Earnest question.

[wolven7]

Coldplay - [Clocks]--- I'm asking, here, because i think a number of you could explain it better than i could read it. How do we know how many atoms, molecules, etc, there are in the universe? Are we approximating, and assuming, or what? How do we know any true rate of universal expansion, for that matter? Are we assuming it's still the speed of light? Could it Not be? Could it have slowed?

Back to reading the January Scientific American.

Comments

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

It Could not be, but then again, what'd be slowing it, outside of the Universe? Friction? Against what?
One simple question, birthing hundreds of questions. I love it. ^_^

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i spiderconnect questions good. And, i guess it would be simple entropy... Inertia. Against itself. I mean, it does, after all, contain everything. That's a lot of matter ial to pass through. :)

[anastomosis.livejournal.com]

There is only *one* atom, one particle of matter, in the entire universe being timeshared equally by all things within the universe, simultaneously!

It is everywhere at every moment which is why it is very dangerous to go mucking about with molecules and the concept of attaining Absolute Zero; the point where maximum entropy is reached and all movement, even on the molecular scale, stops. It may catch the particle and destroy everything in a grand cosmic "phoop!"

oooooooooo... scary!

[wolven.livejournal.com]

You radical monist, you. :)