If the universe is always expanding?

Question

If the universe is everything, and nothing else exists but the universe, but its always expanding, then just what is it expanding into?

Hmmm...Pondersome.

Answer 1

Read everything everyone has said here and dismiss it, including what I say. The truth is they don't know and neither do I. Theories are just that, but it is beyond the dictates of logic for the universe to expand into nothingness when it is supposed to be all there is in existence - it would also mean the 'nothingness' was quantifiable and this an oxymoron. So what is it expanding into when it is all there is? All the theories about other dimensions and multiverses are just further pathetic attempts to explain the unexplainable. It's like a politician trying his best to avoid the question posed and the fundamental questions remain unanswered. I honestly think it is beyond the scope of knowing. Everytime we make a scientific breakthrough or discovery, we just find there are more questions opened up to us. I think that this is truly a miracle and the mystery of life will always remain just that no matter how much we advance.

Much like trying to conceive what was before the big bang (if such a thing actually took place), it is a mental impossibility. We live in time, are of time and know of nothing else except time, so any insights we think we may have on the nature of timelessness can only ever be from your existing knowledge bank which is still of time and so it negates the possibility of the insights being true! It is an impossible question; a catch 22 in which we are all caught. It doesn't stop the scientists from trying (and failing) though! What is remarkable about this phenomena is to me the essential truth of existence that some physicists and philosophers have touched on. This is the principle of the observer and the observed. Basically it means unity and therefore is equally applicable to religion or spirituality - in the true etymological meaning of the words. We conceive of ourselves as separate from the thing we are analysing, in this case the universe, but in actuality we ARE the universe. We are made up of the same atomic and sub atomic elements as everything there is around us, so there really is no separateness at all of anything; of anyone. Do not confuse this with some hippy's idea of being one with things, which is just silly imagining. I'm talking as an absolute fact, you ARE the very same thing which you are studying and asking questions about!

Answer 2

It's not expanding into anything. The answer isn't that difficult.

First you have to imagine the universe as being very small and very weird. Think of it as being the size of a small room, say 10 feet by 10 feet and 10 feet high. You've a door in each of the four walls. But it is connected up in such a way that if you walk out the North door, you immediately come in the South door. If you walk out the East door, you immediately enter by the West door. (you could drill a hole in the ceiling and come up through the floor as well). This is a "closed universe". The real universe is like that, but a bit bigger, and it doesn't have the walls.


So you see that there's nothing outside this universe. If you go in any direction, you just find yourself at the other side of the universe. If we were to remove the walls, we wouldn't even be able to point to any position and call it the centre of the universe, as it all equally central.

Now imagine the room getting bigger. It is expanding, so we have to walk further to cross the room, but it's not expanding into anything, because there isn't an outside.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

You see the universe is divided into two studies , one being the planetary universe that is expanding ,that is, that the outer most galaxies ,stars,planets etc. are constantly moving out wards ,expanding like an explosion , and the second view is the eternal open space-universe in which the planets are moving into, and this part has no end , is infinite space , because even if it were a wall to stop it, there has to be some thing else on the other side and it just has to continue

Answer 4

Nobel Laureate, Steven Weinberg once said "Solar systems and galaxies aren't expanding, and space itself is not expanding." The galaxies, as described by Bill Bryson, are rushing apart. You are incorrect, I'm sorry, about there being nothing else BUT the universe. There very well exist more than just this universe with it's 400 trillion some stars and planets, but there may not exist another capable of supporting life or with the exact same numbers as ours. We are in one that does support life. There are other universes in creation and supernovae creating new solar systems and wiping out solar systems everyday. There is so much going on in space, yet so little for trillions of miles, you might as well just stay here and buy a telescope. Space is dangerous, but very very boring for millions and trillions of vast miles.

Answer 5

The universe is defined as all matter but that is just a definition. We use a definition for it so that we can grasp the meaning. It is expanding into space which has no limit. The universe will continue to expand for the rest of eternity.

When you see stars explode and turn into black holes, that is caused by the universe being over-stretched. It's like the rear of your pants spitting because you've stretched them too much. I think a lot of the problems with the universe can be directly related to Global Warming that Vice President Gore invented.

Answer 6

It is expanding in that the distance between any two points will be greater if we wait some period of time. There is nothing that is outside the universe. I do not mean that space is empty. I mean that there is not even any empty space. The universe is finite but unbounded. A symptom of the finiteness of the universe is that the ratio of the circumference of a circle and the diameter in the real world is not exactly Pi. almost but not quite.

Answer 7

There is no "real" answer to this question. The universe is expanding and has been since the big bang. As to what it's expanding into... some people have theorized that our universe is part of multidimensional space and that we are just a single sheet in this higher dimension. Look into string theory or brane theory. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

WELL IT ALL STARTED OFF WITH THE BIG BANG U KNOW A HUGE EXPLOSION ANYWAYS THE FORCE FROM THE EXPLOSION WAS SOOOO GREAT THAT, THAT VERY FORCE IS WHAT IS CAUSING EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE MOVE AWAY FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE WHICH WILL JUST LEAVE A BIG SPACE OF NOTHING THAT IS WHERE NOTHING EXISTS AND THE UNIVERSE IS JUST EXPANDING MORE AND MORE CREATING JUST MORE SPACE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE CAUSING IN A FEW BILLIONS YEARS YET ANOTHER BIG BANG BECAUSE ONCE THE ENERGY FROM THE LAST BIG BANG DIES OFF IT WILL COMPRESS ITSELF (JUST LIKE AN ATOMIC BOMB) AND ONCE AGAIN AND ALL THAT WILL BE LEFT IS MATTER AND DARK MATTER AND ONCE AGAIN THE BIG BANG WILL HAPPEN WHICH WILL BE A CHAIN REACTION CAUSING MANY BIG BANGS, SO MAYBE THE UNIVERSE IN OVER 900 BILLION YEARS OLD OR OLDER.

Answer 9

If we evaluate the universe via fact the fabric content cloth of area, then, confident, the universe is increasing. the super bang remains the main suitable theory for the inspiration of the present universe and count remains flying removed from it. via flying we recommend utilising up potential from the super bang. ultimately, that potential would be used up and the increasing will decelerate (it might already be slowing down) and quit. At that factor, different forces come into play. Gravity starts off pulling count back at the same time and universe starts off contracting back right into a single factor (or possibly a number of) and yet another vast bang happens and all of it starts off as quickly as greater. there is the perception that area without potential or count incredibly isn't something. So an increasing universe is going from right here the place there is something to occupy a place the place earlier there replace into no longer something. there is no border.

Answer 10

It's expanding into it's self. The universe is all thats there so it cant expand into anything. The contents of the universe simple move further apart, new stars and eventually galaxy's are formed in the gaps. It's a never ending cycle.