The Universe is expanding  but what is it expanding into?
410246
Well, this is uncertain. I will explain it as it is currently understood. There are three possibilities based on relativity and the Standard Model. There are three types of expansion depending on the mass-energy density of the universe - open, flat and closed.\n\nIn an open universe, expansion will continue and will actually increase with time. This is because there is not enough mass and energy in the universe to pull it back in.\n\nIn a flat universe, the universe will continue to expand, but expansion will begin to slow at a certain point and as time approaches infinity the expansion will stop. Of course, since infinity means forever, the expansion will continue but slow down constantly, little by little.\n\nIn a closed universe, there is enough mass and energy to cause a collapse of the universe, known as the "big crunch."\n\nAnyway, current theory holds that we live in a flat universe and that inflation will continue forever, as mentioned.\n\nOh. It expands into nothing - as in before the universe is there, there is nothing there.
990249
The universe may very well be expanding into nothing. You see, we are used to thinking of expansion in terms of objects expanding into space (3D space) but the universe is space.\n\nThere is really no other way to explain it and it's something you might just have to accept though it's hard to envision.\n\nAnother explaination is that the universe may actually exist in a higher dimension (for example, 2D exists within 3D). According to membrane theory, the universe may have resulted from the collision of two "membranes" in a higher dimention and mass is the overlapping of those membranes.\n\nBut that is just one of the many possabilities.
561415
physically the universe has no limits . but still it is expanding with enormous speed . you can go to this link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space and find out whatever you need about space . good luck
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!
5491
What you really mean to ask is, if the Universe is expanding, a phenomenon that by every conceivable standard of measurement and observation is universally (pun definitely intended) accepted by the scientific community to indeed be fact....\n\n...then what is the Universe exanding into????\n\nThe spooky thing is that no one knows. Science, with \nthe help of the Hubble Telescope has been able to see\nonly about 13 Billion light years out but the Universe itself is estimated to be about 14-15 Billion years old.\n\nThe universe is expanding into the vast emptiness of \nspace. Some scientists have speculated that there may be other universes that extend far beyond our own \nbut its mere speculation. NASA hopes that the next generation of Space Telescope technology scheduled to be launched in 2011, will have the capcity to observe  the very edge of the universe about 15 Billion years away and the very first light created in the aftermath of the Big Bang.
11829
On one theory, the space of the Universe (as well as its contents) is what's expanding. That theory says the total amount of space is finite, and that finite quantity just gets bigger every second.  What, you might then ask, is outside of space?  There's no outside!  It's like asking, "What's north of the North Pole?"
163028
Science states that the universe is ever expanding, but another theory believes that the universe will eventually fold back in on itself and will crush itself into nothing. Such an implosion will have to create an opposite reaction (an explosion) which will allow another universe to expand outwards.\n\nFollowing that theory, one could deduce that our universe was born when the previous one died.
55707
You get into Quantum Theory with your intrigue and there is no evidence to support that the universe is not infinate.\n\nHOWEVER, according to the Big Bang theory there was nothing and then there was something in a centralized location millions (billions) of years ago. At the speed that the universe is spreading outwards there has to be an end to it and scientists are trying to get telescopes powerful enough to see to the beginning of time.\n\nWhat lays on the other side? Nobody knows.
36543
As I understand it, the universe is in fact finite.  However, it's expansion is continuous and progresses at such a rate that we can not, with current technology, move beyond to see the end.
861518
Nobody can answer your second part, if they try its just theory. They know it, I wont try to explain it either. \nIts against all logical thinking to just say..."the universe isnt expanding into something..", it has to be though what nobody knows. A ballon is a very good way to describe this motion, but still can't explain what "it" pushes into.\nIf there is "nothing" beyond the universe, then are we inside of some containment? \nThe idea that there is an end has still not been taken out of the equation...(Jan 21, 2002 Steven Haking lecture on Alternate Times @ Cambridge), he states that since we see into the universe more and more with technology, we see motion and activity as a guage that can tell us timelines of occurrences of the past, and can calculate distances and measure the speed at which these activities take place. And so he goes on to say that if given these calculations are correct, we can measure the entire universes' movement and therefore determine with some confidence where the edge would be, or should be. But, he said, so far we cant find an edge, though if we did, in all probability the universe is pushing itself into another adjacent universe.\nIf it were to be found someday that our universe has an edge, and theres a chance to peer past it....he says, then at least "containment" theory is off the table.
230201
One way to think about it is that the distance between everything is increasing.  Think of the surface of a balloon.  Imagine drawing little dots on the ballon to represent stars.  As you fill the balloon, the dots all move apart from each other as the elastic expands.  From any individual spot it appears like everything else is expanding away.  The hard part, now, is to take this two dimensional example and visualize it in three dimensions, like the universe!
1025063
It doesn't make sense that "everything contained in [the universe] is imploding in on itself". First, no one has the slightest clue as to what exists external to the universe. There's plenty of speculation, but there exists no observations that would point us in the right direction. The universe may indeed implode in itself if it is not expanding fast enough to resist the gravitational attraction of all the mass in the universe. Whether or not it is expanding fast enough is an important and open question in cosmology as well as philosophy.
550266
It is expanding to the point of dark matter.  Then it will contract back into itself.  Then it was start all over again.  This is from the my interruption of the Kaballah.
187862
I believe the universe is part of something much bigger.  There are many unknowns and anomalies that scientist having problems with.  Galaxies moving in and others move out.  Blue stars beyond the known universe.  \n\nThe bible says that the universe is a tent for God to dwell in.  That indicates certain things.  It is inside something, and is a temporary shelter.  It also says that in certain areas are chambers.  \n\nThere is much yet to discover.
44234
Well there are lots of things I do not completely understand about the structure of the universe. \n\nFor example, some current theories are that our 4 dimensional space-time continuum is just part of a higher dimensional entity, where some of the other dimensions are rolled up. However, the time dimension of our 4 dimensional environment is clearly much different than the spatial dimensions, since we appear to only be able to travel in one direction along the time dimension, although many of the equations capturing the physical laws of our universe are invariant when we replace time with -time.\n\nThe expansion that people refer to when they say that the universe is expanding refers to the entire 4 dimensional space-time continuum and possibly some  of the other dimensions as well. This gets very hard to visualize. What I do is think of us as ants living on the surface of a balloon that is being slowly inflated, so the dimensions of the balloon are increasing, and distant parts of the ant's space are becoming increasingly distant. However, this is probably a very limited analogy. \n\nTo get a better picture, you need to consult someone who has thought very hard and very carefully about what the universe is, or supposedly is.
621567
The most recent evidence suggests that it will expand forever. In fact, the rate of expansion seems to be accelerating. This is because of something called Dark Energy, which we don't understand at all, but relates to the cosmological constant in General Relativity.
800785
Ah yes, people like to give mumbo jumbo bullshiet answers to this question to confuse you further.\n\nThe thing is, we really have no idea. This is half the reason the answer is so confusing.\n\nScientists, like myself, have defined the universe as everything and like to say it isn't expanding into anything because, quite frankly, they don't know what's going on and it's easier to just define the universe as that for the time being. I don't know, neither does anyone else.\n\nFrom recent science, we know that the universe is absolutely finite, therefore it's size is increasing; it is getting larger. This can also be seen by looking at microwave radiation maps of the universe.\n\nSo then, what is it expanding into? Well, if ANYONE could answer this question, they would probably go down in history as greater than even people like Einstein, Newton, Galileo...but the reality is, we don't know. All answers to this question are purely spectical and usually formed to fit a belief system that has been adapted from that person.\n\n\nPersonally, it's probably expanding into more space, which probably contains an indefinite number of universes and extends infinitely.\n\nBut that is only my personal view. Just like all other views.