A claim published in late January on Fox News reignited debates about the limits of cosmology and the role of metaphysics in science. Michael Guillén, a former Harvard physics lecturer and science promoter, has suggested that “Heaven” may have a physical address, located beyond the edge of the observable universe. The idea quickly went viral, but also drew strong criticism from astronomers.
Guillén started from fundamental concepts like Hubble’s law and the cosmic horizon — the limit to which we can observe the universe, determined by the age of the cosmos and the speed of light, Popular Mechanics reports.
Extending these ideas, he argued that beyond this limit, at a distance of hundreds of billions of trillions of kilometers, could begin what religious traditions call “Paradise” (or “Heaven”).
The claim combined scientific language with biblical imagery, a formula that attracted public attention but provoked harsh reactions in academia.
Astronomers say that the cosmic horizon is not a gateway to another realm
Among those who have challenged the theory is Alex Gianninas, a professor of astronomy at Connecticut College. He explains that the cosmic horizon is not a physical edge of the universe, but only the limit up to which light has had time to reach us in the 13.8 billion years of the existence of the cosmos.
Moreover, in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, the universe went through a phase of accelerated expansion—cosmic inflation—that pushed entire regions beyond possible contact. Space continues to expand, and the areas beyond the horizon are not “from another world”but simply too distant to be noticed.
“There is no scientific basis for asserting that beyond the horizon begins a divine realm”says Alex Gianninas.
Why do such ideas catch on in the age of social media
The phenomenon is not an isolated one. In recent years, more and more scientists or popularizers of science have begun to publicly discuss ideas with spiritual or metaphysical overtones.
Alex Gianninas believes the explanation has less to do with science and more to do with how information flows: opinions that would otherwise have remained private can go viral within hours.
Between science and metaphysics
Michael Pravica, a physicist at the University of Nevada, recently discussed the possibility that notions such as Heaven or Hell could be interpreted as hyperdimensional realities, not in a scientific sense, but metaphysically. Asked about Guillén’s theory, Pravica explained that the logic quickly breaks down if we treat Heaven as a physical place “outside the universe”: If the universe expands, does Heaven expand? Is it pushed out?
But he argues that if there were additional dimensions, such a “realm” could be conceived of as existing “inside the universe, but in another dimensione”. However, such ideas cannot be tested and do not belong in experimental physics.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”
Gianninas insists that science cannot integrate claims about divine realities without verifiable predictions and experimental evidence, and that, in their absence, such theories remain outside scientific discourse.
Pravica, on the other hand, believes that many major discoveries began as ideas that were impossible to demonstrate at the time of their emergence. For him, imagination is a legitimate starting point, as long as it is not presented as science.
The dispute among researchers reflects the already existing tension between science and metaphysics: how far can the imagination go before science intervenes with its limits? For some, inspiration is the engine of progress. For others, without evidence, such ideas remain mere speculation.
