WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BANG SINGULARITY?

The Big Bang marks the beginning of the Universe, right? The physicists brave enough to look beyond it aren't so sure

- PROF STEPHON ALEXANDER

Why does something exist rather than nothing? This profound question lies at the heart of both science and philosophy, inviting us to explore the origins of our existence.

In the field of evolutionary theory, we understand that all life on Earth can be traced back to a common ancestor known as the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). The search for LUCA captivates researchers investigating the origin of life. Our curiosity doesn't end there, though. We can delve further into the origins of Earth itself, and the Universe around it.

From a cosmological perspective, we discover a breathtaking connection between the birth of stars, the formation of planets and the expansion of the Universe. The dance of cosmic creation unfolds through a delicate interplay between the Universe's expansion rate, the gravitational collapse of dark matter and the capture of hydrogen - the life-giving element necessary for star formation. Without this intricate cosmic choreography, life as we know it wouldn't have come into existence.

Thus, our cosmic origin story begins with a fundamental question: What was the origin of the expanding spacetime of the Universe?

The prevailing model of the expanding Universe is often referred to as Big Bang Cosmology. Coined by the English astronomer Fred Hoyle during a BBC Radio broadcast in March 1949, this theory suggests that all matter in the Universe originated from a colossal explosion at a specific time in the distant past.