I can't say how happy this article makes me. Years ago I asked a friend, "If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding *into*? If the laws of physics apply here, isn't it possible—or even definitionally the case—that they don't apply in any space the universe is not (yet)?"https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1178298173376339968 …
I think we assume that the laws of physics would apply equally outside of the observable universe... it's just that there's nothing for them to apply to.