> Hmm. Imagining the size of the universe as, one planet earth for
> every atom in planet earth, is certainly a concise belief. In hopes
> of derailing our cyber-implementiation discussions into full-blown
> basic cosmology, just how exactly are these rough figures arrived at?
Been a while since I was into such things, but it has to do with a rough
estimate of the mass of the universe based on simple astronomical
observations, physics, et al.
Last I heard, the mass of the universe was but a fraction of the mass
required for the "big crunch" hypothesis, but recently, speculation on "dark
matter" (black holes) has fueled the debate regarding the missing mass, and
once again the "big crunch" theory is gaining followers. Without the
necessary amount of mass, the universe will simply keep expanding forever.
