Beyond our universe..?

Question

This makes me feel like our brains as humans are so insignificant.
Anyone remember back when everyone thought the earth was flat? (not personally, of course)
I can't wait until (hopefully) one day, in the future, someone discovers what's beyond us. We're trapped in such a little net of what we can comprehend.
What if the universe is like a country... the galaxy is like a state, and us, earth, is like a city.
there may be more than just one country in.... whatever it is that's so much larger than us.
It blows my mind to think of the possibilities.

I answered a question with this, and now I'm just wondering if anyone feels the same way.

Answer 1

but if were just one of many universes that are all clumped together how could our universe be expanding. and since the universes would be spherical then whats in the gaps where the universes are not touching. and if our universe was finite there would have to be a wall where all matter and everything stops and you just cant go any further. and thats completely illogical. and since im sure every scientist will agree that there is not a huge wall in space that stops you from moving then all of the universes would blend together, meaning its just one universe.

disprove all that.

this is from another question i answered, and is one of the most popular views on the bounds of, or lack bounds, of the universe:

Well the big bang theory says that the primevil atom exploded and when it did that released so much raw energy that it actually created space and time. so the expansion of space would have to have a speed, because nothing is instantaneous thats quite impossible. so there has to be a point where space stops, and when space stops you cant go any further, there is nothing. thats different from there being no matter. having no space is like having 1 atom, but no where to put it.

so if there is a definate boundry to space then there has to be something beyond it, and there would have to be a spot you cant go any further, this is also impossible. because nothing can be beyond the limit of space because theres, obviously, no space. and there cant just be a wall that you hit and cant go any further, no credible scientist believes that. so what is the universe expanding into?

the only answer that allows all of that to be true is that the universe is 4 dimensional. so if you went in a shuttle forever in one direction you would never reach the end, you would just end up right back where you started (this is not a sphere, its a hypersphere which is a 4 dimensional sphere. if it were a sphere there would have to be something outside of it).

a good example of a 4 dimensional object like this (its not really 4 dimensional, but its has a property of 4 dimensional objects, it doesnt have an end) is a mobius strip.
take a piece of paper and cut and inch long strip, then twist it 180 degrees (so it looks like DNA does) and then tape the 2 ends together. you can now take a pencil or pen and start at the taped end end draw a line one direction. you will draw the line on both sides and end up back where you started.

if that was to confusing im sure you can go on google and type in mobius strip and it will tell you how to make it.

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

some have hypothesized that the universe we live in is just one of countless universes, but everything in this universe must stay in this universe. each hypothetical universe is distinct and unique, and each has it's own space-time.

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

this is actually a common misconception about the universe. the universe is 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 3

Your question is a little hard to answer but I don't have any clue about what is beyond our solar system. I don't think our universe is like a city because it's more larger than a country. But you have said that we are trapped in a little net. That could be right. But I think we'll have to wait and see what's beyond us.Maybe there will be another different world beyond the universe. I think we don't need to think these things so much but your question extremly good.

Answer 4

You know, last week while I was getting stoned on the space shuttle, I had the same thoughts. But when the buzz died, I realized that our universe is really just a morsel of toilet paper dangling from an anal hair. Someday, a cosmic colon cleanse will destroy it all!

Answer 5

When you begin to understand the scales, ...
yes. It does 'blow your mind.
Welcome to the club!

Answer 6

I can't believe you don't think the Universe is BIG enough for you!

Answer 7

not really. i hope there are no aliens.. that totally freaks me out. i prefer there to be devils and stuff like that.