Editing 1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] and | + | [[Cueball]] and a curios child walks through a forest with many small pools/lakes. The setting of trees interspersed with these many small pools resembles the {{w|Wood between the Worlds}}, a meta-verse described in C.S. Lewis's ''{{w|The Magician's Nephew}}''; each pool leads into a different universe — one of these is ours, another is {{w|Narnia}} and the world of the {{w|White Witch}} is also visited through these pools. |
− | + | The girl ask about the time before the {{w|Big Bang}} and Cueball tells there where no time before - a common theory. But then they happen upon a {{w|cosmologist}} on a swing who has several other theories about the universe... | |
− | Simply put, the tire swing is a symbolic representation of our universe. Scientific observations tell us that both space and time began with the Big Bang ~13.8 billion years ago. We don't know if there was such a thing as "before" the universe, or what that might be. | + | Simply put, the tire swing is a symbolic representation of our universe. Scientific observations tell us that both space and time began with the {{w|Big Bang}} ~13.8 billion years ago. We don't know if there was such a thing as "before" the universe, or what that might be. |
− | The first 6 panels reference ongoing speculation about where the universe came from and why it even exists in the first place. The last | + | The first 6 panels reference ongoing speculation about where the universe came from and why it even exists in the first place. The last 2 panels relate to recent observations of the {{w|accelerating universe}} in which galaxies are now receding from each other at higher and higher speeds, due to {{w|dark energy}}. |
− | The swing itself is likely a reference to the {{w|Cyclic Model}}, where the universe expands from a Big Bang, then contracts back in on itself under its own gravity for a {{w|Big Crunch}}, before bouncing outward again in another Big Bang, and repeating the whole process. On the other hand | + | The swing itself is likely a reference to the {{w|Cyclic Model}}, where the universe expands from a Big Bang, then contracts back in on itself under its own gravity for a {{w|Big Crunch}}, before bouncing outward again in another Big Bang, and repeating the whole process. On the other hand the swing is accelerating as the universe - so it may also be a reference to the entire universe. We are all "trapped" on this swing - and it is accelerating! |
− | + | The title text references questions about the {{w|shape of the universe}} (which may as well be donut shaped like a tire) and what could lie "outside" of it. We can't see outside of the {{w|observable universe}}, but it's likely that the universe is bigger than the observable universe and uniform on large scale. Even though nobody can leave our own universe, the cosmologist ([[Randall]]?) bets that such unknown worlds do exist. | |
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− | The title text references questions about the {{w|shape of the universe}} and what could lie "outside" of it. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | : | + | :Girl: What was before the big bang? |
− | + | :Cueball: I think time began with the big bang. So it doesn't make sense to ask what came before it. | |
− | :Cueball: I think time began with the big bang. | ||
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:Cosmologist (off panel): ''Look out'' | :Cosmologist (off panel): ''Look out'' | ||
− | + | :Cosmologist: ''WHEEEE'' Hi I'm a cosmologist on a tire swing! | |
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− | :Cosmologist: '' | ||
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:Cosmologist: We don't know whether time | :Cosmologist: We don't know whether time | ||
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:Cosmologist: started at the big bang. | :Cosmologist: started at the big bang. | ||
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:Cosmologist: It might have! | :Cosmologist: It might have! | ||
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:Cosmologist: Or maybe not! We don't know! | :Cosmologist: Or maybe not! We don't know! | ||
:Cueball: Oh. OK! | :Cueball: Oh. OK! | ||
− | : | + | :Girl: ...Your tire swing looks fun! |
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:Cosmologist: I can't stop! | :Cosmologist: I can't stop! | ||
− | : | + | :Girl: Won't the swing stop on its own? |
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:Cosmologist: I thought it would, but it seems to be accelerating. | :Cosmologist: I thought it would, but it seems to be accelerating. | ||
− | : | + | :Girl: Cosmology sounds pretty confusing. |
− | :Cosmologist: '' | + | :Cosmologist: ''WHEEEEE!'' |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Astronomy]] |
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[[Category:Science]] | [[Category:Science]] | ||
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