Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Questioning the Big Bang
MSNBC.com ^ | 4/25/02 | By Alan Boyle

Posted on 04/25/2002 2:34:20 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts

How did the universe begin, and how will it end? Among cosmologists, the mainstream belief is that the universe began with a bang billions of years ago, and will fizzle out billions of years from now. But two theorists have just fired their latest volley at that belief, saying there could be a timeless cycle of expansion and contraction. It’s an idea as old as Hinduism, updated for the 21st century.

THE “CYCLIC MODEL,” developed by Princeton University’s Paul Steinhardt and Cambridge University’s Neil Turok, made its highest-profile appearance yet Thursday on Science Express, the Web site for the journal Science. But past incarnations of the idea have been hotly debated within the cosmological community for the past year — and Steinhardt acknowledges that he has an uphill battle on his hands.
       “It will take people a while to get used to it,” he told MSNBC.com. “This introduces a number of concepts that are quite unfamiliar, even to a cosmologist.”
       
TINKERING WITH THE COSMOS
       Years ago, Steinhardt played a prominent role in formulating what is now the most widely accepted scientific picture of the universe’s beginnings, known as inflationary Big Bang theory: that a vanishingly small quantum fluctuation gave rise in an instant to an inflated region of space-time, kicking off an expansion that is now picking up speed.
       The model has weathered repeated experimental tests, including studies of patterns in the microwave “afterglow” of the Big Bang.
       “All the competing models were knocked off,” Steinhardt said. “So we had a situation where it looked as if we had converged on a single idea. But I was always disturbed by the idea that there were no competitors around.”

Click here for complete article


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: astronomy; cosmology; crevolist; stringtheory
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-100101-150151-198 next last
An interesting idea.
1 posted on 04/25/2002 2:34:20 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
The ekpyrotic model is testable. It predicts a gravitational blue-shift. There are some old threads on FR discussing the ekpyrotic model.
2 posted on 04/25/2002 2:42:24 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Big names of the field. Reminds me of the ideas of another cosmologist, Andre Linde, with his, "Eternally existing, self-reproducing, inflationary universe."

To reach into the mind of God....

3 posted on 04/25/2002 2:43:02 PM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Here's an interesting picture.

BIG BANG OR CREATED?

4 posted on 04/25/2002 2:55:00 PM PDT by stlrocket
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Yeah but someone had to cause the big bang to begin with no? Hehe..this is the age old question. Who made God. If there was a big bang who cares...there had to be something before the bang,,,,,right :)

fun fun

5 posted on 04/25/2002 3:00:38 PM PDT by Lucas1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

that a vanishingly small quantum fluctuation gave rise in an instant to an inflated region of space-time, kicking off an expansion that is now picking up speed.

Existence Exists as Gravity Units

Gravity Units are the fundamental units of existence. They are indivisible, windowless units of submicroscopic, quantized geometries from which nothing can enter or exit. Yet, those geometries exist continuously -- as a quantum-blended whole through wave-like dynamics and smeared-out resonances. Also, manifestations of certain Gravity Units could form the weakly interacting dark material that accounts for the missing mass in modern cosmological theories. And finally, each Gravity Unit can flux into a universe of gravity, mass, energy, and consciousness.

All wealth arises from conscious-controlled Gravity Units.

www.neo-tech.com

6 posted on 04/25/2002 3:09:50 PM PDT by Ferris
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Lucas1
"Yeah but someone had to cause the big bang to begin with no? "

It has always been my belief that the Big Bang theory is fact. The phenomenon is easily reproducible.

Simply get a sufficiently omnipotent entity to utter the words, "Let there be light!" and vóila! The process has been initiated.


7 posted on 04/25/2002 3:32:15 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
I thought Neil Turok was a Vulcan time traveller from the future??
8 posted on 04/25/2002 3:42:41 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: <1/1,000,000th%
I thought Neil Turok was a Vulcan time traveller from the future??

Nah, that's Neil Tuvok.   =;^)

9 posted on 04/25/2002 3:51:58 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Ferris
Gravity Units are the fundamental units of existence. They are indivisible, windowless units of submicroscopic, quantized geometries from which nothing can enter or exit.

Intrigued ... What do you mean by "windowless units" and "quantized geometries"? Aren't they mutally exclusive?

10 posted on 04/25/2002 4:23:34 PM PDT by Cameron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: Lucas1
there had to be something before the bang

First there was Nothing,
Which exploded.

12 posted on 04/25/2002 4:35:04 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Ferris
I am surely glad that you made that perfectly clear.
13 posted on 04/25/2002 5:34:25 PM PDT by RipSawyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro; jennyp; junior; longshadow; crevo_list; RadioAstronomer; Scully; Piltdown_Woman...
Cosmology bump. Here are more links on the same subject:

Universe in 'endless cycle' .
Universe Reborn Endlessly in New Model of the Cosmos.
'Endless universe driven by dark forces'.

14 posted on 04/25/2002 5:42:24 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
Perhaps you are the person who can shed light on the two great mysteries that drive me crazy. 1. Why is it that people will laugh at the creation myths of other religions while insisting that their own religious creation myth is literal truth? 2. Why is it that some people will laugh at all religious creation myths while at the same time they consider the big bang theory to be scientifically proven truth? Is there really any difference in God speaking the universe into existence and a quantam fluctuation that continues forever or whatever the theory is? I don't pretend to understand the big bang theory, it just sounds like so much gibberish to me. I sometimes wonder if the people with the doctorate in physics understand it any better than I do or are they just spouting mumbo jumbo like some witch doctor so that they can make the villagers think they know something.
15 posted on 04/25/2002 5:43:07 PM PDT by RipSawyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
First there was Nothing,
Which exploded.

I'm sorry, but that's a theological position.




16 posted on 04/25/2002 5:51:22 PM PDT by Sabertooth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: RipSawyer
Those are mysteries. Whether they are great mysteries, who knows. I'll just have to agree with those who say there are some things we will never know intellectually. It is likely that the stress of modern life, all the traffic and noise causes almost everyone to have to take their answers in soundbites. Who has time to sit under a tree for 40 days eating nothing and not sleeping the whole time just to clear the mind so they can figure some of these things out? It's like the Falun Gong, meditation for the businessman on the run. Pre-packaged, instant microwaved understanding.
17 posted on 04/25/2002 5:57:18 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
I claim nobody needs to be Albert Einstein to figure this one out. Having all the mass of the universe collapsed to a point would be the mother of all black holes. How the hell is anything supposed to "big-bang" its way out of that??
18 posted on 04/25/2002 5:58:28 PM PDT by medved
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
"if it's Thursday, it must be TimeCube time" placemarker
19 posted on 04/25/2002 5:58:38 PM PDT by longshadow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
'endless cycle'

We're stuck in 'rinse?'

20 posted on 04/25/2002 6:25:57 PM PDT by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
I think I'm the reincarnation of someone who lived in a prior cycle of the universe. In fact, I'm sure of it.
21 posted on 04/25/2002 6:29:46 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
I don't believe in reincarnation but I did in a few of my previous lives.
22 posted on 04/25/2002 6:31:28 PM PDT by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: All

Live! Now on RadioFR!

6pm/9pm - TULL's TAWKIN: Special guest, Ralph Sarchie, an eighteen-year NYPD veteran, works out of the 46th Precinct in New York's South Bronx. But it is his other job that he calls "the Work" that I find interestering. Ralph, under the direction of the Catholic Church, investigates cases of demonic possession.

7pm/10pm - INS WHISTLEBLOWER RICK RAMIREZ GUEST ON SPECIAL EDITION "BANANA REPUBLICAN RADIO HOUR"

Click HERE to listen LIVE! while you FReep!


23 posted on 04/25/2002 6:31:44 PM PDT by Bob J
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
"Pre-packaged, instant microwaved understanding. "

Where can I buy some? Wal-Mart?


24 posted on 04/25/2002 6:36:52 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry; VadeRetro
Paul Davies brought the following point up in one of his books -

What would you say if I claimed I was the reincarnation of Napoleon, yet I simply did not possess his memories?

What is Self, other than the compilation of our memories, anyway? If you lost all of your memory, and had to start from scratch, would you still be "you"? Why could it not be said that you are a reincarnated Napoleon who has to learn everything all over again?

Sorry to get serious again. Actually, I'm sorry for asking so many questions in one post.

25 posted on 04/25/2002 6:40:05 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Senator Pardek
What would you say if I claimed I was the reincarnation of Napoleon, yet I simply did not possess his memories?

Balderdash! Actually, it is a little-known fact that reincarnation works backwards in time, so that I will one day be re-born as Napoleon. His greatness was because he will be me in a later life.

26 posted on 04/25/2002 6:46:54 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
I'm Napoleon! I just grew two or three inches, and instead of keeping my hand tucked in my military jacket, I keep it tucked in my pants while watching TV, a la Al Bundy.
27 posted on 04/25/2002 6:54:53 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Senator Pardek
I'm Napoleon!

If you persist in this shabby attempt at identity theft, I shall have to press the abuse button.

28 posted on 04/25/2002 7:02:04 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
They forgot to present any evidence.....the article is simply bald assertions.
29 posted on 04/25/2002 7:08:12 PM PDT by Ahban
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Senator Pardek
Napoleon was born understanding field artillery. He knew how to use it and how to work it. How is your field artillery expertise?
30 posted on 04/25/2002 7:23:02 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Where can I buy some?

Just log on to FR. Every post contains part of the answer. It's FRee.

31 posted on 04/25/2002 7:26:30 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
How is your field artillery expertise?

You realize that you're speaking to Napoleon, don't you?

32 posted on 04/25/2002 7:28:30 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Senator Pardek
If you lost all of your memory, and had to start from scratch, would you still be "you"?

If I owed money, the answer would be "Yes."

33 posted on 04/25/2002 7:33:39 PM PDT by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
Terrible - since I AM Napoleon, but I don't possess the memories of my previous life.

Is it impossible for me to be Napoleon without those memories, or is their something else which defines Self?

34 posted on 04/25/2002 7:34:06 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
You realize that you're speaking to Napoleon, don't you?

Well Nappie meet my friend Arthur Wellesley.

35 posted on 04/25/2002 7:36:57 PM PDT by AndrewC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts,right whale
 But I was always disturbed by the idea
that there were no competitors around

Occam's Razor without a blade...

36 posted on 04/25/2002 8:29:40 PM PDT by gcruse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucas1
Yeah but someone had to cause the big bang to begin with no?

Not if space-time was created at the big bang.

37 posted on 04/25/2002 8:31:27 PM PDT by gcruse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
You realize that you're speaking to Napoleon, don't you?

And I am Spartacus!

38 posted on 04/25/2002 8:34:05 PM PDT by longshadow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: medved
I claim nobody needs to be Albert Einstein to figure this one out. Having all the mass of the universe collapsed to a point would be the mother of all black holes. How the hell is anything supposed to "big-bang" its way out of that??

Yeah! And the Earth is flat. Any moron can see that.

When you discover that there are some truths that aren't intuitive, you will be a wiser man.

39 posted on 04/25/2002 8:38:27 PM PDT by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Senator Pardek
General Patton was another warrior who felt that he had been a warrior in a prior life. Which aspect of Napoleon carried over to you? Want to live on an island?
40 posted on 04/25/2002 9:52:50 PM PDT by RightWhale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
New website for you.

Niburu (or Planet X) Explained

41 posted on 04/25/2002 10:11:40 PM PDT by Gladwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Gladwin; longshadow
Niburu (or Planet X) Explained

Imbecile!. Planet X is obviously named in Roman numerals. It is planet number ten! I was speaking of the mysterious and unnamable Planet Eight.

42 posted on 04/26/2002 3:29:24 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
I don't believe in reincarnation but I did in a few of my previous lives.

Now there's a line worth stealing.
Maybe I'll be able to work it into conversation next time I have to take Mrs ASA Vet to temple.

43 posted on 04/26/2002 3:36:22 AM PDT by ASA Vet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: RipSawyer
1. Why is it that people will laugh at the creation myths of other religions while insisting that their own religious creation myth is literal truth?

That's a question for the religious among us. Ask a Christian what he thinks of native American creation myths, and why.

2. Why is it that some people will laugh at all religious creation myths while at the same time they consider the big bang theory to be scientifically proven truth?

But as this article shows, not even the people who came up with the leading big bang model consider it to be the proven truth. These are models, only models...but as models, they are in exquisite agreement with the known facts, whereas other models--including religious creation myths--are in stark disagreement with the known facts. That really does give them a greater claim on the truth.

Is there really any difference in God speaking the universe into existence and a quantam fluctuation that continues forever or whatever the theory is?

Yes. One is to some extent calculable and testable, and one is not.

I don't pretend to understand the big bang theory, it just sounds like so much gibberish to me. I sometimes wonder if the people with the doctorate in physics understand it any better than I do or are they just spouting mumbo jumbo like some witch doctor so that they can make the villagers think they know something.

So you don't understand the math, you are unwilling or unable to make the effort to understand it (which isn't a criticism; few people are in a position to do it), and you don't trust the people who do. In that case, there's nothing anybody can say that can in principle change your position.

Part of the trust issue falls on the shoulders of the scientists. Scientists have not done an adequate job of communicating and interpreting the fruits of their research to the lay public. Most of the time and effort I spend on FreeRepublic has been to correct that, as far as I can and to the best of my ability. But I can't do it alone; you have to meet me part of the way. You can't just sit there and say, "I don't understand it, so I guess nobody does."

So if you have any questions, fire away, and I'll answer them as best I can.

44 posted on 04/26/2002 5:03:49 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Physicist
Yes. One is to some extent calculable and testable,

How do you "test" another universe?

45 posted on 04/26/2002 6:40:35 AM PDT by AndrewC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: AndrewC
I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about Steinhardt's cyclical model?
46 posted on 04/26/2002 6:43:42 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: gcruse
*Yeah but someone had to cause the big bang to begin with no?

**Not if space-time was created at the big bang.

How is that logically necessary?

In fact, my understanding of the Big Bang model is that by definition, it means that space-time violently expanded from a primordial singularity.

So you're basically saying that if there was a Big Bang, it wasn't caused.

How do we know that?

I don't believe we do, scientifically, nor do we know that it was caused... scientifically.




47 posted on 04/26/2002 6:57:12 AM PDT by Sabertooth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Bloody Sam Roberts
i thought this was a thread on orgies....sorry...
48 posted on 04/26/2002 6:58:26 AM PDT by galt-jw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: medved
Having all the mass of the universe collapsed to a point would be the mother of all black holes.

Now it might have been a gravastar.

49 posted on 04/26/2002 7:00:19 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Sabertooth
So you're basically saying that if there was a Big Bang, it wasn't caused.

How do we know that?

You're missing the point. If there was a big bang, it doesn't mathematically require a cause, whether or not it in fact had one. The question "what happened before the big bang" or "what caused the big bang" is not a question that requires an answer, and the big bang cannot be logically refuted on any such grounds.

50 posted on 04/26/2002 7:08:48 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-100101-150151-198 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson