Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says

[Divinorumus]

Cool.

Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says
John Roach
for National Geographic News
November 5, 2008

Something may be out there. Way out there.

On the outskirts of creation, unknown, unseen "structures" are tugging on our universe like cosmic magnets, a controversial new study says.

Everything in the known universe is said to be racing toward the massive clumps of matter at more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour—a movement the researchers have dubbed dark flow.

The presence of the extra-universal matter suggests that our universe is part of something bigger—a multiverse—and that whatever is out there is very different from the universe we know, according to study leader Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The theory could rewrite the laws of physics.
. . .
(read more at the link)

[Judee]

Racing back to the source...?

[crossfire]

I found this part particularly interesting:

The clusters were all moving at the same speed—nearly 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour —and in a single direction. Though this dark flow was detected only in galaxy clusters, it should apply to every structure in the known universe, Kashlinsky said.

This might suggest that the universe is larger than we think--just as there are now areas of space where can can observe space expanding faster than the speed of light, this 'flow' might be due to areas that started this faster-than-light expansion earlier then what we are currently observing.

This might also suggest that the speed of gravity exceeds the speed of light.

[Judee]

I found this part particularly interesting:

The clusters were all moving at the same speed—nearly 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour —and in a single direction. Though this dark flow was detected only in galaxy clusters, it should apply to every structure in the known universe, Kashlinsky said.

This might suggest that the universe is larger than we think--just as there are now areas of space where can can observe space expanding faster than the speed of light, this 'flow' might be due to areas that started this faster-than-light expansion earlier then what we are currently observing.

This might also suggest that the speed of gravity exceeds the speed of light.

Ah yes...

[Divinorumus]

Something could be pulling. Something could also be draining, like opening the drain at the bottom of the pool, or flushing the toilet. Also, our universe could be expanding up against other expanding universes, causing ours to expand into any open available space not already filled in by another universe, creating the appearance that it's expanding into a certain direction.

[Project]

This might suggest that the universe is larger than we think--just as there are now areas of space where can can observe space expanding faster than the speed of light

I can't find anything about FTL speed... did I miss this? What are these areas? I don't think I know about this, but sounds cool!

[crossfire]

I can't find anything about FTL speed... did I miss this? What are these areas? I don't think I know about this, but sounds cool!

I remember Michio Kaku saying something about "rips in space" being observed between galactic clusters, and that due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, we would no longer be able to see light from galaxies on the other side of this rip. I don't know if this would be due to FTL speed, or the expansion rate merely reaching light speed. (If the expansion rate keeps accelerating, what happens when it reaches light speed? Where would all the space that is being created by this expansion go if light speed could not accommodate all the space being created? Does it snap like a rubberband?)
All Galaxies to Become Ghosts, Frozen in Time and Space
The Big Rip: New Theory Ends Universe by Shredding Everything

[Project]

Oh ok gotcha, I think (afaik) that it would still have to obey limit of light speed. Obviously this may have changed, or still may change, but it would be quite a change! This does not rule out FTL in terms of wormholes or other methods of changing your relative position in space, just in terms of how fast one thing can travel in relation to another.

What we need to be careful of is the relativity idea, the universe is accelerating away from us, not in "general". ie: there is no notion of a "space" that space occupies, and can fill up or overflow... space IS the "space". "What holds space" is an impossible question in GR, but not in Newtonian physics.

This was a major thing that I had trouble with in phil o sci, it seems natural to think of acceleration being absolute, like a car driving along a road, getting faster... but in fact, we need to think of it like the car pushing the earth away at the rate the car is accelerating... the road is not fixed, it is affected by the forces as much as the car is. You can't say something like "the car is going 30 miles an hour" and be technically correct.. you need to add "in relation to..." or else it cannot make sense.

Another way to think of it is to ask "if the earth is going 50 000 mph through space (yes, impossible to say in GR, but just for purposes of this thought experiment), and a car is driving on earth in same direction as earth at 30 mph, how fast is car going?".

This is a cool chart:



Shows what physics is appropriate at what scale, and when it breaks down...

[Divinorumus]

Oh ok gotcha, I think (afaik) that it would still have to obey limit of light speed.

Arbitrary speed limits only exist within the matrix (a.k.a. the apparent physical reality). A limitation* of the processor that maintains the illusion. Outside however, time does not exist, and therefore speed limits are meaningless.

*Speed limits can be broken**, but I wouldn't recommend making a habit of doing so.

**Undesirable consequences can result.

[axl]

Cool.

Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says
John Roach
for National Geographic News
November 5, 2008

Something may be out there. Way out there.

On the outskirts of creation, unknown, unseen "structures" are tugging on our universe like cosmic magnets, a controversial new study says.

Everything in the known universe is said to be racing toward the massive clumps of matter at more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour—a movement the researchers have dubbed dark flow.

The presence of the extra-universal matter suggests that our universe is part of something bigger—a multiverse—and that whatever is out there is very different from the universe we know, according to study leader Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The theory could rewrite the laws of physics.
. . .
(read more at the link)

i find this subject captivating for 3 reasons .
1 ) the universe is expanding quicker as time goes on and not slowing down .
2 ) it proves alternate universes exist .
3 ) it also proves that this is not true reality .