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Please forgive me, I am not a cosmologist, merely a humble software engineer - but your timespans of 30+ billion and into “trillions” of years seem awfully aske

Please forgive me, I am not a cosmologist, merely a humble software engineer - but your timespans of 30+ billion and into “trillions” of years seem awfully askew. The age if the entire universe is estimated at “only” 13.77 billion years old, so how is this possible? Are we simply in an extremely young universe?

jhgb 5y ago
> Are we simply in an extremely young universe? Well, in the set of positive reals, any number you randomly pick will be very small compared to the vast majority of all the numbers in the set.
- morpheos137 5y ago
  Yeah because the age of the universe can't be negative.
  - pieceoffeces 5y ago
    Who let you out of your cage? I thought lowlifes with enlarged brains weren't allowed out of their cells. dang, why did you give this human a pass?
    - morpheos137 5y ago
      Is this the reddit culture infecting hn the other poster was complaining about? Stop being a little brother. cf 1984.
tbabb 5y ago
Yes, by our current cosmological models, we are in a very young universe. We don't really know, but it may be the case that the universe is only conducive to life during this phase of its existence.
XorNot 5y ago
See also: it's quite likely that no red dwarf anywhere in existence has run out of fuel, yet - some are estimated to last as long as 10 trillion years.
- geoffmunn 5y ago
  I find the concept of a black dwarf to be fascinating. Like you said - none have existed yet, and any absorption of matter as it floats through space will prolong its radiant heat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dwarf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dwarf
philjohn 5y ago
From my understanding the universe is but a toddler - the longest stretch of its life will be AFTER the last stars have died - this video is somewhat existential dread inducing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA

jhgb 5y ago

> Are we simply in an extremely young universe? Well, in the set of positive reals, any number you randomly pick will be very small compared to the vast majority of all the numbers in the set.

morpheos137 5y ago
Yeah because the age of the universe can't be negative.
- pieceoffeces 5y ago
  Who let you out of your cage? I thought lowlifes with enlarged brains weren't allowed out of their cells. dang, why did you give this human a pass?
  - morpheos137 5y ago
    Is this the reddit culture infecting hn the other poster was complaining about? Stop being a little brother. cf 1984.

tbabb 5y ago

Yes, by our current cosmological models, we are in a very young universe. We don't really know, but it may be the case that the universe is only conducive to life during this phase of its existence.

XorNot 5y ago

See also: it's quite likely that no red dwarf anywhere in existence has run out of fuel, yet - some are estimated to last as long as 10 trillion years.

geoffmunn 5y ago
I find the concept of a black dwarf to be fascinating. Like you said - none have existed yet, and any absorption of matter as it floats through space will prolong its radiant heat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dwarf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dwarf

philjohn 5y ago

From my understanding the universe is but a toddler - the longest stretch of its life will be AFTER the last stars have died - this video is somewhat existential dread inducing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA