In this survey of the physics leading to theories on the shape of the universe, one of the most significant contributors is Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Through the WMAP program, we are able to determine that the CMBR that reaches us on Earth arrives undistorted. This means that it has not been significantly warped by gravity, which in turn leads us to the conclusion that the universe is indeed flat. However, there are other theories beyond just the curvature that have raised questions and boggle the mind.
One theory is that there are multiple universes. The thought behind that is that if the Big Bang could happen once, it could happen many times. There could be multiple universes, some similar to ours, others wildly different. Because we don't know what caused the Big Bang in the first place, I believe this theory is plausible, though nigh impossible to prove.
Another, less widely known theory, is one suggested by theoretical physicist Janna Levin. She posits that the universe could be smaller than we think. She says that the light emitted by our galaxy and others could be being reflected back to us, appearing to be more galaxies. Of course, to confirm that theory, we would have to actually travel to most of the galaxies, which will not be happening anytime soon.
One theory is that there are multiple universes. The thought behind that is that if the Big Bang could happen once, it could happen many times. There could be multiple universes, some similar to ours, others wildly different. Because we don't know what caused the Big Bang in the first place, I believe this theory is plausible, though nigh impossible to prove.
Another, less widely known theory, is one suggested by theoretical physicist Janna Levin. She posits that the universe could be smaller than we think. She says that the light emitted by our galaxy and others could be being reflected back to us, appearing to be more galaxies. Of course, to confirm that theory, we would have to actually travel to most of the galaxies, which will not be happening anytime soon.