[Titanscape (OP)]

In ancient India, they had universities and developed algebra. They mapped the skies, shared uni students... they also made a fine cut observatory with maths precision. Over time the crust moved, and it is now 15 degrees off, if I recall right. And they held the idea as true, that the universe continually expands, contracts, and expands again. Is this theory possibly correct?

[Don_1]

I see no reason why it shouldn't be a possibility.

Taken to the extremes of expansion & contraction, it fits rather well with my belief in a cyclic universe.

[imatfaal]

With present observations and current thinking - No.   The universe is expanding, the expansion is increasing in pace, and is above the "escape velocity".  By that I mean that it is moving at such a speed that all other things being equal, and on the large scale, gravity is not enough to stop the increase and start a contraction.

[Nizzle]

Yea, but who's to say that our universe will keep on expanding?
It could very well be that our universe is like a balloon in a bottle, and that our universe is only expanding because there's some kind of 'under-pressure' in the bottle causing the balloon to expand, but due to the bottle not being infinitely big, that expansion might stop some day.

[Sprool]

if it is an expanding baloon inside a bottle, what's outside that bottle? Is there anyone waiting to take the cap off and drink it?

[Nizzle]

if it is an expanding baloon inside a bottle, what's outside that bottle? Is there anyone waiting to take the cap off and drink it?

It was just a metaphor of course, it could be a balloon in a balloon as well. The idea is that maybe expansion is not a pushing force from within but a pulling force from outside, which is going to a maximum right now, but maybe not increasing indefinitely...

[Airthumbs]

The only certain thing is that at present we just don't know the answer to this question.  We could all debate about what we think based on current science and at the moment this debate is the only definite cyclic thing as it's all based on philosophical theory.

There are just so many alternatives that are only limited by imagination.

That is what I find so stimulating about this whole topic, I want to know the answers but no one can tell me the correct one because no one knows!