Space and The wonders/mysteries of The Universe

Sure, but my instincts tell me that hunting for all that invisible mass is going to be an exercise in chasing wild geese in the end.

If I had to bet, I'd bet that after decades of chasing invisible matter, eventually there will be a "Eureka!" moment when it becomes obvious that general relativity is actually just a special case of a greater gravitational theory, and once that happens "Dark Matter" books will get filed on the same shelf as books on "Luminiferous Ether".

I railed against dark matter for the longest time, thinking it could turn out to be a stupid observational error. But the effects seem to be real, even if the explanation feels contrived. I don't like it either.

For some reason this all reminds me of a discussion I had a while back with a very bright 6 year old. We were looking at satellite photos of Earth and she asked, "Why can't we see the sky when we look at it from the other side? It has to be real because we can see it, right?"

That's a very deep 6 year old!

6 year olds have wonderfully open minds. When pondering the mysteries of the universe, I think that's not a bad way to approach things. Deep down, we're all 6 year olds.

I thought this was pretty neat.  You always see the "not to scale" disclaimers but that doesn't quite do it justice.

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/417309/our-place-in-the-universe/

See also: the progressively zooming out universe (in spoiler tags due to the size of the image).

Spoiler:

My.....God

What are the bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres? New studies give us a better idea. In one study, scientists identify this bright material as a kind of salt. The second study suggests the detection of ammonia-rich clays. Learn more: http://go.nasa.gov/1jOoDNM #NASABeyond

chris63 wrote:What are the bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres? New studies give us a better idea. In one study, scientists identify this bright material as a kind of salt. The second study suggests the detection of ammonia-rich clays. Learn more: http://go.nasa.gov/1jOoDNM #NASABeyond

its quite obviously the Soup Dragons soup

Obviously !

Eldorion wrote:

See also: the progressively zooming out universe (in spoiler tags due to the size of the image).

Spoiler:

A tried and true classic!

Pack your bags, kids!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-10/nasa-releases-detailed-image-of-titan/7015678

The odds are in all those planets somewhere dragons and wizards do exist. that's my only concern.

bungobaggins wrote:Pack your bags, kids!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-10/nasa-releases-detailed-image-of-titan/7015678

not sure about the methane rain though.

Don't forget your umbrella!

Just watched How the universe works on Discovery science. As always when I watch these shows, I was fascinated, amazed and terrified Apparently, all the stars will eventually fade and die, and the sky will turn all black in the end as the last star burns out. This week the weather has been clear and I've been out every night just looking up at the stars, and then I learn this horrible truth this morning. I don't read much on the subject, so I'm sort of blissfully ignorant of much that many take for granted. But the thought of them all burning out and that everything will eventually be consumed by darkness is so incredibly sad. I always thought the stars, at least, were eternal. I know they die, eventually, but I always thought there would be new ones to take their place. I'll go outdoors again tonight and look at them again, knowing it is not so

Just finding out now, huh? The only alternative was the big crunch, where the expansion slows down and reverses, with everything slamming back together then starting up again. Not sure that's any better.

Like I said, blissfully ignorant

Ringdrotten wrote:Just watched How the universe works on Discovery science. As always when I watch these shows, I was fascinated, amazed and terrified Apparently, all the stars will eventually fade and die, and the sky will turn all black in the end as the last star burns out.

I remember reading an Isaac Asimov short story about this once, and it was really depressing as it chronicled the inevitable decay of civilization and ultimately the entire universe. Then it ended with

Spoiler:

and that was just a little too weird for me. I think I liked Nightfall better for somewhat similar thematic ground.

I don't really know where I was going with this now

If I remember right that's called "the Last Question" and it's a classic on par with Arthur C Clarke's "the Nine Billion Names of God".

All of them are like Nightfall: the best science fiction short stories all end with a punchline.

Both were good but very few things have given me a sense of dread and (for lack of a better word) philosophical hopelessness in quite the way Nightfall did.

Really? Asimov speculated that the reason people liked it so much was the sense of smugness it gave them: "at least WE'RE not afraid of the dark!"

He was a little bitter because he had written a short story about classism which he thought was deeper and better, but it was generally ignored. He felt it was because people recognized themselves in it, and didn't like the feeling.

I can't speak for anyone else, but to me "Nightfall" seemed to be more about the inevitability of certain things and how human nature overwhelms attempts to change history (sorta the opposite of Foundation now that I think about it). It would be silly to think myself immune to that, I'd think.

The final episode of the 4th Doctor, Logopolis is all about entropy, its about as hard sci-fi as Who gets.
The basic premise being

Spoiler: