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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,390 Islands have edges. 2 00:00:08,090 --> 00:00:10,790 Planets have edges. 3 00:00:12,930 --> 00:00:16,976 Even galaxies have edges. 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,376 But what about the universe? 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:25,216 As explorers, as curious humans that we are, 6 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:27,656 we're obsessed with boundaries and limits. 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:28,956 And we want to know, 8 00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:33,896 "does the whole thing, the universe, have a limit?" 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,866 Does the universe have an edge? Well, the answer is yes and no. 10 00:00:38,890 --> 00:00:42,006 It depends on what you mean by edge. 11 00:00:42,030 --> 00:00:44,736 The edge of what we can see? 12 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:49,046 The edge of where we can go? 13 00:00:49,070 --> 00:00:52,070 Or the edge of reality itself? 14 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:55,816 Looking out to the edge of the universe 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,156 is tremendously important to understand 16 00:00:58,180 --> 00:01:00,656 our place in the universe itself. 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,126 We're talking about our universe. 18 00:01:02,150 --> 00:01:04,526 We're talking about the thing that we exist within. 19 00:01:04,550 --> 00:01:06,156 The most fundamental thing there is, 20 00:01:06,180 --> 00:01:08,396 we're driven to understand it. 21 00:01:08,420 --> 00:01:12,436 There is always a desire to push the knowledge to the edge. 22 00:01:12,460 --> 00:01:15,736 So, can we ever find 23 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,836 the edge of the universe? 24 00:01:17,860 --> 00:01:20,506 Captions by vitac... www.vitac.com 25 00:01:20,530 --> 00:01:23,600 captions paid for by discovery communications 26 00:01:33,580 --> 00:01:36,286 2016, the Hubble space telescope 27 00:01:36,310 --> 00:01:39,096 turned toward a dark patch of sky 28 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,050 in the constellation Ursa Major. 29 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:51,436 It captured an image of an indistinct blob of light. 30 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:56,700 The glow is from a distant galaxy called GN-Z11... 31 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,370 ...the most distant galaxy we've ever observed. 32 00:02:08,150 --> 00:02:12,656 But is this the edge of the universe? 33 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,026 The universe all around us is filled with galaxies, 34 00:02:16,050 --> 00:02:19,396 so it's kind of natural to say, "would there be a final galaxy? 35 00:02:19,420 --> 00:02:21,296 If you traveled far enough away, 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,236 would you finally be at the very last galaxy in the universe 37 00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:25,830 looking out into empty space?" 38 00:02:28,130 --> 00:02:30,500 That's a difficult question to answer. 39 00:02:33,270 --> 00:02:36,886 Because there's a limit to how far we can see. 40 00:02:36,910 --> 00:02:40,786 It all comes down to the speed of light 41 00:02:40,810 --> 00:02:44,586 and the age of the universe. 42 00:02:44,610 --> 00:02:47,756 The key to understanding the edge of the universe 43 00:02:47,780 --> 00:02:51,396 is that light travels very, very fast, 44 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:53,336 but not infinitely fast. 45 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,636 It takes time for it to get from one place 46 00:02:55,660 --> 00:02:57,506 in the universe to the other. 47 00:02:57,530 --> 00:02:59,636 You open the curtains, light fills the room. 48 00:02:59,660 --> 00:03:01,746 It doesn't seem to travel at all. 49 00:03:01,770 --> 00:03:03,746 But over the vast distances of the universe, 50 00:03:03,770 --> 00:03:07,346 you actually notice this travel time. 51 00:03:07,370 --> 00:03:09,916 Even the sun 93 million miles away, 52 00:03:09,940 --> 00:03:12,616 the light takes eight minutes to get to us. 53 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,056 When you look out at the stars, we start to think of distance 54 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,196 in terms of light-years because it takes years 55 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:20,696 for the light to get from those stars to us. 56 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,996 Then when you look at galaxies, then you're talking about 57 00:03:23,020 --> 00:03:25,890 millions or billions of light-years. 58 00:03:28,090 --> 00:03:32,876 When we look at the light from galaxy GN-Z11, 59 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:37,770 we're seeing light emitted 13.4 billion years ago. 60 00:03:42,570 --> 00:03:44,286 You can't really even find a galaxy 61 00:03:44,310 --> 00:03:45,916 too much farther away than that 62 00:03:45,940 --> 00:03:49,756 because the universe is only 13.8 billion years old, 63 00:03:49,780 --> 00:03:52,926 and it takes a certain amount of time for galaxies to even form. 64 00:03:52,950 --> 00:03:55,126 So we're not going to find too many more galaxies 65 00:03:55,150 --> 00:03:56,796 farther away than this. 66 00:03:56,820 --> 00:03:59,666 If things are far enough away, there is no way that light 67 00:03:59,690 --> 00:04:02,336 can get to us in the age of the universe. 68 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,536 What this means is there's a hard limit 69 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,306 to the edge of the universe that we can see, 70 00:04:07,330 --> 00:04:11,946 and this is set by the age of the universe. 71 00:04:11,970 --> 00:04:14,516 GN-Z11 sparked into life 72 00:04:14,540 --> 00:04:17,416 early in the history of the universe, 73 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,626 just 400 million years after the big bang. 74 00:04:21,650 --> 00:04:26,756 Before that, there were no stars to send out light. 75 00:04:26,780 --> 00:04:28,826 If you look in any direction at all, 76 00:04:28,850 --> 00:04:31,296 you get all the way back to when there were no stars, 77 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,896 no galaxies, nothing but very, very hot gas, 78 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,306 and that sort of forms a shell around us. 79 00:04:39,330 --> 00:04:44,606 That outer shell is the cosmic microwave background. 80 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:48,586 It is the oldest light in the universe, 81 00:04:48,610 --> 00:04:51,616 the echo of the birth of the universe, 82 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,286 the big bang. 83 00:04:54,310 --> 00:04:55,656 The edge of our universe, 84 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,296 the very furthest thing that we can see, 85 00:04:58,320 --> 00:04:59,956 is one of the earliest relics 86 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:01,926 of the formation of the universe itself. 87 00:05:01,950 --> 00:05:05,496 That is the cosmic microwave background. 88 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:11,366 We call this the edge of our observable universe. 89 00:05:11,390 --> 00:05:14,276 So we have an observable universe, but beyond that, 90 00:05:14,300 --> 00:05:15,476 even if there are things out there, 91 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:17,346 there's no way we can see them 92 00:05:17,370 --> 00:05:20,600 because the light just could not have gotten to us by now. 93 00:05:25,210 --> 00:05:27,916 As the name states, the observable universe 94 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:32,356 is simply the part of the universe we can see. 95 00:05:32,380 --> 00:05:34,096 We can think of the observable universe 96 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:35,626 sort of like a spotlight 97 00:05:35,650 --> 00:05:38,596 centered on wherever you're standing right now 98 00:05:38,620 --> 00:05:42,020 and you can see to the edge of your spotlight and not beyond. 99 00:05:44,490 --> 00:05:46,736 But if you move a little bit to the left, 100 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:47,976 a little bit to the right, 101 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,900 your observable universe actually moves with you. 102 00:05:54,740 --> 00:05:57,346 For someone living in galaxy GN-Z11, 103 00:05:57,370 --> 00:06:02,226 a totally different part of the universe would be observable. 104 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:07,956 So that distant galaxy is at the edge of our observable universe, 105 00:06:07,980 --> 00:06:13,396 and we are at the edge of their observable universe. 106 00:06:13,420 --> 00:06:15,206 We have different spotlights. 107 00:06:15,230 --> 00:06:16,836 One of the wonderful things to think about 108 00:06:16,860 --> 00:06:19,376 is that there are other spheres around other galaxies, 109 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,206 there are other aliens looking up into the sky tonight 110 00:06:22,230 --> 00:06:25,000 wondering what the true extent of the universe is. 111 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,346 The true extent of our universe 112 00:06:29,370 --> 00:06:32,670 doesn't end with galaxy GN-Z11. 113 00:06:35,810 --> 00:06:39,026 But when astronomers use the Hubble space telescope 114 00:06:39,050 --> 00:06:44,066 to accurately measure the distance to GN-Z11, 115 00:06:44,090 --> 00:06:46,520 they find something shocking. 116 00:06:48,630 --> 00:06:53,036 It's 32 billion light-years away, 117 00:06:53,060 --> 00:06:55,930 three times further than thought possible. 118 00:06:57,700 --> 00:07:00,146 So if nothing can travel faster than light 119 00:07:00,170 --> 00:07:03,346 and we measure the distance to this galaxy, 120 00:07:03,370 --> 00:07:06,370 how can it be 32 billion light-years away? 121 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,756 There hasn't been enough time 122 00:07:10,780 --> 00:07:12,356 in the history of the universe 123 00:07:12,380 --> 00:07:15,566 for light from GN-Z11 to reach us. 124 00:07:15,590 --> 00:07:19,596 There must be some mistake here. Right? 125 00:07:19,620 --> 00:07:21,066 At this point, your brain 126 00:07:21,090 --> 00:07:22,666 is probably thinking of leaping out 127 00:07:22,690 --> 00:07:24,766 of your skull and running around screaming. 128 00:07:24,790 --> 00:07:27,606 Trust me, I know. I'm an astronomer. 129 00:07:27,630 --> 00:07:29,246 I've been doing this my whole life, 130 00:07:29,270 --> 00:07:32,116 and this stuff twists my imagination up. 131 00:07:32,140 --> 00:07:34,700 It's really hard to grasp this. 132 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,086 How do we see a galaxy that's 32 billion light-years away 133 00:07:40,110 --> 00:07:43,280 and only 13.4 billion years old? 134 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:51,026 GN-Z11 is further away than it should be 135 00:07:51,050 --> 00:07:55,366 because something strange is going on with our universe. 136 00:07:55,390 --> 00:07:57,236 It's expanding. 137 00:07:57,260 --> 00:07:59,836 And if the universe is expanding, 138 00:07:59,860 --> 00:08:03,376 then where does its edge lie 139 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,200 and can we ever reach it? 140 00:08:24,050 --> 00:08:26,266 13.8 billion years ago, 141 00:08:26,290 --> 00:08:29,190 a speck of energy burst into life. 142 00:08:32,700 --> 00:08:35,246 We call it the big bang... 143 00:08:35,270 --> 00:08:39,246 space and time pushed out in all directions. 144 00:08:39,270 --> 00:08:42,700 Ever since, our universe has expanded. 145 00:08:44,940 --> 00:08:48,626 But the way it's expanding makes finding an edge 146 00:08:48,650 --> 00:08:51,926 a major challenge. 147 00:08:51,950 --> 00:08:53,626 The universe is expanding 148 00:08:53,650 --> 00:08:56,296 and expands according to a very simple law 149 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,836 that the farther away a galaxy is from us, 150 00:08:58,860 --> 00:09:01,620 the faster it appears to be receding away from us. 151 00:09:03,990 --> 00:09:08,006 The furthest galaxies are moving at very high speeds. 152 00:09:08,030 --> 00:09:12,816 The most distant galaxy we've ever spotted, GN-Z11, 153 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,846 seems to have moved 32 billion light-years away from us 154 00:09:17,870 --> 00:09:22,286 in just 13.4 billion years. 155 00:09:22,310 --> 00:09:26,026 That's faster than the speed of light. 156 00:09:26,050 --> 00:09:28,666 We can measure the speeds with which galaxies 157 00:09:28,690 --> 00:09:30,126 are moving away from us, 158 00:09:30,150 --> 00:09:32,496 and many, many galaxies are moving away from us 159 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,436 at speeds faster than the speed of light. 160 00:09:35,460 --> 00:09:37,506 This sounds like it's breaking the law, right? 161 00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:39,776 There's this idea that you've all been told 162 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,536 that relativity says nothing goes faster 163 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:42,806 than the speed of light. 164 00:09:42,830 --> 00:09:46,016 Okay, you've been lied to. 165 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,016 Space itself can do what it wants. 166 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,616 It makes the rules, it can break the rules. 167 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,586 That rule applies to matter, not to space itself. 168 00:09:55,610 --> 00:09:59,296 Space can expand at whatever rate it wants. 169 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,196 Simple way to think of this expansion law is imagine 170 00:10:02,220 --> 00:10:04,666 standing on an infinite rubber sheet 171 00:10:04,690 --> 00:10:06,836 that stretches all the way out into the distance 172 00:10:06,860 --> 00:10:08,366 and you're standing on the same place. 173 00:10:08,390 --> 00:10:10,466 You can mark it with a little "X." 174 00:10:10,490 --> 00:10:14,436 Now, all the sheet expands in every direction. 175 00:10:14,460 --> 00:10:16,846 So if it expands by a factor of two, 176 00:10:16,870 --> 00:10:19,746 another galaxy that was, say, one foot away from you 177 00:10:19,770 --> 00:10:22,946 is now two feet away from you as we stretch the sheet, 178 00:10:22,970 --> 00:10:25,586 but another galaxy was 10 feet away from you. 179 00:10:25,610 --> 00:10:27,186 Expand that by a factor of 2 180 00:10:27,210 --> 00:10:29,356 and now it's 20 feet away from you. 181 00:10:29,380 --> 00:10:33,226 So in the same amount of time, one galaxy moved one foot, 182 00:10:33,250 --> 00:10:36,026 where another galaxy moved 10 feet. 183 00:10:36,050 --> 00:10:37,866 So the more stuff there is, 184 00:10:37,890 --> 00:10:40,536 the more elastic between you and another galaxy, 185 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:43,090 the more it seems to expand away from you. 186 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,476 Expansion means our observable universe 187 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:52,946 stretches for a colossal 46 billion light-years 188 00:10:52,970 --> 00:10:57,270 in all directions, 92 billion light-years across... 189 00:10:59,780 --> 00:11:02,340 ...and getting bigger by the second. 190 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:09,566 This number is so incomprehensibly large 191 00:11:09,590 --> 00:11:12,966 that it's difficult to wrap your brain around. 192 00:11:12,990 --> 00:11:16,666 There are trillions of galaxies within this volume. 193 00:11:16,690 --> 00:11:18,136 It's staggering. 194 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:22,176 It's so much larger than anything we're familiar with. 195 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:23,746 If we were to travel 196 00:11:23,770 --> 00:11:27,016 to the edge of the observable universe, 197 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,586 we would enter even more unfamiliar territory. 198 00:11:31,610 --> 00:11:34,786 Imagine we're in an ultra-fast spaceship. 199 00:11:34,810 --> 00:11:37,950 We leave the solar system, then the milky way. 200 00:11:40,420 --> 00:11:43,666 As we travel deeper into intergalactic space, 201 00:11:43,690 --> 00:11:46,190 things start to get really weird. 202 00:11:49,690 --> 00:11:53,836 For every million light-years we go from the milky way, 203 00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:56,646 the galaxies move away from us 204 00:11:56,670 --> 00:12:00,530 at around 13 miles per second faster. 205 00:12:02,910 --> 00:12:05,886 We have to accelerate just to keep up. 206 00:12:05,910 --> 00:12:10,850 But the galaxies keep on moving, always beyond our reach. 207 00:12:24,790 --> 00:12:27,136 Imagine you're a sprinter on a racetrack. 208 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:28,636 If you're running towards the finish line, 209 00:12:28,660 --> 00:12:30,876 it may take you a few seconds to cross it. 210 00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:34,446 But now imagine that that finish line is moving away from you. 211 00:12:34,470 --> 00:12:36,816 If it's moving away from you at the same speed you're running, 212 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,186 you'll never reach it. 213 00:12:38,210 --> 00:12:41,286 And if it's moving faster than the runner, 214 00:12:41,310 --> 00:12:43,526 then even faster runners won't reach it. 215 00:12:43,550 --> 00:12:47,726 And that's sort of what we're seeing here with the universe. 216 00:12:47,750 --> 00:12:49,326 Beyond a certain distance, 217 00:12:49,350 --> 00:12:54,496 galaxies are racing away from us faster than the speed of light. 218 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,130 It's a line called the cosmic event horizon. 219 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:05,476 And 97% of galaxies we see in the observable universe 220 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,846 are beyond this line and unreachable, 221 00:13:08,870 --> 00:13:11,570 including GN-Z11. 222 00:13:13,140 --> 00:13:14,916 They're sort of teasing us to say, "look at me, 223 00:13:14,940 --> 00:13:16,486 what a nice piece of real estate." 224 00:13:16,510 --> 00:13:19,626 But we know even if we started going there now, 225 00:13:19,650 --> 00:13:21,280 we could never reach them. 226 00:13:24,020 --> 00:13:26,736 Anything that has crossed the cosmic event horizon 227 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,366 is out of our reach forever. 228 00:13:29,390 --> 00:13:31,066 But that's not the full picture 229 00:13:31,090 --> 00:13:34,560 because the expansion rate of the universe is changing. 230 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:39,216 A little over 20 years ago, astronomers discovered 231 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,316 that the current rate of the universe's expansion 232 00:13:42,340 --> 00:13:44,610 is accelerating, it's speeding up. 233 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,386 Astronomers suspect a mysterious force is at work... 234 00:13:51,410 --> 00:13:54,426 dark energy. 235 00:13:54,450 --> 00:13:58,266 Dark energy is what we think is pushing the universe apart, 236 00:13:58,290 --> 00:14:01,396 causing this accelerating expansion. 237 00:14:01,420 --> 00:14:05,606 And the origin and true physical nature of dark energy 238 00:14:05,630 --> 00:14:07,260 is a big mystery. 239 00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:12,746 Thanks to dark energy, more and more galaxies 240 00:14:12,770 --> 00:14:15,116 are crossing the cosmic event horizon 241 00:14:15,140 --> 00:14:17,670 and leaving the observable universe. 242 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,326 These galaxies... 243 00:14:22,350 --> 00:14:24,810 Are lost to us forever. 244 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,296 There are galaxies that we can see today 245 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,796 that in a few million years, say, we won't be able to see 246 00:14:33,820 --> 00:14:35,666 because the edge of the observable universe 247 00:14:35,690 --> 00:14:39,076 has basically moved in closer than that galaxy. 248 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:40,806 That's going to happen all the time. 249 00:14:40,830 --> 00:14:43,376 And in a trillion years or something like that, 250 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,446 all these galaxies that we see in our sky 251 00:14:45,470 --> 00:14:46,976 will be completely invisible 252 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,070 because they'll be beyond the edge of the universe. 253 00:14:53,140 --> 00:14:55,926 So eventually, every last galaxy 254 00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:57,726 will be so far away from us 255 00:14:57,750 --> 00:15:01,326 that light cannot reach us through that expanding space. 256 00:15:01,350 --> 00:15:04,096 It's almost as if you're driving through a dark desert 257 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,836 in your car and the very, very last town 258 00:15:06,860 --> 00:15:08,696 that ever exists has gone over the horizon 259 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:10,990 and they'll never be any light again. 260 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,806 We can see less and less of the universe 261 00:15:16,830 --> 00:15:18,976 as we go into the future. 262 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,016 What a strange thought. 263 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,210 So that means we should build all the telescopes we can now. 264 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,886 There's a limit to the universe we can see, 265 00:15:29,910 --> 00:15:33,726 even with the most advanced telescopes. 266 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:36,226 But what lies beyond 267 00:15:36,250 --> 00:15:39,150 is one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy. 268 00:15:41,260 --> 00:15:44,506 The greater universe could be stranger 269 00:15:44,530 --> 00:15:46,630 than our wildest imagination. 270 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,176 When you stand on the beach 271 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:51,406 and you look at the horizon 272 00:15:51,430 --> 00:15:53,816 and you kind of think, "oh, what beautiful lands 273 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:55,276 are there beyond the horizon? 274 00:15:55,300 --> 00:15:58,586 Things I've never imagined before." 275 00:15:58,610 --> 00:15:59,886 It's so natural. 276 00:15:59,910 --> 00:16:03,286 It's so human to ask, "what lies beyond that? 277 00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:05,850 What is the true extent of the universe?" 278 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,146 The observable universe 279 00:16:23,170 --> 00:16:25,370 contains trillions of galaxies. 280 00:16:27,940 --> 00:16:31,140 It's about 92 billion light-years across... 281 00:16:33,380 --> 00:16:34,886 ...but astronomers believe 282 00:16:34,910 --> 00:16:37,780 this isn't the full extent of the universe. 283 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:44,266 What we don't know is how much of the universe 284 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:46,266 is our observable universe. 285 00:16:46,290 --> 00:16:49,306 It could be a tiny, microscopic speck of this 286 00:16:49,330 --> 00:16:51,766 much more vast universe. 287 00:16:51,790 --> 00:16:53,836 We just don't know. 288 00:16:53,860 --> 00:16:56,106 We have no idea how much stuff there is 289 00:16:56,130 --> 00:16:57,576 outside the observable universe, 290 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,416 but because by definition, it's outside the observable universe, 291 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,216 we really don't know right now. 292 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,286 So what is out there? 293 00:17:06,310 --> 00:17:10,686 One theory says that space outside the observable universe 294 00:17:10,710 --> 00:17:16,126 is pretty much the same as our own cosmic neighborhood. 295 00:17:16,150 --> 00:17:18,626 It's just more universe. It's just like here. 296 00:17:18,650 --> 00:17:21,236 It's just far enough away that we can't see it. 297 00:17:21,260 --> 00:17:24,706 So it's not like there's bizarre places where time runs backwards 298 00:17:24,730 --> 00:17:27,090 or aliens have two heads, well, yeah, maybe. 299 00:17:29,570 --> 00:17:30,946 But further out 300 00:17:30,970 --> 00:17:33,446 in the deepest parts of the greater universe, 301 00:17:33,470 --> 00:17:35,400 all bets are off. 302 00:17:37,670 --> 00:17:40,556 We expect that as you go sort of twice or three times 303 00:17:40,580 --> 00:17:42,056 beyond the observable universe, 304 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,926 it's probably very similar to the universe we inhabit. 305 00:17:44,950 --> 00:17:48,426 But if you go a thousand times or a million times farther, 306 00:17:48,450 --> 00:17:50,150 who knows what you might see? 307 00:17:52,190 --> 00:17:55,220 It might be very, very different if we go far enough away. 308 00:17:57,860 --> 00:17:59,776 Strangely, it all comes back 309 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,206 to the expansion of the universe 310 00:18:02,230 --> 00:18:05,400 and one crucial detail in that process. 311 00:18:08,070 --> 00:18:09,146 There was a brief moment 312 00:18:09,170 --> 00:18:11,286 in the very early history of the universe 313 00:18:11,310 --> 00:18:15,316 where its expansion accelerated hugely. 314 00:18:15,340 --> 00:18:17,386 This acceleration is called inflation, 315 00:18:17,410 --> 00:18:20,826 and in a brief moment, the universe itself expanded 316 00:18:20,850 --> 00:18:23,550 at multiple times the speed of light. 317 00:18:25,820 --> 00:18:29,436 Inflation was a formative moment 318 00:18:29,460 --> 00:18:31,006 for our universe. 319 00:18:31,030 --> 00:18:32,476 By the time it stopped, 320 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:35,530 the universe's basic characteristics were set. 321 00:18:37,930 --> 00:18:39,846 There are these fundamental constants 322 00:18:39,870 --> 00:18:42,586 that describe the phenomena in our universe, 323 00:18:42,610 --> 00:18:46,510 the fundamentals of matter and light and space-time. 324 00:18:48,140 --> 00:18:49,786 But some scientists think 325 00:18:49,810 --> 00:18:52,386 there could be regions of the greater universe 326 00:18:52,410 --> 00:18:54,880 where inflation has never stopped. 327 00:18:57,150 --> 00:19:02,236 The idea is the greater universe is expanding at an insane speed, 328 00:19:02,260 --> 00:19:05,406 but here and there, occasionally a little region 329 00:19:05,430 --> 00:19:10,746 will stop inflating and just expand at the normal rate. 330 00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:12,746 Inflation can end somewhere 331 00:19:12,770 --> 00:19:15,016 and that gives rise to the universe we live in, 332 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,946 while inflation continues somewhere else. 333 00:19:18,970 --> 00:19:21,056 Parts of the greater universe 334 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:22,356 that continued to inflate 335 00:19:22,380 --> 00:19:25,650 would be left with different laws of physics. 336 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,326 This incredibly violent inflation process 337 00:19:29,350 --> 00:19:33,366 is actually monkeyed with the very fabric of space itself, 338 00:19:33,390 --> 00:19:35,266 so that a lot of the things that we were taught 339 00:19:35,290 --> 00:19:39,976 that are laws of physics are different there. 340 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,276 So in an essence, 341 00:19:41,300 --> 00:19:43,176 inflation gives us a very natural way 342 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,076 to make this patchwork quilt of different parts of the universe 343 00:19:46,100 --> 00:19:48,946 where things seem different. 344 00:19:48,970 --> 00:19:52,086 So what we could imagine is a super large-scale structure 345 00:19:52,110 --> 00:19:55,656 where there's different regions of the universe, domains, 346 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,980 and each domain has different local laws of physics. 347 00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:03,466 These different parts of the universe 348 00:20:03,490 --> 00:20:07,550 are separated by frontiers called domain walls. 349 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:14,176 We have similar boundaries on earth. 350 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,006 Whenever you have something that can be in many different states, 351 00:20:17,030 --> 00:20:19,876 you can end up with domain wall. 352 00:20:19,900 --> 00:20:25,516 If our fish swimming around in the arctic near an iceberg, 353 00:20:25,540 --> 00:20:27,216 there will be a domain boundary 354 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,486 between the water being in the liquid state 355 00:20:29,510 --> 00:20:33,296 where I am and the solid state inside the ice. 356 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,866 So a domain wall is just a wall between two domains. 357 00:20:36,890 --> 00:20:38,826 If it's water, this could be ice, 358 00:20:38,850 --> 00:20:39,896 this could be liquid. 359 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:41,336 If you're talking about space, 360 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,906 this could be a kind of space maybe you can live in. 361 00:20:43,930 --> 00:20:47,706 This could be a kind of space where you don't want to be. 362 00:20:47,730 --> 00:20:51,606 Crossing a domain wall would be very bad news 363 00:20:51,630 --> 00:20:54,376 for anyone who dared to try. 364 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,016 Cross that domain wall and the laws of physics 365 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:59,316 could change dramatically. 366 00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:01,316 The number of dimensions could change. 367 00:21:01,340 --> 00:21:03,926 If we were somehow able to travel to places in the universe 368 00:21:03,950 --> 00:21:05,326 where the laws of physics are different, 369 00:21:05,350 --> 00:21:07,696 we would die 370 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,496 because all of the chemistry going on in our bodies 371 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,096 depends very, very sensitively on the laws of physics. 372 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:19,060 So you could just dissipate like Thanos snap and you're gone. 373 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:22,746 Domain walls might be the closest 374 00:21:22,770 --> 00:21:25,400 we get to locating an edge in the universe. 375 00:21:26,970 --> 00:21:29,316 Depends on how you define the edge. 376 00:21:29,340 --> 00:21:32,686 If it is the realm where the laws of our universe operate, 377 00:21:32,710 --> 00:21:36,640 then these domain walls are in essence the age of the universe. 378 00:21:40,780 --> 00:21:42,720 But this is all just theory. 379 00:21:46,590 --> 00:21:48,396 If we ever really are to work out 380 00:21:48,420 --> 00:21:50,866 what the true size and shape of the universe is, 381 00:21:50,890 --> 00:21:54,536 we're going to have to look for clues that are close to us. 382 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,046 Clues that could answer the ultimate question, 383 00:21:58,070 --> 00:22:01,946 how big is the rest of the greater universe 384 00:22:01,970 --> 00:22:04,840 and could it go on forever? 385 00:22:20,420 --> 00:22:22,806 For tens of thousands of years, 386 00:22:22,830 --> 00:22:28,136 mankind has gazed in wonder at the vastness of the cosmos, 387 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,476 but just how extensive is it? 388 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:34,176 If we could answer that question, 389 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:39,356 it might help us to understand our place in the universe. 390 00:22:39,380 --> 00:22:41,686 One of the fundamental questions in science 391 00:22:41,710 --> 00:22:44,986 is how big is the universe? 392 00:22:45,010 --> 00:22:47,726 To answer the question, "how big is the universe?" 393 00:22:47,750 --> 00:22:51,066 We have to answer the question, "what shape is the universe?" 394 00:22:51,090 --> 00:22:52,996 And by shape, I mean geometry. 395 00:22:53,020 --> 00:22:57,766 I mean, how is the universe curved on its largest scales? 396 00:22:57,790 --> 00:23:00,176 If we are to discover that the universe 397 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,206 does have some sort of geometric curvature, 398 00:23:04,230 --> 00:23:09,746 then this might imply that it wraps around in on itself 399 00:23:09,770 --> 00:23:12,386 over incredibly large distances. 400 00:23:12,410 --> 00:23:16,126 And that if you could travel in one direction long enough, 401 00:23:16,150 --> 00:23:18,126 you would end up at your starting point. 402 00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:19,796 Another version is that the universe 403 00:23:19,820 --> 00:23:22,626 is more like an infinite flat plane. 404 00:23:22,650 --> 00:23:25,126 Okay? No curvature at all. 405 00:23:25,150 --> 00:23:27,666 The further you travel, well, the further you get 406 00:23:27,690 --> 00:23:30,560 and you never get back to where you started. 407 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,376 To work out the shape of something, 408 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,476 we would normally just step back and take a look. 409 00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:42,746 But clearly moving outside the universe is a nonstarter. 410 00:23:42,770 --> 00:23:44,146 You can't jump on a rocket 411 00:23:44,170 --> 00:23:47,386 and fly a thousand times larger than our cosmic horizon 412 00:23:47,410 --> 00:23:49,216 and see what the shape of the universe is. 413 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,126 We just can't do that. 414 00:23:51,150 --> 00:23:54,156 Our human perspective on the larger universe 415 00:23:54,180 --> 00:23:55,456 is so limited. 416 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,596 So if we want to figure out what the larger shape 417 00:23:57,620 --> 00:23:59,596 and scale of the universe is, 418 00:23:59,620 --> 00:24:01,960 we're going to have to be very clever indeed. 419 00:24:04,790 --> 00:24:06,576 One way to be clever 420 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,976 is to think of the geometry of the universe 421 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,746 in its simplest terms. 422 00:24:11,770 --> 00:24:14,076 When we talk about the geometry of the universe, 423 00:24:14,100 --> 00:24:16,616 we really are talking about geometry. 424 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,786 In order to do geometry, you have to take measures. 425 00:24:19,810 --> 00:24:21,986 You need a cosmic ruler to do this, 426 00:24:22,010 --> 00:24:24,386 and it turns out there's a great cosmic ruler 427 00:24:24,410 --> 00:24:27,250 known as baryon acoustic oscillations. 428 00:24:29,690 --> 00:24:32,426 Baryonic acoustic oscillations are ripples 429 00:24:32,450 --> 00:24:36,166 in the cosmic microwave background, 430 00:24:36,190 --> 00:24:38,660 the oldest light in the universe. 431 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,676 As the universe expanded, 432 00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:47,300 these ripples were imprinted in space in a uniform way. 433 00:24:48,770 --> 00:24:50,646 They provide a cosmic ruler 434 00:24:50,670 --> 00:24:53,856 to measure vast distances over time, 435 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,186 so we can gauge if the universe expands 436 00:24:56,210 --> 00:24:59,910 in curved space or over a flat plane. 437 00:25:02,820 --> 00:25:04,826 When we use these cosmic rulers 438 00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:07,096 to try to back out the shape of the universe, 439 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:09,336 we're sure to a few percent accuracy 440 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,936 that the universe is flat. 441 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,076 If the universe is flat, 442 00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:17,846 we could set off traveling into the cosmos 443 00:25:17,870 --> 00:25:20,570 and continue traveling forever. 444 00:25:22,670 --> 00:25:26,356 There may be no edge to our universe 445 00:25:26,380 --> 00:25:30,926 because a flat universe can be an infinite universe. 446 00:25:30,950 --> 00:25:32,956 Now we're thinking of the universe as something 447 00:25:32,980 --> 00:25:34,826 that really does go on forever, 448 00:25:34,850 --> 00:25:38,866 that the stars and galaxies never have an end, 449 00:25:38,890 --> 00:25:42,966 and how can something truly infinite really exist? 450 00:25:42,990 --> 00:25:47,706 Infinity is weird because it's a concept of, 451 00:25:47,730 --> 00:25:50,046 because it's endless. 452 00:25:50,070 --> 00:25:52,800 What does that mean? Who knows? I don't know. 453 00:25:55,500 --> 00:25:59,046 Infinity is a concept more than anything else. 454 00:25:59,070 --> 00:26:01,016 Our brains aren't evolved for that. 455 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,786 We evolved living in the plains. 456 00:26:03,810 --> 00:26:06,426 We were apes looking for food. 457 00:26:06,450 --> 00:26:09,426 We weren't evolved to think about the universe 458 00:26:09,450 --> 00:26:12,166 and all of this stuff. 459 00:26:12,190 --> 00:26:14,566 I just can't stop contemplating this stuff. 460 00:26:14,590 --> 00:26:17,466 The idea of infinity and these large numbers 461 00:26:17,490 --> 00:26:19,506 and even the tininess of everything. 462 00:26:19,530 --> 00:26:20,976 It's nuts. 463 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,130 Yeah, thinking about infinity makes my head hurt a little bit. 464 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,586 An infinite universe has profound implications 465 00:26:31,610 --> 00:26:34,310 for understanding our place in the cosmos. 466 00:26:36,380 --> 00:26:39,310 It guarantees we're not alone. 467 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:42,926 But if the universe is infinite, 468 00:26:42,950 --> 00:26:44,866 then there could be an infinite number of galaxies 469 00:26:44,890 --> 00:26:49,296 that have planets with life, an infinite number without life, 470 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,636 then because life did appear here on earth, 471 00:26:51,660 --> 00:26:53,076 it's physically possible, 472 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:54,606 therefore, it will definitely happen 473 00:26:54,630 --> 00:26:57,076 elsewhere in the universe. 474 00:26:57,100 --> 00:26:58,406 In a flat universe, 475 00:26:58,430 --> 00:27:03,386 alien life could come in an infinite number of forms, 476 00:27:03,410 --> 00:27:07,616 but there is an altogether stranger guarantee. 477 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,726 If the universe has no edge, this means that 478 00:27:10,750 --> 00:27:14,680 things that seem like they are impossible become possible. 479 00:27:17,390 --> 00:27:20,236 Every possible arrangement of matter, 480 00:27:20,260 --> 00:27:23,236 every possible history. 481 00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:27,706 A galaxy of a solar system of a planet like earth 482 00:27:27,730 --> 00:27:28,976 is possible 483 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,576 and is happening right now in parallel to us 484 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,070 somewhere over there. 485 00:27:36,610 --> 00:27:39,486 So that means that there has to be another place 486 00:27:39,510 --> 00:27:42,956 that has a galaxy just like ours 487 00:27:42,980 --> 00:27:44,856 and it would have an earth just like ours. 488 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:49,696 It would have people who would have another version of you, 489 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,166 another version of me. 490 00:27:51,190 --> 00:27:55,366 It's 100% guaranteed that there is another Max Tegmark out there 491 00:27:55,390 --> 00:27:58,790 having exactly this conversation and in fact many of them. 492 00:28:00,860 --> 00:28:03,546 An infinite universe full of Max Tegmarks 493 00:28:03,570 --> 00:28:05,606 may be a strange concept, 494 00:28:05,630 --> 00:28:08,146 but what's truly mind-bending is understanding 495 00:28:08,170 --> 00:28:11,216 the physics of a flat universe. 496 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,556 If the universe is infinite and it's expanding, 497 00:28:14,580 --> 00:28:20,196 what's it expanding into and what did it expand from? 498 00:28:20,220 --> 00:28:24,626 Was there ever an edge to the universe? 499 00:28:24,650 --> 00:28:28,796 Fortunately, the answer is that it doesn't make sense 500 00:28:28,820 --> 00:28:30,766 to ask that question. 501 00:28:30,790 --> 00:28:33,076 Everything is expanding, 502 00:28:33,100 --> 00:28:36,106 including the universe that we exist within. 503 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:39,076 So in fact, it's not expanding into anything 504 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:40,700 because it is everything. 505 00:28:45,670 --> 00:28:47,756 To help understand what's going on 506 00:28:47,780 --> 00:28:49,356 in an infinite universe, 507 00:28:49,380 --> 00:28:51,610 we need to go back to the big bang. 508 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,596 We want to think of the big bang as an explosion in space, 509 00:28:57,620 --> 00:28:59,326 like it happened some place, 510 00:28:59,350 --> 00:29:02,236 but there wasn't any place before the big bang. 511 00:29:02,260 --> 00:29:05,506 Space existed inside of the big bang itself. 512 00:29:05,530 --> 00:29:07,776 So it's not an explosion in space, 513 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,276 it's an explosion of space. 514 00:29:10,300 --> 00:29:12,346 We're sometimes told that at the big bang, 515 00:29:12,370 --> 00:29:15,776 the universe started out very, very small and then got big, 516 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,716 but how can a finite point become infinite? 517 00:29:19,740 --> 00:29:21,756 Well, if the universe is infinite, 518 00:29:21,780 --> 00:29:25,526 then it was also infinite at the big bang. 519 00:29:25,550 --> 00:29:27,826 This is a tough thing to think about. 520 00:29:27,850 --> 00:29:29,296 Think about it this way. 521 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,896 In an infinite universe, the galaxies go on forever 522 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,566 and now there's a great distance between every galaxy. 523 00:29:35,590 --> 00:29:36,606 But once upon a time, 524 00:29:36,630 --> 00:29:38,106 the galaxies were closer together, 525 00:29:38,130 --> 00:29:40,706 say half their current distance apart, 526 00:29:40,730 --> 00:29:42,076 but they still went on forever. 527 00:29:42,100 --> 00:29:45,746 The universe was still infinite. 528 00:29:45,770 --> 00:29:47,176 In a flat universe, 529 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:51,846 space was infinite from the beginning. 530 00:29:51,870 --> 00:29:54,356 There was never a single point in space 531 00:29:54,380 --> 00:29:56,986 where the big bang happened. 532 00:29:57,010 --> 00:30:00,596 It happened everywhere. 533 00:30:00,620 --> 00:30:05,596 An infinite universe offers infinite possibilities 534 00:30:05,620 --> 00:30:08,050 but no edge to space. 535 00:30:11,190 --> 00:30:14,106 But there may be another kind of edge, 536 00:30:14,130 --> 00:30:18,670 one that will only reveal itself if the universe dies. 537 00:30:37,420 --> 00:30:42,336 We live in an infinite and expanding universe. 538 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,030 Space has no edge. It goes on forever. 539 00:30:51,030 --> 00:30:55,916 But there could be a different kind of edge to our universe, 540 00:30:55,940 --> 00:30:59,046 an edge of time. 541 00:30:59,070 --> 00:31:01,186 The universe seems to have begun 542 00:31:01,210 --> 00:31:03,256 13.8 billion years ago in the past, 543 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,356 so there's some inclination, some impression, 544 00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:08,156 that it's finite in time. 545 00:31:08,180 --> 00:31:12,026 What we call the big bang is, as far as we understand it, 546 00:31:12,050 --> 00:31:14,636 a beginning, a start of the universe. 547 00:31:14,660 --> 00:31:16,906 The universe has a finite age. 548 00:31:16,930 --> 00:31:20,636 Now, does it have an edge in the future? 549 00:31:20,660 --> 00:31:22,536 We used to think that time would someday 550 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,146 come to a catastrophic end, 551 00:31:25,170 --> 00:31:28,516 along with the planets, galaxies, 552 00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:30,770 and all life in the universe. 553 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:35,686 If we know there's a big bang, if we know the universe started, 554 00:31:35,710 --> 00:31:38,526 it expanded and cooled, it's very natural to wonder 555 00:31:38,550 --> 00:31:40,756 whether or not someday the expansion will stop, 556 00:31:40,780 --> 00:31:44,020 reverse, and come back, and that's a big crunch. 557 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,336 In a big crunch, 558 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,776 our expanding universe would begin to contract. 559 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,700 Stars and planets would smash into each other. 560 00:31:58,870 --> 00:32:02,116 Galaxies would collide, 561 00:32:02,140 --> 00:32:05,386 and all of the life left in space would be compressed 562 00:32:05,410 --> 00:32:08,940 with all the other matter into a singularity. 563 00:32:17,590 --> 00:32:20,266 If this theory is true, then the universe 564 00:32:20,290 --> 00:32:25,736 would have both a beginning and an end of time. 565 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:27,936 If we live in a universe that will expand, 566 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,876 stop expanding, and then go back into a crunch, 567 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:34,276 then it has, in effect, two edges. 568 00:32:34,300 --> 00:32:38,646 But there's a much stranger possibility. 569 00:32:38,670 --> 00:32:41,686 Perhaps the end is but a beginning, 570 00:32:41,710 --> 00:32:43,786 where the universe is a oscillating universe. 571 00:32:43,810 --> 00:32:45,686 It has a big bang like beginning, 572 00:32:45,710 --> 00:32:47,426 it expands to a maximum size, 573 00:32:47,450 --> 00:32:49,426 and then goes back into a big crunch 574 00:32:49,450 --> 00:32:51,780 and does that over and over. 575 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,536 We could be residents of a universe 576 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,706 created from the ashes of another, 577 00:32:58,730 --> 00:33:03,430 a single universe in a stream of bouncing universes... 578 00:33:06,570 --> 00:33:11,446 ...each full of galaxies, planets, and life. 579 00:33:11,470 --> 00:33:14,986 But our most recent observations of the universe suggest 580 00:33:15,010 --> 00:33:17,940 a big crunch isn't in the cards. 581 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,580 Once again, dark energy is key. 582 00:33:26,250 --> 00:33:30,336 For a while we didn't know if the expansion of the universe 583 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:32,666 was going to slow, stop, 584 00:33:32,690 --> 00:33:35,306 and reverse itself because of gravity. 585 00:33:35,330 --> 00:33:36,706 There are all these galaxies in the universe 586 00:33:36,730 --> 00:33:38,846 and they're pulling on each other by their gravity. 587 00:33:38,870 --> 00:33:40,516 And if the expansion isn't fast enough, 588 00:33:40,540 --> 00:33:43,146 that gravity might be strong enough to stop the expansion 589 00:33:43,170 --> 00:33:44,916 and re-collapse the universe. 590 00:33:44,940 --> 00:33:46,216 Now with dark energy, 591 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,656 we know that there's no way that can happen. 592 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,186 The universe is going to expand forever 593 00:33:51,210 --> 00:33:55,026 because dark energy is pumping it full of acceleration. 594 00:33:55,050 --> 00:33:57,526 In order for there to be a big crunch, 595 00:33:57,550 --> 00:34:01,136 our understanding of dark energy would have to change a lot. 596 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,736 That is, dark energy would have to be extremely weird 597 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,906 and turn off in some very funny way for the universe 598 00:34:07,930 --> 00:34:10,930 to suddenly stop expanding and re-collapse. 599 00:34:13,270 --> 00:34:14,876 Without a big crunch, 600 00:34:14,900 --> 00:34:19,246 there is no future edge to time. 601 00:34:19,270 --> 00:34:20,956 The universe is not only expanding, 602 00:34:20,980 --> 00:34:22,686 but it's being driven by dark energy 603 00:34:22,710 --> 00:34:26,056 to expand faster and faster and the dark energy 604 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,526 doesn't dilute away, as far as we can tell. 605 00:34:28,550 --> 00:34:30,996 So the simplest idea is that the universe 606 00:34:31,020 --> 00:34:34,750 will simply continue to expand eternally toward the future. 607 00:34:36,930 --> 00:34:41,706 Just like space, time will go on forever. 608 00:34:41,730 --> 00:34:46,106 That might sound like a better fate for life and the universe, 609 00:34:46,130 --> 00:34:47,770 but it's not. 610 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,046 One of the consequences of this dark energy 611 00:34:53,070 --> 00:34:56,016 that's causing the acceleration of the universe 612 00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:01,596 is that we eventually are headed towards the big chill. 613 00:35:01,620 --> 00:35:05,296 I should say, "we're eventually headed towards the big chill." 614 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,436 So the universe is getting colder and colder 615 00:35:08,460 --> 00:35:11,436 and things are getting more and more spread out. 616 00:35:11,460 --> 00:35:13,736 So the accelerated and continual 617 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,006 and forever expansion of our universe 618 00:35:16,030 --> 00:35:19,706 might make for a frankly depressing end to time itself. 619 00:35:19,730 --> 00:35:23,246 The ultimate entropy-based heat death of the universe 620 00:35:23,270 --> 00:35:27,856 where you would walk out and see no stars in the sky, 621 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:29,516 see absolutely nothing. 622 00:35:29,540 --> 00:35:32,586 There will come one day when the very last star in the universe 623 00:35:32,610 --> 00:35:35,450 just fizzles out and that is it. 624 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,296 In the future, 625 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,066 space will be a cold, dark and infinite void, 626 00:35:44,090 --> 00:35:47,836 where time goes on forever. 627 00:35:47,860 --> 00:35:49,736 There will be nothing to do 628 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,206 but suffer in the eternal expanse. 629 00:35:53,230 --> 00:35:56,886 It's our inevitable fate that there's no future edge 630 00:35:56,910 --> 00:36:00,816 of time in the universe. 631 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:04,126 But even if there isn't an edge to the universe, 632 00:36:04,150 --> 00:36:09,856 could there be edges within the universe? 633 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,396 If you wanted to visit the edge of the universe, 634 00:36:12,420 --> 00:36:15,836 then go find your nearest black hole and jump on in 635 00:36:15,860 --> 00:36:18,006 because that's a one-way trip. 636 00:36:18,030 --> 00:36:21,830 If you cross this edge, you will never return. 637 00:36:36,180 --> 00:36:38,286 April 2019, 638 00:36:38,310 --> 00:36:40,496 an international team of astronomers 639 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,856 makes a special announcement. 640 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,466 And we are delighted to be able to report to you today 641 00:36:46,490 --> 00:36:51,536 that we have seen and taken a picture of a black hole. 642 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:52,830 Here it is. 643 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,246 It's a picture of a supermassive black hole 644 00:37:02,270 --> 00:37:07,340 at the center of the M87 galaxy 54 million light-years away. 645 00:37:09,180 --> 00:37:14,150 It may also be the first image of an edge in the universe. 646 00:37:15,420 --> 00:37:17,996 Black holes create a really interesting scenario 647 00:37:18,020 --> 00:37:22,896 when we think about space and the universe having edges. 648 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:27,836 The edge between space outside and inside a black hole 649 00:37:27,860 --> 00:37:31,106 is called the event horizon. 650 00:37:31,130 --> 00:37:32,576 The event horizon of a black hole 651 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,146 is a region within which, once you cross inside, 652 00:37:36,170 --> 00:37:38,746 the gravitational tug is so strong 653 00:37:38,770 --> 00:37:43,386 that even light cannot escape, which means nothing can escape 654 00:37:43,410 --> 00:37:46,286 once you cross inside the event horizon. 655 00:37:46,310 --> 00:37:48,656 So that really is sort of an edge 656 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,250 because it really does create a boundary. 657 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,730 The event horizon is not a physical barrier in space. 658 00:38:01,930 --> 00:38:04,306 Event horizon is an edge of the part of the universe 659 00:38:04,330 --> 00:38:06,276 we can visit, but it's not an edge 660 00:38:06,300 --> 00:38:09,176 in the sense that there's anything there. 661 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:10,546 You would just pass right through it 662 00:38:10,570 --> 00:38:12,716 if you actually got right up to that place. 663 00:38:12,740 --> 00:38:15,156 So it's sort of a conceptual boundary 664 00:38:15,180 --> 00:38:19,126 between two different parts of the universe. 665 00:38:19,150 --> 00:38:22,526 If we sent a man to probe into a black hole, 666 00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:24,320 it would be a one-way trip. 667 00:38:26,750 --> 00:38:31,536 The event horizons of black holes are a sort of edge 668 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,606 because, once you pass through an event horizon, 669 00:38:34,630 --> 00:38:38,206 you are cut off from the rest of the universe. 670 00:38:38,230 --> 00:38:40,776 You can never go back out. 671 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:45,146 You are outside of our universe. 672 00:38:45,170 --> 00:38:46,986 Once you've crossed inside that region, 673 00:38:47,010 --> 00:38:50,380 you are never coming back out, and that's an edge. 674 00:38:52,210 --> 00:38:54,196 Once inside the black hole, 675 00:38:54,220 --> 00:38:58,296 the probe would be in a separate part of space, 676 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,336 cut off from the rest of the universe. 677 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,366 Falling through the event horizon of a black hole 678 00:39:04,390 --> 00:39:07,636 is like jumping over the edge of a cliff. 679 00:39:07,660 --> 00:39:10,576 You can see the edge and you can see the edge go by, 680 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,146 and then when you're at the bottom, you can look up 681 00:39:13,170 --> 00:39:15,616 and see what's happening at the top of the cliff, 682 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:17,370 but you can never go back. 683 00:39:19,510 --> 00:39:21,886 At the bottom of this black-hole cliff 684 00:39:21,910 --> 00:39:24,686 sits a singularity, 685 00:39:24,710 --> 00:39:30,566 a region of space where the laws of physics go off the rails. 686 00:39:30,590 --> 00:39:33,396 Deep toward that singularity could be as surprising 687 00:39:33,420 --> 00:39:36,336 as you might imagine and yet still a possibility. 688 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:38,806 If you map the space-time around a black hole 689 00:39:38,830 --> 00:39:40,376 in a very particular way, 690 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:44,346 there emerges a sort of mirror universe, a parallel universe, 691 00:39:44,370 --> 00:39:46,006 on the other side of the black hole, 692 00:39:46,030 --> 00:39:50,800 identical to our own and traversable by the black hole. 693 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:01,196 So black holes are not just edges to our universe, 694 00:40:01,220 --> 00:40:06,566 they may also be gateways to other universes. 695 00:40:06,590 --> 00:40:08,136 It's highly conjecture, 696 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:12,366 but if there's ever going to be a space, or region, 697 00:40:12,390 --> 00:40:15,536 where you're making connections with, say, some other universe, 698 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:18,330 a black hole, in principle, could be a portal to that. 699 00:40:22,370 --> 00:40:23,746 But it's highly unlikely 700 00:40:23,770 --> 00:40:24,946 that anyone will ever want 701 00:40:24,970 --> 00:40:29,586 to venture beyond an event horizon to find out, 702 00:40:29,610 --> 00:40:33,026 and our pursuits of the other edges in the cosmos 703 00:40:33,050 --> 00:40:35,956 offer little hope either. 704 00:40:35,980 --> 00:40:41,136 We can never travel beyond the cosmic event horizon. 705 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,336 We will never be able to see beyond the edge 706 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,736 of our observable universe. 707 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:51,906 So can we ever hope to discover the true edge 708 00:40:51,930 --> 00:40:56,200 of the greater universe or find out if it even has one? 709 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:00,416 My feeling is that probably we should not think 710 00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,216 about edges for the universe. 711 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,926 Everything you've ever seen in your life is finite, 712 00:41:05,950 --> 00:41:10,096 it has an inside and the outside, it has an edge. 713 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:11,896 The universe might not be like that. 714 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:13,366 It's probably not like that. 715 00:41:13,390 --> 00:41:16,520 There's probably no sense in which the universe has an edge. 716 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,106 We used to think that the ultimate limits 717 00:41:22,130 --> 00:41:24,946 on the future life were set by nature, 718 00:41:24,970 --> 00:41:26,246 we couldn't get off the planet, 719 00:41:26,270 --> 00:41:29,446 or there was nothing beyond our solar system. 720 00:41:29,470 --> 00:41:31,916 Now we realized we have this vast, 721 00:41:31,940 --> 00:41:35,256 vast cosmos out there and that the ultimate limits 722 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,456 are actually simply our own imagination 723 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,226 and our ability to do great things with it 724 00:41:41,250 --> 00:41:42,926 rather than self-destruct. 725 00:41:42,950 --> 00:41:46,066 Our future destiny is in our own hands 726 00:41:46,090 --> 00:41:49,866 and I find that very empowering. 727 00:41:49,890 --> 00:41:52,206 It is beautifully frustrating 728 00:41:52,230 --> 00:41:53,936 to realize how limited we are, 729 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:56,606 to realize that we're probably never going to get a true view 730 00:41:56,630 --> 00:41:58,506 of the real extent of the universe. 731 00:41:58,530 --> 00:42:00,576 We should keep an open mind, we should be humble, 732 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,446 but I think that we should give up on the idea 733 00:42:02,470 --> 00:42:03,886 that things should have edges 734 00:42:03,910 --> 00:42:05,346 because that's what we're familiar with. 735 00:42:05,370 --> 00:42:08,116 The universe is something special. 736 00:42:08,140 --> 00:42:12,886 What matters to us, and will only ever matter to us, 737 00:42:12,910 --> 00:42:15,296 is the observable universe 738 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:17,996 because that's the limit of what we can see 739 00:42:18,020 --> 00:42:19,896 and that is the limit of what we can know. 740 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,166 So there is an edge to the universe, 741 00:42:22,190 --> 00:42:24,190 there's an edge to what we can know. 59816

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