Fascinating article, thanks for sharing.

I don't think that the laws of Physics are completely reversible as implied by this article. Apparently they whom state this are unfamiliar with the second law of thermodynamics which I feel is the most unshakeable law in all of Physics.

There can be no reversal in time or any other process without adding energy. All processes move to a higher amount of disorder, A broken glass won't suddenly jump up back on the counter and rearrange a bunch of shards back into a normal drinking glass.

Time is an illusion that allows us to order the events in our lives. If you have to admit that special relativity is right then you have to admit that people traveling fast relative to a stationary observer on Earth will age more slowly. they cannot travel back into their past to change events in the current time.

I don't think that the laws of Physics are completely reversible as implied by this article. Apparently they whom state this are unfamiliar with the second law of thermodynamics which I feel is the most unshakeable law in all of Physics.

There can be no reversal in time or any other process without adding energy. All processes move to a higher amount of disorder, A broken glass won't suddenly jump up back on the counter and rearrange a bunch of shards back into a normal drinking glass.

Time is an illusion that allows us to order the events in our lives. If you have to admit that special relativity is right then you have to admit that people traveling fast relative to a stationary observer on Earth will age more slowly. they cannot travel back into their past to change events in the current time.

But aren't the laws of physics only applicable within the confines of this universe?....and aren't they actually *determined* by the state of our universe?

For example, if the universe had critical mass and shrunk back in on itself in a "Big Crunch", then presumably the law of thermodynamics would only work in reverse. Stephen Hawking talks about Thermodynamics working in reverse this way in A Brief History of Time.

It seems that observational evidence suggests a "Big Crunch" will not happen, but the point remains; our universe's physics were determined at the moment of the big bang by whatever conditions and parameters led to the specific way it unfolded.

. . . Much Appreciated Post Chris - Thank You Sir!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7440217.stm

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I don't think that the laws of Physics are completely reversible as implied by this article. Apparently they whom state this are unfamiliar with the second law of thermodynamics which I feel is the most unshakeable law in all of Physics.

There can be no reversal in time or any other process without adding energy. All processes move to a higher amount of disorder, A broken glass won't suddenly jump up back on the counter and rearrange a bunch of shards back into a normal drinking glass.

Time is an illusion that allows us to order the events in our lives. If you have to admit that special relativity is right then you have to admit that people traveling fast relative to a stationary observer on Earth will age more slowly. they cannot travel back into their past to change events in the current time.

But aren't the laws of physics only applicable within the confines of this universe?....and aren't they actually *determined* by the state of our universe?

For example, if the universe had critical mass and shrunk back in on itself in a "Big Crunch", then presumably the law of thermodynamics would only work in reverse. Stephen Hawking talks about Thermodynamics working in reverse this way in A Brief History of Time.

It seems that observational evidence suggests a "Big Crunch" will not happen, but the point remains; our universe's physics were determined at the moment of the big bang by whatever conditions and parameters led to the specific way it unfolded.

I don't think that if gravity took over and the universe started contracting that any "Law" would be reversed. The non relativistic mass would not change. The broken glass is not going to jump up off the floor and reassemble itself on the table top. Time will not run backwards and we will not all return to our mother's wombs. the physics were determined or rather you could say the "laws" of physics determined what happened at and after the big bang--we are still looking to fully discover, refine and understand these laws.

along these lines:

Le'maitre was a Belgian priest and astronomer who first put a finger on Einstein's Cosmic Constant. Thus, gravity did slow down the expansion from the Big Bang during past eras. About 6 billion years ago the expansion began to accelerate as the Vacuum Energy overcame diluted gravitational effects. So we never will see a big crunch.

As more space is created--more vacuum energy is created so the expansion will accelerate.

... As more space is created--more vacuum energy is created so the expansion will accelerate.

Except that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it is merely converted.

So where's this 'extra' energy coming from?...

Keep searchin',
Martin

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... As more space is created--more vacuum energy is created so the expansion will accelerate.

Except that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it is merely converted.

So where's this 'extra' energy coming from?...

Keep searchin',
Martin

I know this sounds like pseudo-science which I abhor. I think the answer is that we have invented (Discovered ?) Quantum Mechanics. The old notion of "you can't create something out of nothing" is wrong.

In Quantum mechanics particle/antiparticle pairs are popping into and out of existence continuously. In this case the positive and negative energy balance. You create capital by borrowing from the bank and of course you are initially equal since you have a corresponding debt. Where does the energy of the vacuum come from? I don't know and from all of the reading I've done I don't think anyone knows. Perhaps it precipitates from some other form of energy which was always there from the big bang. perhaps it comes from our suspected other dimensions and leaks through via a particle or string that vibrates in other dimensions.

I certainly can't explain it --I do believe that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate and therefore a repulsive pressure (anti-gravity) is increasing. Perhaps it was always there and now asserts itself since gravity becomes weaker--diluted by the spreading out of mass and less gravity per unit volume of space.

There must be other thoughts on this --anyone