If the universe has only existed for a finite time, then we couldn’t actually have an infinitely large universe emerging from a finite initial state. However, we don’t know if the initial state of the ...

(via Sabine Hossenfelder) Is the universe really infinite? Or could it close back on itself like a sphere? If it’s infinite, how can it expand? And is it true that there might be copies of you in it?

One question has preoccupied humankind for thousands of years: Do infinities exist? More than 2,300 years ago Aristotle distinguished between two types of infinity: potential and actual. The former ...

How many atoms are there in the observable universe? Current estimates point to a number we would write as 1 followed by 80 zeroes, or 10 80. If you peered inside each of these atoms and counted their ...

Is the universe infinite? It's one of the most profound questions we can ask, and here's the short answer: We don't know. While we have learned a great deal about the universe, a portion of the cosmos ...

Descriptive set theorists study the niche mathematics of infinity. Now, they’ve shown that their problems can be rewritten in the concrete language of algorithms. All of modern mathematics is built on ...

Of all the endless questions children and mathematicians have asked about infinity, one of the biggest has to do with its size. Whether it’s on the playground or at bedtime, children encounter the ...

The surface of Earth is finite. We can measure it. If it was expanding, then its size would grow with time. And once again, good ol' Earth helps us understand what the universe might be doing beyond ...