Mind. Blown.

[Tsuyu]

The sun consumes it own mass at a rate of 5 million tons per second.

Five. Million. Tons.

Per second.

That's just... unfathomable. The sun is huge, dude.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

dude, if the sun exploded we wouldn't know about it for ~8 minutes.
8
MINUTES

that's the time it takes the speed of light to travel from the sun to earth.
wicked.

 

[The Rh Factor]

This kind of stuff is so crazy I can't even fully processs it. One of my friends took a Relativity class in college and tried to explain stuff to me, like how time moves more slowly the further you get away from Earth and how time travel is possible. I thought, "wow, this day is going to change my life" ... then my brain exploded.

 

[Drew2686]

If you ever are outside on a sunny day and can see the moon, do the following. Think of the silly Solar System pictures you've seen as a kid, how it's relatively flat and disk-like. Then look at the sky and tilt your head (or just mentally works too) so the sun and moon align with that flattish disk. Basically, you see where you are in relation to it all in 3d. That feels epic too, though it makes you feel like a tiny atom of nothingness in the grand scheme of things.

 

[HobbeBrain]

That...

that...

that...

that...

I can't think of a word, so I'll just be typing 'that...' forever.

It blows your ****ing mind.

I think my head may asplode.

 

[Tyloric]

Scientists also recently discovered that a few of Saturn's moons have breathable atomosphere.

Just adding to the awesome, here.

 

[Necromancer]

Scientists also recently discovered that a few of Saturn's moons have breathable atomosphere.

Hmm, interesting. I wasn't aware of that. It sucks how humans can't survive with the insanely freezing temperatures out there though.

What I'm really interested in is Jupiter's sixth moon: Europa. It is believed that under its icy surface, there is a vast ocean, and that it could be the home of some kind of underwater extraterrestrial life. Supposedly, there is a mission to check it out (along with some other moons around Jupiter) set for the year 2020.

 

[Arseface]

I would have thought it would be more than that.

People use the word "epic" a lot to describe things that aren't really epic, but I think it's justified in this case.

Hmm, interesting. I wasn't aware of that. It sucks how humans can't survive with the insanely freezing temperatures out there though.

What I'm really interested in is Jupiter's sixth moon: Europa. It is believed that under its icy surface, there is a vast ocean, and that it could be the home of some kind of underwater extraterrestrial life. Supposedly, there is a mission to check it out (along with some other moons around Jupiter) set for the year 2020.

Mermaids!

 

[The Rh Factor]

What I'm really interested in is Jupiter's sixth moon: Europa. It is believed that under its icy surface, there is a vast ocean, and that it could be the home of some kind of underwater extraterrestrial life. Supposedly, there is a mission to check it out (along with some other moons around Jupiter) set for the year 2020.

Interesting indeed. I always laugh when people say they think we're the only form of life in the entire universe. Such a statement requires an astronomical amount of egotism. I mean, hello, the universe IS infinite and all that jazz, why would we be so special??

2020? Geez, I can't believe anyone (even NASA) plans that far ahead!!

 

[Arseface]

Actually, the Universe isn't infinite.

 

[The Rh Factor]

Actually, the Universe isn't infinite.

Really?? I've always been taught that it is, but it's not a subject I follow real closely, to be honest with you. So if it's not infinite, that means there's an end to it. Where do they propose the end is? And what's on the other side of the end? (I'm not trying to be a smart ass, it's a legit question)

 

[Tyloric]

Really?? I've always been taught that it is, but it's not a subject I follow real closely, to be honest with you. So if it's not infinite, that means there's an end to it. Where do they propose the end is? And what's on the other side of the end? (I'm not trying to be a smart ass, it's a legit question)

The universe is unfathomably massive, but lots of research shows that the universe is slowly collapsing in on itself. Big, but ever shrinking.

Space might be endless but the universe most certainly is not.

 

[Arseface]

Really?? I've always been taught that it is, but it's not a subject I follow real closely, to be honest with you. So if it's not infinite, that means there's an end to it. Where do they propose the end is? And what's on the other side of the end? (I'm not trying to be a smart ass, it's a legit question)

There's no end, so to speak, although in a sense it can be considered infinite. Consider the Earth. You can travel in a straight line on the Earth without stopping, but if you zoom out it's a very finite sphere. In short, it depends on how many dimensions you're viewing the universe in as to whether it can be considered to be infinite or not.

The universe is unfathomably massive, but lots of research shows that the universe is slowly collapsing in on itself. Big, but ever shrinking.

Space might be endless but the universe most certainly is not.

It's not shrinking. It's actually expanding pretty damn quickly. But they think it might start shrinking eventually. Either that, or it will keep expanding until it reaches maximum entropy, and nothing can happen. Or it might just keep expanding. Or the simulation might end and we all go back to our real bodies.

But then when you're talking about something as complex as the the nature or the fate of the universe, then all you can really say is that we don't have enough data.

 

[D3m190d]

Arseface is right, but it's not that hard to know when you look into it. The Universe is actually ecpanding at an accelerating rate. This should lead us from the Big Bang to the Big Chill, in which all bodies in space are separated by vast amounts of... space. Still, the theory of the Big Crunch is still there, but that's mostly because it was around before we knew the Universe was expanding, ever faster.

Oh, and Mind not blown, 'cause mind is used to massively weird things. Like how one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of Neutron Star weighs over 5.5×1012 kg, about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. And how strong it's gravity is, essentially making a lens that makes us see the edge behind the very star:

 

[Arseface]

Neutron Stars are crazy. 10 kilometres diametre, but more gravity than the sun.

Crazy.

 

[HobbeBrain]

Actually, the Universe isn't infinite.

What I'm really interested in is Jupiter's sixth moon: Europa. It is believed that under its icy surface, there is a vast ocean, and that it could be the home of some kind of underwater extraterrestrial life. Supposedly, there is a mission to check it out (along with some other moons around Jupiter) set for the year 2020.

Like how one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of Neutron Star weighs over 5.5×1012 kg, about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. And how strong it's gravity is, essentially making a lens that makes us see the edge behind the very star:

Neutron Stars are crazy. 10 kilometres diametre, but more gravity than the sun.

Crazy.

I really want to say some epicly mind blowing thing now, but I can think of nothing.

So I leave you with some epic music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCUnhoe0rpU

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

i'm going to start off by saying i don't know anything about this. i was taught it was expanding, and that's what they say in the monty python galaxy song, so that's what i believe.

but won't gravitationial forces, no matter how small based on increasing distance between masses, keep matter bunching together up to an infinite expansion, though at an exponentially decreasing rate as things grow farther and farther apart?

 

[HobbeBrain]

Eventually, the Edges of the Universe (that sounds so badass) will stop expanding due to the Big Bang, and gravity will take effectn and pull it all back in to a ball compiled of all the atoms in the universe squeezed into a nearly infinitely dense dot smaller thatn your thumb, and will stay like that until it expands again due to aother Big Bang.

THAT is mind blowing.

 

[D3m190d]

Eventually, the Edges of the Universe (that sounds so badass) will stop expanding due to the Big Bang, and gravity will take effectn and pull it all back in to a ball compiled of all the atoms in the universe squeezed into a nearly infinitely dense dot smaller thatn your thumb, and will stay like that until it expands again due to aother Big Bang.

THAT is mind blowing.

That is but one theory. As I said in my post, that is the first thing they believed. But nowadays it also seems quite possible that the Universe will just keep on expanding, faster and faster. We just don't know...

Oh, and not very epic, but still funny: If there was a sea large enough, the entire planet of Saturn could float in it, much like a random ball in water...

 

[Drew2686]

Also, let's take time to be thankful for our wonderful but unsung Magnetosphere. Without it, violent solar and electromagnetic radiation would bombard our planet and cause many problems to life as we know it (eg: disabling communication satellites, mobile phones, affect sleep patterns, & radiation poisoning of everything).

Gooooo Magnet Power!