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Basically Fire or Ice...Do you feel our Universe will continue expanding forever......untill all energy is so dispersed that there is no to slim chance of ANY species surviving. Or do you feel that the expansion will slow and then stop; eventually reverse as we blue shift back to a point of incredible density, pressure and temperature....another "Big Bang"? Current observations support the former question; but I feel in my gut that we will contract and repeat a sequence of "Bangs". Your thoughts?
Basically Fire or Ice...Do you feel our Universe will continue expanding forever......untill all energy is so dispersed that there is no to slim chance of ANY species surviving. Or do you feel that the expansion will slow and then stop; eventually reverse as we blue shift back to a point of incredible density, pressure and temperature....another "Big Bang"? Current observations support the former question; but I feel in my gut that we will contract and repeat a sequence of "Bangs". Your thoughts?
I tend to think the latter will prevail but either way, it will be so far in the future that we will probably never know the answer.
Obviously, no one knows, but there are loads of possible scenarios. The two most commonly considered are the ones you mentioned - the Big Freeze or the Big Crunch. I'd lean more toward the Big Freeze, that it will continue expanding until everything ultimately runs out of energy and the last particle finally winks out of existence. I just find it hard to imagine it goes through an endless series of expansion and contractions like it was made of rubber.
While it might come to an end, that doesn't necessarily mean the end of everything. It depends on what the universe really is. Is it completely independent? Is it a bubble universe? Is it part of a much larger mega-universe, much in the same way as galaxies but on a larger scale?
Obviously, no one knows, but there are loads of possible scenarios. The two most commonly considered are the ones you mentioned - the Big Freeze or the Big Crunch. I'd lean more toward the Big Freeze, that it will continue expanding until everything ultimately runs out of energy and the last particle finally winks out of existence. I just find it hard to imagine it goes through an endless series of expansion and contractions like it was made of rubber.
While it might come to an end, that doesn't necessarily mean the end of everything. It depends on what the universe really is. Is it completely independent? Is it a bubble universe? Is it part of a much larger mega-universe, much in the same way as galaxies but on a larger scale?
I think we are almost certainly part of a Multiverse; so some form of life will probably continue to evolve, one way or another. The expansion scenario has been extrapolated out to about 10 to the one hundredth power....sad way to "end" it all, that's why I prefer the Big Bounce. However, as said this is contrary to current observations, I like to think of the Universe as being alive and the "cycles" of expansion and contractions as it's heartbeat. Spacetime is very similiar to rubber in that it can be warped/stretched by mass/gravity....the fabric of spacetime for instance....this is the best analogy we currently possess. Rubber would describe it even better than fabric, but does not sound good...hence the fabric of spacetime.
I noticed Yac closed the NASA thread. Too bad, it was actually starting to generate some very good information. I tried to get reasonable and draw out weatherman, but got nothing. Perhaps it's time time for a real discussion like gy2020 just started.
Consider the observation that the universe seems to be expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Dark matter, giant tortoises, and other reasons have been cited. Perhaps the real situation is that it APPEARS to be expanding because time is slowing or thinning as the universe expands.
Consider the observation that the universe seems to be expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Dark matter, giant tortoises, and other reasons have been cited. Perhaps the real situation is that it APPEARS to be expanding because time is slowing or thinning as the universe expands.
Could be that we are missing the true nature of time and since spacetime is inseparable from space or time than any dilation of time may be perceived incorrectly with current observational methods.
Perhaps the real situation is that it APPEARS to be expanding because time is slowing or thinning as the universe expands.
More likely time would APPEAR to be slowing because of the expansion. It takes a longer time to see things far away because it takes longer for the light to reach us. On a local scale though, time remains pretty much the same.
The logical thing is that it would seem as the universe expands it should do so at increasingly slower rates. However, that's not what has been found. Objects at vast distances of about 5 billion light years and greater away are not slowing down but appear to be mysteriously moving away at an even faster rate.
The culprit suspected in this mystery is Dark Energy. Dark Energy may be a property of space we don't fully understand. But it may be a repelling force to Dark Matter. Dark Matter is finite in quantity and clumps together. As the universe gets larger, Dark Matter along with other matter grows farther apart. Meanwhile, Dark Energy doesn't clump up and remains constant as a property of space itself.
From the beginning of the universe until about 5 billion years ago, Dark Matter and Dark Energy pretty much kept each other in check. The influence of Dark Energy really didn't matter much because it was too weak. But as the universe continued expanding things began to change around 5 billion years ago because Dark Matter was limited in its amount, thus its influence lessened as Dark Energy's influence remained the same.
The exact reason why Dark Energy may be causing the universe to expand at a more rapid rate rather that slowing down is unknown. But it's probably because as the universe continues to expand there's more space in it. And if Dark Energy is a property of space, then it also means there is more Dark Energy in space.
The ultimate fate of the universe is also unknown. It might reach a certain point and collapse in on itself. If that happens galaxies will get closer and closer together as the universe shrinks, and it'll make things pretty toasty.
If the universe just keep expanding, it will eventually fade away, everything becomes cold at the temperature of absolute zero and everything, all matter, all atoms stop and degrade until there's nothing left. My guess is that it will continue to expand. No need to worry though. That won't happen for another 1 google years.
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And he is on a computer complaining about technology.....too bad we cannot take away rep. points too.....LOL..... 
