Big Bang/expansion question

Looking at it another way, if the overall curvature of spacetime is less than we thought, it might imply that the universe is far, far larger than we'd thought. Or in other words, there's a hell of a lot of stuff outside of our visual horizon.

Wait. If it's just close to zero, but not zero, that doesn't contradict the model at all, does it? I mean, the Earth's curvature is such that the ground under my feet pretty much measures as flat, doesn't mean I'm in any danger of falling off the edge. Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

What I'm saying is that it appears to be flat, but data is not exact enough to confirm with certainty.

Ah, ok. Thanks.

42.

Not everyone is a math wizard. It took me two tries to get through Algebra 1 in High School and that was with a D average.
There must be an intuitive,tangible explanation for complicated concepts somewhere.

"God did it" seems to be the popular choice.

The end of "men in black" also gives an alternate theory that I prefer.

You know, when it comes to the extremes of physics, this answer is as good as any. There's pretty much the same empirical evidence... *ducks and runs*

It might be as good an answer as any, but it's nowhere near as good as admitting we don't know the answer.

It's funny, reading the posts leading up to yours, I was picturing this very object, vaguely recalled from seeing Carl Sagan demonstrate it in Cosmos.

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Also, am I correct in reading Rick's statements that the math can describe a curved universe but that the data may present a flat universe? That's pretty much why I stated early in the thread that this discussion lies at the intersection of science and religion. Interesting that Rick, who took issue with this, then demonstrated why it's so.
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I think the big difference here is that if the maths says the universe could be curved, then it is a possibility as far as we know, based on the evidence. However if evidence that contradicts that view comes along then the idea will probably be discarded.

Mathematics can describe universes with all sorts of shapes, and any numbers of dimensions. Why does the fact that the data holds for just one of them have anything whatsoever to do with religion?

Rick imagine a universe with 255 dimensions.

Does it really matter? Everything that's more than '4' will bend our minds.

Its a IT joke.