Alex McColgan

In this model, the opposite thing is happening.

All lines are moving away from each other.

We could represent this by curving space and letting our timelines be straight, which is nice because it captures the idea that from your perspective, your time is always ticking forward normally.

But let's warp this slightly so that space is flat.

It's all a matter of perspective after all.

Here, parallel lines are also impossible.

But this time, rather than converging, all parallel lines diverge more and more.

Everything moves further and further apart.

Hmm, why does that sound familiar?

It is because that is what the universe is doing.

is not noticeable within a galaxy, where there is enough mass and gravity to keep everything together.

However, from what we can see of the universe as a whole, every galaxy is moving away from every other galaxy.

Scientists try to explain that with dark energy, but maybe all that is happening is that the universe is just naturally hyperbolic in its shape.

So, what would that mean if the universe really was hyperbolic?

it would mean that the universe was really infinite.

The flat space we looked at was infinite.

For each light year you travelled out, you'd discover another light year's worth of space.

However, with hyperbolic space, you'd discover more than another light year's worth of space.

It's like opening infinite doors, except inside each door are two new ones.

The possibilities would be far more endless, far more infinite than in just regular flat space models.