XPost: rec.arts.comics.strips   
   From: psperson@old.netcom.invalid   
      
   On Sat, 31 Jan 2026 06:25:57 +0000, Peter Fairbrother   
    wrote:   
      
   >On 30/01/2026 17:03, Paul S Person wrote:   
   >> On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 07:03:16 +0000, Peter Fairbrother   
   >   
   >>> 10^80 hydrogen atoms is a good estimate for the observable universe. Of   
   >>> course we don't know whether the universe is finite or not..   
   >>    
   >> I would thing the triumph of the Big Bang over the Steady State pretty   
   >> much implies a finite universe.   
   >   
   >Big Bang doesn't change anything as far as the finiteness of the    
   >universe goes.   
   >   
   >The observable universe is known to be finite, but as for the "whole"    
   >universe - we just don't know. The "whole" universe is very likely very    
   >much bigger than the observable universe, but as we can't ever see the    
   >rest of it .. how can we be sure?   
      
   How, indeed?   
      
   A better question is: how can the above be distinguished from   
   religion? Or at least ancient philosophy, which also posited that   
   there was more than we could see. Just beyond and hidden by the Sphere   
   of Stars.   
      
      
      
   >But that presupposes many universes ...  does that remind you of    
   >quantum-ness?   
      
   I would agree that the scientific issues will not be setted until the   
   GUT appears. Or, if more is needed, the TOE.   
      
   >> Keeping in mind the mathematical nature of "infinite".   
   > From the Latin finitus: "without end, bound or limit"   
   >   
   >That may be confusing: the universe may be boundless but finite.   
   >   
   >Eg perhaps it wraps around on itself like the surface of a balloon - it    
   >has no boundaries but it has an actual size. Or it may be infinite,    
   >without bounds, ends or limits, and talking about a measure of its size    
   >is meaningless, as it is limitless.   
      
   If you think a helium-filled party balloon has an infinite amount of   
   gas in it, you are cuckoo. And it doesn't matter how few edges the   
   balloon has.   
      
   >Mathematically, it can mean either without limit, without bound, or    
   >without end, depending what part of maths (or physics) you are working in.   
   >   
   >Or informally, larger than any number.   
      
   This is getting too esoteric, but I do not dispute it.   
      
   It is typical of working with infinity that really strange stuff pops   
   up, from time to time.   
   --    
   "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,   
   Who evil spoke of everyone but God,   
   Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)