Assuming the universe is infinate......?
107902
Sure, but by that logic, every single person is in the center of the universe....that seems a little tricky to me.
674188
well, spacetime does not seem to end, and nothing is "holding up" spacetime.\n\nthe universe is not infinite. the universe is finite yet has no edge and no center. it may be something like the two dimensional surface of a sphere. nothing inside or outside the sphere exists for the two dimensional surface.\n\nalso, i have something for you to think about. the radius of observable universe is about 46 billion lightyears, yet the universe is 13.7 billion years old.
1003903
There are three possibilities, depending on solutions to the equations of General Relativity and how much mass is in the universe:\n\n1. the universe will stop expanding and then collapse in on itself to a big crunch\n2. the universe will keep expanding for ever\n3. the universe will reach a "stable size" - neither collapse nor expand forever\n\nNo-one knows which.
299945
Space is infintie.  The universe,however, is not.
383637
How do you define what a universe is?  I define the universe as everything there is.  Obviously the set containing everything does not allow the existence of something outside of it.  In other words, if you were to show me evidence of another universe I would say that what you have shown me is part of this universe.\n\nBy my definition there can only be one universe.  Do you have a different definition of what a universe is?
5808
Nobody really knows for sure.\n\nThere's a theory that the universe is expanding in a spherical shape and will continue to expand until it reaches maximum entropy. At that point all of the energy and matter in the universe will be equally distributed and the universe will no longer be able to support life.\n\nThere's another theory that the universe will expand (again, roughly in the shape of a sphere) until all of the galaxies exhaust their kinetic energy. At that point the universe will begin contracting. When the contracting is complete a singularity containing all of the mass in the universe will form and explode in a big bang.\n\nIf you think about it, if the latter theory is true then it's possible that the universe has expanded and collapsed an infinite number of times in the past!
333652
Once you leave the Milky Way you are not outside the universe. The Milky Way Galaxy is one of many known galaxies in the universe. There are probably billions we don't know about. "Goodness knows where" is inter-galactic space.\n\nInfinity means "forever". It is not necessarily a measurable distance or time. We're not sure if the whole universe is infinite. We can't even see most of what is out there. The estimated size of the observable universe is 7.4x10^26m (that's really, really, really, really big). Beyond that we're not sure yet.
402601
Fascinating subject:  On the balance of probabilities, if the universe is infinite, someone identical with you, typed the same question, on an identical computer, on an identical forum and is being answered by someone identical with me.    Mind blowing if you think about it.........
412853
First off you have a real good question.  As a matter of fact I used to think like this during my high school years.  \n\nInfinity in cosmology\nAn intriguing question is whether actual infinity exists in our physical universe: Are there infinitely many stars? Does the universe have infinite volume? Does space "go on forever"? This is an important open question of cosmology. Note that the question of being infinite is logically separate from the question of having boundaries. The two-dimensional surface of the Earth, for example, is finite, yet has no edge. By walking/sailing/driving straight long enough, you'll return to the exact spot you started from. The universe, at least in principle, might have a similar topology; if you fly your space ship straight ahead long enough, perhaps you would eventually revisit your starting point.\n\nIf the universe is indeed ever expanding as science suggests then you could never get back to your starting point even on an infinite time scale.
4683
You're assuming that the universe extends for infinite.\n\nOf course, if you're assuming that it has meaning, does that mean that it has intelligent design? And therefore, an intelligent designed?\n\nIn other words, no.
525769
the universe is expanding into "nothing", is that so hard to understand? yes it is. according to the latest version of string theory, our universee is just one little speck in a whole giant "Landscape of probabilities", with as many probabilities as 10 to the power of 500, and more then 500 dimensions, so can you imagine living in a world with 500 dimensions? no! its impossible to imagine. \ntry to imagine our univers being a giant balloon constantly expanding, outside of this balloon there is nothing, void, by expanding, our universe is creating Space-time as it expands. i know some of those concepts are simply impossible to visualize, but mathematically it make perfect sense.
655859
Who can honestly tell you here? Our finite minds cannot begin to fathom the infinite workings of the universe. There could have been a countless number before us; 42; 3; or we could be it.\n\nWho knows?
220589
For all we know there is nothing "outside" the universe, so obviously no way to look "at" it from any "outside". That way there is no way to compare the size of it, why you could probably say, the universe is infinitely small. There is a mathematical smallest size, called the Planck-Size. That is just where space ends to be space, so there is no inside. As simple as that. You don't need to invent any kind of god to think about those things.
643948
There is a line of reasoning that would suggest that the chances are quite high.  Here is how it works.  We start by assuming that the universe if infinite.  Now - since the universe is not infinitely old  (it started at the big bang)  you can think of the universe as being partitioned into three dimensional bubbles called "universe horizons" - this is a bubble with a radius equal to the distance that light would have travelled since the big bang - about 13 to 20 billion light years.  The significance of this bubble is that there is no way for light or matter from outside this bubble to reach you since the universe isn't old enough.  But, since the universe is infinite, there will be an infinite number of these universal bubbles.  Now - mathematically - there can only be so many possible ways of arranging sub-atomic particles inside a given bubble - any given point in space will either have a particle there or be empty - if it does have a particle, there are only a finite number of possible particles - therefore there can only be a finite number of possible configuations of matter / energy inside a bubble.  Since the number of possible configurations is finite, but the number of bubbles is infinite, then by necessity the configurations must repeat themselves an infinite number of times - therefore there should be an infinite number of replications of the known universe.  If you can't accept this - then the universe must be finite.
533024
Is our universe in another universe?\n  \nBefore we can address that question, we must first define universe.  \n\nThe word universe denotes all space and everything (matter, energy) contained within it.  The prefix uni means one.  The root verse means word, carnate message, meaningful substance, matter.  Questions regarding our universe persist today.  Does it have a beginning and end, or does it go on forever and ever?  Is it linear or curved?  If it has limits of length or curvature, then what lies beyond the Universe?  If something lies beyond the Universe, then can’t we accurately call that the Universe?\n\nSome lay people and some scientists conceive of the universe as infinite space.  Others define the universe as finite, or limited (perhaps curved), space.  Still others incorporate the elements of matter and/or energy into their definition of the universe, as opposed to the space beyond matter and energy.\n\nGiven these concepts of our universe, some scientists conclude that the “totality of space could be infinite. Shrink an infinite space by an arbitrary amount, and it is still infinite. (Scientific American March 2005).”  \n\nAs to the notion that we live in an ever expanding universe, moving away from every other universe on the fabric of space-time, some scientists are careful to point out that “\nAndromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor, is actually moving toward us, not away. Such exceptions arise because Hubble's law describes only the average behavior of galaxies (Scientific American March 2005).”\n\nIn accordance with your supposition that our universe is in another universe, “it has been hypothesized by some scientists that the universe may be part of a system of many other universes, known as the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe).” Modern astrophysicists talk about multiple "pocket" universes that branch off from one another.  Stephen Hawking points out that parallel pocket universes can have no effect on a real observer inside a single pocket, so, according to Hawking, they are theoretical baggage that should be eliminated from cosmology, the study of the origins of the universe.\n\nSome string theories define the universe as a three-dimensional space in an invisible space having more dimensions. This is, in essence, a universe within a universe.  Our zone, a “braneworld” could periodically bounce into another parallel braneworld.  This may create what would appear as a Big Bang from one perspective or a Big Bounce of alternating expanding and contracting universe from another perspective.  Such a cataclysmic event is thought to occur 300 billion years from now, resulting in the rearranging and creation of a new universe.\n\nIs our universe inside another universe?  Well, apparently the Men in Black had it right.  Our universe seems to be inside of something else, another universe, called the multiverse.\n\nSteve\n:-D
70871
Infinity has no value.  It is a concept of going on forever.
410136
As a corollary to Chris' answer; It has recently been concluded that in fact the universe will go on expanding forever, there will be no reverse followed by a "big crunch" because there is not enough mass to precipitate this.\n\nAs for what the universe is "expanding into", this is a question based on the belief that all things must be finite, which is probably a limitation of our minds. There doesn't have to be a "there" there. If it makes you feel better you can imagine an infinite "ether" into which we are expanding.  \n\nAs a self-proffesed "curious" person you should probably read some Richard Feynman.