The Universe May Be Shaped Like a Doughnut

NewbieV writes "The NY Times (reg., etc.) is reporting that data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe may suggest that the universe might be shaped like a doughnut or a cylinder: it might be possible, like in the old video game Spacewar, to drift off one 'side' of the Universe and reappear on the other."

Comments

Actually it is very good analogy

[efuseekay]

-Begin Jargon-

A torus (dougnut) is topologically equivalent to a square with sides identified (like the Space War).

-End Jargon-

Discontinuous or stuff like that is not really important concept. Whether you are "magically" transported or not when you reached the end is just a matter of choosing the right coordinates.

Also, curved universes do not enter the argument. Curvature is a statement on Geometry of the Universe, while being a Dougnut is a Topological Statement.Both of completely independent of each other. A Toroidal Universe can be flat (like, hey , a square with sides identified!). A curved universe can be a plain sphere.

They are "sound waves"

[efuseekay]

They are sound waves in the looses sense of the word.In the sense that you have stuff (the photon-baryon fluid) and a wave is travelling through it (like sound waves travelling through air).

Gravity waves exist of course, but we have no way of detecting them yet since their signature is much much much harder to detect.