The edge of the universe and outside...?

Question

What makes "the universe" the universe. If the universe is expanding then what is it expanding out into? What void is there outside, what does it consist of? The area of space outside the universe, is at least a vacumm and must not contain matter then what does it contain?

If there were multiverses then the space(or something else) inbetween them would have to 'exist', but what would it consist of? Is it an area of lesser 3rd, 2nd and 1st demensions, where the 'expansion' of the universe is really just the expansion of time. (This would really then place us in a 5th demension as time is increasing as in clock time and time is increasing as in area affected by time.)


Of course nobody really knows so what are your ideas?

Heres a valuable exert:

"What Is Expansion, Anyway?

A good analogy is to imagine that you are an ant living on the surface of an inflating balloon. Your world is two-dimensional; the only directions you know are left, right, forward and backward. You have no idea what "up" and "down" mean. One day you realize that your walk to milk your aphids is taking longer than it used to: five minutes one day, six minutes the next day, seven minutes the next. The time it takes to walk to other familiar places is also increasing. You are sure that you are not walking more slowly and that the aphids are milling around randomly in groups, not systematically crawling father apart. So you conclude that the ground beneath you must be growing, but you have been to the edge and seen nothing beyond it so what is it expanding into?

Answer 1

The birth and death of the universe
More than 1400 years ago the Holy Quran referred to the beginning of the creation of the universe in one of its Holy verses , this reference is in conformity of what is now scientifically known as " the Big Bang " . In this Holy verse , the Holy Quran rebukes the atheists of every age ,who deny the creation of the universes, the claims of the atheists are based on the unsubstantiated illusion that the universe is static and it has no beginning or end . This unsubstantiated belief , in fact , dates back to early times . The idea first appeared in the Greek time and has been fostered in the Roman time but receded back in the face of catholic church . Unfortunately and under the fascination of the early philosophy , this doom belief has taken up again and has been developed till it became a sweeping force leaving most of the world in a quagmire of paganism . Modern atheism is the product of the scientific errors and contradictions between some verses in the bible and the Torah and the scientific discoveries .
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Answer 2

It's a misconception to think of the universe as something expanding within a given space. There is no void or empty space outside the universe. It's the universe's expansion that creates space. I know it's odd. An ant walking on the edge of the expanding universe is therefore a bad analogy. Space is curved and therefore has no edge to speak of.

When asked in these terms, there is no satisfying answer. :(

Answer 3

if you were viewing a portion of space that was black,(no stars, no nothing)you would in essence be looking at ,what is beyond our visible universe. there is just empty space beyond our universe. the universe doesn't just create this space as it expands,it expands into it. in this black of space, that is beyond our universe, lies neutral hydrogen,that give no indication that it is there, until one hydrogen atom collides with another. but nothing will happen with these neutral hydrogen atoms until the shock wave from the big bang interacts with the space around these hydrogen atoms. when the shock wave interacts with the space around the neutral hydrogen, then things will light up and show someone some day that the universe is expanding.

Answer 4

Hi. The ant would not find the edge of her balloon world, she would arrive where she started. Same with the visible universe. Every direction (EVERY direction) is curved. The three 'normal' dimensions can be proved to respond to this curvature. Time is harder to visualize as 'curved' by I have no doubt that it is. The other multiple dimensions in string theory are curved so hard as to be undetectable by us (for now). What lies at the edge of our visible universe? More of the universe.

Answer 5

No one will ever really know for sure... But i think that as the universe expands it creats more "matter" or space or something, and it is curved.

Answer 6

It is the age long question, and one no one knows of. The outside of the universe would have nothing, it be a black hole, but since a definition of universe is everything, would that make the outside the inside?

Answer 7

They just mean that everything is flying outwards, away from a central point. I don't think there's any sort of 'edge' that is expanding outwards, nor do I think of 'time' as something physical that can be turned fowards or backwards.

Answer 8

It is impossible for any human mind, computer, or any thing else that we know of that thinks to discover the answer. Time tells all answers.