Matters of the Universe - Part 3: Coincidence or Design? - the Fine-Tuned Universe

Part 3 of 3 - Can the universe come from nothing? What is the shape of the universe? How will the universe end? -- all that and much more in this 3 part video containing excerpts of Lawrence Krauss' lecture exploring the birth, the life and the fate of the universe. Understanding its expansion, its age, the existence of the exotic dark matter and dark energy, the notion of a universe coming from nothing, the curvature of space and its relation to the universe's fate.

In this part Krauss discusses (+links to more info on each subject):
* The special point in time we're at in the age of the universe
* The Anthropic Principal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle
* String Theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
* The humility in science
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

See the full lecture here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Universe
• physics
• general
• relativity
• shape
• size
• flat
• fate
• expansion
• age
• dark
• matter
• energy
• from
• nothing
• curvature
• space
• Einstein
• Cosmological
• Term
• Constant
• Hubble
• redshift
• exploding
• starts
• super
• nova
• quantum
• virtual
• particles
• Gravitational
• lensing
• Microwave
• Background
• Radiation
• Big
• Bang
• Anthropic
• Principal
• String
• Theory
• Lawrence
• Krauss
• lecture
• Joniversity

[IcarusTouma]

If the Universe is flat then space isn't curved just like Einstein said? Can anyone help me understand please?

[Joniversity]

@IcarusTouma It's a little hard to understand without some math, but generally speaking you should try to visualize this "flat" space in 3D, not a 2D space. Now, the minute you add the fourth dimension of time you really need some pretty good imagination - or better yet some math. Also you should separate localized extreme curvatures (e.g. black holes) and the overall curvature of space-time but in any case, unless you're willing to go into some high-end math, just take their word for it :-)

[Joniversity]

@IcarusTouma (cont.) If your math skills aren't that good, or you're new to physics, you can try taking this online course (/watch?v=nzmFc2gjUo4) which will give you the basics of astrophysics, a part of which is Einstein's GR. I highly recommend it it'll help you understand a lot of misconceptions, and will also help you better understand not only the mechanics behind space-time but also how they are put into practice. Hope this helps.

Jonny.

[Joniversity]

@IcarusTouma (cont. 2) Also here's a little something i did based on this course which is a great way to better understand black holes. I might do one regarding GR and SR if i get the time.

/watch?v=rpYARGo4Gzs

[IcarusTouma]

@Joniversity Thank you for the links, I appreciate it!

[Joniversity]

@IcarusTouma My pleasure.

[laurence265]

without purpose there is no need for existence

[Chikarishu]

This also means that if our galaxy wa young and our earth was just ready to start giving "life" a chance, that at that moment in time, other galaxies were much nearer to it, more accesible, so much more propable to have been visited in those days then now. But i dont think its flat flat univers, more like wiht waves, just like the sun mirrors on the watter , galaxies mirror on the surface of our galaxy.

[cuntbuster]

Excellent.

[superhamzah85]

@Joniversity

How about, a piece of paper, it's flat but if you hold it up, it's curved.

That's probably wrong for people above 6 years old.