What is the universe?
447340
The universe contains all the matter and energy that was ever in it.\n\nSo, going from the Big Bang Hypotheisi, it is reasonable to assume that there was a flash of light (energy, which must remain within the universe) at the time of the explosion.\n\nGiven that light travels at a constant speed, and the universe is about 15 billion years old, the universe is an every expanding sphere of space, 30 billion light-years across.\n\nWhilst it may not go on forever, you'll never reach the outer  boundary!
833101
space is anything that is occupied by matter...\ndefined by dimensions...\nlike height, length and width...\n\nouter space...\nit is very vast..\njust imagine...\nyour country...\na part of the earth...\nwhich is a part of the solar system...\nwhich is a part of the milky way galaxy...\nand to think there are soooooooo many other galaxies....\nthat's outer space...\nan unimaginable dimension...
985237
In physical cosmology, the Big Bang is the scientific theory that the universe emerged from a tremendously dense and hot state about 13.7 billion years ago
1151663
Universe in not infinite. It is finite and constantly expanding. Yes there are more galaxies than no. of grains of sands in all beaches of the world. This universe is unimaginably huge!
549177
Fairly simple- Its the idea that everything in the Universe is controlled by, and the result of, nothing more or less than mechanistic processes-physics, in other words.  It is the "cold-blooded, heartless scientist" view of the world, where there is nothing supernatural, nothing magical, it's all simply physics and chemistry.
2022
God created the universe. Notice how the word universe is Latin for "single spoken sentence", which is how he created it. God spoke everything into existance e/accept man, who he created with his own hand. If you dissagree, my username is my e-mail.
43008
Love.  \n\nI believe it is the answer to the universe as well.
558467
Is our universe in another universe?  \n\nBefore we can address that question, we must first define universe.  \n\nThe word universe denotes all space and everything (matter, energy) contained within it.  The prefix uni means one.  The root verse means word, carnate message, meaningful substance, matter.  Questions regarding our universe persist today.  Does it have a beginning and end, or does it go on forever and ever?  Is it linear or curved?  If it has limits of length or curvature, then what lies beyond the Universe?  If something lies beyond the Universe, then can’t we accurately call that the Universe?\n\nSome lay people and some scientists conceive of the universe as infinite space.  Others define the universe as finite, or limited (perhaps curved), space.  Still others incorporate the elements of matter and/or energy into their definition of the universe, as opposed to the space beyond matter and energy.\n\nGiven these concepts of our universe, some scientists conclude that the “totality of space could be infinite. Shrink an infinite space by an arbitrary amount, and it is still infinite. (Scientific American March 2005).”  \n\nAs to the notion that we live in an ever expanding universe, moving away from every other universe on the fabric of space-time, some scientists are careful to point out that “\nAndromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor, is actually moving toward us, not away. Such exceptions arise because Hubble's law describes only the average behavior of galaxies (Scientific American March 2005).”\n\nIn accordance with your supposition that our universe is in another universe, “it has been hypothesized by some scientists that the universe may be part of a system of many other universes, known as the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe).” Modern astrophysicists talk about multiple "pocket" universes that branch off from one another.  Stephen Hawking points out that parallel pocket universes can have no effect on a real observer inside a single pocket, so, according to Hawking, they are theoretical baggage that should be eliminated from cosmology, the study of the origins of the universe.\n\nSome string theories define the universe as a three-dimensional space in an invisible space having more dimensions. This is, in essence, a universe within a universe.  Our zone, a “braneworld” could periodically bounce into another parallel braneworld.  This may create what would appear as a Big Bang from one perspective or a Big Bounce of alternating expanding and contracting universe from another perspective.  Such a cataclysmic event is thought to occur 300 billion years from now, resulting in the rearranging and creation of a new universe.\n\nIs our universe inside another universe?  Well, apparently the Men in Black had it right.  Our universe seems to be inside of something else, another universe, called the multiverse.\n\nSteve\n:-D
710329
I hate to be the philosopher but that is why the question still reamins. No one can accuratly tell what lies beyond the boundries of the universe. Is there another? Is it just white noise? I believe that space is infinite and our "universe" could well be a part of a cluster of "multiverses". i was once told that the universe is expanding in the same way that a balloon is blown up. So what lies beyond our universe? I say space, space, and more space! \n\nIf our universe began with the "big bang" then that would mean that at some point the universe had collapsed upon itself, leaving empty space.
1044184
Your question assumes the first part is correct.  It is just an assumption. We can define the universe as everything that exists - therefore precluding anything bigger. In other words, the universe is it - all there is. It includes all matter, energy, forms, spirits if you will, everything we can conceive of and everything we cannot conceive of.  Okay?
486232
The universe is theorized to contain dark energy and dark matter. There have been some confirmation of it's existence but really just speculation at this point. The idea of dark matter had been identified by Einstein but it wasn't till the discovery that the universe is accelerating it's expansion and contains up to 70% more matter that the idea of dark matter and energy became serious areas of study. If you mean a vacuum to mean absence of air it is a vacuum but within that "vacuum" there definitely is matter.
324407
Problems like?\n\nI got a problem to solve\n \nWhat is made up of the universe.
708483
Nothingness.\n\nOr maybe it's encroaching on another Universe?  Hmmmm......
625151
It just is.\n\nThat is a great mystery of science.  The universe just is.  It didn't come from anywhere, it just always was.  In order to get a better answer you need to start steering towards religion.
869413
There is no proof that our universe is, was or will be the only universe.  The nature of reality is that we can only study and observe what is in our universe, so we will never know because there is no way to find out.
220589
For all we know there is nothing "outside" the universe, so obviously no way to look "at" it from any "outside". That way there is no way to compare the size of it, why you could probably say, the universe is infinitely small. There is a mathematical smallest size, called the Planck-Size. That is just where space ends to be space, so there is no inside. As simple as that. You don't need to invent any kind of god to think about those things.
470968
which universe do you live in?