This subject thread (which is mostly "on topic") and for which Mark is guilty of instigating, got me to thinking...
For centuries a plethora of meticulously crafted scientific physics experiments seem to confirm over and over the fact that we live in a closed system. This has resulted in an almost sacred collection of laws supported by the scientific establishment. Those laws state we cannot create or destroy what currently exists. Granted, what exists can be transformed from one state to another... but what we currently inherited (presumably from the Big Bang) is all that was bequeathed to us - forever and ever. It would appear that Nature, the Grand Designer that She is, put a lot of thought into assembling such a design. After all, if the CoE of the universe were less than one, existence would have come to a screeching halt billions of years go in one gigantic freezing crunch. Game over! What'l we do now! OTOH, if the CoE of the universe were greater than one, the existence of everything would constantly be in a state of explosion. Again, Game over. What'l we do now! Science tends to be conservative. As such, it's not surprising that science seems to prefer keeping CoE of the universe pegged at a safe and mostly harmless value of one. But now, the scourge of Dark Energy has entered the picture. What a problem child she is! Suddenly the universe appears to be blowing up, albeit in extreme slow motion. What IS this Dark Energy? Is it possibly sneaking in from somewhere else - outside the boundaries of our universe? Perhaps we'll eventually stumble across another component, a component not yet discovered that takes it all back. If so, will it re-balance the equation? Will Dr. Mills' audacious CQM theory, with its oscillating universe template, eventually come to the rescue? In the end maybe the only recourse we will have left will be to continue taking a closer look at the endless riddles Mother Nature seems to throw in our direction. Whoever implied that the Universe doesn't have a sense of humor should have his head examined. Again, I'm procrastinating. Back to work... Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrinoWorks.com <http://www.orinoworks.com/> www.zazzle.com/orionwork