· List topics · post a topic · subscribe · Google ·
Posted on 12/15/2013 1:55:43 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
To think that our universe is 13.8 billion years old is incredible enough.
But now researchers are proposing that the universe stretches back into time infinitely with no singular point where it started.
The idea is one possible result of something known as ‘rainbow gravity’- a theory that is not widely accepted among physicists, though many say the idea is interesting.
The theory’s name comes from a suggestion that gravity's effect on the cosmos is felt differently by varying wavelengths of light, which can be found in the colours of the rainbow.
The theory was proposed 10 years ago in an attempt to reconcile difference between the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.
Researchers claim it highlights flaws in the Big Bang theory, which suggests the universe was born about 13.8 billion years ago when an infinitely dense point - known as a 'singularity' - exploded.
According to Einstein's general relativity, huge objects warp space-time so that anything travelling through it, such as light (regardless of its frequency), takes a curving path.
The Big Bang theory was formulated in 1922 by Alexander Friedmann.
Friedmann began with Einstein's equations of general relativity and found a solution to those equations in which the universe began in a state of high density and temperature....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“This can’t be...
The science is settled...”
I know the head of physics at the local college. Brilliant guy, he has lectured at FermiLab. Very down to earth and normal. I have heard him preface several statements with “at our present level of ignorance we assume that..........”
I think a better way of describing this is that the universe, as such, is a composite of other, semi-universes. So, as a universe, it didn’t so much come into existence, but came into organization.
Explaining the parts of the composite seems to combine very different things, somewhat like describing different parts of the body that seem to have very little in common, like the bones, the organs, the muscles, the hair and nails. They seem too different to combine into a whole.
In the case of the universe, for example, some parts of the composite are structural and abstract, like why is a triangle different from a square or a circle. Others are more substantial, like why are time and space like two axes of the same thing? Or mass and gravity?
But until all of the parts are assembled, there is no universe, though their could be.
Why Our Universe is Not a Hologram
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3101551/posts
Liberal: “Enough with the hypothesizing, how does this
boost global warming and how can we make the public
aware of the horrific consequences if we do nothing”.
Maybe I’m not that smart, but we’re supposed to believe that the universe was created from a thimble full of mass that exploded, but no one can tell us where the thimble full of mass come from?
Believing in one system or another may not alter the reality of our existence. It does, however, satisfy an important human need to understand our place in the universe. Without beliefs we wander aimlessly.
Though I don’t understand gravity, I do believe in it. And have a great respect for it as well!
A couple of useful corollaries to Murphy's Laws...
Constants aren't.
Variables don'r.
Now that would be an interesting experiment to prove. Cool idea though...
From what I understand, where you see the sun in the sky, because of the speed at which light propagates, it is actually 8 minutes behind what you see.
On the other hand, the gravitational center of the sun/earth/moon system, is not off by a similar amount. If it were, stable orbits wouldn't be possible. Seens to me, that this indicates gravity and its effects aren't limited by the speed of light.
Without beliefs we wander aimlessly.
Even with beliefs we wander aimlessly,
we just don’t know it.
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.