Gravity is the affect of mass in motion. Or multiple bodies of mass pulling on each other based on motion is it not? ( I may be totally off on that). That would lead me to think that there would have to be some large body of mass outside the universe to pull the universe towards it if gravity was the cause. My guess is it is more likely inertia still propelling from the initial bang of creation whatever the cause.

maybe it is expanding in realization of its self potential OR expanding in self realization, just like a very small kid has a very limited grasp of world around and with time that kid grows perception of reality expands. Since we are inside, our perception is limited to what we can only observe and grasp from within

i think AMP brought up a very interesting point about expanding within O - then it has possibility of almost unlimited potential (even based on energy of atoms)

here is an interesting question - what is a life span of any given atom? can it die (run out of energy)?

Well, Einstein said that time & space are not 2 separate things, but one thing: Time Space. Gravity supposedly comes from objects (mass) warping time/space. Like if you take a bed sheet, have a person holding each corner, and you swirl a baseball around in it. There's no magical mysterious "force" (gravity), it's simply the mass of the object distorting the fabric of time / space. (the sheet). Since the fabric is distorted by the baseball, other objects are susceptible to falling into it's "gravity". I'm not convinced that gravity is really a "force" so much as it is an optical illusion based on our perspective. If we could see it from a much larger perspective, it probably wouldn't be so mysterious any more. We'd be like, "Oh, well that makes sense now."

Put a bowling ball in the middle of your bed. The bowling ball warps the matress just like a object warps space. The more massive the object the more it will warp space. Now place a tennis ball 1 foot away from the bowling ball. The tennis ball will roll towards the bowling ball because the bowling ball is more massive and warps the matress more. This is exactly how gravity works, it warps space.

Now many scientists say that the only thing that could be making the universe expand faster is gravity. But they can't locate or measure that gravity, only it's affects.

I'm pretty sure atoms never actually die. They decay into other elements. I recently learned that lead is decayed uranium. No wonder lead is so toxic.

matter and material world is not that material when you start looking deep inside of things, we have to get deeper before we can know what is this thing we call Universe.

I watched a programe on tv the other night about our moon. Amazing how important it is to us actually. Never really thought about it as much before then...

Would this not then based on your example require a mass outside the universe to pull the universe out much like the tennis ball needs the bowling ball?

Amp I know I am quoting Choker here but thank you for your explanation as well.

It's all good. :thumbsup

Is the universe being "pulled" outward in it's expansion though, or is it still riding on the explosive force of the initial "bang"?

deep stuff man.

I think the term they use for the mysterious energy is "dark energy".

If you have the time, check this video out from Lawrence Krauss. It is worth the hour.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo

Atom is not material, is it dense vibration of some sort of energy, these energies attract each other which makes appearance of solid objects, can be transfered, observed, attracted by other structured energies. but the energy of atom never dies even if atom decays into other elements (different structures providing different density vibrations)

I guess the real questions are: (in this order)

1. Can we not kill ourselves before we figure all this out?
2. Can we manage to solve enough questions to get ourselves off this rock before we completely deplete it's resources?
3. Can we get out of our solar system before our sun goes Red Giant? (i know we've still got a few billion years)
4. Can we hang on long enough to eventually make the jump to other universes at will?

The last one is the deciding factor in whether or not we are here to stay or just a passing eye-blink.

One other thing that has intrigued philosophers / theologians forever is free will, which doesn't seem to be so free based on much of the science today.

You are correct. String theory seems to explain this but that's too complicated for my pee brain to understand. Theories about what we are, what the universe is about are very interesting to me. In my opinion the most logical answer is that this planet is nothing more than a lab experiment for a highly developed being or race of beings. We are nothing more than a ant farm. LOL

One thing is for certain...

if we are able to colonize other planets and other galaxies, porn will be one of the first things established on any new territory. After a few million light years of travel, everyone is gonna need something to rub one out with. It's the most basic, hardwired element of any living organism: The need to fuck. (replicate).

The universe expansion is accelerating due to the dark matter (apparently).

Energy transforms itself so the amount of energy available in the whole universe is a constant.

Regarding the black holes, Einstein said that there might exist something somewhere in the universe that behaves as a "white hole". Something that instead of sucking everything around it, it "ejects" or "expels" matter, energy, light, etc

Didn't the physicists decide that's what Quasars are? The other side of a black hole.

I've never heard that. Is that really true?

Yeah... the other side of super massive black holes. All that matter & energy has to go somewhere. Obviously that's really over simplified... but the basic idea.

Think that's intense? Star nurseries floating in massive nebulas are truly mind bending.

I'll have to read up on that. :thumbsup

me too!

I hope you're kidding. :winkwink:

I swear I've read this thread before...

I'm not really sure honestly, it fascinates me though. I also read or heard somewhere that black holes are not all about destruction, they also help create new galaxies and stars, they are an important part in the whole creation-destruction cycle.

I think what's disturbing to me is the real possibility that we may be the only organisms to ever advance our understanding to this level. In which case, we truly are on our own in overcoming the necessary obstacles to ensure our survival beyond this island we are on.

I just don't see some benevolent aliens coming from the other side of the universe to save us from ourselves and usher us in to some "next level" of our existence. That shit is for movies. The philosophy of "the strong survive and the weak are eaten" is still very much in play.