The universe is expanding into...?

[Deleted]

One of the most interesting questions is what the universe is actually expanding into. Scientists tend to agree it does expand. But, into what?

What is your best guess?

If space and time began after the Big Bang, then there is nothing for the universe to expand into. Think about it!

[Low Hanging Fruit]

A huge ocean of LSD.

[TheFirstOnes]

Just imagine if a threat similar the the Burning Legion existed all this time, and we were just too dumb to understand it...

Would be pretty fucked...

[Blueobelisk]

If you spill milk, can you guess what shape it expands into?

[Blur4stuff]

If you reach the edge of the universe and keep going you just end up on the other end going back towards the middle.

[schwarzkopf]

... heat death, an infinite void of nothing.

[Deleted]

If you spill milk, can you guess what shape it expands into?

Are you saying the universe circles around itself, thus not actually expanding into anything?

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Just imagine if a threat similar the the Burning Legion existed all this time, and we were just too dumb to understand it...

Would be pretty fucked...

We really can't rule out anything. We could be in a simulation for all we know. It's such a mystery...

[Spiral Mage]

It expands in the sense all objects are moving outward from a supposed center, drifting away from a central point. Not expanding into some other form. The drifting is proposed as one of the justifications for the big bang theory.

[Deleted]

... heat death, an infinite void of nothing.

If it expands into nothing, then it doesn't expand into anything... and that means it cannot expand into "something" as nothing is not something. If it expands outside of itself (which we presume, since anything else is pure imagination at this point), then it must expand into "something". But "nothing" is not something.

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It expands in the sense all objects are moving outward from a supposed center, drifting away from a central point. Not expanding into some other form. The drifting is proposed as one of the justifications for the big bang theory.

No, space itself (i.e. the universe) is expanding.

[Zethras]

Are you saying the universe circles around itself, thus not actually expanding into anything?

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We really can't rule out anything. We could be in a simulation for all we know. It's such a mystery...

The empty void of the edge of the universe is literally that: a profound void of barely any energy(supposedly). The beyond of that is an even more profound nothingness. Even an empty void is still something: an empty void. That would be even less then that.

[PACOX]

Nothing. Its expanding into existence.

[igualitarist]

It expands by creating space between the galaxies that are not gravitationally linked. The source of this expansion is called dark energy.

It does not expand into anything, it just creates "empty" spaces in huge "void" areas

[Zethras]

If it expands into nothing, then it doesn't expand into anything... and that means it cannot expand into "something" as nothing is not something. If it expands outside of itself (which we presume, since anything else is pure imagination at this point), then it must expand into "something". But "nothing" is not something.

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No, space itself (i.e. the universe) is expanding.

This is false, nothingness is still something when you consider that a void is still something. Beyond the edge of the universe is less than nothingness, where there isn't even an empty void.

[schwarzkopf]

If it expands into nothing, then it doesn't expand into anything...

Of course it does ... the whole concept of expanding is that space time expands ... what it ends up being is a void, ever expanding and stretching nothing.

[derpkitteh]

why can it not just be as simple as more space?

if you were on the edge of a galaxy and flew outside of the edge, there's probably just empty space in your path. why can't the universe just be that? that's the most likely thing as far as i can tell.

[Zethras]

Humans have an obnoxious habit of using "nothing" to refer to anything but literal nothingness. It doesn't make nothing something.

A void is still something, because it is describable, because it exists. Beyond the universe is less than a profound void, because it doesn't exist yet. It defies definition because of its non-existence.

[Deleted]

This is false, nothingness is still something when you consider that a void is still something. Beyond the edge of the universe is less than nothingness, where there isn't even an empty void.

A void is only something if it is space. If there is no space beyond the universe, there is no void to expand into.

The universe is the only thing we know that has space.

[Endus]

It's a question that doesn't have an answer. It's like asking "what does silence sound like?" or "what's the opposite of a banana?"

[Deleted]

It's a question that doesn't have an answer. It's like asking "what does silence sound like?" or "what's the opposite of a banana?"

Silence doesn't sound like anything by definition. The universe is thought to be the only place where time and space exists, thus if it expands it is good to ask what it expands into if not more space.

[minteK917]

Silence doesn't sound like anything by definition. The universe is thought to be the only place where time and space exists, thus if it expands it is good to ask what it expands into if not more space.

It expand itself, not into something.