What lies beyond the edge of the universe?

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   Fahad ansari12posted 8 years ago

   What lies beyond the edge of the universe?
   
   Everything has its boundary and end point. I know universe is not a brick or something to have a particular side or boundary.. But it should have an end point.. And if so.. Then there should be something beyond this and that has their own boundary and so on... Mind boggling!

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   connorjposted 8 years ago

   
   
   Although I am not an expert in this area; actually I am significantly ignorant with regards to understanding our universe. To me, more or less like our historically changing concept of our own planet; that being the eventual understanding our world was indeed round (elliptical) rather than flat with edges. Perhaps it could be similar with regards to our universe, just significantly more massive? Perhaps more round than flat void of any edge?
   When I was younger I read an excellent bit of science fiction written by a Russian author named Isaac Asimov. It was called The Foundation Triology; in some obscure fashion my association with this hypothesis roots from Asimov...

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      Fahad ansari12posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks john for ur such an important view, and i want to read that book..

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      connorjposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You are most welcome...

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   integraterposted 8 years ago

   
   
   I am not an astronomer or astrophysicist
   According to Experts who choose their words carefully, there is no evidence that universe has an edge/does not have an edge.What we have is an edge of the universe observable from Earth. From earth, galaxies can be seen for about 10 billion light years . Beyond that we have not observed . It is not as if their is a stop sign after 10 billion years that says "Stop. Universe Ends Here !!!" . Our abilities limit us, atleast for the moment . With better instruments we can see deeper into the universe and hence the "observable edge" is pushed farther and farther. AFAI understand , Big Bang did not "create" universe and was not the start of universe . Universe was there before Big Bang , just a lot denser .  So even if we look back into big bang there will be something before big bang to look back into.
   In Sanskrit, Universe(Bramhand) is described with the adjective "Anant" meaning without end or beginning , infinite.

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      connorjposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It is so ironic, Asimov in his Hugo award winning Foundation Triology, had a riddle if you will, he established a 2nd Foundation (of experts) on a planet far away to minimize the years of chaos... Did you realize a circle has no end or beginning?

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      Fahad ansari12posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks intrgrater for ur view.. And yeah there are lots of questions about our vast mysterious universe which is being solved as our technology advanced... Hope we will find answers soon..

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   Tusitala Tomposted 8 years ago

   What makes you so sure that everything has a boundary or end point?  I think this is a concept based on the perceptions of beginning and end we experience with our senses and assume it to be true.  If you can get even the slightest grasp of Infinity, then you could begin to open to the idea that there is no beginning and no end.
   
   This is not to say that there are no cycles of 'seeming' beginning and end. A current theory of the Big Bang and expansion, to be followed by a collapse of all matter back into 'seemingly' nothingness might well be called an end to the universe time-wise.  But then we are told that time is an illusion and the only moment is NOW.   If that is true, then where is the end and where is the beginning.   
   
   But if we are open to the idea that there are more dimensions than we can possibly imagine, we might be able to comprehend that the question you ask can never be answered.

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      Fahad ansari12posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Okay... Got that.. And thanks tom for giving ur time.. I appreciate that..

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   Carl Sagan 2posted 8 years ago

   Yes, Fahad, I think we all agree that this subject is mind boggling, to put it mildly.  I have often said, "if I had a dollar for everytime somebody asked me this question, I'd be a millionaire"!  Then I realized if I had a dime for every time I have asked myself this question, I'd be a billionaire! The only thing I'm "pretty sure of" is that there has to be an answer!  However, the human mind is not yet capable of comprehending anything not having an end (or border), and to add to the confusion, the human mind is also not capable of comprehending anything having an end, or border.  This always brings up the question, "what on the other side of that"?  We hear the same type of question when people say, "If God created us, then who created God"? Even if we could answer that question, we all know what the next question is going to be! The closest anyone can really come to understanding something being "infinite" is to think about numbers (just one example). If we told someone to add a zero to the end of a number and to keep doing this until they die and then for the next person in line to take over and add a zero and to keep doing this "forever" then we can see that no matter how large that number gets, it can always go "bigger" by simply adding another zero.  This is "infinity" in it's simplest terms! And, I think every logical human mind can somewhat visually see and understand that example.  However, when it comes to space/time then we have a very hard time understanding "infinity" or even a universe having an end or border.  We will always wonder what's on the other side of the last border we discover.  Even when thinking about other dimensions and/or multiple universes, this question still remains, but only becomes more complicated in our minds. No matter the shape of our universe, or how many dimensions there are, or the number of universes out there, the human mind cannot imagine there being an "end/border" and it cannot imagine there "not" being an end/border. So, this brings us back to your original statement and mine..."Mind boggling"!

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      Fahad ansari12posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Good point Carl! you gave very well thought about 'if God created us then who created God?' another mind boggling question! and yeah i also think that there r some question which is unanswerable or we might found out later.Thanks for giving ur time.

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