NationStates Jolt Archive

Yup, you read correctly. Astronomers have found absolutely nothing in space:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6962185.stm
Astronomers have found an enormous void in space that measures nearly a billion light-years across.

It is empty of both normal matter - such as galaxies and stars - and the mysterious "dark matter" that cannot be seen directly with telescopes.

The "hole" is located in the direction of the Eridanus constellation and has been identified in data from a survey of the sky made at radio wavelengths.

The discovery will be reported in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal.

Previous sky surveys that have traced the large-scale structure of the nearby Universe have long shown, for example, how the clustering of galaxies is strung into vast filaments and sheets that are separated by great gaps.

But the void discovered by a University of Minnesota team is about 1,000 times the volume of what would be expected in typical cosmic gaps.

"It's hard even for astronomers to picture how big these things are," conceded Minnesota's Professor Lawrence Rudnick.

"If you were to travel at the speed of light, it would take you several years to get to the nearest stars in our own Milky Way galaxy; but if you were to go to this hole and enter one side, you'd have to travel for a billion years before you would get to the other side," he told BBC News.

The void is roughly 6-10 billion light-years away and takes a sizeable chunk out of the visible Universe in its direction.

Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.

Scientist 1: woohoo! We've made a new discovery!
Scientist 2: *breaks out the champagne* A whole lot of nothing!
Scientist 1: Uh... is that really worth celebrating?
Scientist 2: it's been a slow year.

Yup, you read correctly. Astronomers have found absolutely nothing in space:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6962185.stm


Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.

Damn, I was reading that and I was wondering if it was my school. Guess it's the U of M in the Twin Cities, and not the one I'm at.

Ho-well.

Now the question is, how to we conquer this "nothing"?

Now the question is, how to we conquer this "nothing"?

Ask Bush. He's certainly good at military expeditions that conquer nothing! ;)

Ask Bush. He's certainly good at military expeditions that conquer nothing! ;)

Zing. I was going to fling that one out there, but I deleted that part before I posted. :D

Great minds think alike.

Yup, you read correctly. Astronomers have found absolutely nothing in space:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6962185.stm


Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.

*nod*

Imagine getting lost in that bastard.

"This map means nothing!"

"We should pull over and get directions..."

"Where!?"

*nod*

Imagine getting lost in that bastard.

"This map means nothing!"

"We should pull over and get directions..."

"Where!?"

"We could ask that big void that is uh... to the right... no... left... AH! It's going to consume us all!!!!"

Yup, you read correctly. Astronomers have found absolutely nothing in space:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6962185.stm


Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.

That is a lot of nothing.

*nod*

Imagine getting lost in that bastard.

"This map means nothing!"

"We should pull over and get directions..."

"Where!?"
Yeah, but if we only send male astro/cosmo/taikonauts we'd never hear from them again. :p

Yeah, but if we only send male astro/cosmo/taikonauts we'd never hear from them again. :p

Just don't bring the kids:

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"GOD DAMN IT NO!"

"I have to pee!"

"I TOLD YOU TO GO BEFORE WE LEFT! The next pit stop isn't for anything 100 million light years!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Don't make me turn this ship around!"

Yeah, but if we only send male astro/cosmo/taikonauts we'd never hear from them again. :p

...I happen to have an excellent sense of direction!

*looks at map*

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? There are two Route 30s! And Route 10 is also known as Route 3!

I hate our highway system...

Is it a black hole? Or is it just nothing?

Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.
Imagine if there was a single star system somewhere in the middle - they wouldn't know there was anything else in the entire universe until they invented sufficiently powerful telescopes, which they would have little reason to invent in the first place as the sky would be completely featureless.

Is it a black hole? Or is it just nothing?
A black hole is a huge amount of mass in almost no space - this is almost no mass in a huge amount of space.

Is it a black hole? Or is it just nothing?

Absolutely nothing. Different than a black hole, which is something, but we can't see it(Directly).

Basically, there is just nothing there for a billion light years. These gaps pop up in space everywhere, but this is a massive one.

Let's just hope Atreyu and Falkor are around somewhere...

Imagine if there was a single star system somewhere in the middle - they wouldn't know there was anything else in the entire universe until they invented sufficiently powerful telescopes, which they would have little reason to invent in the first place as the sky would be completely featureless.
"Above the grass," anybody?

Where did that wicket go...

Imagine if there was a single star system somewhere in the middle - they wouldn't know there was anything else in the entire universe until they invented sufficiently powerful telescopes, which they would have little reason to invent in the first place as the sky would be completely featureless.

Universe is over 13 billion years old, a star system in the middle of the "nothing" would still see stars, they'd just be fainter.

Universe is over 13 billion years old, a star system in the middle of the "nothing" would still see stars, they'd just be fainter.
They'd have to have damned good eyesight to see stars over half a billion light years away.

Imagine if there was a single star system somewhere in the middle - they wouldn't know there was anything else in the entire universe until they invented sufficiently powerful telescopes, which they would have little reason to invent in the first place as the sky would be completely featureless.

Krikkit :eek:

There obviously IS a highly developed alien race in the middle of the nothing, cloaking themselves to protect themselves from morons like the inhabitants of Earth.

There obviously IS a highly developed alien race in the middle of the nothing, cloaking themselves to protect themselves from morons like the inhabitants of Earth.

Or maybe they are going to turn the lights on soon and yell, "Surprise!"

But by the time they do, it will take a billions of light years for the Surprise to reach us...


Stupid aliens.

Yup, you read correctly. Astronomers have found absolutely nothing in space:



Got to admit it, a billion light years is a whole lot of nothing.


I claim this nothing in the name of Saige Dragon.

I claim this nothing in the name of Saige Dragon.
Sorry, Russia already planted its flag...:p

"Astronomers announce they have found nothing in space."
*week later*
"Bush announces funding for NASA will drop since there is 'nothing in space'"

"Astronomers announce they have found nothing in space."
*week later*
"Bush announces funding for NASA will drop since there is 'nothing in space'"
I lol'd.

I will be watching the news carefully this Friday. ;)

Sorry, Russia already planted its flag...:p

We shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills
we shall fight for nothing!

Imagine if there was a single star system somewhere in the middle - they wouldn't know there was anything else in the entire universe until they invented sufficiently powerful telescopes, which they would have little reason to invent in the first place as the sky would be completely featureless.

"Above the grass," anybody?

Where did that wicket go...

Krikkit :eek:

Let's just hope that they don't find out about the rest of the universe... or we're all Belgiuming doomed.

I don't see what the big deal is. If you ask me, it's much ado about nothing.


...someone had to say it.

Sorry, Russia already planted its flag...:p

Planted it in what exaclty?

Planted it in what exaclty?
A tub of geraniums? I don't know. This is humour, it doesn't have to make sense!

Universe is over 13 billion years old, a star system in the middle of the "nothing" would still see stars, they'd just be fainter.

They wouldn't see stars half a billion light years away. We don't. Seeing a star more than 3000 light years(without radio telescopes, microwave detectors, etc) is very uncommon.

They would see galaxies. Maybe the occasional hypernova. That's about it. *nod*

A tub of geraniums? I don't know. This is humour, it doesn't have to make sense!

Well, having a flag inserted explains why the whale was so surprised. Or was that a bowl of petunias? Blast.

Let's just hope Atreyu and Falkor are around somewhere...

You are my new god.

Hang on, so a big huge nothingness in space is uncommon?

So that would mean most of the universe’s space is occupied by dark matter?

I always assumed that the vastest of vast majorities of all space in the universe was filled with nothing.

Hang on, so a big huge nothingness in space is uncommon?

So that would mean most of the universe’s space is occupied by dark matter?

I always assumed that the vastest of vast majorities of all space in the universe was filled with nothing.

It's not that near-nothingness (there's always a couple particles floating around) is uncommon, it's that that's a whole lot of nothing.

They wouldn't see stars half a billion light years away. We don't. Seeing a star more than 3000 light years(without radio telescopes, microwave detectors, etc) is very uncommon.

They would see galaxies. Maybe the occasional hypernova. That's about it. *nod*

We also have a lot more light pollution in our neighborhood.

Hang on, so a big huge nothingness in space is uncommon?

So that would mean most of the universe’s space is occupied by dark matter?

I always assumed that the vastest of vast majorities of all space in the universe was filled with nothing.

It is. This is an uncommonly huge nothing. (seems to resemble my love life)

We also have a lot more light pollution in our neighborhood.

Good point.

It is. This is an uncommonly huge nothing. (seems to resemble my love life)

So would this big nothing be described is a huger-than-normal gap between galactic clusters or a huger-than-normal gap between vast areas of space filled with dark matter? (the odd particle goes with out saying, Minaris.)

Never mind Pedro, sooner or later (heh.. hopefully sooner... nudge nudge).

Damn, I was reading that and I was wondering if it was my school. Guess it's the U of M in the Twin Cities, and not the one I'm at.

Ho-well.

Now the question is, how to we conquer this "nothing"?

UMD?

Is it a black hole? Or is it just nothing?As I understand it, it's less than nothing... comparatively speaking that is.

Imagine the solar system and all the space between the planets and the sun, and the asteroids and the comets. That 'empty' space is to this void as Tokyo is to Death Valley.

UMD?

Nope. It's acronym is MSUM. Should be easy to figure out after that.

That really is quite amazing.

Damn! My horse's middle name is "Eridanus!"

Seems somewhat ironic that the River of Heaven has to have a hero step on it and is full of a big hole.

Logic question: how do you subtract from a hole? Keep digging or fill it in?

Logic question: how do you subtract from a hole? Keep digging or fill it in?

fill it in.