re: Universe could be football-shaped ( but probably not...)
I love it when they indirectly give themselves an answer and then overlook it:
An infinite Universe would contain waves of all sizes. The WMAP did not see any very large waves. This points to space being finite - for the same reasons that you don't see breakers in your bathtub.
No it simply points to containment. A bathtub is not the universe nor is the finite amount of water in it. It shows how a body of energy can be contained, shaped and yet linked to an even greater whole. The breakers DO exist - they just aren't going to be found in your bathtub. ;-) The same with any super large waves and the universe - they would quickly be dissipated and demodulated into the common fundamental wave frequency and shape. The same way stirring your straw once in a glass doesn't create perpetual wave motions but all this energy is absorbed and dissipated back to the fundamental frequency of the fluid in the glass again.
Time-space as we know it can never comprise the entire infinite universe, and it can only be a single component of an infinite universe. As such, it will have both infinite and finite properties and can be considered a contained body of energy.
The waves in our spectra will be of certain parameters, and like any good bathtub, the waves will find a FUNDAMENTAL frequency and wave length compatible with their environment. This is the true reason for the cosmic background radiation, a frequency commonly mistaken for a remnant of the hypothetical big bang.
All the more power to them for plugging away - eventually they will get the right answers.
SDAI-Tech1
