Is the universe gently twirling? Scientists say the universe could be completing one rotation in nearly 500 billion years
Now, a new study from the
University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy
has probably brought us one step closer to resolving some unknown mysteries about the universe.
A Universe that spins?
In a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astrophysicist István Szapudi and his team suggest that the universe could be slowly rotating, completing one full revolution roughly every
500 billion years
. That is very slow and too subtle for current instruments to directly detect, but it could be enough to change the way space behaves on a cosmic scale.
The idea comes from a simple observation that everything in the universe spins. Planets, stars, galaxies, and even black holes all rotate.
So why not the universe itself?
'To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, who famously said, 'Panta Rhei', which means that everything moves, we thought that perhaps Panta Kykloutai – everything turns,' said Szapudi, lead author of the study, as quoted by the University of Hawai'i news release.
What is the Hubble Tension?
The Hubble tension is a long-standing difference between two different ways of measuring the universe's expansion rate. One method is through using nearby supernovae and galaxies, which gives a higher value than another method that looks at cosmic microwave background radiation from the early universe. These conflicting numbers have confused scientists and led some to suggest that entirely new physics may be needed.
But Szapudi's team created a mathematical model that includes a small amount of cosmic rotation, without breaking any known laws of physics. 'Much to our surprise, we found that our model with rotation resolves the paradox without contradicting current astronomical measurements,' Szapudi said.
What is practical about the model?
What makes this model particularly suitable is that it doesn't require new theories or particles. It fits within standard physics by also offering a novel explanation for a decades-old cosmic puzzle.
"It is compatible with other models that assume rotation. Therefore, perhaps, everything really does turn. Or, Panta Kykloutai!' Szapudi added.
If this rotating universe theory holds up under further studies, it could be quite a progress in how we understand the cosmos.
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News18
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Modern mathematical structures such as Pascal's triangle and Fibonacci numbers were described by Pingala in his Meru Prastara couple of millennia ago. How far can we explore this today with artificial intelligence? Recently a write-up was published by Thomas Kissel in the journal Greek Reporter with the title 'Greek Philosopher Plato's Secret Code Discovered and Solved, Historian Claims'. It claims that there is a code of musical pattern buried in Plato's writings, most notably The Republic, discovered by a historian, Dr Jay Kennedy. The code seems to portray the entire Greek musical scale that contains twelve notes. We too have studied the patterns in the Gita from an Indic perspective with the help of our custom-designed AI software. These are the findings we came up with that may be of interest: We know that the Gita is divided into 18 chapters containing a total of 700 shlokas. Triadic structures are frequently seen such as three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas). Sri Krishna classifies a tri-fold structure of many of his essential concepts, such as the triune path of Jnana-Karma and Bhakti, and the three types of knowledge, three kinds of action, three types of understanding and even three types of happiness in the 18th chapter, and these elements correspond to the three gunas that underline the play of Prakriti, or the principle of manifestation in Sankhya Yoga. Number 9 is often employed metaphorically. For example, the body is described as the 'city of nine gates' in chapter 5. Other symbolic use of numbers such as 1000 appear in chapter 11 to describe the dazzling manifestation of Sri Krishna's Vishvaroopa. There may be more as our AI system tells us: 'Some intriguing patterns emerge when looking at the proportions and sequence of verses in the Gita." 'Golden Ratio in Structure: It has been observed that the most climactic chapter – Chapter 11, where Arjuna witnesses Krishna's universal cosmic form (viśvarūpa) – occurs about 61 per cent of the way through the 18-chapter text. Chapter 11/18 is approximately 0.611 of the way in, which is remarkably close to the golden ratio (≈0.618). By verse count, too, the revelation of the cosmic form falls in the general vicinity of the 432nd verse out of 700 (around 61.7 per cent) — not exact, but notably close. This could be coincidental, but it does mirror a common storytelling technique of placing a dramatic 'golden climax" about two-thirds through a work. The fact that viśvarūpa darśana is the Gita's emotional and philosophical high point lends credence to the idea that the text intentionally peaks around the golden-section division. In other words, the narrative pacing aligns with an aesthetically pleasing ratio. (Whether Vyāsa consciously used the golden ratio is speculative; however, Indian tradition did employ harmonious proportions in art and architecture. The ancient Vedic science of design, Vāstu Śāstra, extensively uses the golden ratio in temple architecture, so the concept of an ideal division would not be foreign to the culture." There may be more such as instances of the use of Vedic and Pingala's numerology in the Gita, such as the use of Fibonacci numbers, Golden ratio in verse ratios, conscious numerology, etc. The Gita also uses musical and cosmic symbols. When we ran the AI application on the verses of the Gita, its conclusions seemed to support the hypothesis I have presented in my upcoming book, in pointing out the basic 'musical and mathematical resonance in language: it is worth noting that the Bhagavad Gita is mostly composed in anuṣṭubh meter, a quantitative verse form of 32 syllables (in two halves of 16 syllables each). 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It uses the natural Sanskrit propensity for symmetry and repetition as its 'code', making the text rhythmic, memorable, and conceptually clear." Indeed, the Gita is an intriguing work. There is much more hidden in its short review of the entire gamut of Indian darshana than is visible on a surface view. It is my hope that we uncover this multi-dimensionality and let it reveal the cryptic, the occult and esoteric aspects of its message. It is a 'highly ordered work', as our AI says, but there is a lot of method in its inspiration. Perhaps that is the great and open secret that invites us repeatedly to its mystery and genius. (This research was conducted using a novel, fine-tuned large language model [LLM] with expertise in Sanskrit literature, Hindu philosophy, and symbolic mathematics, combined with Python-based computational tools for structural and numerical analysis, including verse distribution mapping and golden ratio detection.) top videos View all (AI analytics was done by Ed Laughman, who attended medical school in Jena, Germany, before discovering a passion for healthcare technology. He has 15 years of experience in AI, machine learning, mathematics, and modern computation.) Pariksith Singh is author, poet, philosopher and medical practitioner based in Florida. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 27, 2025, 12:05 IST News opinion Opinion | The Mathematics Of The Gita Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
New Indian Express
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