If space is curved...?

Question

then what is on the other side? Another universe? My mother in law?

Answer 1

Think of this, the earth is curved so wherever you travel in a straight vector, here on earth, you will come back to your starting point. If you follow out this logic, then if the cosmos is curved, and you travel in a straight vector you will eventually come back to your starting point. So the opposite side of the cosmos is here. This brings up another question: Hubble had shown that the universe is expanding, and if the cosmos is curved, what is it expanding in, a fourth dimension?

Answer 2

I think you will agree that the surface of Earth is curved. Although the surface is not infinite in terms of area, the 2-dimensional space it forms has no border because if you start to walk along the equator westward, you will not come to any border where surface of Earth ends.

The question "What is on the other side of the surface of Earth" means to embed the 2-dimensional surface in a 3-dimensional space. Only then the question makes sense, because the "other side" lies inwards to the center or outward to space as you prefer.

Same thing with universe: according to laws of Relativity we are living in a 4-dimensional, curved space-time. The question "What is on the other side?" implies necessarily a 5th dimension in which direction the other side lies. While relativity tells nothing about a fifth dimension, modern theories like string-theory embed the 4-dimensional space-time of relativity into an 11-dimensional hyperspace. And what is "on the other side" is matter of speculation, but not of science yet.

One of these speculations say "parallel Universe" - one of them may well contain your mother in law. ;-)

Answer 3

Another dimension. Not space, but maybe hyper space. Just like a 2 dimensional surface is nothing like 3 dimensional space, 3 dimensional is totally different from 4 dimensional hyper space. Of course hyper space is just a made up term. We have no idea what it is or what it would be like, but obviously it would be totally different from the space that we live in.

Read the book, "Flatland, A romance of many dimensions" written in 1884 (this is not a new idea) to get some idea of what I am talking about. The full text of the book is free and online at the source.

Answer 4

If something is curved and continues onward, it will eventually lead back into itself. It wouldn't be another universe, but your mother-in-law would be there and so would you.

Answer 5

I have asked this many times. If it is endless, it will boggle the mind, and are there other endless planets, soar systems and galaxies far beyond what we know?
If it does end, what is there??? A brick wall, what's one the other side???
Or maybe we live in test tube in a laboratory somewhere.... but then all of the same questions apply, what is out there?

Answer 6

Eternity

Answer 7

i heard the universe (according 2 scientists, im not joking) is beige. so something beige, apparently. ive heard some old religions in asia say God and sometimes Buddha is there. Whooo knoooows

Answer 8

we don't know the shape of the universe yet.

so your question cannot be answered. we can't even see that far yet.

some claim a void of space and time. = NOTHING
(but space is usually a void of its own)

Answer 9

It is strange, isn't it?!? I don't think we will ever know! I think it is just endless...... or at least to our minuscule selves it seems that way. Sorta makes you think there HAS to be other life out there. Why out of the entire universe would there just be one tiny planet with life. Makes you think......

Answer 10

Perhaps a Big Huge Robot, or Perhaps heaven! or Perhaps Water or a big huge ocean! If you believe in God maybe God's hand!