Big bang, again and again?

Hello!I'm all new to this forum, actually I discovered it today and I'm looking forward to hours and hours of reading and learning facts and of peoples opinios in different matters.I'm not sure if this has been brought up here before but I have been thinking of the beginning and the end of the universe. Lets assume our universe was born out of a big bang, alot of hydrogen formed stars, the stars produced helium and other matter, exploded and formed new stars and planets. Some stars collapsed under their own gravity and formed black holes who eats all the matter it comes close to.I heard somewhere there should be around 10 million black holes in the milky way by now and a new one forms about once every 1000 years. It's not that important how often they form but I've been thinking that sooner or later when most stars died and there are more black holes then you can imagine. Shouldnt the black holes eat up all "loose" matter and attract eachother? In the end the universe would consist of only black holes who finally all has attracted eachother and contain all of the matter and energy available?I've thought it might be a cycle, that this is the state where the universe end but also begins in a new big bang? Ofcourse I have been inspired by the hinduist belief that kosmos is created and destroyed in an endless cycle.I haven't read up much on this, I just wonder if the thought state of the universe in its very end is different or alike the thought state of the universe in the beginning, before big bang.I think that if the universe was created and destroyed in cycles it could mean there was never a creation or beginning. That it has always been and will always be?Also try to bare with my english /Fringan[This message has been edited by Fringan, 02-27-2004][This message has been edited by Fringan, 02-28-2004]

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Cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole--it's structure, origin and development. I won't answer all the questions Hawking raises concerning cosmology, but I will try to make comments on many of them. I caution here that you should not confuse cosmology with cosmetology, the art of beautifying the hair, skin, and nails!
-Dr. Henry "Fritz" Schaefer III

My source about the amount of the black holes took me a while to find but after some thinking I remembered I got this information from the BBC documentary called "Space" (Hyperspace (TV Mini Series 2001) - IMDb).About the black holes eating up all matter, I understand the same mass has the same gravity. However, a star will explode or burn out sooner or later while a black hole (as I understand it) never burns out or explodes. So over a long period of time a black hole would still "eat" as much as a sun would but it keeps on doing it forever. Therefore, at some point, it's pull would be stronger then a stars since it could keep eating longer then a star?Also, since new black holes form every now and then, more and more of the available matter should be trapped in one over time and finally most of it would be in the black holes? I know I am yet to understand the curvation of space around really heavy objects but I imagine that black holes like all other bodies should attract eachother aswell. Thats why I keep thinking in zillions of years all matter would finally end up in a single black hole.Perhaps black holes do explode or in some way "give back" all the matter it has eaten at some point? In that case I'd like to be pointed to where I can read more about it. Maybe all the above is all wrong because I havent even thought about the expansion/contraction of the universe.Oh well.. 06:25 AM here in Sweden and way past my bedtime. Lets see if I read this post tomorrow and wonder what I was thinking [This message has been edited by Fringan, 02-29-2004]

Thats something I never understood. Why must there be a point? I'm an agnostic to the point I think some "consious force" might have set the laws of nature. I think the whole "having a point" thing is invented by man, because some of us think we are so amazingly intelligent and fantastic that there have to be a point we are here I think not, however thats OT for this forum. I don't think that the model of universe as a never ending cycle of destruction and creation must leave out a creator of some kind.