# An expanding universe? Am I expanding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124 "2000-07-27T23:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![howardsims](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@howardsims](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howardsims)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/1 "2000-07-27T23:41:06Z")
Theory: The universe is expaning in all directions really fast. Then how come the distance between my nose and the tip of my outstreached finger isn’t getting farther? ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/2 "2000-07-27T23:51:16Z")
It is. You just don’t notice it because of relativity. The distance will stay the same to you because your entire frame of reference is expanding at the same rate. TC, Ph.bs ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/3 "2000-07-27T23:53:28Z")
Sorry, that should probably be: TC, Bs.d. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/4 "2000-07-27T23:58:07Z")
Howardsims, let go back to your original question, shall we? You said “Theory: The **universe** is expaning in all directions really fast.” Then you asked, “Then how come the distance between **my** nose and the tip of my outstreached finger isn’t getting farther?” Is your nose **the universe**? Of course not. Then how the hell did you mix the two up anyway? The **universe** _is_ expanding. Which is to say that galaxies are getting further apart. **You** are _not_ expanding. Which is to say you are staying the same size, now go read a book. I have a question for you. The universe is full of trillions of stars. How come I do not have any stars in my nose? ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/5 "2000-07-28T00:15:42Z")
Bear, he might be expanding. I certainly am. And the statistical probability based on random dispersion is that you DO have either a star or a tiny black hole in your nose. Can you prove you don’t? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/6 "2000-07-28T00:28:24Z")
addendum to tc’s answer: also, even if your reference wasn’t expanding, the expansion is waaaayy to small to notice. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/7 "2000-07-28T00:40:16Z")
Ok, it wasn’t my nose or arm, but I was just sitting here watching Selma Hiatt(sp?) in Wild Wild West and a part of me starting _expanding_. I think you were **right**!! I am so freaked out right now!!! And jb, my expansion was really small but still enough to notice. One thing I do not understand, after she put her clothes back on, I stopped expanding and then I even contracted. Is the universe doing this as well? Is the black hole or Neutron Star in my nose having a reverse polarity effect on the quantum flux fields of my ‘unit’? Where is chicken little when you need him??!!!?? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/8 "2000-07-28T00:46:41Z")
the same thing happened to me the other night! except i now have eyewitness proof of the big bang. okay, average-sized bang. WHATEVA! ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/9 "2000-07-28T01:10:05Z")
ROFL !!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/10 "2000-07-28T01:15:10Z")
is that a tau-neutrino in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/11 "2000-07-28T04:47:24Z")
Salma Hayek. I am expanding, and have been since my 20’s. But I think that has more to do with Burritos and Beer than with Cosmology. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/12 "2000-07-28T05:07:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcburnett \* > …he might be expanding. I certainly am. Yeah, but if you’d quit wearing that red shift, you might not notice it as much. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/13 "2000-07-28T05:13:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aseymayo \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by tcburnett \* > > …he might be expanding. I certainly am. > > Yeah, but if you’d quit wearing that red shift, you might not notice it as much. \*\* It is called a ‘pareau’. And what’s wrong with it? It contrasts nicely with my wetsuit. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/14 "2000-07-28T05:15:46Z")
That’s not a tau-neutrino in my pocket, I’ve got a hadron. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/15 "2000-07-28T05:20:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrMatrix \* > \*\*That’s not a tau-neutrino in my pocket, I’ve got a hadron. \*\* OK, this is one of the ten funniest things I have ever read! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/16 "2000-07-28T05:33:13Z")
Yeah, yeah, DrMatrix, just leave me out of your supercollider experiments. 😉 On the off chance that the OP hasn’t either had a heart attack laughing at all of you punsters, or given up on this thread in disgust, the rate really is miniscule. Even if people-sized objects did participate in the expansion, which they don’t, the rate is only about 65 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Converting that to meters and seconds, we have about 2\*10[sup]-21[/sup] meters per second per meter. In other words, if your finger were a meter from your nose, and expanding away at the Hubble rate, then it’d only be moving at .000000000000000000002 meters per second. Dunno about you, but personally, I’d never notice that. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/17 "2000-07-28T05:52:31Z")
ha! exquisite, DrMatrix… ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/18 "2000-07-28T09:18:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > Yeah, yeah, DrMatrix, just leave me out of your supercollider experiments. 😉 I guess you don’t appreciate his linear accelerator… ---
**Author:** ![howardsims](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@howardsims](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howardsims)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/19 "2000-07-28T11:47:55Z")
Thanks Chronos. I had always assumed that the universe was expaning at c. Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/20 "2000-07-28T12:17:02Z")
You’re not. Localized regions of space (like you, or a solar system, or a galaxy) can not-expand due to gravity. As Chronos said, the expansion of the universe is measured on the scale of megaparsecs (million of trillions of miles) - typically in the mostly empty space between galaxies (or galaxy clusters/groups) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124.md?page=2)