- #1
learningmore
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Hi,
Firstly, I want to thank all those knowledgeable people here that offer their input so freely. I have found it very enlightening and educational.
I apologise in advance if the following is quite long but there are a couple of cosmic rules that I can't quite grasp so I will try to articulate it in a structured manner :)
I was watching a program on Discovery channel (UK) last night called Stephan Hawking Universe (http://www.discoveryuk.com/web/stephen-hawkings-universe/videos/).
A 2 hour documentary that cover the universe from start to theorized end.
This program seemed to counter some of what I have read here and my understanding of the cosmos and the rules that governs it... yet, I suspect that it is my misunderstanding of the rules and/or the concepts.
Center of the Universe:
Now having read several of the post here that say that there is no center to the universe and that the big bang happened everywhere all at once.
Whilst I have a little bit of difficulty comprehending this, I can accept that is entirely possible. However, in the program last night SH said that if we could freeze time and run it in reverse, all matter in the universe would end up at a single point, being infinitely small (slight paraphrasing - sorry). I understood this to say that the Expansion/inflation of the Universe started from a single point.
He further went on to say that after a trillionith (spelling?) of a second, our universe was the size of an orange and that after 10 minutes, it was the size of our solar system or maybe the milky way (cant remember which for sure), being trillions of miles across.
My question on this point is, on the assumption that SH knows his stuff, how could it be that we could not calculate the center?
(I am positive I have misunderstood something here - being purely an interested layman).
Cosmic Speed limit:
Following on from the above, again on the assumption that the statement that the universe was the size of our solar system (or galaxy) in 10 minutes, this would mean that the matter expanded / inflated faster than light? I base this on my understanding that it takes light 8 minutes to reach the Earth from the Sun, which is 93 million miles away.
My question is, at what point did the laws of physics start (in cosmic terms) that prevents Faster Than Light (FTL) travel?
This seems to mean to me (incorrectly most likely) that FTL speed was possible and hypothetically, at some distant future time in our scientific development - it would be able to harness those principles to travel beyond the speed of light - therefore potentially allowing travel in much short time frames to distant places in our Galaxy.
Whilst I appreciate that the above is mainly conjecture on my part, I would like to understand where or what it is I misunderstand.
Thank you,
Firstly, I want to thank all those knowledgeable people here that offer their input so freely. I have found it very enlightening and educational.
I apologise in advance if the following is quite long but there are a couple of cosmic rules that I can't quite grasp so I will try to articulate it in a structured manner :)
I was watching a program on Discovery channel (UK) last night called Stephan Hawking Universe (http://www.discoveryuk.com/web/stephen-hawkings-universe/videos/).
A 2 hour documentary that cover the universe from start to theorized end.
This program seemed to counter some of what I have read here and my understanding of the cosmos and the rules that governs it... yet, I suspect that it is my misunderstanding of the rules and/or the concepts.
Center of the Universe:
Now having read several of the post here that say that there is no center to the universe and that the big bang happened everywhere all at once.
Whilst I have a little bit of difficulty comprehending this, I can accept that is entirely possible. However, in the program last night SH said that if we could freeze time and run it in reverse, all matter in the universe would end up at a single point, being infinitely small (slight paraphrasing - sorry). I understood this to say that the Expansion/inflation of the Universe started from a single point.
He further went on to say that after a trillionith (spelling?) of a second, our universe was the size of an orange and that after 10 minutes, it was the size of our solar system or maybe the milky way (cant remember which for sure), being trillions of miles across.
My question on this point is, on the assumption that SH knows his stuff, how could it be that we could not calculate the center?
(I am positive I have misunderstood something here - being purely an interested layman).
Cosmic Speed limit:
Following on from the above, again on the assumption that the statement that the universe was the size of our solar system (or galaxy) in 10 minutes, this would mean that the matter expanded / inflated faster than light? I base this on my understanding that it takes light 8 minutes to reach the Earth from the Sun, which is 93 million miles away.
My question is, at what point did the laws of physics start (in cosmic terms) that prevents Faster Than Light (FTL) travel?
This seems to mean to me (incorrectly most likely) that FTL speed was possible and hypothetically, at some distant future time in our scientific development - it would be able to harness those principles to travel beyond the speed of light - therefore potentially allowing travel in much short time frames to distant places in our Galaxy.
Whilst I appreciate that the above is mainly conjecture on my part, I would like to understand where or what it is I misunderstand.
Thank you,