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How Big is Space?

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Re: How Big is Space?

#71

Post by function_seven »

marcosdumay wrote: post #17
Cookingboy wrote: post #7

One thing that bothers me is that charts/apps like this have to use logarithmic scale due to obvious reasons, but log scale is just not very effective for most people to comprehend on an intuitive level. In the last section each pixel is 1,000,000km, and the first section each pixel represents 1 meter, but experience wise it doesn't make the last section feel that much bigger, and I still have to keep looking at the…

It's worth to do a linear scale miniature of the solar system. At the 1:10^9 scale, it fits well within a farm or a big park, all the planets are at a viable size, and the Sun is not too big.

Not the scale you're looking for, but cool nonetheless: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_Solar_System

EDIT: Wait! I think this is exactly the scale you're proposing: http://www.jeffreybennett.com/model-solar-systems/voyage-sca...

EDIT2: Well, actually 10^10, so another order of magnitude smaller than 10^9.

Re: How Big is Space?

#72

Post by zyxley »

Space is like that one time you're in another country and you look out over the ocean, and there's a little boat there and then you realize it's actually a very large sailboat and for a moment you're struck by vertigo, wondering who the skipper is, wondering if they are out on vacation too or if this is their life, out here on the open ocean, with water like blue glass, and you have to take quick breaths and stare down at the beach rocks until it's passed, because for just a moment you feel like a tiny little part of the web of people moving upon the globe, and it makes your chest seize up because you know there is more out there than you will ever be able to see or know, there is so much that you will never be able to experience and understand, a thousand million things that you just can't fit into your life before you run out of life to live —

— but so much bigger than that.

Re: How Big is Space?

#73

Post by mirimir »

marcosscriven wrote: post #34
sktrdie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just can't help but think that we'll reach a wall when it comes to exploring the real world. Even if we get to travel at the speed of light, we're still limited by it. In 20 years of light travel we'd only visit relatively close clusters. All the other stuff is thousands of light years away. Not to mention exploring other galaxies which are millions of light years away. Quality of life in the virtual world will per…

With time-dilation, from the point of view of those on board, it's actually possible to travel as far as Andromeda with constant 1g acceleration (decelerating at 1g half way), within a few decades. Of course, time back on earth would have gone by a few million years...

Plus, as in Egan's Diaspora, virtual entities can hibernate, or live at far lower clock frequency.

Re: How Big is Space?

#74

Post by svalorzen »

mahranch wrote: post #60
sktrdie wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So a photon can get anywhere it wants instantly to them?

This is a great article (for laypeople, it's not supposed to be too technical) that explains it and makes it easy to understand: http://zidbits.com/2011/04/why-cant-anything-go-faster-than-... I'll quote the relevant bit, " Imagine for a moment that you are a happy little photon created by a star in another galaxy some 4 billion light years away. From my perspective here on Earth, it took you exactly 4 billion years…

Not only this, but due to space compression to the photon the star and your eye are also exactly the same place!

Re: How Big is Space?

#76

Post by dghf »

curiousjorge wrote: post #27

Kinda depressing just how small we are and that we can't get around places to explore space without some groundbreaking invention that will transfer information from the atoms to another location instantly (something like spooky action except that after you are finished copying the atom data, the old copy must be deleted to prevent endless dopplegangers appearing) by appending some complex 3d position information (mo…

> Kinda depressing just how small we are and that we can't get around places to explore space without some groundbreaking invention that will transfer information from the atoms to another location instantly

If that ever happens, you'd better hope that the Novikov self-consistency principle [0] holds, or be ready to deal with the inevitable causality violations.[1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novikov_self-consistency_princ...

[1] http://www.askamathematician.com/2012/07/q-how-does-instanta...

Re: How Big is Space?

#77

Post by antimagic »

stcredzero wrote: post #55
mattkevan wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm worried that as these 'space is really big' sites get better, someone will inadvertantly create a browser-based total perspective vortex and instantly annihilate the brain of anyone who visits.

The median Silicon Valley techie ego surpassed 1000 millizaphods several years ago. Many of the Bay Area locals are already immune.

I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Or maybe I'm misremembering that part?

Re: How Big is Space?

#78

Post by ttrmw »

mirimir wrote: post #73
marcosscriven wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With time-dilation, from the point of view of those on board, it's actually possible to travel as far as Andromeda with constant 1g acceleration (decelerating at 1g half way), within a few decades. Of course, time back on earth would have gone by a few million years...

Plus, as in Egan's Diaspora , virtual entities can hibernate, or live at far lower clock frequency.

I've not read Diaspora (yet!), but this sounds more like Permutation City

Re: How Big is Space?

#79

Post by XzetaU8 »

curiousjorge wrote: post #50
sktrdie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just can't help but think that we'll reach a wall when it comes to exploring the real world. Even if we get to travel at the speed of light, we're still limited by it. In 20 years of light travel we'd only visit relatively close clusters. All the other stuff is thousands of light years away. Not to mention exploring other galaxies which are millions of light years away. Quality of life in the virtual world will per…

Fermi paradox is interesting because if aliens did have the ability to teleport they would've done so. The matrix does sound reasonable. What if we could have everything in this virtual world? The argument that we are in a matrix right now is moot because it kinda sucks. Great for the 1 percenters tho.

There are already plenty "solutions" for the Fermi paradox, one of those is the Multiverse hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse another one is the Holographic principle http://motherboard.vice.com/read/there-is-growing-evidence-t...

Re: How Big is Space?

#80

Post by mattkevan »

antimagic wrote: post #77
stcredzero wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The median Silicon Valley techie ego surpassed 1000 millizaphods several years ago. Many of the Bay Area locals are already immune.

I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Or maybe I'm misremembering that part?

You're right - by crawling out of the wrecked building through the window he entered a pocket reality designed to help him discover the true ruler of the universe. Or something.

I can't remember whether it happened that way in the radio series or the books as they're quite different (let's pretend the film never happened).

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