Astrophysicists unveil biggest-ever 3D map of universe

I was right all along: The Universe is a big butterfly.

As big or small as it may be I have always been baffled by what is outside of the universe.

My guess would be the entity(ies) in charge of this universe.

It could be a spotty teenager in his bedroom playing an ultra-advanced version of The Sims, or it could be some research organization like CERN observing what happens with these specific settings (No. 3,763,219 of 1,000,000,000,000).

I actually a few relatives who believe the earth is no more than 6,000 years old. Totally embarrassing.

Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, in the far future all the other galaxies except those gravitationally attached to our own will fade from view and, due to the limit of the speed of light, become impossible to see from here ever again. After that, we'll be alone in the universe. Of course, this will take like trillions of years and the Earth and sun will long since ceased to exist by then. But still, its one of those melancholic observations that makes me not like investing too much of my time in pondering these things.

Imagine playing the sims and seeing your created characters try and map out the little world their living in.. cuuuuute!

That’s basically what this is.

rainyday, just to cheer you up, there will come an end to the age of stars, and as the last lights flicker out, the universe will be for ever dark.

To state categorically that “it is due to the presence of dark energy” is to put the cart before the horse and reverse the scientific method. If the data doesn’t match the theory, revise the theory is the accepted method, however here the data does not match the theory in the standard model, so they have invented an unproven “dark energy” as a shoe in to make the data fit the model.

Just basically wrong on every level.

Still, this work is usefull in expanding our knowledge and understanding of the universe we live in (even if it is a computer simulation!).

I actually a few relatives who believe the earth is no more than 6,000 years old. Totally embarrassing.

Maybe they're closer to the truth than us. For example, from a photon's point of view, time and distance don't exist, so 6,000 years is as close to a photon's reality as 13.8 billion years. If your relatives move around very quickly, they could be right, from their point of view. (Now wondering whether there is any significance to the word "relatives".) :-)

Sorry, head hurting!

Just basically wrong on every level.

Noted. (Rolls eyes)

Pointless Scientific effort... they still can't predict when / if a space object is going to do a close-fly-by and scare the proverbial's out of the locals , let alone come up with a practical plan to move an object off-course should they find one heading towards us....

Astro-Physicists must have the most pointless careers these days - they must therefore be better prepared than most for our current time of Employment wipeout. ... but just what does an Astro-Physicists do in this situation ?

Has SETI stopped hiring ?

Sorry, I'm a Philistine when it comes to Astro-Physics... can someone please advise me what one has "materially" contributed to Society in general ? I seriously need to review my opinion... and appreciate the Science better through understanding... (no, I jest not - please, educate me, and the rest of the population, in the "now" mindset).

Sorry, I'm a Philistine when it comes to Astro-Physics... can someone please advise me what one has "materially" contributed to Society in general ?

Maybe you need to adjust your thinking timescale. For example, these days we have satnav devices. Would we have them if Copernicus and Co hadn't figured out how the earth doesn't go around the sun?

And when it looks like our time here on Earth is up, the knowledge gained of distant celestial objects may have helped us realize well in advance that we have to get off this place and in plenty of time to build the starships we will need. It will probably take more than a couple of years.

Would we have them if Copernicus and Co hadn't figured out how the earth doesn't go around the sun?

Oops! I got that wrong. But you know what I mean, even if I don't.