What If the Universe Was Shaped Like a Donut?

The universe could be a donut in a fourth spatial dimension. Which would mean that we could potentially see our own galaxy repeated from the past... Our 3D brains aren't ready for this.
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Host: Reid Reimers
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Sources:
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[@JH-en6ql]

A recent paper has concluded that a donut shaped universe matches the CMB best. Very impressive to put out a video about a donut shaped universe 3 years before that paper!

[@losttribe3001]

Damn it! My head hurts thinking about this and I'm now hungry for donuts...thanks a lot SciShow Space.

[@ChrispyNut]

I recommend Kate Raworth's Doughnut. Though it's an economics Doughnut, it's still excellent, but you'll need plenty of headache pills for that one too :)

[@Thoran666]

Yeah. I'm going on a hill and wave myself to death now.

[@Gayfrogscollective]

"Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may have to steal it."

[@MuadDib1402]

I always think of that too. Rip.

[@arthas640]

I find it hilarious how often the Simpsons predicts the future. That show is smarter than it has any right to be for a Fox animated sitcom. Futurama (many of the same creators) was probably the smartest animated show I've seen, besides _maybe_ Rick & Morty.

[@GiubileiFernando]

@@arthas640 Hawkins was part of the writing team, it's not surprising he mention an hypothesis that is now a theory

[@shoryamandesai7245]

I just saw that episode

[@gregorybyrne2453]

Linear think trying to understand a TOROIDAL infinit loop Covid & CO2 are LIES built on inconvenient truths. Covid is the Seasonal FLU & Baby BOOMER Bust CLimate change is caused by the Milankovitch cycles. Obliquity causes Global warming Precession causes global tsunami's Eccentricity is the trigger.

[@europademon]

💫Mmmmmmm, infinite doughnut. 🍩

[@SPACETVnet]

Mmmmmm, Universe....

[@anthonyrymer4391]

Homer Simpson mouth watering wet dream.

[@zoesdada8923]

Donald Hudson mmmmmmmm gravitational doughnut

[@vivigesso3756]

The universe is obviously flat.

[@europademon]

pp rr You should never be the first one to like your own comment. Plus why so serious?

[@matts2257]

Is there a flat universer’s society?

[@lncerante]

I'm more interested in a Donut Earth Society, I could get behind that.

[@BrutusAlbion]

Yeah I'm a member. When people say they believe in Flat Earth I tell them the Universe is flat ... then they act like I'm weird or something ... Idk I'm just one step ahead of them :/

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

Oh, there's also a thing called expanding earth theory. I wonder where that went, but anyway, if someone told you the earth was expanding, would saying the universe was also expanding be an appropriate response?

[@BenjaminCronce]

Mmmm... Forbidden Donut

[@BrutusAlbion]

Donut eat donut but you should say ... Donut not eat donut

[@tsuchan]

I thought that episode was really particularly well put together. Thanks, Sci-Show Space Team! ❤

[@11jokerchen11]

This video was so well-explained. This strikes me as a really complicated concept, or rather many complicated concepts that are hard for laypersons to understand, but I feel like this was explained just perfectly for anyone.

[@morbidlycute7349]

Which statements were wrong? Just curious.

[@FelipeKana1]

I disagree with palmomki. Maybe he got something wrong himself. This video was spetacular science promotion for such a complex topic.

[@mountainhobo]

"There are actually some flat-out wrong statements in this video - even mutually contradictory." -- Pictures or it didn't happen.

[@Twitchi]

wow, that's a lot of words to say "I dunno but topology is a bigger subject that manifolds"

[@rich1051414]

A universe that is 3 dimensionally flat doesn't mean it is 4 dimensionally flat. 4 dimensionally curved would only be observable in 3d space by 3d space repeating. A torus is just the simplest explanation for a flat 3d universe which repeats, that is all. Why even feel the need to do this? Because if the universe was a 4d sphere, 3d space would not be flat, for the same reason you cannot roll a sheet a paper into a sphere.

[@europademon]

Tear that sphere a new. 👌It has it coming.

[@PaulPaulPaulson]

The universe is a coffee mug! I knew it!

[@andreiferariu]

Hey, I think Reid needs some appreciation - he's consistently great.

[@spektrum33]

I think we are just going round in circles here 👍😉🍩🍩

[@bluebrook32]

I’ve always wondered, if we build a powerful enough telescope, will we end up looking at the backside of our sun. This video just makes me think about it more.

[@TheExoplanetsChannel]

*Aghhh (homer simpson' spittle falling down)*

[@apple54345]

Mmmmm space donuts.

[@nicholasmosteller6760]

I had an acid trip once where I experienced the universe as a torus infinitely collapsing in on itself and reforming, entire life cycles of the universe appeared such as the individual flickers from the light of an incandescent bulb.

[@robby091000]

Homer Simpson thought of this first and Stephen Hawking's agreed with it

[@PistonAvatarGuy]

*Hawking

[@robby091000]

idontcare80 Stephen is also wrong 😂 thanks

[@thstroyur]

I actually remember that from an episode, as well

[@OSUfirebird18]

I can't believe I can accurately say "Simpsons did it" on a space You Tube Channel!! XD

[@notachannelanymore-y1g]

The 3-torus model was proposed long before The Simpsons ever aired.

[@HometownUnicorn]

Now I'm just waiting for a bunch off doughnut earthers to come along now, that all we need!

[@ferret1337]

if you look at a 3d map of all the recorded galaxies in the universe they actually look a lot like a brain cell. i don't pretend to know the shape of the universe but i'm fascinated by the observations made

[@RDash]

"you'd be very Dead before you got the message" best quote I've heard in a long time

[@c0deorange]

I have heard this hypothesis before, but this is by far the most clear explanation I have seen.

[@General12th]

This was a seriously great episode!

[@TeslaMaster2]

To quote the late professor Stephen Hawking: "Your theory of a donut shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may have to steal it"...

[@MakesSens]

wow for the first time i can kinda sorta vizualize 4D, thanks guys! Really well done

[@FelipeKana1]

Awesome video. Explaining such complex concepts in a very understandable way

[@shruggzdastr8-facedclown]

This idea literally occurred to me independently days ago! What intrigues me about its possibilities is that it might explain dark matter and energy -- that, being a mind-bogglingly enormous torus (perhaps upper-dimensional in nature), the "donut-hole center would create an observational blind spot rendering any part of the Universe existing beyond that "hole" forever unobservable from our vantage point, but perhaps information about matter and energy from that unobservable region of the Universe contributes to what has come to be called dark matter and energy. This is just wild speculation on my part. My knowledge is astrophysics and cosmology is very anecdotal having only taken an introductory-level astronomy class in college (a quarter century ago) for my science credit; so, my credentials on the subject are practically non-existent.

[@AuntBibby]

this is the silliest scishow episode i have ever seen thank you very m/

[@hotuorbit]

I figured all this out back in high school. It was a phase I went through. You're the first person other than myself I've heard make the comparison of the shape of a hypersphere to a donut. It's true, we are all hypothetically living in a flatland.

[@DrLongWang]

3:58 When it comes to the shape of the universe, you’ll never reach the truth

[@sirdellovan]

Wha-

[@liamford6892]

This theory would actually make sense because the great attractor could potentially be some sort of gravitational force from that empty gap in the middle of the donut. By the way nice explanations SciShow that did actually make some sense

[@olbluelips]

I like all your guys' videos, but this one was especially good! I like the way you made it very clear what you were talking about and made sure not to sensationalize. (Of course, some things in the universe really are so amazing that they're... sensational. However, it's still best to keep a cool head in an educational video.)

[@raceliable]

You should make a Spotify playlist about the universe. Your voice is so soothing, yet uplifting. 👏👏👏

[@chriscayt7445]

I'm so glad you made this video, it took me ages to gigure out what they truly mean by 'flat Universe' and I couldn't find anything to explain it properly. Good job!👍

[@mattcrwi]

Great Episode!

[@tsns1]

TopOLOGY vs TopoGRAPHY, close but no donut, and then you brought up the 3 sea shells.

[@Felixkeeg]

"I must say, Homer, your idea of a donut-shaped universe intrigues me" Stephen Hawking

[@boygenius538_8]

This situation is quite analogous to that of early humans. To them the earth was so vast it seemed to go on forever, they couldn’t fathom that if you went in one direction you’d end up where you started, until someone proved it. I guess it’s the same now, the universe is so vast we can’t fathom ending where we began.

[@whimsy5623]

1:35 we do love spatial dimensions

[@inferno9924]

3:57 this is the power of gold experience requiem

[@klightspeed]

A 3-torus would imply that there are preferred directions to the universe, as any structure would repeat in only those directions. It would also imply some universal reference frame, as motion relative to it would result in those axes being distorted. Then again, the uniformity of the CMB would also imply some universal reference frame against which we are nearly stationary.

[@Azrage]

8 = 2 you say... Take that kindergarten!

[@Neo2266.]

That’s some delicious information right there

[@chimeforest]

Forget about waving to myself, we could study how the galaxy we live it was made by watching it form.. possibly from multiple viewpoints and at different points in time simultaneously. That, would be awesome.

[@SpacePatrollerLaser]

As a grad student at Rhode Island College, I joined the Rhode Island College Science Fiction Assoc. We had one discussion about the 'shape of the universe" in 1976 and this came up; what if we had parallel universes arranged in a torus?

[@neville3151]

My own choice for a universe would be an apple fritter.

[@electroharmonix]

The world map in Final Fantasy games (6 & 7 at least) are toroidal because you show up on the opposite side when you go off the map on one side.

[@sergentti]

This is something I've thought about. That is one of the reasons I like this channel.

[@justinsalazar4952]

It's like someone just taught me how to fix my car but only spoke in donut analogies so I didn't really learn anything.

[@davidroddini1512]

Responding from just over 3 years in the future. Recent computer simulations to determine why the CMB looks the way it does determined that a 3-torus approximately 3-4 times the size of the observable universe would actually have a surprisingly similar CMB pattern as what we observe. So it may still be a donut after all.

[@ekstrajohn]

Reid is my favourite presenter. Saying this after not missing a single video last 3 years.

[@TristanBomber]

If the Universe wrapped around topologically, AND faster-than-light travel was possible (or possible in a practical sense), you could time travel by travelling very quickly in one direction, and arriving back at your original position via wrapping around. But because you got there faster than light could have, you're now in the past.

[@jonbainmusicvideos8045]

Good question. Its a 3d hyper-surface on a 4d hyper-sphere. Details? Do a search on those words.

[@someolddude3858]

If the Universe were shaped like a donut, Mega-Homer would have eaten it by now. "Yummm, donut!"

[@andrewhoffman7879]

Your videos make me feel smart and dumb at the same time. Love it!

[@adomas2188]

I so enjoy these videos! Thank You !

[@Atronin]

Wow that last fact blew my mind

[@mooferoo]

The next level up from 3D. Wait until the TV manufacturers figure out how to use that...

[@MrMachinamaster]

What if the world was made of glazed donuts?

[@europademon]

Would that make us the sprinkles?

[@HTYM]

I would be very full... and fat.

[@Lemonator167]

You would be like "man, that's fuckin' sweet"

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

There'd be no world hunger but there would also be a worldwide obesity and diabetes crisis.

[@pizzaboisupreme]

"I can't believe the world is made of donuts!"

[@PennyAfNorberg]

In elementary school a class mate told us about this idea as 'if you go far enough you come back'. I didn't belelive her. But it's not that hard to visualize .

[@Cubinator73]

I'm studying mathematics right now and I can confirm a topologist is just someone unable to distinguish between donuts and coffee cups :)

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

Torus nuff said

[@MikeSimoneLV]

So, would this be a possible answer to dark energy and matter? Could the gravitational attraction we are measuring have come from galaxies we can't see but which seem close to us via the "fold" space?

[@someone2973]

I can visualize 4d using time as the fourth dimension well enough that I've been able to figure some things at using those visualizations.

[@alex_zetsu]

If a 3-torus is flat... I wonder if there are any topology geometry combinations that is like the equivalent of N holes (as opposed to just 1 for the donut analogy) with X curvature (as opposed to the donut's 0).

[@limbus_patrum]

From topological point to view I'am a Donut.

[@thetimelords911]

Yes actually! Our hole goes from our mouth to our ass! :D

[@caydens.1250]

4:18 Oh god I can feel a crisis coming on

[@richoombie]

Reid is literally the best

[@Darkstar.....]

I have an idea for the cmv if you read to the bottom. I hit click think he meant donut galaxy. I seen them. Whats new Not the galaxy but universe shaped like a donut this is a new idea i havent heard and if it was large enough we would not be able to tell. Thats wild. Like a simulated reality is based off its ability to use pixels smaller then our best imaging equipment. So we cant tell if we are in a simulated reality. It has some serious flaws tho. How does the big bang fit in. Is the big bang still in tact as a multi demensional black hole which warps our universe around it into a donut with it at its centre. A 4 dimensional galactic black hole if you will. Id say thats the effect it should have after advancing to the 4th dimension over a standard black hole at the 3rd dimension. One wraps space. The other warps the universe like a play thing. Hawking radiation is just 4th dimensional matter being broken down and spat out into the universe it created or warped into being like a cosmic creator without plan or emotion. Its just does. Maybe it dissipated all its matter the 4d black hole is gone and what we got is all thats left. So our current model still works fine. And no way you could prove im wrong funny enough . . .

[@Taylor-vy2gg]

Interesting interpretation about the shape of our universe. I guess it could technically be a donut, I just hope it’s cream-filled.

[@whatno5090]

Topology does not only depend on the number of holes. This is a common misconception that only holds for closed surfaces excluding the projective plane.

[@sk8er7991]

That was so well explained!

[@LamirLakantry]

Imagine a universe that is exactly you shaped and size. Your back would press against your stomach. You'd stand on your head. Your right arm would be pinned to your side by your left arm. Or something like that. Who knows. Perfect for clostrophobes though.

[@Glockenspheal]

I'm gonna drink some coffee on a donut, the ultimate snack.

[@minerfreakpvp6954]

Topologically speaking, there is no difference between a doughnut and my brain after watching this video.

[@123FireSnake]

another interesting effect would be that in a few trillion years or so, the nights sky would be completely illumiated similar as to the "infinite" reflections in a mirror galery(still limited by the spped of light and stuff but yeah given enough time.... Never mind just realized that the redshift would make it invisible :(

[@acetate909]

Great video. These concepts are counterintuitive and almost impossible to visualize but its important that the public know what these expensive satellites are informing us about because their funding is necessary if we want to solve the mysteries of our past and future.

[@bobshewberg]

You guys should to an episode on Pulsar Timing Arrays. They are super interesting. I attended a seminar not long ago where a professor from JPL talked about how they are using them to model Super Massive Black Hole collisions.

[@deversandbello]

i liked this video. this guy does a great job every time

[@Smart-Alec]

So if the Universe is a donut we can observe our past with powerful enough telescopes? Sweet.

[@mr.j_krr_80]

mom: *hears a glass breaking sound* daaayyyyyyyyveeee what happened? me: I just upgraded the mug topologically...

[@manfromnantucket9544]

What do you call the empty space in the center of the donut universe?

[@a52productions]

Nothing. It's not there. The only thing that exists is the surface. It's like asking "okay, this comic book is cool and all, but why don't they show what's happening above and below the page?"

[@vickwhyvideos6770]

The void

[@thstroyur]

a52Productions Not true; there's 'space' there, only thing that happens is that space is not filled with 'stuff' - namely, cosmic fluid

[@lncerante]

Space is stuff, the universe is space, there is no space except for the universe, not in any sense we know.

[@FrisnoB]

Man from Nantucket . Make a Mobius strip. Take a pen and put it down on one side, draw a line on that side till you come back to where you started. Now, draw a line on the other side. (Edit: after you have drawn a line on the first side you can name it 'universe'. After you have drawn a line on the other side, you can name that side to anything you want.)

[@ryano2989]

I always imagined the observeable universe was a very small quadrandt of an ecreation disk created from the collision of two faster than light objects, no-one believed in me.

[@andrewsargent1068]

I have a question, so if light from stars and galaxies that have formed billions of years ago haven't reached us yet, would that mean over time the night sky would slowly get brighter? And with that, wouldn't the sky dim as the stars ECT. Died out the sky would get darker. Kind of like a cosmological tipping point?

[@coolguy284_2]

He completely forgot to mention the much more probable alternative, a 3-sphere, analogous to the shape of the earth, but in one more dimension. It would be improbable for the universe to form a 3-torus because that would require having cubic repeating shapes and 24 "correct" orientations pointing along the repeating axes, whereas the universe likes spheres

[@macmurfy2jka]

So if the universe and space is expanding away from itself at a fast enough rate that the light from the farthest point from us, far side of the equator of the donuts, we would never be able to see the other side of the donut. Space wouldn't even have to expand that fast as the relative velocity would stack exponentially as you try to observe more distant object. This might explain why we can only see so far out and never all the way around. Our vision would literally not be fast enough. The flat expanding topography would also mean that the model would appear to stay the same shape, but get less dense. Practically infinite but actually finite. This would also make wormholes easier. Cool stuff

[@tengun]

3 years later, and now there's some evidence that the Universe is actually Donut-shaped.

[@Gawillamon]

Take acid or shrooms and look at models of 4D shapes, then you'll really understand spatial 4D. Size and space are essentially obsolete in the 4th dimension.

[@hka11726]

great video! my father is a mathematician and he did once or twice, long time ago, explain topology to me. I can't wait to tell him about this!

[@aurelienyonrac]

What if all black holes are the same donut hole ? Just spacetime is wrapped differently around each singularity. You got your repeating pattern. Then matter is warped space time. And all you see is the evolution of spacetime with itself. Thoughts, complainte, contribution ?

[@jacobchicks3523]

Hey Sci Show. We all now that there is no sound in "empty" space, but what about in nebulae and forming star systems? Shouldn't all that floating gas and dust provide a medium for sound to travel in?

[@colleenforrest7936]

In a nutshell, this is how I think the universe looks like too :)

[@CharlesTheClumsy]

This blew my mind.

[@ridered300]

You need to vibrate higher so you can capture the opening of the portal that connects this Earth of 3D to one Earth of 4D or 5D.

[@godwantsplastic]

Infinity is all about doughnuts within doughnuts(infinitely)not infinite individual doughnuts. The universe is a doughnut, the Milky Way is a doughnut, the solar system is a doughnut, your atoms are doughnuts... layers of doughnuts. There is more to our solar system than planets and rocks, the forces at work are part of the doughnut. Things don’t just go around the sun, the sun exerts forces that envelope the entire solar system. The collective bodies of the solar system also exert forces that give shape to the solar system. All of these bodies and their exerted forces create a doughnut, keep in mind that this doughnut is in a constant state of flux and interaction with all other doughnuts. If you’re interested in more of this see Nassim Haramein and his holofractographic universe theory.

[@mstasz2108]

You heard it here first, they almost got their what if right with the donut shape theory. The universe is actually shaped like a red blood cell.

[@monks311]

I like the idea of the universe shaped like a spider web.

[@DysnomiaFilms]

I don't entirely see how the expansion of the universe is an issue with this model. It just suggets to me that the circumference of any section of the donut ring is getting larger continually.

[@andrewlankford9634]

If it was Krispy Kreme, it would be too ephemeral. A pretzel shaped universe would hold my attention longer. Personally, I wish table tops and laptop screens were boundless yet as compact as donuts.

[@mariouribe4083]

What if the donut shape was also a part of the universes function. The whole in the center being the singularity at the beginning and end of time. The torus shape would not be observable in any single arbitrary moment in time but would be a shape that reveals itself across the entire span of time itself. The Big Bang would still exist but you cannot look at it because it’s in the past and the Big Crunch exists but you cannot observe it because it’s in the future, and they are always occurring simultaneously. This makes sense when you realize space and time are not distinct but one phenomenon. the passage of seconds and hours and years is simply how we measure the 4th dimension. So the universe is a 4 dimensional torus not a 3D one.

[@poeticsilence047]

Donuts are life

[@LelouchVelvet]

4:34 that's crazy to think about o_O

[@thelatenightgamer2624]

It might be shape like a tesseract and where a smale shpere in the core