Amongst the multitude of mysteries that the universe holds, the answers to what might be the most elusive ones are whether or not is finite or infinite, both in terms of its physical breadth, but also its age: is there a beginning and an end? And for that matter, if it is finite in its physical dimensions, are there other universes that are adjacent to our own? As Einstein famously put it, "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former."

However, Einstein’s tongue-in-cheek quip about the universe have been addressed by two new studies that offer new insight into both the possible physical dimensions of the universe, and the possibility that it may indeed be ageless.
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A recent study has added new evidence to the controversial theory that the three-dimensional nature of our universe is actually a holographic projection from a two-dimensional plane. The holographic principle, as it is known, isn’t widely accepted by the scientific community, as it upends the classical model of physics. However, where the classical model has failed to reconcile quantum mechanics with the macroscopic world, the holographic principle does a much better job of doing so, and this latest study has also offered a real-world demonstration that the principle may be valid.
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A new theory that has been proposed may deflate the commonly-accepted origin of the universe, namely the Big Bang theory, in that it never happened at all. This new theory also implies that the universe is infinite in age, and may continue to exist forever.

As is widely known, the Big Bang theory posits that all of the energy (and thus matter) in the universe was once compressed into an extremely dense singularity, of which exploded 13.8 billion years ago. This idea of this singularity stems from equations derived from Einstein’s theory of general relativity, that shows that all matter occupied one point in space.
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For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in a protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star, suggesting that the conditions that spawned our Earth and Sun are not unique in the universe. In fact, it probably means that the building blocks of life are very widely spread. This, combined with the recent discovery that planets are commonplace, raises the likelihood that life may be abundant. Just how abundant cannot be known, but it is now all but certain that there is life out there. But is it intelligent? If intelligent life was commonplace, then we would have seen more obvious signs, probably in the radio background noise. However, given the sheer size of the cosmos, it is all but inevitable that ET exists.read more