I’ve been absent while I slave towards a seemingly impossible goal of finishing my current WIP before the end of the month, but I had to break my silence to report of the stupidest headline I’ve ever read. On CNN.com, a headline reads “A Star Explodes Halfway Across The Universe”.
Okay, wait, what? If the universe is infinite, as some believe, then how does one determine a halfway point? Or, if the universe if finite, but too large to be measured, as others contend, you still can’t determine a halfway point.
To say something is “halfway” across the universe is to say that you know where the universe begins and ends. So, what’s wrong with just saying “A Star Explodes A Long Way Away”?
If the universe did start with a big bang, and we know when that happened, as well as how fast the universe expands, then we know how large it is at any given time, approximately.
Besides, the author was quoting the Astronomer Borrows in saying it was half way across the universe. So get mad at the astronomer.
I'm mad at whoever said that stupid comment. But your theory of knowing how large the universe is at any given moment depends on if you believe that the expansion of the universe extends equally in all directions, and there is evidence to contrary.
Word.
In a galaxy far, far away. . . Jeff Vader asks for penne arrabiata.
Fine. Maybe he should have just said, “On the edge of the known universe.” Would that satisfy you?
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