Space and Distance

Cosmic space can be thought of as an unending void, populated by things. Wherever we look, we see things, and they are separated by space.

To measure space, we use a ruler. The ruler is a thing, and there's no way around this. Without things, the concept of distance becomes meaningless, not only in psychological terms, but in real physical terms as well.

How big is a void with nothing in it? It is impossible to say without some kind of reference.

If the void is inside a box, we measure the box, and we have an answer. However, what we have measured is the box, not the void. An empty void with no box containing it cannot be measured.

Let us therefore keep the box and make it big enough for an astronaut to float around inside it.

We use a carefully crafted ruler to measure the distance from the walls of the box to the astronaut inside of it, and we note down the numbers.

The astronaut does the same, and we compare his numbers with ours. We get the same result.

However, let us now pour some extra neutrinos into the space occupied by the astronaut. We do this liberally, so that the box around the enclosed space is just as drenched as the astronaut. What happens?

In the Velcro universe, the electric force is dependent on how many neutrinos are available, so we are changing the electric force when we add neutrinos. The electric force becomes stronger.

Since all the things inside the box are made of inertial matter, everything starts swelling up. The nucleus of every atom swells up, the electrons bouncing off the nucleus bounce higher. The molecular and metallic bindings move apart.

Looking at the box from outside, we can see that both the box and the astronaut is growing in size. However, the astronaut is completely oblivious to any change. To him, nothing has changed. Using his bloated ruler, everything is exactly as before.

The only change that the astronaut and the outside observers can agree on is the density of neutrinos inside the space with the astronaut. It has increased. The total number of neutrinos inside the box is the exact same number for any observer.

However, everything else is relative to the observer's frame of reference. This includes the observers time and clocks. The astronaut is slowing down in his actions in proportion to his increase in size. The reason for this becomes clear once we realize what time actually is.