The truth behind it is that in the origional Stargate movie they say Abydos is way, way on the other side of the known universe. So, in the episodes of SG-1, each time it involves Abydos they're supposed to be on the other side of the known universe. The known universe is as far as anyone on Earth has ever been able to see. The unknown universe would be what exists beyond the range of any telesope on or orbiting Earth. So if we're to assume it takes an 8th symbol to dial out of the galaxy, then we're actually dialing beyond the deep space that's been visible to us already. That could be an illogical thought if you imagined there were some kind of area code type of barrier between what we've seen and what we haven't. But it makes sense if you think of it like this: Perhaps there's no way to see deeper into space. Maybe beyond the known universe they can't see us either, no matter how advanced they are. It only points to the well known and accepted theory of light only being able to travel so far before the signal has to be sent out again at full strength. Hehe I learned this during my education as a computer technician. It can only go so far through wires. But in space where there's nothing, how do we expect a beam of light to stay strong and focused all the way to kingdom come, huh? ;) Maybe there's just a point when the light dies and we don't have anything to regenerate the light out there so that it shines further. Maybe the 8th symbol is somehow a regeneration of the signal. Which would be a constellation at the half-way point, so to speak. :o Woah I'm a genious. Yay me!