Celtic Heroes

Here is a good reference that is free to view: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe

The big bang did not originate from a point in space such as a particular point. Rather all points in space were contained in the same place and time and spread outward much much faster than the speed of light. This inflation happened not by actual movement so much as new space being generated between the existing points. It had the effect of stretching the remnants of the explosion out and created effects we can see and measure. Since everythng only happens at light speed when you look outward you look back in time so that in any one direction you see the "edge" of the visible universe at the same distance. You are always at the center - even your two eyes inhabit slightly different centers of the universe with a few inches missing from the edge of either side as viewed from the other. As the visible edge recedes it borrows energy from the gravitational field of the objects within to maintain conservation of energy of the universe.

So to the question as to the size - well it's a current area of research. The age is around 13.7 billion years but due to the faster than light inflation the 'visible size' is around 93 billion light years in diameter today. The measure of how far the universe exists beyond the visible can be thought of in terms of curvature. If space is flat it is truly infinite. Positive or negative curvature imply a finite size but this may be oversimplifying. physical laws seem to be the same and uniform in every direction. The most accurate measurements have it nearly flat but it could be a tiny bit positive or negative since there is some error in the measurements.

Some truly bizzare things start to happen if it really is infinite and quantized (as quantum mechanics says it is). For example you may be able to travel instantly and hypothetically so far that probability itself provides a universe identical to the one you left. So for a given size of a universe with our physical laws there is a an upper limit to size based on the set of all possible combinations of matter even if it is infinite in size. It would be no more infinite than the circumference of a circle - or another analogy is - even if you were to play an infinite number of games of tic-tac-toe there are only a finite number of possible games thus a finite size to all of it.

I've learned more from Twi than all my teachers combined.

Space is an indefinite size. Due to "dark energy" which, if it exists, (it is still hypothetical) it will cause "the big rip" in which the speed of the universes expansion gets to be faster than light, meaning no particle can be affected by another. However, it is also thought that there is a "multiverse" which is a collection of universes, ours being one in a multiverse. Although space does not go on forever. There is an edge of our universe, however it is interesting to note that your maths teacher who claims "infinite cant happen" is wrong, as a black hole has an infinite amount of mass and an infinite gravitational pull in its event horizon

The effects of dark energy are well established and will never be disproven at this point. The exact mechanism which generates these observable and documented effects is the question not that the data tens of thousands of different people making different measurements all see.

The universe definately expands faster than light due to creation of new space between existing points. It's why the universe is 13.7 billion years old but light is hitting your eyes from 46 billion light years away today.

The 'edge' is relative and is purely subjective. Your two eyes see two different edges and you are always at the center. An alien at the edge of our visible univerise would see us at the edge of theirs with a shared area (viewed at different times) and uncommon areas not yet shared but may be shared in the future as light finally has the time to cross them.

The universe certainly could be infinite and all evidence gathered to date points at space being infinite or nearly infinite in the usual dimensions of distance. That's not to say that there couldn't be a finite size given the quantization of space.

At the event horizon of a black hole there is no infinite mass nor infinite pull. Each black hole has mass rotational kinetic energy and electric charge all of which is finite. The point of no return (if there is one given the latest argument by hawing and others) is simply the point at which the gravity makes you need more velocity to escape than light speed.

I hate science but space is amazing i wish to go in soar one day I just wanna study space and hope to visit new galaxies around this galaxies. I hope someone invents hyperspace perhaps me maybe?

I don't want to burst your bubble cyber but hyperspace isn't possible nor will ever be at the level of science and discover we are currently at. Apparently, the most plausible way for us to get around the universe would be via wormhole. I'm not that well read up on these things but I can help you find some helpful links if you wanna look . Also again not to burst your bubble but at the rate our science is advancing we wont have even finished decoding our DNA entirely before we all hit 200 over getting to another galaxy .

While this is hypothetically true the problem is that the energies required, as well as possible exotic forms of matter given the method of making one, makes harnessing the power of a thousand suns look like child's play. So scientifically there is no plausible way to do this since the engineering scope is so large.

Even more saddening is the fact the most powerful fuel possible is matter/antimatter anilliation. But you would need more power than this to travel interstellar distances in a reasonable amount of time (human compatible time). So it's not even possible to build a ship with even the most powerful fuel tank to travel through space fast.

About the only way would be to gather your own fuel along the way such as using a tiny unstable black hole to eat all the particles in your path and provide propulsion. This should be far easier than making a stable wormhole of any real size or distance. Then again making a small unstable black hole is likely much further than 500 years off.

I've learned more from Twi than all my teachers combined.

+1

Ask your teacher (if you still know her) what's beyond the boundaries of space and watch his/her face grind to a similar to constipation halt.
All to do with red shift, and that since the big bang we've been expanding. We have no proof of what is beyond the visibility of our telescopes and high frequency sw's from probes.
I guess science states that the universe is infinite but it makes me feel weird when I think deeply about it...

Ask your teacher (if you still know her) what's beyond the boundaries of space and watch his/her face grind to a similar to constipation halt.
All to do with red shift, and that since the big bang we've been expanding. We have no proof of what is beyond the visibility of our telescopes and high frequency sw's from probes.
I guess science states that the universe is infinite but it makes me feel weird when I think deeply about it...

Yes i am with you it is often very sad getting teachers to even respond to what is the size and shape and properties of our universe. An unsettlingly large percentage don't know all the basics. I had to piece together most of what I know from books journal articles with free access and discussions with physics majors.

Depending on what you call visible we do have the ability to see proof. The visible edge was caused by the inability of the temperature and density of the early universe to allow light to travel in relatively straight lines at vacuum speed. The edge of last neutrino scattering is slightly larger and as we develop better neutrino detectors we may see interesting data.

Also with measurements of geometry and the cosmic background radiation we can make a pretty solid educated guess what lies at least immediately behind the receding edge. Our understanding does diminish the further you go but thats not to say extrapolation is a bad approach. For an answer we can always wait and see as it is receding every second.

Which begs the question if space isnt infinate how exactly did it begin/start space is one thing i dont think had a start which is really interesting.

Ask your teacher (if you still know her) what's beyond the boundaries of space and watch his/her face grind to a similar to constipation halt.
All to do with red shift, and that since the big bang we've been expanding. We have no proof of what is beyond the visibility of our telescopes and high frequency sw's from probes.
I guess science states that the universe is infinite but it makes me feel weird when I think deeply about it...

Despite there being laws about Public schooling teachers being allowed to teach or share their religious views. Some teachers will refuse or subside questions involving creation because they are religious and believe in the Genesis over Evolution and Universal Expansion.

I think you have confused thread syndrome?

Which begs the question if space isnt infinate how exactly did it begin/start space is one thing i dont think had a start which is really interesting.

The more one knows about physics the more unlikely it seems that the Big Bang was the beginning of everything. Even at extreme conditions the conservation of energy holds up to measurement so its plausible this energy was not created in the Big Bang.

Also questions about time become kind of tricky as we are used to thinking about it in a linear way in our typical size and energy levels. Time as you probably think of it for particles in our universe probably does not exist or has little meaning for them before the Big Bang. Time itself may just be a byproduct of probability and the increasing possibility of particle evolution in a similar way to how heat works. Physical laws for nearly all cases work the same both forward and backward in time but you never see a broken dish in pieces pop up off the floor and onto a table and self assemble into a complete dish - while possible it is insanely improbable. This is also true of how hot things pass thier heat to nearby cold things. You never see a piece of steel start to glow white hot when sitting on surroundings at room temperature for the same reason.

All of that would imply that time is just a byproduct of possibility.