If the universe is really expanding, does this mean that there is another universe to expand into?

Question

because, if this is true, then there are an infinite number of universes in existence as one expands into the other and so on, as waves in a big sea do.

Answer 1

http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0009F0CA-C523-1213-852383414B7F0147
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background_radiation

no, it does not. this is actually a common misconception about the universe. the universe is thought to be finite yet has no boundaries. it has no center and no edge. it seems to be something like the two-dimensional surface of a three-dimensional sphere. nothing inside or outside the sphere exists for the surface. to quote a dead writer, "there's no there, there". it is space-time itself that is expanding. matter is not spreading into existing space-time.

the cosmic microwave background is from a time when the universe was 380 000 years old, and we observe it in every direction in which we look. before this time, the universe was much like a heavy fog. when the universe had expanded and cooled enuff, atomic nuclei and electrons could combine so the free electrons could no longer scatter electromagnetic radiation, and the universe became transparent. the cmb was originally black-body radiation of material at a temperature of about 3000K (kelvin), but we observe it as black-body radiation of 2.7K because of the stretching of light due to the expansion of the universe. the big bang was the whole universe, and everywhere in the universe was once the big bang. observations by nasa's microwave anisotropy probe suggest that the cmb is at least 46 billion light-years away and the universe is 13.7 billion years old. these observations also show that the redshift of the cmb is 1089. due to the expansion of space-time, the cmb is is receding at 50c.

Answer 2

No, it doesn't necessarily mean that. It is space itself that is expanding. In a realistic sense, the best way to describe it is that the universe is expanding 'into the future'. Imagine a series of concentric spheres with the radius representing time. Since spheres further from the center are larger, the 'universe' is expanding. Since the 'start' is right at the center, there is no 'before the Big Bang'. The only difference is that in the 'real universe', those spheres represent the whole, three dimensional universe.

Answer 3

Before the Big Bang, there was nothing, not even space or a vacuum . . . just nothing. After the Big Bang, as the universe expanded, it created space as it went. This space did not take the place of anything, because there was nothing to take the place of. As the universe expands, it creates the space it expands into.

Think of the surface of a balloon as it is inflated, and imagine the universe is that surface. As the balloon expands, the universe grows. The balloon created more surface as it was inflated. Now don't think that the inflating balloon took the place of the air around it because we are only looking at the surface dimensions of the balloon. If you lived on the surface of the balloon in two dimensions, you are not aware of the extra dimension around the balloon. Thus, to you, magically space was created as the "universe" expanded. I guess you could postulate that the three dimensional universe we live in is expanding into the fourth dimension.

Answer 4

No, there is not another universe to expand into.

Ours is the only universe, and because it is infinite there is no need nor possibility that it will expand into anything else.

Our universe comes from ever and goes on and on for ever and ever.

I know that from our own human perspective and social upbringing , with all our believes and mores, it is very hard to understand the never-ending possibility of something.

However it is really very simple to comprehend.

The only thing we have to do is to accept that the universe is infinite. That something can be infinite. That this nature exist. It is as simple as that.

Why do we have to think that something has to have a beginning and an end? Why can we not see that can be otherwise?

It is really not hard to think that something has no beginning nor end.

However we have to be able to transform our pre-learned social and cultural concepts and then we will see that something can be just like that: infinite

And once we do this, all come to place, and with it, an extra bonus, we gain a fuller and logical understanding of life as a whole.

Answer 5

Sure. There isn't another explanation is there? If the universe is expanding, it must be expanding into something right?
So if something expands into something, the big something must be in something. So you are right. There must be infinite number of universes in the...um...the creation of god.

Answer 6

That could be. Nobody knows what the universe is expanding into. Some say a multi-verse. All anybody knows is that if there is an edge, we'll probably never see it, because the sum velocity between us and the edge exceeds the speed of light.

Answer 7

There's plenty of speculation on that subject, but not a single shred of hard, scientific evidence to support any of it. The bottom line is that we just don't know.

Answer 8

all this may be true yet in our lifetime we mostly likely will never know the Truth.