Ask A Genius 1175: Rick’s Universe and the Universe’s Gold
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/11/12
*Interview conducted in October-November, 2024.*
Rick Rosner: What about gold in the universe? Let’s shift to that. An idea in informational cosmology suggests the universe is far older than its supposed Big Bang age. If that’s true, then there should be remnants in the universe that predate it—leftover matter that has remained due to being gravitationally or inertially isolated.
That connects to the rotation curves of galaxies. The issue with Kepler’s law is that if most of the mass in a galaxy or a solar system is concentrated at the center, the orbital speed of objects should drop sharply as you move farther from the center, following a power law. But the rotation curve of entire galaxies is flatter than expected, which hints at dark matter or other unexplained phenomena holding things together.
It’s as if there’s a significant amount of mass near the outskirts of galaxies, causing them to rotate more like a disk, where the speed doesn’t drop off as much as expected. This implies the presence of some mysterious mass—dark matter—that makes these rotation curves appear flatter. The catch is that we can’t directly see this mass.
Alternative theories suggest that under certain conditions, gravity might not decline according to the inverse-square law. But that’s harder for contemporary physics to accept than the concept of dark matter. Informational cosmology, however, posits that dark matter could be regular collapsed matter: black holes, brown dwarfs, neutron stars—all of which may have collapsed long ago and are now in stable orbits on the outskirts of galaxies.
And they wouldn’t remain stable if they were closer to the center of a galaxy. If they were near the center, they’d collide with other matter, suck it up, and gradually move inward over billions of years until they became part of the massive black hole at the galactic core. For the Milky Way, that black hole is around 100 million solar masses, though it could be a billion solar masses in some galaxies.
However, these collapsed objects can orbit on the outskirts without significant collisions. So, if the universe is older than it appears, you’d expect to find a lot of old, burnt-out, collapsed matter in the far reaches of galaxies. The challenge is that this matter is nearly invisible. You can only detect black holes through gravitational lensing unless they pull in the material, emitting radiation as it spirals into the black hole.
But an ancient, inactive black hole is difficult to spot. Could we find evidence for an older universe by detecting more gravitational lensing than expected in a 14-billion-year-old universe?
That’s the question. Does enough collapsed matter in the far reaches of the universe cause a detectable difference in gravitational lensing? I’m still determining. I’d need to ask someone who specializes in astrophysics. But the challenge is that any evidence of matter older than the universe would be hard to spot because it’s no longer emitting much radiation.
If we could somehow determine how much gold or other heavy elements beyond iron exist in the universe, that might tell us something. You’d need to analyze the spectra of stars or other methods to figure that out, though I’m not sure how that works. I’ve seen articles suggesting that there’s more gold in the universe than could have been formed within 14 billion years.
It raises the question of how precise these methods are for measuring the abundance of heavy elements and whether they truly support the idea of an older universe or if there’s some other explanation.
So, there you go. Gold in the universe.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
In-Sight Publishing 