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Why The Update Is So Late If you were wondering

#1 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Cspace {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:04 AM

I've had a few massive assignments for school during the past week, and have been unable to do much of anything because of that. But you can probably expect the update tonight or tomorrow, I'm very sorry that it is taking so long.

This is an example of something that's been keeping me from updating the site (a 10 page paper about the Big Bang, lost its formatting though when copied here):

Note: I'm not putting this up for everyone to read necessarily, but it is just so you have a better idea for when the update will take place (of course I won't stop you though, lol).


The Big Bang - Draft

For many years, man has been searching for an explanation for the origin of the universe. A widely accepted theory, the Big Bang, has recently been questioned by many scientists. Even though a multitude of facts support this theory, some strong arguments exist against it. These arguments are the source of doubt in many scientists’ opinions. One basic aspect of science is that one must question anything that is not proven; the Big Bang should be no exception.
Before the Big Bang theory, no one had any real idea about how the universe was created. Religion had been the primary source of explanation for the universe, and still is a major one today. When scientists began to seek reason and truth behind the processes of the world, though, these religious beliefs were challenged. At first, the belief that the world was flat was challenged; then that the earth was the center of the universe. Eventually, the perceived universe had become more systematic, and scientific theories started to replace previous beliefs. As more was learned about the universe, scientists began theorizing how everything began, and this led to the theory of the Big Bang.

The first to propose that the universe began with the explosion of a single atom is Belgian priest Georges Lemaître, in 1927 (http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html). He was a cosmologist who studied astrophysics and thought that the universe began with the explosion of a “Space-Atom” (nicknamed the Cosmic Egg). Critics later called his theory the Big Bang. Part of the basis of this theory is Einstein’s theory of General Relativity.
Einstein applauded Lemaître’s theory after he described it at a seminar and said, “This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened.”
Even though this theory seemed plausible, it did not have the backing it needed to be widely accepted as the explanation for the creation of the universe. If the universe began with the titanic explosion of a single atom, all matter should be moving away from the center of the universe. Also, cosmic background radiation, or the “glow left over from the explosion itself” (http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html) should be existent, even billions of years after the explosion.

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), an American astronomer, would later prove that galaxies are moving away from the center of the universe. Hubble studied many aspects of astronomy and made many discoveries. One discovery of his is that galaxies are not part of the Milky Way, but actually distant “island universes”. He also developed a system of classification for galaxies (according to their properties) and nebulae (clouds of gases, either of a forming star or one which has exploded). These classification systems are still used today.
Many consider his greatest discovery, though, his “discovery of the linear relationship between a galaxy’s distance and the speed with which it is moving” (http://www.stsci.edu/proof/edwin.html). This ratio is called the Hubble Constant, and was discovered after studying the redshifts of the light wavelengths emitted by galaxies and other distant objects. From this discovery, Hubble found that “distant galaxies in every direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance” (http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html). This discovery was named Hubble’s Law.
This discovery greatly supported the theory of the Big Bang, since a point could be calculated where the universe probably began. The speeds at which the galaxies are moving away from each other is also a major contribution to the theory. It shows that the universe is rapidly expanding, and this could be a result of the explosion. His calculations for the age of the universe, though, were off by billions of years. He dated the universe to be about two billion years old, while recent studies show that a more accurate date would be 13.7 billion years. This was recently calculated by NASA’s WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe) satellite. Even though Hubble’s calculation for the age of the universe was inaccurate, Hubble’s discoveries are among the most important behind the Big Bang theory.
Parallel to this calculation (though seemingly unrelated) is the significance of the sky being dark at night. Theoretically, if the universe were infinitely old and infinitely large, the entire sky would be extremely bright due to the light from distant objects constantly intersecting one’s vision. To account for darkness at night, the universe probably had a definite beginning (Astrophysicist Jim Sweitzer). Both this idea, and the calculations for the universe’s age, support the idea that the universe has a definite beginning (and is finite).

Prior to this discovery, many believed that the universe had no beginning or end, and as the universe expands, matter will be spontaneously created to maintain the same density. This idea had obviously been disproved by Hubble’s discoveries, though this is not all that would be required to prove the Big Bang theory.
Another major contribution to the theory was when Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered cosmic background radiation (3 Degree Kelvin Background Radiation, or blackbody radiation) in 1964 (later winning the Nobel Prize for this discovery). This was discovered when Penzias and Wilson were looking for signals from communication satellites, but picked up constant background radio noise (temperature of about three degrees Kelvin), that would not go away. This radiation was equally strong in every direction, and it was later discovered that this was coming from the deep parts of the universe. This low energy, uniform radiation that permeates the present universe originated from the initial explosion. This radiation can be detected by sensitive radio frequency detectors. From viewing a map of the cosmic background radiation (check image page), it may not seem as if the radiation is very uniform, though the temperature fluctuations are extremely small. These fluctuations could help explain the formation of galaxies.
So how does the cosmic background radiation support the Big Bang? Following the initial explosion, the universe would be extremely hot. The period from a few minutes after the Big Bang to around 300,000 years later is often called the radiation era. About a second after the explosion, radiation would be the dominant constituent of the universe (The Big Bang, by Joseph Silk). At first, gamma rays (very high energy wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum) were abundant. Then, due to the Doppler Shift involved with the expansion of the universe, these waves were “stretched” into longer wavelengths. This radiation went from gamma radiation, to x-rays, to ultraviolet rays, to optical light, to infrared rays, and finally to photons of radio wavelength. Throughout this process, radiation and matter were in contact, and the only surviving characteristic of this radiation is its temperature. This is today’s cosmic background radiation.
As one looks deeper into space, one would practically be looking back in time due to the time it takes light to reach the viewer. For example, the light from the sun takes about seven minutes to reach the earth (varies throughout the year due to the earth’s position), so when one views the sun, he/she would be seeing it as it was seven minutes previously. This also applies to more distant objects, though the amount of time is significantly greater (distance ÷ 186,000 miles/second = amount of time elapsed in seconds). Viewing the cosmic background radiation is no exception, and as one looks deeper into the universe, the spectrum of the radiation changes (higher energy). This signifies that the energy of the radiation has reduced over time, also supporting the idea of an initial explosion.

Another fact that is supporting the Big Bang theory is that gravity would have a major role in the creation of galaxies and other masses. Even though particles would be scattered almost uniformly throughout the universe during its first moments, gravity could cause particles to come together and form larger masses. These masses would become galaxies and stars.

Many scientists are convinced that the Big Bang was the event which began the universe due to the multitude of facts which are supporting the theory. At the moment it is the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of the universe, since it makes the most sense of all the current theories. Many, though, are not convinced that the Big Bang is accurate. While many facts support the theory, there are certain facts which could make the event an impossibility.

One major fact contradicting this theory is that it would be impossible for galaxy clusters to form if the universe began with a single explosion. Galaxy clusters are groups of galaxies of a wide range of sizes. One example of a galaxy cluster is the Virgo Cluster, a huge cluster of which the Milky Way is a part (Starry Night Companion).
In the book, The Big Bang Never Happened, Eric Lerner says, “The supercluster complexes directly contradict the homogeneity assumed by the Big Bang.”
In other words, if the Big Bang occurred, galaxies would be in more of a state of equilibrium (evenly spread out). The superclusters of galaxies would not form, since the explosion would sent matter in every direction, not permitting them to form.
The common answer to this is that there were originally small “clumps” (fluctuations) of matter in the early universe. These clumps are said to have grown through gravitational attraction. If this is the case, they would form stars, galaxies, and clusters.
Obviously, the larger the clump, the more time it would take to form. Stars would take a few million years, and galaxies would require one-two billion years (according to Lerner). This would make sense before superclusters of galaxies were discovered, and since then cosmologists have been trying to overcome them. Even if the Big Bang occurred 20 billion years ago (about six billion years more than currently estimated), the superclusters are simply too large to have formed in the given amount of time.
How can this be known? The redshifts of galaxies can be measured, not only to see how far away they are, but how fast they move relative to other objects. Redshifts measure the speed at which an object is moving away from the viewer. Redshifts increase with distance, as well as with an object’s speed, relative to the objects around it (similar to the Doppler Effect). From these measurements, it has been found that galaxies rarely move faster than a thousand kilometers per second (about 1/300 the speed of light). Therefore, in 20 billion years, a galaxy (or the matter that makes up the galaxy) could only have moved about 65 million light-years. At least 270 million light-years would be required to form objects as vast and dense as Tully’s complexes.
It has also been theorized that the amount of matter in the universe would affect the speed at which galaxies and other objects form. The less matter there is, the less gravitational force it can exert on other matter. Only one or two percent of the universe consists of matter, and this would obviously further slow down the creation of large galaxies and objects. It has been estimated that about ten atoms per cubic meter would be required for gravity to form large galaxies, while the actual density of the universe is around one atom for every ten cubic meters of space (about one hundred times more matter would be required).
The density of the universe as a ratio to the density needed to stop the expansion of the universe was called “omega”. Theoretically, if there were enough matter to stop the expansion of the universe, omega would equal at least one. It seems that omega is really equal to about .01 to .02. This is much smaller than what is required for the fluctuations to form galaxies in the given amount of time. To make up for the difference, a mysterious, unobservable form of matter had been assumed, called dark matter.
Lerner describes dark matter as “the little man who wasn’t there.”
Dark matter has never been observed, measured, or proven to exist. There are no real clues that it is there, but it would be required for the Big Bang theory to work. There is a good chance that dark matter doesn’t even exist. If dark matter were considered “ordinary matter”, an excess of helium and lithium would exist and the “nuclear soup” would not be the proper density (it is predicted that there was an abundance of helium and rare light isotopes like deuterium [heavy hydrogen] and lithium). So dark matter cannot be ordinary matter.
Since the theory would not make much sense if dark matter were ordinary matter, some scientists believe that it could consist of high energy particles such as heavy neutrinos, axions, and WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle). These particles could provide enough mass required for an omega value of one, and are almost impossible to observe (Lerner). What does not make sense is that there was no evidence of their existence, and a very large amount of dark matter would be needed.
For quite a while, astronomers have been searching for clues for the existence of dark matter. By measuring the speeds of galaxies and their rotations, it seems that there is more mass in galaxies than in stars alone (five to ten times more in clusters). Many think that the extra mass could be dark matter, though there was only enough to bring the value of omega up to .1 (one tenth of the required value). There is also room for error, in that the value could very well be less. This could occur if the redshifts measured to find the mass of galaxies (from the speed of their rotations) were thrown off by interlopers. An interloper is “when a galaxy nearer to us than the cluster to which it appeared to belong could be mistaken for one in the cluster that is moving toward us, while one farther away could be misidentified as a cluster galaxy moving away.” (Lerner). If interlopers were included in their calculations, the calculated mass of the clusters would be less.
Another potential error is if escaping galaxies were included as members of the cluster. These galaxies would not be bound by gravity to the cluster, and this would further cause an overestimation of the masses of the clusters.
These two errors would account for all the missing matter in galaxies and clusters, therefore leaving no space for dark matter. The masses of nearby galaxies were later measured by Mauri Valtonen and Gene Byrd (who found the potential errors of the original mass calculations), and it was found that the galaxies contained no invisible matter. This means that the omega value would still be around .02, therefore showing that dark matter probably would not account for the required mass for the Big Bang to work.

Another fact which could prevent the Big Bang from being possible is that matter theoretically cannot be created nor destroyed (but can change state). For the Big Bang to be possible, matter would be required to already be existent in the universe. If it were not, everything would have to practically be created out of empty space, with only energy as a catalyst for the creation of matter (and where would the energy come from in the first place?). On the other hand, if there were already particles in the pre-existent universe, matter would already be created. There would practically be no real need for the Big Bang to occur in the first place if this were the case, for the particles could be capable of forming galaxies on their own. Also, if particles and energy already existed, wouldn’t the question of the origin of the universe be where those came from? (Note: I’m going to write more on this topic, though sources say different things and I’m trying to find the most accurate information)

Overall, due to the strong arguments contradicting the Big Bang theory, this is most likely not an accurate explanation for the universe’s existence. While it makes more sense than most other theories regarding this topic, it does not necessarily have to be the full explanation. The factors keeping this from being possible must not be forgotten, and instead should somehow be worked into the theory (or form the basis for a new explanation for the universe’s origin). These facts contradicting the theory are the reason that the theory of the Big Bang is not particularly convincing.
It is possible that we may eventually be able to discover the true origin of the universe through the technological advancements of the future. It is predicted that computers will reach the intelligence of a human in 20-30 years, and improve exponentially from there. Space travel and propulsion system efficiency is also guaranteed to improve rapidly, and could assist with the deployment of probes (and even humans) to the far reaches of space within the next few hundred years.
The topic of the universe’s origin, though, is obviously an extremely complicated subject. It is very possible that man simply cannot understand this at the present moment, for nobody can even fully understand the processes of the current universe. The concepts behind black holes, the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, cosmic strings, wormholes, antimatter, the shape of the universe, antigravity, dark matter (also dark energy), and even the processes of our own planet have been eluding scientists for centuries. Scientists are only beginning to understand the concepts of our four-dimensional universe, and will be pursuing this for years to come. Only once the present universe can be explained will the subject of the origin of the universe be within man’s reach.

• "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein

• “...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.” Winston Churchill

• “There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may now be near the end of the search for the ultimate laws of nature.” Stephen Hawking

• “Space travel is utter bilge.” Richard Woolley (in 1956, one year before Sputnik)


Works Cited

Silk, Joseph. The Big Bang. New York. W. H. Freeman and Company. 1989.

Lerner, Eric. The Big Bang Never Happened. New York. Times Books. 1991.

Mosley, John. Starry Night Companion. Toronto, Canada. SPACE.com Canada, Inc. 2000.

LaRocco, Chris and Rothstein, Blair. The Big Bang: It Sure Was Big!! February 2, 2003. <http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm>

The Big Bang Theory NASA. February 2, 2003. <http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html>

Sweitzer, Jim. “Do You Believe in the Big Bang?” Astronomy Magazine. December 2002: 34-39.

Zabarenko, Deborah. Images Show Universe in Infancy. Reuters Limited. February 11, 2003.

Kenneth Brecher. "Big bang" World Book Online Americas Edition. March 5, 2003.
<http://www.worldbookonline.com/ar?/na/ar/co/ar702079.htm>

Nadis, Steve. “Cosmic Inflation Comes of Age” Astronomy Magazine. April 2002: 28-40.

Hawking, Stephen. The Universe in a Nutshell. New York, New York. Bantam Books. 2001.
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#2 {lang:macro__useroffline}   CongressJon {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:09 AM

understood Cspace thumb.gif Also, nice report. grnwink.gif

Also, just wondering, what do you plan to put in this next update? Some of the ideas in Suggestions Forum? Or things you dreamed up? bluetongue.gif
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#3 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Cspace {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:27 AM

I'm always trying to implement everyone's ideas into the site; was thinking of paying a visit to the Suggestion Forum before updating the site this time anyway grnwink.gif

QUOTE
Or things you dreamed up?

Heh heh, other than having four-dimensional dreams about cosmic strings, antimatter, Tully Complexes, and interlopers (all being sucked into a black hole or something), I've been dreaming about the summer, or maybe getting some more sleep (ironic that this would be in a dream). Don't remember SeeD being in any dreams during the past couple nights though, but at least it wasn't sucked into a quasar or something. grnwink.gif

QUOTE
Also, nice report.

Thanks! Lol, hope nobody reads the whole thing, I'm almost afraid to proofread it before my teacher now (just thought I'd show what I was doing instead of updates, don't think saying that my bird short-circuited my computer would work this time biglaugh.gif ).

QUOTE
Also, just wondering, what do you plan to put in this next update?

As much as time permits thumb.gif
Member list is a guarantee, maybe a surprise or two, depends on how much time I have.

Note: I didn't really dream about my research paper, lol, I didn't have any dreams that I remember bluetongue.gif
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#4 {lang:macro__useroffline}   CongressJon {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:28 AM

lol, okay rotate.gif also, dont forget the faldor knights sub-category! grnwink.gif
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#5 {lang:macro__useroffline}   serpentfight {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:02 AM

hey nice report i havn't read the whole thing though but from the first sentence i wass interested ( thumb.gif good job) an as soon as i do i will give you feedback if you want about it.
если вы можете прочитать русское сообщение я.
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#6 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Cspace {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:11 AM

Nah, don't need feedback (lol, don't really know why I put it up in the first place, maybe I'll find the answer from Rylkan) bluetongue.gif
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#7 {lang:macro__useroffline}   serpentfight {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:13 AM

lol ok then but can i still read it?

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#8 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Cspace {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:17 AM

Sure, if you'd like, it's only a draft though
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#9 {lang:macro__useroffline}   serpentfight {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:18 AM

sorry for that stuid question bluetongue.gif
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#10 {lang:macro__useroffline}   CongressJon {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:27 AM

lol, this is really changing focus grnwink.gif
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#11 {lang:macro__useroffline}   serpentfight {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:41 AM

realy how(just kidding about that)
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#12 {lang:macro__useroffline}   CongressJon {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:50 AM

anyway, I can't wait till the update TheSmile.gif
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#13 {lang:macro__useroffline}   serpentfight {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 01:56 AM

ya i cannt either
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#14 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Mrb1 {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 12:46 PM

Nice report so far u will definitly get an A+.
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#15 {lang:macro__useroffline}   CongressJon {lang:icon}

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Posted 06 March 2003 - 10:31 PM

*agrees with Mrb1* grnwink.gif
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