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Time Dimension To Become Space-like

KentuckyFC writes "The Universe is about to flip from having three dimensions of space and one of time to having four dimensions of space. That's the conclusion of a group of Spanish astrophysicists who have calculated that observers inside such a Universe would see it expanding and accelerating away from them just before the flip (abstract, full paper pdf on the physics arXiv). 'We show that regular changes of signature on brane-worlds in AdS bulks may account for some types of the recently fashionable sudden singularities. Therefore, the fact that the Universe seems to approach a future sudden singularity at an accelerated rate of expansion might simply be an indication that our braneworld is about to change from Lorentzian to Euclidean signature. Both the brane and the bulk remain fully regular everywhere.'" Update: 10/09 16:06 GMT by Z : A few readers have written in to point out that the article is not peer-reviewed; your mileage may vary.

22 of 587 comments (clear)

  1. Mayan Calender by andyh3930 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So that's whats going to happen when the Mayan calender rolls over in 2012.

    1. Re:Mayan Calender by dark404 · · Score: 5, Funny

      There will be a patch to update the calendar software to granite instead of sand stone, this will push the calendar into 4096.

  2. Ode to the new way by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, I'm living in a tesseract,
    a four dimensional box.
    It's bigger on the inside,
    what why my four-space rocks!
    When you get on the inside,
    the outside becomes the in,
    Dimensionally speaking,
    it's all about the spin.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  3. I wasn't expecting that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nobody Expects the Spanish Astrophysicists! In fact, our two main weapons are theory and telescopes, theory and telescopes, and an insane amount of genius, wait that's three, our three main weapons are...

  4. Re:So. . . . by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  5. the intersection of mathematics and cosmology by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    where the theories and calculations of the brightest brains in the room become indistinguishable from the random brainfarts of two stoners sitting on a smelly couch in a dorm room at 4:20 AM

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  6. Re:Not just what, but when? by timster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Silly... obviously the question is NOT "When will this happen?" Without time there is no "when", and no "happen", and no "will". Only "this".

    Should this research be correct, the only question left will be: "This?" Now and always and forever, this?

    --
    I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
  7. Peer review by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    The peers are going to review this a few centimeters from now; give them time.

  8. Re:Not just what, but when? by ArieKremen · · Score: 4, Funny

    The real question is not "when is this expected to happen?", but where? I think it already happened on the NJ turnpike a long time ago

    --
    -- Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui
  9. Re:Not just what, but when? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm guessing some time in the future.
    You missed the whole point. Some place in the future.
    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  10. Re:E=MC^2 by mikael · · Score: 4, Funny

    He's spinning in his grave - in a quantum mechanical way of course.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  11. Mileage? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Update: 10/09 16:06 GMT by Z : A few readers have written in to point out that the article is not peer-reviewed; your mileage may vary. So may your yearage, presumably.
    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  12. Re:Not just what, but when? by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the future, time will become very confusing...

    Dark Helmet: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie?
    Sandurz: Now, you're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now is happening now.
    Dark Helmet: What happend to then?
    Sandurz: We passed then.
    Dark Helmet: When?
    Sandurz: Just now. Were at now, now.
    Dark Helmet: Go back to then!
    Sandurz: When?
    Dark Helmet: Now.
    Sandurz: Now?
    Dark Helmet: Now!
    Sandurz: I can't.
    Dark Helmet: Why?
    Sandurz: We missed it.
    Dark Helmet: When?
    Sandurz: Just now.
    Dark Helmet: When will then be now?
    Sandurz: Soon.
    Dark Helmet: How soon?

    --
    Demented But Determined.
  13. ow ow my brane hurts! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..maybe if I wait a few feet it'll feel better

  14. Assumptions by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Change requires time. It's a logical paradox.

    You're assuming that there is only one time dimension. But actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... stuff.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Assumptions by flyingsquid · · Score: 5, Funny

      All I know is, my boss has now declared that our fifteen-minute breaks are to be replaced by 15-centimeter breaks. Asshole.

  15. Re:E=MC^2 by bar-agent · · Score: 4, Funny

    He's spinning in his grave - in a quantum mechanical way of course.

    Would that be spin-up or spin-down?

    --
    i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
  16. Re:M-Theory is bad science by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Funny

    M-Theory was the brain child of a bunch of mathematicians

    M-Theory was the brane child of a bunch of mathematicians

    [tips hat]

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  17. Well, I for one welcomed our five dimentional by crovira · · Score: 5, Funny

    overlords.

    Breaking "time's arrow" will really fuck with our verb tenses.

    But I worried about that tomorrow...

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  18. Re:Time speeding up by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 5, Funny

    Okay, that's my rant. You can slap the straitjacket on me now and ship me off to the funny farm.
    Or give you a Phd in theoretical physics. It's all good.
    --
    May the Maths Be with you!
  19. Re:Eternal Life by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 4, Funny

    That means no movement and no thought.

    Don't look now, but it's already happened in Washington, D.C.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  20. Thank you, Doctor by Prototerm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't blink, don't turn away, don't close your eyes, and whatever you do, don't blink!

    (for those of you who didn't recognize the Doctor Who quote in the parent, turn in your geek badge!)

    --
    "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." --Senator Carl Schurz (1872)