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Or Big Bang, whichever you prefer.  It's supposedly proven now.  Exciting stuff, but I doubt something this important is just going to pass by without a controversy (at least amongst astrologers).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060316/ap_ ... _inflation

Even if this is solved, now comes the next question: What was there before the universe?

Fascinating...

It's supposedly proven now.

Just another theory. It can never be proven.

Hmm... I smell a cynic towards this subject ...

It's like that all the time Hagar. For one we have to rely on data and conclusions given to us by other people ( scientists). But than again... If all results start pointing in one direction...

I agree we shouldn't jump to conclusions and keep an open mind, but as far as I am concerned, this scientific approach is the only one that gets results. Now if someone has found something prooving the theory wrong, I'll be more than happy to listen...  ;)

Hmm... I smell a cynic towards this subject ...

You tend to become cynical when almost everything you were taught at school as fact subsequently turned out to be completely untrue or replaced by the latest theory.

I very much doubt that any of these theories will ever be proven which means they will remain theories.

PS. I've mentioned it before but this is what made me the cynic I am today. Piltdown Man Hoax
I had just been taught all this nonsense was fact & they had to rewrite all the textbooks. This had a profound effect on me at an early age.

Academics & scientists are very easily fooled. Hagar's theory.

Even if this is solved, now comes the next question: What was there before the universe?

This is still what keeps me up at night.

Hey Doug,

Technically you're right... but you show the very first principle of beeing a scientist in how you think. Always question yourself. To me that little fact makes science so overwhelming. It's while they are in search for answers, they stumble on new discoveries, by thinking creative. Science keeps building on the expericence of the past. Theories will always be under fire, perhaps even tested by new ideas, but in the end, it brings us closer to the trought, even though we might never be fully certain.

And yes, it wouldn't be the first time someone hoaxed a discovery, but in the end, it shows science keeps searching for answers, even if that means they have to disguard old ones.

I think it's great people are willing to invest there time and effort in this kind of research. And I certainly don't believe they go over one night's ice. The serious researchers, I mean.

Omag

Hey Doug,

Technically you're right... but you show the very first principle of beeing a scientist in how you think. Always question yourself. To me that little fact makes science so overwhelming.

Right. Since that Piltdown Man fiasco* I question everything. The problem with most of these scientific types is that they don't ask enough questions but make new discoveries fit their pet theories. This 'Big Bang' theory for example. You & most of the younger members here probably grew up knowing nothing else but it's only been popular since I left school, a few decades. It's the accepted theory now but I daresay it will be replaced again in a few years with a different one & so it goes on. The point here is that however wild they might be nobody can prove or disprove these theories or is ever likely to. That's the whole beauty of it which enables people in the scientific establishment to make a good living out of it.

Hagar - forever cynical.

*PS. It's not the hoax itself but the fact that the establishment was so easily fooled. It conveniently fitted what they wanted it to.

Awesome, as a believer in science myself. (physicists aren't out to fool you Doug jk)

Of course, the only people who still don't believe in the big bang theory (I mean totally denounce it, not just be skeptical of it, which is fine) will not be moved in the slightest by this.

edit: [diplomacy]and, of course, they have every right to believe what they want to and may very well be right.[/diplomacy]

Awesome, as a believer in science myself. (physicists aren't out to fool you Doug jk)

Just as long as you've been taught that these are & only can be theories which are unlikely ever to be proven (or disproven). I'm sure you're perfectly well aware of that.

I've had many an argument with people far more qualified than me who were taught the Big Bang theory as fact & consequently believe it as such.

Just as long as you've been taught that these are & only can be theories which are unlikely ever to be proven (or disproven). I'm sure you're perfectly well aware of that.

I've had many an argument with people far more qualified than me who were taught the Big Bang theory as fact & consequently believe it as such.

It's refreshing to know people such as yourself exist, Doug.

You can and should be skeptical of the things that are taught to you.  I have very good examples of why, but none are apropriate for this forum.  In the end, YOU need to follow what you really think and believe is right, not what your prarents told you was right, not what you've been taught is right.  

Explaining a behavior or belief by saying "that's how I was raised" or "that's what I've been taught my whole life" is not an exceptable excuse, as you always have the power to question things.  If you truly arrive at the same conclusion as you've been taught, then marvelous.  If not, even better-it's opened the door.

You're correct in thinking I know what you're talking about-I simply put more stock in science than I do other things, but in no way do I ever assert these things as absolute facts of reality, just the stuff I think is most likely to have happenned.

It's refreshing to know people such as yourself exist, Doug.

The feeling is mutual.

It's a step in that direction but I don't see anything in the article stating this "proves' the big bang theory. It's still just a theory and this evidence falls into line with what might be expected if the theory were true. There's still a lot of proving to be done however.

Maybe the next observation or experiment will completely prove or disprove the theory. In science you never know.

The great tragedy of science: A beautiful theory slain by an ugly fact.--?

I am firmly with Doug on this one, it is just a theory and cannot be conclusively proven.  I have to say that the evidence is pretty convincing but evidence can be manipulated by those with a vested interest and with this sort of thing the mathematics is so complex that most of us would never notice an error, deliberate or otherwise.