It's an existential question that many of us have probably pondered at some point: is space infinite? It's difficult to answer because there isn't just one kind of infinity to consider. Even if the universe were to last forever, it might not be infinitely large. It could be bounded like the surface of the Earth, allowing you to travel indefinitely without ever finding an edge. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The universe may be infinite, but we can only see a finite section of it because of the finite speed of light. We can only see those parts from which light has had time to reach us since the beginning of the universe - which means we can (in theory) see a spherical universe with a radius of about 47 billion light years. If I gave you some time to think about it, I'm sure you would come to the following conclusion: "this means that the universe must have expanded faster than the speed of light at some point", which seems to violate special relativity. In fact this is what is thought to have happened, during a period called “inflation”, and it does not violate special relativity since it is not a spatial movement, but the expansion of space itself. In our human words, that means 13.8 billion light years in all directions, the Universe does not repeat itself. Light has been traveling towards us for 13.8 billion years this way, and 13.8 billion years that way, and 13.8 billion years that way; and it was precisely then that the light left those regions. The expansion of the Universe brought them from 47.5 billion light-years away. Based on this, our Universe is 93 billion light years in diameter. This is a "at least" figure. It could be 100 billion light years, or it could be trillions of light years. We don't know. Maybe we can't know. And it could simply be infinite. If the Universe is truly infinite, well, then we get a very interesting result; something that I guarantee will break your brain for the entire day. Consider this. In a cubic meter (or yard) of space. Well, in a large enough box of space (show it with your hands), there are a finite number of particles that can exist in that region, and those particles can have a finite number of configurations considering their rotation, charge, position, speed and so on. There are only 1080 particles in the observable Universe, so that's far fewer than the possible configurations of matter in one cubic meter. If the Universe is truly infinite, if you move away from Earth, you will eventually reach a place where there is a duplicate cubic meter of space. The further you go, the more duplicates you will find. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In fact, hopefully you will absorb the powers of an immortal version of yourself, because if you continue you will find an infinite number of them. you'll eventually find entire observable universes duplicated with more of your own and picking up others as well. And at least one of them will have a beard.
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