• Question: How do we really know what the universe is doing? We haven't even been past the moon. Isn't it possible that there are conditions out there that we cannot even dream of? If we have never been past the moon how did we know about the other planets?

    Asked by becky1997 to Katy, Nathalie, Paula on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Nathalie Pettorelli

      Nathalie Pettorelli answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi becky1997,

      You are right – there are still many, many things we don’t know. There are things we can infer though, by making assumptions (such as “if I know that this is true, and if I know that this and this occurs, then, this should be there (or this should work like that)”). Take dark matter for example – you can not see it, but based on all the knowledge so far, we know there should be something like dark matter that needs to exist to explain other phenomenons and things we know exist. And then we spend much time and energy trying to demonstrate its existence. Cosmology and astrophysics work a lot like that – because, as you say rightly, there are many things we can not reach or see in the universe. Hope that makes sense 😉

    • Photo: Katy Mee

      Katy Mee answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Well although we haven’t been beyond the Moon, thanks to powerful telescopes we have certainly seen beyond it, hence having discovered the other planets. As for knowing what the universe is doing, well we dont know for sure, al of the suggestions are simply that, theories, not know facts yet. And of course, until evidence comes through to prove that certain things DONT exist, then it is always possible that there are conditions out there that we don’t kow exist. Good question 🙂

    • Photo: Paula Salgado

      Paula Salgado answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi becky

      We don’t really know lots of things, and you’re right there could be conditions that we can’t even dream of!

      We do have ways to get information from beyond our planet, though.

      Like the Hubble telescope that is looking further into space than we have ever been able to.

      Or the Voyager space craft, that has been collecting and sending information back from all the planets of the Solar System and now beyond…

      Or the Mars Rover and Spirit that are scanning Mars and sending data back.

      So we have some idea of what is out there, but a very incomplete one yet… 😉

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