nature of the universe

What follows is a transcription of a conversation I had with Jordan, my 7 year old ward, over Frostys at Wendy’s:
Jordan: Did you know that there are over a hundred million stars in our galaxy?
Willow: Huh. Where did you come up with that figure?
Jordan: I mean in our whole universe.
Willow: There are a lot more stars than that in the universe.
Jordan: How many? Infinity?
Willow: Well, Jordan, that’s a great question. There is a big debate among scientists about whether the universe infinite or finite.
Jordan: What’s finite?
Willow: It means limited. If the universe were finite then there would be an end of the universe, out there somewhere. And concievibly we could one day count all of the stars in the universe. If the universe is infinite then it goes on forever and we’ll never know how many stars. Does that make sense?
Jordan: (nods. Is quiet for a moment.) Do you know that if you took a bite out of the earth you would burn your teeth off?
Willow: Because of the magma in the earth’s core?
Jordan: Yup!
Willow: You’d probably burn your whole face off.
Jordan: I think I would just take a bite of the first layer. It would be like, “Krrunch!” No magma! Just dirt! Ha!