The trouble with Figuring out the Universe is......

That we are trying to figure out Something that we are slap bang in the middle of.
This  tends to taint our perspective somewhat.
Its as if we Know something Big, Dark and Heavy has fallen on us,
but we cant see what it is
because something Big, Dark, and Heavy has fallen on us!

As if this is not enough we have such Philisophical Dead Ends as TIME !
to confuse the matter (and the Matter !) not to mention the apprehention that
most people are under as regards the number of physical dimentions the Universe
actually occupies.
Let's begin with time.
You will note that from now on I will spell the word time
with a small t, as befits its station as a mere philisophical abstraction.
When men and women begin their journey through life as young adults, they have a natural optimism that gives them a bright outlook and a sharp sense of perspective. They will see every problem in life as a challenge to their intellect
and their wonder at the physical Universe knows no bounds.
It is only in later life, say during times of severe illness or rapidly approaching old age that they start thinking about mortality, metaphysics and
the possible existance of God .
But your average Physicist Knows of the absurdity of that possibility.
The best work that they have done in the prime of their youth, and the height of their reasoning powers, has contributed to the evidence against that very possibility.
However !
The scientific communities answer to the "opium of the people" is that time might exist in the physical Universe ...linear time.cyclic time. or whatever time their
panicking rational can muster. Whilst it is quite understandable that all of us, from time to time, may wish that we could have our time over again or somehow extend our existance beyond the moment, in a translated form of immortality on a higher
state of existence. (Don't get me started on that parallel univese stuff !)
As I write this down there are respectable scientists re-evaluating the theory that there exists a sub atomic particle of time, i.e The Chronon. Crikey !
There is no such thing as time.
time is a mere, philosophical abstraction, a handle on the moment. It helps us measure the days of our own lives and the history of others.
People seem to be mistaking ENTROPY as proof of time, of the unstopable effects of time on the physical universe.
Bollocks!
The physical universe does not need the effects of somthing as pointless as time to continue to its debatable conclusion.

The World will stop spinning not in time, but in eventuality

And what the hell , prey, is space-time?
If we dont know the limit or lack of limits of space. how can we relate it to anything else ? let alone somthing with the dubious pedigree of time.

Space

How big is space? How small is a piece of string?
Depending on which theory you personally subscribe to,
this could vary rather alarmingly!

Do you believe in an infinately expanding universe ?
if so, what is it expanding into?  go on, answer that one if you can

Do you believe in a finite universe, with theoretical borders?
Borders with WHAT?  for goodness sake!
Is space made up of energy, Matter, or even Dark Matter ?

We dont know whats in space, whats outside space,or more importantly
we can't IMAGINE it .We can't even imagine what it is because of a fiddling little concept called Infinity.

Understanding Space really begins with understanding our perspective on infinity.
If you think about space in terms of dimension you are lost from the start.
How can infinity have Lenth Breadth and width ?
With what tool physical or philosophical can you sub divide infinity ?
The Key to Comprehention lies in leaving such juvenile concepts as time and dimension behind, exept perhaps as a rough tool to understand the finite nature of our understanding of Space.

Imagine a two dimentional Universe ( please bear with me ! )
It has only lenth and breadth. like a sheet of paper with no actual depth. Take a pencil and thrust it throught the paper and Universe. The Pencil is a three dimensional object interfearing with a
two dimensional Universe. Any Theoretical inhabitants of the two dimensional space, could have no understanding of the true three dimensional nature of the pencil. to them for some strange reason there would be a
strange eliptical area of space into which they could not pass.
they could not see any obstruction, as light would pass niether through or round it. The scientists of this Universe, respectable or otherwise,  could have a field day proposing the nature of this strange object, as no one could really expect to understand somthing that is beyond their
theoretical limit of understanding!!