2007-02-19 02:59:26 · 14 answers · asked by Hayley 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
By definition, nothing. The universe is defined to contain all that exists.
2007-02-19 03:25:44 · answer #1 · answered by Fred 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question. Because science relies on observation and experiment, this question is sadly outside the realm of science. You are free to speculate as you please. As I suspect you're interested, I'll tell you about a few possibilities that are suggested by current cosmology.
It has been noted by many theoretical physicists that if the values of the fundamental physical constants (ie, the speed of light, the mass of the electron, Planck's constant, etc) were to be changed even slightly, then the Universe as we know it wouldn't have developed, and life as we know it wouldn't have had a chance to evolve. They ask why we are so lucky to live in a Universe that's perfect for life? One (controversial) answer is that, in analogy to the Earth, we live in a Universe that's perfect for life simply because we couldn't live in one that wasn't; if we assume that uncountably many universes exist comprising all mathematically conceivable possibilities of a universe, then ours would be one of those and would hence necessarily exist. This is called the Anthropic Principle. But this is just speculation and is not science.
Another idea which is somewhat similar comes from inflation theory. Inflation is an idea widely accepted by the cosmological community in which the early Universe expanded at tremendous speeds (exceeding the speed of light: but because it was space itself expanding, it didn't contradict Einstein's Principle of Relativity). The point of it is that it smoothed out most of the space-time wrinkles left over from the Big Bang. But how the inflationary period started and stopped is not well-understood. So it has been suggested that the Universe has a whole underwent inflation, and localized regions stopped inflating -- ours included. When and how these regions stopped would determine their laws of physics. But even though these Universes might seem infinite to observers within them (as ours does to us) they would have "edges", where they either meet regions where inflation is still ongoing or universes with completely different laws of physics. As these "edges" are outside of the horizon of the observable Universe, this is just speculation and is not science.
There is another idea that's floating around the string theory community (string theory is a controversial theory claiming to be able to solve some longstanding physics problems) about so-called parallel universes. The idea is that our universe is a 3D sheet (they call it a "brane") floating around in a 4D space. Photons, electrons, quarks, etc are all firmly attached to our Universe, but gravitons are free to leave (explaining the relative weakness of the gravitational interaction). An add-on to this model is that another 3D universe is floating right next to ours, and gravitons from it are reaching us. This is offered as an explanation to the dark matter problem (the invisible matter that we've detected in galaxies). It is possible that the theorists could come up with some way to test this, so this might enter the realm of science.
2007-02-19 04:13:02 · answer #2 · answered by Matthew S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
many scientists believe that there is nothing outside the universe. The universe is the containment of everything and the edge of it is the edge of everything. However many people think that there are other universes connected by black holes.
2007-02-19 03:03:18 · answer #3 · answered by JohnnyB 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there might be something outside of the universe but no one knows what. Think about it a black whole has to lead somewhere doesn't it?
2007-02-19 03:04:39 · answer #4 · answered by rebecca m 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
more universe
2007-02-19 03:03:22 · answer #5 · answered by colera667 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the universe actually has no outside, but i think hell and heaven if you believe in belief. its not round like the earth either, you can travel and travel and even if its 2,000,000 years later, still none
2007-02-19 03:05:09 · answer #6 · answered by thenewhorzta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
outside the universe there are many planets,satellite,and many galazy balck holes and lots of things.
2007-02-19 03:04:46 · answer #7 · answered by steffi221989 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Last year scientists discovered and revealed there are other universes ... and previously it was believed there was only one.
2007-02-19 03:03:22 · answer #8 · answered by americansneedtowakeup 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gods world
2007-02-19 03:10:25 · answer #9 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
search in the web for parallel universes and black holes.
2007-02-19 03:03:03 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋