Hay guise, haven't posted in a long time, thought I'd come back with a little science
These are some crazy weird theories about our universe. You can read the short snippets here,
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9 … ories.html
Here are some even shorter snippets:
1. Clashing Branes
Could our universe be a membrane floating in higher dimensional space, repeatedly smashing into a neighbouring universe? According to an offshoot of string theory called braneworld, there are large extra dimensions of space, and while gravity can reach out into them, we are confined to our own "brane" universe with only three dimensions. The big bang could have been sparked when our universe clashed violently with another. These clashes repeat, producing a new big bang every now and then - so if the cyclic universe model is right, the cosmos could be immortal.
2. Evolving Universes
When matter is compressed to extreme densities at the centre of a black hole, it might bounce back and create a new baby universe. Universes that make a lot of black holes have a lot of children, so eventually they come to dominate the population of the multiverse.
3. Superfluid Spacetime
One of the most outlandish new theories of cosmology is that space-time is actually a superfluid substance, flowing with zero friction. Our universe might have been born in a collapsing star, where the combination of stellar matter and superfluid space could spawn dark energy, the repulsive force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.
4. Goldilocks Universe
Why does the universe have properties that are "just right" to permit the emergence of life? Tinker with a few physical constants and we would end up with no stars, or no matter, or a universe that lasts only for the blink of an eye. The universe we see has to be hospitable, or we would not be here to observe it.
5. Gravity Reaches Out
Dark matter might not really be "stuff" - it could just be a misleading name for the odd behaviour of gravity. This stronger gravity can fill the role of dark matter, holding together galaxies and clusters that would otherwise fly apart.
6. Cosmic Ghost
After making an adjustment to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a team of physicists found a strange substance popping out of their new theory, the "ghost condensate". It can produce repulsive gravity to drive cosmic inflation in the big bang, while later on it could generate the more sedate acceleration that is ascribed to dark energy. Moreover, if this slippery substance clumps together, it could form dark matter.
7. It's a Small Universe
The universe is small - so small that, back when the microwave background was being produced, it just could not hold those big blobs. If so, space would have to wrap around on itself somehow. Possibly the oddest suggestion is that the universe is funnel-shaped, with one narrow end and one flared end like the bell of a trumpet.
8. Fast Light
Why do opposite sides of the universe look the same? It's a puzzle because the extremes of today's visible universe should never have been in touch. Even back in the early moments of the big bang, when these areas were much closer together, there wasn't enough time for light - or anything else - to travel from one to another.
9. Sterile Neutrinos
Dark matter might be made of the most elusive particles ever imagined - sterile neutrinos. They are hypothetical heavier cousins of ordinary neutrinos and would interact with other matter only through the force of gravity - making them essentially impossible to detect.
10. In The Matrix
Maybe our universe isn't real. Philosopher Nick Bostrom has claimed that we are probably living inside a computer simulation. Assuming it ever becomes possible to simulate consciousness, then presumably future civilisations would try it, probably many times over.
Weird eh?
These are some crazy weird theories about our universe. You can read the short snippets here,
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9 … ories.html
Here are some even shorter snippets:
1. Clashing Branes
Could our universe be a membrane floating in higher dimensional space, repeatedly smashing into a neighbouring universe? According to an offshoot of string theory called braneworld, there are large extra dimensions of space, and while gravity can reach out into them, we are confined to our own "brane" universe with only three dimensions. The big bang could have been sparked when our universe clashed violently with another. These clashes repeat, producing a new big bang every now and then - so if the cyclic universe model is right, the cosmos could be immortal.
2. Evolving Universes
When matter is compressed to extreme densities at the centre of a black hole, it might bounce back and create a new baby universe. Universes that make a lot of black holes have a lot of children, so eventually they come to dominate the population of the multiverse.
3. Superfluid Spacetime
One of the most outlandish new theories of cosmology is that space-time is actually a superfluid substance, flowing with zero friction. Our universe might have been born in a collapsing star, where the combination of stellar matter and superfluid space could spawn dark energy, the repulsive force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.
4. Goldilocks Universe
Why does the universe have properties that are "just right" to permit the emergence of life? Tinker with a few physical constants and we would end up with no stars, or no matter, or a universe that lasts only for the blink of an eye. The universe we see has to be hospitable, or we would not be here to observe it.
5. Gravity Reaches Out
Dark matter might not really be "stuff" - it could just be a misleading name for the odd behaviour of gravity. This stronger gravity can fill the role of dark matter, holding together galaxies and clusters that would otherwise fly apart.
6. Cosmic Ghost
After making an adjustment to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a team of physicists found a strange substance popping out of their new theory, the "ghost condensate". It can produce repulsive gravity to drive cosmic inflation in the big bang, while later on it could generate the more sedate acceleration that is ascribed to dark energy. Moreover, if this slippery substance clumps together, it could form dark matter.
7. It's a Small Universe
The universe is small - so small that, back when the microwave background was being produced, it just could not hold those big blobs. If so, space would have to wrap around on itself somehow. Possibly the oddest suggestion is that the universe is funnel-shaped, with one narrow end and one flared end like the bell of a trumpet.
8. Fast Light
Why do opposite sides of the universe look the same? It's a puzzle because the extremes of today's visible universe should never have been in touch. Even back in the early moments of the big bang, when these areas were much closer together, there wasn't enough time for light - or anything else - to travel from one to another.
9. Sterile Neutrinos
Dark matter might be made of the most elusive particles ever imagined - sterile neutrinos. They are hypothetical heavier cousins of ordinary neutrinos and would interact with other matter only through the force of gravity - making them essentially impossible to detect.
10. In The Matrix
Maybe our universe isn't real. Philosopher Nick Bostrom has claimed that we are probably living inside a computer simulation. Assuming it ever becomes possible to simulate consciousness, then presumably future civilisations would try it, probably many times over.
Weird eh?
