JonnyJ
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Registered: 23rd Sep 05
Location: Scotchland
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quote:
Originally posted by Matt L
quote:
Originally posted by Cavey
The Planck satelitte is supposedly going to be seeing things that happened just after the start of the universe.
now you see that baffles me how is that possible? 
Quite simple really. Light is what we use to see and it doesnt travel instantaneously. Just like sound has a finite speed, does light. Its also why you see the lightening bolt before you hear the thunder, even though they occur at the same time. Light is faster than sound. When you look up at the stars, youre seeing the past because light takes time to reach you. Its a good job really, if it was instant, we'd never know about the early universe.
Have a look into the world of quantum mechanics if you want to be truely baffled.
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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it's not simple at all. it's absolutely amazing and a wonder of the universe.
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JonnyJ
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Registered: 23rd Sep 05
Location: Scotchland
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Whats not simple about it?
Information is contained in the light, the light takes time to travel the vast distance of space, by the time it hits our eyes/telescopes the information is old.
Not saying its not an amazing thing but its certainly not difficult to understand
[Edited on 22-03-2013 by JonnyJ]
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oceansoul
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Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Sunbury, Surrey
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quote:
Originally posted by Stu_22
Sad I know but I think there was a Star Trek episode where they came across the all powerful thing that could destroy them.
Turned out it was the voyager craft some how built it self up and just wanted to send its info back
it was the first film.
Voyage learns all it can and evolves, then carries out its mission, to get that data back to earth, "the creator".
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sc0ott
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Registered: 16th Feb 09
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Its like trying to overtake a really fast car, in this case the light is the car. First youve got to catch up with it, and once youve passed it you can look back to find out more info, ie the big bang.
I think.
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Cavey
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Registered: 11th Nov 02
Location: Derby
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What? No.
Then light has taken 13 billion years to get to us, so we're only just seeing things that happened that long ago, so essentially we're looking into the past.
Half the stars in the sky are probably not there any more (wild unproven unsupported statement)
If you got faster than the speed of light you would theoretically see things before they happen and time travel. Theoretically.
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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I think the theory Scooter's referring to is that if you travelled away from earth faster than the speed of light, while looking backwards, you'd see earth as it used to be.
In theory that'd make you capable of watching Big Bang.
All you'd have to do was travell thousands of billions of light years in to space (in an instant) and look over your shoulder.
It's fucking crazy to think of space like a linear line of images floating outwards at the speed of light. The further out on the string you could travel, the older the images you'd see would be.
[Edited on 22-03-2013 by Balling]
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Cavey
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Registered: 11th Nov 02
Location: Derby
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In theory.
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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As with most space talk...
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Robin
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Registered: 7th Jan 04
Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup
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I like the fact that Betelgeuse could have gone supernova in 1375AD and we still wouldn't know.
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3CorsaMeal
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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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If the sun shone on a tree in a forest and no one saw it, would it make a shadow?
That's the opening sentence in my big big bang theory paper
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3CorsaMeal
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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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I am going to be the next Stephen Hawkings 
GET IN!
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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quote:
Originally posted by 3CorsaMeal
If the sun shone on a tree in a forest and no one saw it, would it make a shadow?
That's the opening sentence in my big big bang theory paper
I think it's nice of you to get all the crazy out in the open right away.
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DC90
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Registered: 14th Nov 07
Location: Bedfordshire
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http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYyCHGWJq4
Cat in the box
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Carl
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Registered: 9th May 04
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I also get brain ache and think how insignificant we are. My world is my universe, I'll let people far more intelligent than me think about the rest.
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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quote:
Originally posted by Balling
quote:
Originally posted by Matt L
What are your thoughts on this? ie.. whats at the edge/past the edge?
...
would be funny if it went past the edge and then came back the other side like on pacman
You realise it's at the edge of our solar system, not the universe, right?
If you like this sort of thing and want a good read, I'd recommend picking up Bill Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything.
It's a fantastic book, that covers a lot of scientific questions in a very, very down to earth fashion.
Cheers for this - just picked this up today - got a long flight on Thursday so will have a read
Seems to get very good reviews
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Eck
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
Location: Lundin Links, Fife
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For fuck sake. I've just got over the fact that cats can jump out of planes and live (oxygen permitting), and now I've got this to read in to on nightshift
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gazza808
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Registered: 30th Jun 08
Location: Peterborough
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The thing that really gets me is,
Assuming you could travel and live for ever, does space ever end?
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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Depends what you mean by "space"?
Theoretically the observable universe is finite, but it's expanding at a staggering rate.
"The "outside the universe" question gets tricky right off the bat, because first you have to define the universe. One common answer is called the observable universe, and it's defined by the speed of light. Since we can only see things when the light they emit or reflect reaches us, we can never see farther than the farthest distance light can travel in the time the universe has existed. That means the observable universe keeps getting bigger, but it is finite – the amount is sometimes referred to as the Hubble Volume, after the telescope that has given us our most distant views of the universe. We'll never be able to see beyond that boundary, so for all intents and purposes, it's the only universe we'll ever interact with."
From http://io9.com/5799335/five-weird-theories-of-what-lies-outside-the-universe
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Robin
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Registered: 7th Jan 04
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Tried to skim read that. Didnt work for me lol
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taylorboosh
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Registered: 3rd Apr 07
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quote:
Originally posted by Eck
For fuck sake. I've just got over the fact that cats can jump out of planes and live (oxygen permitting), and now I've got this to read in to on nightshift
Say what about cats?
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
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Some uneducated people in here.
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