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Space

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Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of the boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. In mathematics spaces with different numbers of dimensions and with different underlying structures can be examined. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the universe although disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework.

Many of the philosophical questions arose in the 17th century, during the early development of classical mechanics. In Isaac Newton's view, space was absolute - in the sense that it existed permanently and independently of whether there were any matter in the space. Other natural philosophers, notably Gottfried Leibniz, thought instead that space was a collection of relations between objects, given by their distance and direction from one another. In the 18th century, Immanuel Kant described space and time as elements of a systematic framework which humans use to structure their experience.

In the 19th and 20th centuries mathematicians began to examine non-Euclidean geometries, in which space can be said to be curved, rather than flat. According to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, space around gravitational fields deviates from Euclidean space. Experimental tests of general relativity have confirmed that non-Euclidean space provides a better model for explaining the existing laws of mechanics and optics.

For more information about Space, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with space

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Ad Astra VASIMR

Plasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (125) | comments 72

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last Wednesday, the Ad Astra Rocket Company tested what is currently the most powerful plasma rocket in the world. As the Webster, Texas, company announced, the VASIMR VX-200 engine ran at ...


Hubble's deepest view of universe unveils never-before-seen galaxies

Hubble's Deepest View of Universe Unveils Never-Before-Seen Galaxies (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (49) | comments 33

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2004, Hubble created the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), the deepest visible-light image of the Universe, and now, with its brand-new camera, Hubble is seeing even farther. This image was ...


Superconductor magnet heat shield being developed

Superconductor magnet spacecraft heat shield being developed

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (44) | comments 28

(PhysOrg.com) -- European space agencies and an aerospace giant are developing a new re-entry heat shield that will use superconductor magnets to generate a magnetic field strong enough to deflect the superhot ...


Success in 'space elevator' competition (AP)

Success in 'space elevator' competition (Update 3)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (37) | comments 54

(AP) -- A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter on Wednesday to qualify for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the ...


Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars (AP)

Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (33) | comments 36

(AP) -- Russia should build a new nuclear-powered spaceship for prospective manned missions to Mars and other planets, the nation's space chief said Thursday.


Mars

Life on Mars theory boosted by new methane study

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (31) | comments 11

Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet, in research published tomorrow in Earth an ...


Largest Ring Around Saturn

Largest Ring Around Saturn Discovered

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (32) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings.


Scientists Reproduce a Building Block of Life in Laboratory

Scientists Reproduce a Building Block of Life in Laboratory

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (28) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory.


Gravitational Space Corridors

Gravitational Space Corridors Could Slash Space Travel Costs (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (29) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying space travel possibilities have proposed that gravitational space corridors could be used by spacecraft, in much the same way as ships use ocean currents. Taking advantage ...


Researchers create smaller and more efficient nuclear battery

Researchers create smaller and more efficient nuclear battery

Technology / Energy

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (27) | comments 14

(PhysOrg.com) -- Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are ...


Cloudy with a chance of pebble showers: Simulation suggests rocky exoplanet has bizarre atmosphere

Cloudy with a chance of pebble showers: Simulation suggests rocky exoplanet has bizarre atmosphere

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 29, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (26) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- So accustomed are we to the sunshine, rain, fog and snow of our home planet that we find it next to impossible to imagine a different atmosphere and other forms of precipitation.


Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Avatar's moon Pandora could be real

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (27) | comments 10

In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable - and inhabited - alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. ...


Deep Impact and other spacecraft find clear evidence of water on moon

Deep Impact, Moon Mineralogy Mapper find clear evidence of water on moon

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 17

New data from the Deep Impact spacecraft and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an instrument aboard India's recently ended Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, provide, for the first time, clear evidence that water exists ...


UNH space scientists help catch the interstellar wind

Scientists Explore Galactic Frontier, Release First-Ever All-Sky Map (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky ...


A system of space solar power system (SSPS)

Japan eyes solar station in space as new energy source

Technology / Energy

created Nov 08, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 32

It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.