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When researchers reanalysed the gold-standard data set of the early universe, they concluded that the cosmos must be "closed," or curled up like a ball. Most others remain unconvinced.
A provocative paper published today in the journal Nature Astronomy argues that the universe may curve around and close in on itself like a sphere, rather than lying flat like a sheet of paper as the standard theory of cosmology predicts. The authors reanalysed a major cosmological data set and concluded that the data favours a closed universe with 99% certainty — even as other evidence suggests the universe is flat.
The data in question — the Planck space telescope's observations of ancient light called the cosmic microwave background (CMB) — "clearly points towards a closed model," said Alessandro Melchiorri of Sapienza University of Rome. He co-authored the new paper with Eleonora di Valentino of the University of Manchester and Joseph Silk, principally of the University of Oxford. In their view, the discordance between the CMB data, which suggests the universe is closed, and other data pointing to flatness represents a "cosmological crisis" that calls for "drastic rethinking."
In your opinion, which shape is more likely ?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday November 05 2019, @07:17PM (4 children)
The shape of the universe doesn't give a damn about my opinion. Evidence determines the right answer, not my opinion.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @08:34PM (2 children)
No evidence allows an approximate model. There is no right answer.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday November 05 2019, @08:41PM (1 child)
Then the right answer is "I don't know (yet)".
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday November 05 2019, @09:12PM
That is the right answer. "I don't know." I've believed since soon after college it is an (at least) 4D sphere (of space -- not even counting time which is yet another dimension).
I've pointed out possible "experiments" in this thread. But there are other evidences that our 3D space IS warped in a 4th dimension.
Remember Mariner 9, a spacecraft sent to Mars? The straight line between Mariner 9 and the Earth sometimes gets nearer and nearer to the sun's surface as the two planets (Earth, Mars) move. When that line gets near the sun, the length of that line gets much longer. This is because space is warped near the sun due to the large gravitational field of the sun. There is "more space" there. This is evidenced by the higher "ping time" between Earth and Mariner 9 when the direct signal path is near the sun. There is a "hill" (or valley) of space there. Oh, and time moves more slowly the deeper you get into a gravity well. Which also fits with the longer ping time.
I don't know if I should mention gravitational lensing.
If our 3d space curves in another (4th) dimension, then a sphere would be a sensible shape, but not necessarily the true shape. And the answer may be unknowable.
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(Score: -1) by MyOpinion on Wednesday November 06 2019, @12:33PM
So what evidence is there for a large-scale convexity of the oceans?
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