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94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

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Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#41
post #35

if the universe is expanding faster than the speed of light why can't we harness that power and travel that fast?

The expansion of space itself is not subject to the same constraints as travel through space.

Put another way: Nothing can travel through space faster than light. But the expansion of space itself isn’t a form of travel, and so it’s not subject to this limitation.

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#45
post #18

It's mind blowing to imagine that the observable universe is bigger than 90 billion light years, space-time expanding at multiple times the speed of light. If expansion keeps accelerating, then at some point gravity won't be able to keep the local cluster together and even those galaxies will drift away, then star systems, then planets, then matter itself will be torn apart until atoms and particles and quarks are de…

> the careful balance of universal constants that allow for matter and stars and life to exist surely would not allow it all to be destroyed forever in the end...

Imagine a brute-force creation of x^y universes with varying cosmological constants. Surely some universes with the right ingredients for life also include a deep freeze or a Big Crunch.

Or, maybe our universe was created in a lab somewhere and they’re trying to figure out how to make a stable universe through experimentation. And we’re iteration #42.

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#46

If this fact makes you uneasy just know that 100% of the universe's galaxies, except the one we are currently in, are already unreachable within your lifetime.

If this fact makes you uneasy just know that (nearly) 100% of the galaxy's solar systems except the one we're currently in are (likely) unreachable within your lifetime. Though to be fair, I think the original title can't possibly know this, for instance if we live in a simulation, what's to say that some sort of algorithm (assuming we learn to meta-code our own existence) could put us in any galaxy we choose... Or w…

100% of this solar system's other planets and moons are (likely) unreachable by you within your lifetime.

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#47

If this fact makes you uneasy just know that 100% of the universe's galaxies, except the one we are currently in, are already unreachable within your lifetime.

Pretty much true for all other stars as well… we’re not visiting anywhere soon

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#48
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so there's an estimated 200 billion galaxies...still leaves us 12 billion.... I mean how greedy are we?

The last enemy to be defeated will be entropy

An interesting written SF series with similar themes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeelee_Sequence

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#49

If this fact makes you uneasy just know that 100% of the universe's galaxies, except the one we are currently in, are already unreachable within your lifetime.

That depends on whether the singularity people were right after all or not.

Re: 94% of the universe’s galaxies are permanently beyond our reach

#50
post #13

Since we can't ever reach most of the universe, that means we'll probably have to simulate it to ever explore it. Which means we're probably being simulated right now. Hm. Let's hope they left `sv_cheats` available.

If we're in a simulation...couldn't we learn to reprogram/hack the sim, and just put our spaceships in another galaxy?

The sims in my Simcity games never managed to do that, so I think the chances are low.
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