addition of the Big Bang if you know what I mean.
It's very difficult to get your mind around the sheer size of the universe, but consider this. The Sun is (on average) 93 million miles away from Earth. It takes light eight minutes to get from the Sun to Earth-- so the Sun is "eight light minutes" away. The Sun is 25,000 light years away from the center of the Milky Way. 25,000 light years equals 13,140,000,000 light minutes. So the distance from the Sun to the center of the Milky Way is approximately 1.6 billion times further than the distance from the Sun to the Earth (93 million miles). Driving at 80 miles per hour, as I do to and from work each day, it would take you 1,162,500 hours to get from Earth to the Sun. At 24 hours a day, that's 48,437 and a half days (or about 132 years) to cover that distance without stopping, assuming you don't have to deal with idiot Austin drivers on the way, and also assuming that you can drive and pee into an empty Gatorade bottle without slowing down. So it would take nearly twice the average lifespan of an American to drive from Earth to the Sun... ...and that trip is 1/1,600,000,000th the distance of a trip from the Sun to the center of the Milky Way.
Actually you and DoD are both wrong so there! The current buzz in astrophysics is that there is not enough matter in the universe to cause a contraction. In other words, the density of the universe is too low to prevent infinite expansion. The result of this would be the eventual heat death of the universe as everything gets farther and farther apart and there is no energy anywhere. But that's a long ways away so it's no excuse to start running red lights.
I read an interesting short story about this sort of stuff once. It was about a computer I think... Anyway the universe ended up dying due to entropy. But it was saved somehow. I cant remember the rest of it. I should look it up. Thats how its going to end anyway, entropy...
I concur Dylan DOD/R0ckets03, I read a Time article a few months ago that said that view had changed. Now they think it will keep expanding until everything becomes so spread out that nothing will exist. It will be a cold dark void. They still aren't sure though... Found it: Here is the relevant excerpt http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010625/story.html
The universe is infinite, just because there isn't any matter in a place, doesn't mean the universe doesn't exist there. The amount of matter in the universe is finite and the volume this matter currently occupies is finite. When a vacuum is created, does the space without matter cease to exist? No its there. I would consider the nothingness the matter of the universe expands into to still be part of the universe, but its just depends on your definition of universe. How long was from the big bang to the start of life on Earth take? Life has started from nothing once to my knowledge in a long time. In good life creating conditions, everything evolved from one spot. Amount of space doesn't concern me. Its about places with matter. And to be specific, I have a hard time seeing life form from non life without the aide of atoms can bind with atleast three other atoms. So narrow it down to places aboundent with carbon, silicon, nitrogen, and a few others on probably a planet about the earth's relative distance to a star. Too close, complex molecules won't last. Too far. Lack of energy to sustain it. Life made of from the transition metals would be interesting.
Does this include Dark Matter? If Dark Matter exists (I'm probably wrong), but doesn't the mass of the universe go up 5 fold? I don't think Dark Matter is accepted yet, but hasn't been disproven either.
Scientists are coming to believe that other life exists probably as close as our own solar system. Certainly it's not intelligent life as we know it, but it is life. They've just recently discovered single-celled organisms on earth that live in ultra-cold climates where no natural sunlight reaches. This leads them to believe that there could be life on Mars as well as under the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa. I personally believe that the universe is teeming with life and animating force -- it's just not in a form that we expect. Although I love the notion of a Star Trek type universe where numerous humanoid species communicate and interact, I just don't think it's that simple. Add to that the fact that cutting-edge physicists now think there are upwards of 10 (possibly many more) dimensions operating simultaneously and you open up an entirely new set of possibilities. As far as understanding the universe, I think humans are only at the very beginning. Every day brings something new and more amazing.
