Do you think we will ever figure out what the Universe is expanding into?

it will blow our minds won't it???:-) let's hope christians don't succeed in preventing us from learning the truth and appreciating our universe!

Many people have imagined all kinds of things that we (the universe) expand into, including itself.

The two best options (so far) are:

1. The universe is infinite and has always been infinite, even at the "time" of the Big Bang. Sure, the portion we can see was extremely small back then, but that is OK. Even today, if the universe is infinite, the 14 billion-lightyear radius represents exactly (let's see, something divide by infinity... ah yes, here it is) ZERO percent of the total universe.

If the universe had been finite ans "small" (whatever that means for a universe), there would have been some telltale signs in the Cosmological Microwave Background radiation. The probe WMAP has been studying the CMB radiation for years and has not found these signs (it would have found them by now, if they existed).

2. Using M-theory (instead of Big Bang). Our universe is a sub-space of a much larger universe that has more dimensions than ours: we have 3 spatial dimensions and the "multi-verse" has 8, 9, ... up to 12 (depending on the version of the theory that you care to use).

Inside this multi-dimensional universe, there are collapsed sub-spaces called "membranes" or simply 'branes that move around. 14 billion years ago, two could have collided, thereby providing the energy that we see as the CMB radiation and that drives the expansion of the universe. Our 3-D universe would be expanding into the much larger 8-D (or 11-D or whatever) multi-verse.

It does have the advantage of explaining the present rate of expansion without resorting to "dark energy".

There have been other proposals, but they all fail when they try to explain one aspect or another of what we actually observe in our universe.

There was a young man on the beach of Palos, Spain, who wondered if he could sail to the Spice Islands westward. A philosopher, passing by, told him:

"Christopher, there are only three solutions:

1) The earth is limited. You will sail until you fall over the edge.

2) The earth is unlimited. You will sail for ever, never reaching anything.

3) The earth is volumetric. You'll get around it."

We don't know what the earth is expanding into but I think we will learn, one day. Since I am already 60 years old, I am afraid it won't be during my life time but maybe you stand a better chance.

We already have. the other answers here miss the very crucial point that time and the 3 spatial dimensions are dimensions of this universe, not anything else that we can know about. Time is a function of the measurable change in position between objects. Space is the measurement itself.

So as the measurement itself changes positively, the universe creates the space. It doesn't have to expand into anything. It just increases a dimension of itself.

We already have. It is expanding into nothing. The universe is just what you see and it does not need anything outside of it. Now, I admit that it takes close to ten years of hard studying to understand all the mathematical details of what I just said, but then, nobody said that all answers to all questions have to be easy.

So if you really want to know, I would suggest you study physics, take a bunch of classes on differential geometry and general relativity and sooner than you think, you can know the answers.

Good luck!

interesting question but then you have to ask urself why have we not made so many more trips out to space..we are spending so much money on dumb things out there and science that does not even matter to the survival of life and at the same time.....theres all these people out there wondering if theres life out there in space...when the earth runs out of resources whats next and if we can live on another planet......movies can only expand our thoughts of horizons so much till we will want the real thing....

An even better question is this why are we so blind to the truth of what you asked? We already know what this universe is all you have to do is silence your everyday thoughts to better hear what is out there. Everyday we are being told but fail to see it because of disbelief and reason. Look into yourself and hear the answer.

I like hypothetical speculation as well as a little tautology.

The answer is 'yes'.

what makes you think it's 'expanding' into ANYTHING?.... there was 'nothing' before the Universe ....right?.....

The answer is the void. Nothing, no time, no light, no up, no down. No reality.