Big Bang's afterglow fails intergalactic 'shadow' test

University of Alabama in Huntsville ^ | 01 September 2006 | Staff (press release)

[doc30]

There had to be something to blowup because nothing is the most stable environment that can exists so there had to be something.

That's a common miscoception about the Big Bang. It wasn't an explosion in space of something, it was an explosion of space itself.

[RightWhale]

what was there to make it unstable

Nothing is stable. Change comes with the territory.

[RightWhale]

I don't believe in dark matter. I suspect they will find that the law of gravity needs revision, that it is not the simple inverse square relation they thought. It's too bad, really, the universe should obey simple math so we can feel like we actually have a clue. :)

[Democrap]

That's a common miscoception about the Big Bang. It wasn't an explosion in space of something, it was an explosion of space itself.

So space was Something?

[Democrap]

Nothing is stable.

That's what I said.

[RightWhale]

There is nothing in philosophy or theology to support either view.

[RightWhale]

What does it mean to talk about a period before there was anything to talk about?

[AFreeBird]

... the universe should obey simple math so we can feel like we actually have a clue. :) Sometimes I think the Universe has a sadistic sense of humor.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[RightWhale]

So space was Something?

Aquinas answered that 700 years ago by showing Avicenna was wrong about Aristotle on that very question.

[Mark Felton]

My mentor (who is developing an MHD model of early universe formation) says it appears we need a new model in cosmology.

I'm actually kinda happy about this result. It's more in line with a new theory I've been conceptualizing. I may turn the heat up on my reserach in this area now.

[Mark Felton]

Space still IS something. It essentially has properties and characteristics.

It can't really be seperated from time either, the two of them together form what we call "spacetime".

[Mark Felton]

"I don't believe in dark matter."

Nor do I.

[PatrickHenry]

Well, there's this: NASA Finds Direct Proof of Dark Matter.

[Mark Felton]

but, while space is something, it does not appear to be an aether either.

[Mark Felton]

I read that when it came out. I remain unconvinced.

[Mark Felton]

While it casts doubt on alternate gravity theories there yet remain other theories that don't rely on either dark "matter" or alternate gravity theories.

It does provide insight, but remains yet only one piece of evidence.

It absolutely is not PROOF as the title states.

[PatrickHenry]

It does provide insight, but remains yet only one piece of evidence. It absolutely is not PROOF as the title states.

True. But each new data point is yet another needle that an alternative theory has to thread.

[Democrap]

OK I got it figured out now. You guys sure make simple to understand. Boy science sure is smart. So it wasn't empty space that blowup, it was space like in my closet full of junk. And I got to tell you I don't know how that stuff got in my closet either.

[RightWhale]

I deal with it like this: the whole thing is an illusion. We could follow Einstein's example and see if we can explain how the illusion works.