June 18, 2020

The Universe Could Be Flat!

I came across an article recently about a group of folks who vehemently believe the earth is flat. Really?! In full disclosure, I haven’t read much about this hypothesis. But it seems all current scientific knowledge, backed up by photos and videos taken from space, points to a spherical design. If you are a flat-world believer, convince me.

So most likely the earth isn’t flat. BUT the universe just may be! In a Space.com article, it is explained that “if the density of the universe is exactly equal to the critical density [‘The average density of matter required for the Universe to just halt its expansion’—Swinburne University], then the geometry of the universe is ‘flat,’ like a sheet of paper. Here, the universe has no bounds and will expand forever, but the rate of expansion will gradually approach zero after an infinite amount of time. Recent measurements suggest that the universe is flat with roughly a 2 percent margin of error.”

A flat universe? Really?! I can’t help but think of the exploits of “Square” in Edwin Abbott’s novella Flatland. Or could it somehow be three-dimensional objects existing on a flat plane. Mind-bending. Way too much math involved for me to understand, but so fascinating. For my money, only a supreme intelligent power could come up with something like this.

Here’s an interesting video explaining the different possible shapes of the universe. So what do you think? Curved universe or flat?

Pax,
Peter