The Known Universe

[n2doc]

The Known Universe
Credit & Copyright: American Museum of Natural History
Explanation: What would it look like to travel across the known universe? To help humanity visualize this, the American Museum of Natural History has produced a modern movie featuring many visual highlights of such a trip. The video starts in Earth's Himalayan Mountains and then dramatically zooms out, showing the orbits of Earth's satellites, the Sun, the Solar System, the extent of humanities first radio signals, the Milky Way Galaxy, galaxies nearby, distant galaxies, and quasars. As the distant surface of the microwave background is finally reached, radiation is depicted that was emitted billions of light years away and less than one million years after the Big Bang. Frequently using the Digital Universe Atlas, every object in the video has been rendered to scale given the best scientific research in 2009, when the video was produced. The film has similarities to the famous Powers of Ten video that has been a favorite of many space enthusiasts for a generation.


Video at link:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100120.html

[DrDan]

1. amazing video - shows just how inconsequential we really are

[GodlessBiker]

2. We are small but not inconsequential, at least not some of us as measured by the lives of others.

[Duppers]

3. great quote!

Ima gonna steal it. ;)

[tridim]

6. That depends on the purpose of the Universe.

We're certainly consequential if life is the ultimate goal.

[GodlessBiker]

7. No, it depends on our purposes and what is important to us. The universe has no purpose.

You need consciousness to create purposes and I don't think the universe is conscious.

[tridim]

8. That's a pretty bold statement.

What's the definition of "consciousness" in a Universal context? What's the definition of "life"?

Even if you can define those terms, how can you possibly make that call considering we don't even know what dark matter and energy are? We can't even observe the entire Universe because of the universal speed limit, not even taking into account that there are probably infinite multi-verses residing in non-spacial dimensions that we'll never be able to observe directly.

I'm not talking about the Bible "God" here BTW, so relax. :)

[Thor_MN]

10. This seems as good a place as any, although I'm going where your disclaimer says not to

I was just thinking this morning that "Which came first, chicken or egg" is for weenies. You want a real question, try "Which came first, human or god?"

Back on course, I've disliked the recent discussions in the press of "If you changed just one little physical law, we wouldn't exist, so was this universe created for us?". IMO, that is creationist ramblings of "I can't possibly understand it, so gaAWWuhDUH musta dunit." (How do people get 4 syllables out of a three letter word?) Do the universes of the multi-verse where life does not exist matter? What about the unviverses where intelligent life does not exist? If a man says something in a forest and there is no woman around to hear it, is he still wrong?

I think there are some quantum mechanistic effects occuring, that "our" universe exists because we observe it. The unverses that are not observed sit in a quantum foam of "who cares?", only collapsing into reality when observed.

[damyank913]

4. The Hayden Planetarium...

...man I love that place...

[M155Y_A1CH]

5. k&r

:kick:

[Laura902]

9. Really shows how tiny and insignificant we really are n/t

[gtar100]

11. K&R

highly.