Thinking About the Universe
It is strange and wonderful
that each body contains remnants
of a remote time and deep space.
Yet we still struggle to find our place—
to seek meaning in what might otherwise be
an indistinguishable existence
of great insignificance.
The cosmos is too vast to comprehend,
its distances unfathomable.
Yet that has never stopped us
from contemplating our ability to traverse it—
as if that alone would justify our part in it.
As the echoes of supernovae prove
here a star once existed.
The warmth of our Sun is insatiable;
we long for the next nearest,
Proxima Centauri,
ten thousand of our own years away.
We imagine alien life
as a complement to our own origin story,
filling in ancient fables,
bolstering old myths,
searching for truth hidden in the darkness.
We dedicate our entire lives
to a quest only future generations might come to realize.
We build towers, temples, and telescopes
to feel closer to what is far beyond our reach—
to seek understanding,
to elevate what might otherwise seem bleak.
This is our legacy:
curiosity, ambition, relentless pursuit—
to explore beyond our current planet,
to find order in the chaotic soup.
We ask ourselves the same questions, over and over:
Where did the universe come from?
Does it have a beginning or an end?
What happened at the beginning?
How do time and travel fit in?
We re-imagine our civilization
and wonder what more we can do.
As we orbit Sagittarius A*,
on a fixed loop
26,000 light-years away,
new ideas emerge here on Earth.
Are we just another program
executing commands,
still stuck on the backs of turtles,
infinitely spiraling down?
that each body contains remnants
of a remote time and deep space.
Yet we still struggle to find our place—
to seek meaning in what might otherwise be
an indistinguishable existence
of great insignificance.
The cosmos is too vast to comprehend,
its distances unfathomable.
Yet that has never stopped us
from contemplating our ability to traverse it—
as if that alone would justify our part in it.
As the echoes of supernovae prove
here a star once existed.
The warmth of our Sun is insatiable;
we long for the next nearest,
Proxima Centauri,
ten thousand of our own years away.
We imagine alien life
as a complement to our own origin story,
filling in ancient fables,
bolstering old myths,
searching for truth hidden in the darkness.
We dedicate our entire lives
to a quest only future generations might come to realize.
We build towers, temples, and telescopes
to feel closer to what is far beyond our reach—
to seek understanding,
to elevate what might otherwise seem bleak.
This is our legacy:
curiosity, ambition, relentless pursuit—
to explore beyond our current planet,
to find order in the chaotic soup.
We ask ourselves the same questions, over and over:
Where did the universe come from?
Does it have a beginning or an end?
What happened at the beginning?
How do time and travel fit in?
We re-imagine our civilization
and wonder what more we can do.
As we orbit Sagittarius A*,
on a fixed loop
26,000 light-years away,
new ideas emerge here on Earth.
Are we just another program
executing commands,
still stuck on the backs of turtles,
infinitely spiraling down?
Our Evolving Picture of the Universe
Ourselves wanderers,
taking leave on ships—
distances miscalculated,
sailing toward unknown lands.
We vanish on the horizon,
as do constellations drift,
never having reached the edge.
We write stories,
diverse and unique,
shaped by our own perspectives.
We dive deeper upon discovery,
of truths that do not fit
our own narratives.
Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn—
puzzle pieces,
not moving east to west
predicting positions, but lacking proofs.
Are we, or are we not,
at the center of it?
Following our starry pleasures
into the serried multitude,
until our feet no longer touch the Earth—
finding ourselves untethered,
jetting through unoccupied space,
harnessing the laws of planetary motion,
caught in the orbit,
questioning matters
both dark and reflective.
The gravity,
governing, forceful, and unseen;
we cast our shadows
unifying celestial and terrestrial physics.
While our moon eclipses us
it is not the only distinct satellite
simply the one we know best.
And our solar system, perhaps
an in-unique feature
of the greater cosmos,
also wandering
an uncharted expanse,
following an imperfect circle,
influenced by forces
still mysterious to us,
as we build rockets
to boldly go
where no one has gone before.
distances miscalculated,
sailing toward unknown lands.
We vanish on the horizon,
as do constellations drift,
never having reached the edge.
We write stories,
diverse and unique,
shaped by our own perspectives.
We dive deeper upon discovery,
of truths that do not fit
our own narratives.
Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn—
puzzle pieces,
not moving east to west
predicting positions, but lacking proofs.
Are we, or are we not,
at the center of it?
Following our starry pleasures
into the serried multitude,
until our feet no longer touch the Earth—
finding ourselves untethered,
jetting through unoccupied space,
harnessing the laws of planetary motion,
caught in the orbit,
questioning matters
both dark and reflective.
The gravity,
governing, forceful, and unseen;
we cast our shadows
unifying celestial and terrestrial physics.
While our moon eclipses us
it is not the only distinct satellite
simply the one we know best.
And our solar system, perhaps
an in-unique feature
of the greater cosmos,
also wandering
an uncharted expanse,
following an imperfect circle,
influenced by forces
still mysterious to us,
as we build rockets
to boldly go
where no one has gone before.
The Nature of a Scientific Theory
We mistake theories for models
that only exist in the mind,
making definite predictions
based on large-scale observations
using a handful of arbitrary elements.
But unlike earth, air, fire, and water,
distinguished by all our senses,
there lives a force--
proportional to its mass, and
the square of two objects' distance.
An eloquent proof
of a delicate and physical dance.
Experiments devised to falsify,
emboldened confidence, or
demoralized by refutation,
upon further evidence--
justify further pursuits.
And new theories begin
to extend the old ones:
from Newton's gravity
comes Einstein's relativity,
explaining Mercury's revolution
with greater accuracy.
So too might we strive to contrive
that of everything?
Our current laws informing us,
we anticipate with our logic gates
how our last step shaped our present place
yet, still we contemplate:
what was our initial state?
Whether it be a metaphysical
or a religious take,
within an otherwise random design
we found these laws dictate
the leaps and bounds we've made,
all calculable, and giving reason
to further speculate.
Do all these bits and partial theories
predicate a grand and unifying story?
An unisolated, fundamental hypothesis
from gravity, to relativity, to quantum engineering--
we have inconsistencies,
fringe cases not rolling up
into any known meaning.
We find ourselves on the frayed edge
of a black hole,
littered with Rosen Bridges.
Connecting the universe
from end to end,
we follow each thread
on an expedition into a quantum land,
where gravity is still
a force to be reckoned with.
Might we discover God, or
determine our actions predefined?
Our free will, obsolete--
a relic of an antiquated time.
Might Darwin's Principle
of Natural Selection suggest
as we self-replicate
and our genetics produce variables
at a slow and steady pace,
our dominant behaviors
become intelligence,
driving development
at an ever-increasing rate,
having no natural brakes,
we only accelerate
toward our own demise
or, perhaps,
this is how we all survive…
In either case, we are unsatisfied,
disconnected, and pining for
a complete description.
Our deepest desire--
a world order that predicts
even the most extreme circumstance.
And each day, many a brave scientist
searches for the next profound twist,
altering their thoughts,
to consider new features that might fit.
They endeavor to upend,
append, and defend,
unearth the next limit,
to what we consider
modern scientific.
that only exist in the mind,
making definite predictions
based on large-scale observations
using a handful of arbitrary elements.
But unlike earth, air, fire, and water,
distinguished by all our senses,
there lives a force--
proportional to its mass, and
the square of two objects' distance.
An eloquent proof
of a delicate and physical dance.
Experiments devised to falsify,
emboldened confidence, or
demoralized by refutation,
upon further evidence--
justify further pursuits.
And new theories begin
to extend the old ones:
from Newton's gravity
comes Einstein's relativity,
explaining Mercury's revolution
with greater accuracy.
So too might we strive to contrive
that of everything?
Our current laws informing us,
we anticipate with our logic gates
how our last step shaped our present place
yet, still we contemplate:
what was our initial state?
Whether it be a metaphysical
or a religious take,
within an otherwise random design
we found these laws dictate
the leaps and bounds we've made,
all calculable, and giving reason
to further speculate.
Do all these bits and partial theories
predicate a grand and unifying story?
An unisolated, fundamental hypothesis
from gravity, to relativity, to quantum engineering--
we have inconsistencies,
fringe cases not rolling up
into any known meaning.
We find ourselves on the frayed edge
of a black hole,
littered with Rosen Bridges.
Connecting the universe
from end to end,
we follow each thread
on an expedition into a quantum land,
where gravity is still
a force to be reckoned with.
Might we discover God, or
determine our actions predefined?
Our free will, obsolete--
a relic of an antiquated time.
Might Darwin's Principle
of Natural Selection suggest
as we self-replicate
and our genetics produce variables
at a slow and steady pace,
our dominant behaviors
become intelligence,
driving development
at an ever-increasing rate,
having no natural brakes,
we only accelerate
toward our own demise
or, perhaps,
this is how we all survive…
In either case, we are unsatisfied,
disconnected, and pining for
a complete description.
Our deepest desire--
a world order that predicts
even the most extreme circumstance.
And each day, many a brave scientist
searches for the next profound twist,
altering their thoughts,
to consider new features that might fit.
They endeavor to upend,
append, and defend,
unearth the next limit,
to what we consider
modern scientific.
Newton's Universe
What is our natural state?
At rest, driven by impulse,
falling faster in congruence
with our weight--
conjectures of thought
unobserved and disproven.
Simulating different masses,
there is no difference:
increasing speed at the same rate,
except in the case of resistance.
What is our natural state?
A force that must be reckoned with,
a body in motion
until acted upon.
We just keep moving forward,
accelerating or decelerating
in proportion to our surroundings--
sometimes crashing down,
or thrown out of orbit.
Perhaps it is our natural state
to be caught up in gravity's wake,
consistent with our distance,
falling at the same velocity
relative to our physical place.
Newton's Law relates,
unconcerned with the rotating rock
the train is moving on,
or the ping-pong ball
not bouncing off
the table on which it is played.
The observers perspective implying
a state of constant change:
no absolute position,
no absolute space--
arguing only an absolute time.
An insight eventually revised
while studying
the properties of light.
At rest, driven by impulse,
falling faster in congruence
with our weight--
conjectures of thought
unobserved and disproven.
Simulating different masses,
there is no difference:
increasing speed at the same rate,
except in the case of resistance.
What is our natural state?
A force that must be reckoned with,
a body in motion
until acted upon.
We just keep moving forward,
accelerating or decelerating
in proportion to our surroundings--
sometimes crashing down,
or thrown out of orbit.
Perhaps it is our natural state
to be caught up in gravity's wake,
consistent with our distance,
falling at the same velocity
relative to our physical place.
Newton's Law relates,
unconcerned with the rotating rock
the train is moving on,
or the ping-pong ball
not bouncing off
the table on which it is played.
The observers perspective implying
a state of constant change:
no absolute position,
no absolute space--
arguing only an absolute time.
An insight eventually revised
while studying
the properties of light.
Relativity
Into the cosmos Roemer gazes,
watching distant planets
making note of different phases,
identifying patterns
in the celestial movements.
What of the
eclipsing moons of Jupiter--
unevenly spaced,
a delayed event,
based on our position and their place.
He purposes
a new hypothesis:
suggesting a finite speed.
That light must travel
between objects,
albeit very quickly.
186,000 miles a second, in fact
but not instantaneous C.
And to prove that,
Maxwell unifies partial theories
determining the propagation of light--
electric and magnetic,
charges and currents.
Fields exerting force
upon those around it.
A sea of perfectly distributed
peaks and valleys.
Crests and troughs,
naturally occurring
with different lengths.
Electromagnetism emerges.
Like ripples in a pond
from the epicenter,
waves all rolling outward
at fixed speeds--
at times visible,
others too small or too large to see.
It is reconciled
that they must be
transmitting through the ether,
a medium, filling
an otherwise void
and vacuumed space,
for light to be measured--
not relative to a fixed position,
or recording a different pace.
Michelson and Morley come along
confirming with practical experiment
the speed at which light travels
remains consistent.
As the Earth revolves around the Sun
no matter where in orbit
the light is measured from,
the ether has no impact
on the final outcome.
Einstein and Poincaré argue
against ether's existence, and
from differing perspectives,
make a disagreeing agreement.
It is unnecessary and irrelevant, but--
was it resolved by physics or
a mathematical achievement?
Einstein presses forward
with relativity,
insisting the laws of science
apply seamlessly
for all observers, and
no matter their own direction, or pace,
the speed of light
moves at an unchanged rate.
A counterintuitive prophecy,
asking us to suspend
our then-held belief.
Time was not absolute,
nor would it agree
when one observes light
from a different location from me.
He declares explicitly--
time and space are dependent,
intertwined fundamentally.
And what an odd
and difficult conclusion,
indeed!
Consequently, our coordinates
increase to four from three,
and we discover:
Energy equals Mass
times the square of Light Speed.
That the more energy
an object collects kinetically,
the greater its momentum is resisted,
proportionally.
And for a mass to reach
the speed of light
one would require infinite energy--
an edge to our own ability!
But this is just Special Relativity,
blending Newtonian,
and Maxwellian theories.
Leaving a massive hole
in the thought experiment:
what if the sun were to vanish instantly?
Would Earth be cast from orbit,
freed from its gravity?
Or, would it take eight minutes
for its light, and pull,
to disappear completely?
It is here we reach
the cusp of descent
into even greater matters
and mysteries,
where space and time curve
around masses,
in General Relativity.
watching distant planets
making note of different phases,
identifying patterns
in the celestial movements.
What of the
eclipsing moons of Jupiter--
unevenly spaced,
a delayed event,
based on our position and their place.
He purposes
a new hypothesis:
suggesting a finite speed.
That light must travel
between objects,
albeit very quickly.
186,000 miles a second, in fact
but not instantaneous C.
And to prove that,
Maxwell unifies partial theories
determining the propagation of light--
electric and magnetic,
charges and currents.
Fields exerting force
upon those around it.
A sea of perfectly distributed
peaks and valleys.
Crests and troughs,
naturally occurring
with different lengths.
Electromagnetism emerges.
Like ripples in a pond
from the epicenter,
waves all rolling outward
at fixed speeds--
at times visible,
others too small or too large to see.
It is reconciled
that they must be
transmitting through the ether,
a medium, filling
an otherwise void
and vacuumed space,
for light to be measured--
not relative to a fixed position,
or recording a different pace.
Michelson and Morley come along
confirming with practical experiment
the speed at which light travels
remains consistent.
As the Earth revolves around the Sun
no matter where in orbit
the light is measured from,
the ether has no impact
on the final outcome.
Einstein and Poincaré argue
against ether's existence, and
from differing perspectives,
make a disagreeing agreement.
It is unnecessary and irrelevant, but--
was it resolved by physics or
a mathematical achievement?
Einstein presses forward
with relativity,
insisting the laws of science
apply seamlessly
for all observers, and
no matter their own direction, or pace,
the speed of light
moves at an unchanged rate.
A counterintuitive prophecy,
asking us to suspend
our then-held belief.
Time was not absolute,
nor would it agree
when one observes light
from a different location from me.
He declares explicitly--
time and space are dependent,
intertwined fundamentally.
And what an odd
and difficult conclusion,
indeed!
Consequently, our coordinates
increase to four from three,
and we discover:
Energy equals Mass
times the square of Light Speed.
That the more energy
an object collects kinetically,
the greater its momentum is resisted,
proportionally.
And for a mass to reach
the speed of light
one would require infinite energy--
an edge to our own ability!
But this is just Special Relativity,
blending Newtonian,
and Maxwellian theories.
Leaving a massive hole
in the thought experiment:
what if the sun were to vanish instantly?
Would Earth be cast from orbit,
freed from its gravity?
Or, would it take eight minutes
for its light, and pull,
to disappear completely?
It is here we reach
the cusp of descent
into even greater matters
and mysteries,
where space and time curve
around masses,
in General Relativity.
Curved Space
Hushed but not silent,
destined for collision,
even clashing with itself,
Gravity is not a force
like other forces,
but a consequence
of space-time, not being flat--
a curved surface, warped
by the distribution of mass,
energy in the objects,
following the nearest
straight path.
Upon a geometric surface,
where geodesics exist--
like our equator,
a circle, 'round
the center of Earth.
These are invisible
curved lines
between two points,
pilots capitalize on.
Shortening routes by
flying parallel
with the Earth's
spherical design.
Jumping from 2
to 4 dimensions--
it is not gravitational attraction,
rather, a distortion in space
around objects.
Like the sun and the Earth,
caught in a curvature
created by these heavenly masses.
Two bodies, intertwined in a dance,
Both calling and answering.
Improvising the choreography
when one falls out of step.
Even light adheres to it,
bending around each object,
it's deflected.
Slipping around corners,
and escaping tight places.
Causing stars to appear
in positions
different than where we
predicted.
Time runs slower,
or faster, here too.
Depending on our proximity
to a massive object.
A principle of equivalence--
Freely moving, or
under gravity's influence?
The laws of science match.
Though more technically
in overlapping patches.
The cosmos, wrapped
in a quilted romance.
It's impossible to say
what's truly at rest, or
uniformly accelerating,
in an empty space--
Are you floating or falling?
There is no difference
between them,
inertial and gravitational masses.
A relentless and logical reasoning
historically unmatched.
But how does that relate
to the clicks of a clock, when
they remain the same?
Well, relatively, they do not.
Uniform acceleration still
plays its part.
Even though light has no mass,
and its speed is constant,
traveling between two curved points,
the time it takes may be delayed,
Or sped up,
ever more drastic
as it relates to the observer's positions
and gravitational interactions.
Thus, we developed a map,
with four quadrants,
for its practical importance.
Increasing the accuracy
of our navigational systems
using signals from satellites,
that would otherwise
leave us miles off
from our desired locations.
It even impacts our circadian rhythms,
and we play around with the implications.
The more gravity exerted on our body,
the longer we stay young and hot!
Light speed, baby!
To infinity and beyond!
Conversely,
we grow ever more certain:
our universe has a conclusion.
Time and space, having
a dynamic structure
affected by the masses
and forces in motion,
influencing and influenced--
have reshaped our ideas
of an infinite universe.
It is now hypothesized
as finite, expanding
from a single point,
toward a finish line,
unribboned, cold and fridged,
or collapsing in on itself,
only to begin again.
With a big bang, and
it's life, off to the races,
once more.
destined for collision,
even clashing with itself,
Gravity is not a force
like other forces,
but a consequence
of space-time, not being flat--
a curved surface, warped
by the distribution of mass,
energy in the objects,
following the nearest
straight path.
Upon a geometric surface,
where geodesics exist--
like our equator,
a circle, 'round
the center of Earth.
These are invisible
curved lines
between two points,
pilots capitalize on.
Shortening routes by
flying parallel
with the Earth's
spherical design.
Jumping from 2
to 4 dimensions--
it is not gravitational attraction,
rather, a distortion in space
around objects.
Like the sun and the Earth,
caught in a curvature
created by these heavenly masses.
Two bodies, intertwined in a dance,
Both calling and answering.
Improvising the choreography
when one falls out of step.
Even light adheres to it,
bending around each object,
it's deflected.
Slipping around corners,
and escaping tight places.
Causing stars to appear
in positions
different than where we
predicted.
Time runs slower,
or faster, here too.
Depending on our proximity
to a massive object.
A principle of equivalence--
Freely moving, or
under gravity's influence?
The laws of science match.
Though more technically
in overlapping patches.
The cosmos, wrapped
in a quilted romance.
It's impossible to say
what's truly at rest, or
uniformly accelerating,
in an empty space--
Are you floating or falling?
There is no difference
between them,
inertial and gravitational masses.
A relentless and logical reasoning
historically unmatched.
But how does that relate
to the clicks of a clock, when
they remain the same?
Well, relatively, they do not.
Uniform acceleration still
plays its part.
Even though light has no mass,
and its speed is constant,
traveling between two curved points,
the time it takes may be delayed,
Or sped up,
ever more drastic
as it relates to the observer's positions
and gravitational interactions.
Thus, we developed a map,
with four quadrants,
for its practical importance.
Increasing the accuracy
of our navigational systems
using signals from satellites,
that would otherwise
leave us miles off
from our desired locations.
It even impacts our circadian rhythms,
and we play around with the implications.
The more gravity exerted on our body,
the longer we stay young and hot!
Light speed, baby!
To infinity and beyond!
Conversely,
we grow ever more certain:
our universe has a conclusion.
Time and space, having
a dynamic structure
affected by the masses
and forces in motion,
influencing and influenced--
have reshaped our ideas
of an infinite universe.
It is now hypothesized
as finite, expanding
from a single point,
toward a finish line,
unribboned, cold and fridged,
or collapsing in on itself,
only to begin again.
With a big bang, and
it's life, off to the races,
once more.
The Expanding Universe
Part 1-
Driving down an open road,lost among the trees.
The closer they come,
the faster they seem
to approach me--
the parallax:
a change in the angle
as it relates
to the position
from which I see.
And from here
we can measure
the stars closer to us
from those more distant,
regardless of one
shining more brightly.
Caught in a curvature
on a cosmic cruiser,
we travel around the sun--
an ordinary star
among billions,
average in size,
glowing yellow in our sky.
A heart, fusing
hydrogen to helium atoms,
set on the edge
of a spiral arm.
We glimpse
only a mere fraction
with the naked eye--
just .0001% of those
formed over time,
gathered on a barred
spiral
we call the Milky Way.
Herschel painstakingly categorized
the stars he could see,
counting pinpricks in the dark,
estimating the size of our galaxy:
100 thousand light-years across,
also rotating, slowly--
each revolution
100 million years apart.
Hubble expanded our senses,
envisioning that
in the vast emptiness
we were not alone.
Using indirect methods
he toiled,
measuring luminosities
until nine other galaxies arose.
Our neighbors proved
far-off and remote,
but the Drake Equation
could now be conceived--
with current calculations
of at least 100 billion stars
in each
of the 100 billion galaxies!
Upon further observations
we found Stellar Spectra,
a characteristic of having
different chemical elements,
revealing these balls of gas
not to be uniform
nor sharing the same temperaments.
Different colors, sizes,
and temperatures,
emitting varying waves
of thermal radiation--
stars were not only composed
of different atoms,
but their galaxies were
increasingly receding!
Through Blackbody Radiation,
Hubble could detect
a shifting pattern
in the light waves
moving to the red end
of the spectrum,
just as one would expect
in a Doppler Effect:
when sound crests
shorten or stretch
depending on the
source's locomotion,
so too do light waves lengthen
the further a galaxy's
remote registration.
This shift,
increasing in proportion
to their distance
charted from our location!
Our universe was spreading out!
These other galaxies were dispersing!
This was not a static universe--
it was a universe expanding!
Part 2-
What seemed to bean intellectual revelation
also appeared fitting
within the seams
of General Relativity.
The fudge factor,
"anti-gravity",
a subtle cosmological constant--
blinded Einstein from this reality
having woven it
into the fabric
of space-time,
erroneously
concealing the fact
without expansion
at a critical rate
gravity
would have caused us to collapse,
the universe
to self-annihilate.
Or was this too,
too quick a judgment?
We needed someone
brave enough
to question it,
to challenge the notions
others had simply accepted.
The stage was set
for our next
physicist mathematician.
Part 3-
In a roundabout way,we're led back
to the very beginning,
wondering how
our universe got its start.
Ideas tumbled around
like dust clouds
on an early autumn day
in a desert park
and off tongues
like dewdrops
rolling down flower petals
in spring
Hummingbirds sip up.
Across various laboratories
new data was analyzed
until one theory
rose to the top.
Now, but a faint,
red-shifted
microwave radiation,
was once a densely packed, hot,
white-glowing hydrogen gas
at dawn--
eagerly burst forth
from a teeny tiny plasmic spot.
Heard, not yet observed,
as a cosmic background noise,
A murmur from far beyond
our cradle of life,
360 degrees around
our axis and our sun,
wavering only the tiniest amount--
this was our overture, and it
confirmed Friedmann's first assumption:
universal distribution.
Zoomed out,
the universe was identical
in every direction.
Like standing in a forest--
not all the trees are the same,
but at scale
their differences average out.
Like countless points on a circle,
each distinct, yet together
form a legato so smooth
their breaks are indistinguishable.
Friedmann disregarded the cosmological constant,
solved Einstein's equations himself,
proving General Relativity showed
the galaxies were receding--
floating islands of gas, metal, and light
drifting apart from each other
at a proportional rate
to the space between them.
His second assumption,
though impossible to prove,
was that this would be so
in an endless symmetry,
requiring the humility
that we are not the center
of anything,
no more or less special
than Andromeda
or the Canis Major Dwarf--
just a more moderately sized
member of the collection.
Picture a balloon expanding,
covered in various-sized spots,
evenly distributed.
They spread slowly apart,
and no matter on which you start,
the measurements
to any relative spot
you find to be consistent.
In his initial model
Friedmann derived the shape
of our cosmos
as a spherical space,
lacking boundaries,
expanding at a critical rate
but just slow enough
that eventually,
it won't be able to escape--
gravity folding in on itself,
theoretically,
once you reach the end,
you're right back
at the beginning.
An eternal loop,
an infinite journey.
But Friedmann's solution gave birth
to two alternative destinies.
The first:
instead of a slow
barley critical rate,
our universe was expanding rapidly
gradually slowing with time,
but never retracting, and
forever stretching out
into the unknown.
The second:
not just a change in pace,
but a shift in shape!
The cosmos, perhaps,
geometrically flat
still curving
in response to mass,
expanding just beyond
the critical rate,
balanced between return and escape.
Which will be our fate?
What best describes
our beginning or end state?
Are there other matters
we have yet to detect,
or energies gravity contends with?
What more is there to know
about this geometric design?
What is the total volume of it?
Narrowing down our answers
has only added to our list of questions
and we continue to mull over
the possible outcomes.
Comments
Post a Comment