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IS OUR UNIVERSE THE ONLY ONE?

How It Works UK

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Issue 202

Might our universe – as vast as it is – be simply one of many? We look at the growing evidence that there's more than one cosmos out there

- DAVID BODDINGTON

IS OUR UNIVERSE THE ONLY ONE?

In 1543, Prussian astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus lay dying. His life's work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, had just been sent off to be printed. This book, which explained that Earth rotates around the Sun, and not the other way around as had been believed, would forever change how humanity viewed its place in space. We were no longer the centre of the universe.

Nearly 500 years on, we're facing a similar revolution. The observable universe now stretches 46 billion light years in every direction, but physicists have compelling ideas about what may lie beyond.

It might just be that there are countless other universes, each one slightly different from the rest. Indeed, the results of a recent study of the cosmic microwave background – the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang - make this seemingly outlandish proposition look increasingly likely.

Our universe began 13.8 billion years ago. A great exploding fireball of matter and radiation produced a hot plasma that quickly cooled, allowing subatomic particles to form within a few seconds. Over the next million years, atoms were created, and some 480 million years later these coalesced to form stars, planets and entire galaxies.

But the Big Bang theory, the theory about how the whole process got started, tells us nothing about the ‘bang’ itself. For that we need to look to another idea, called cosmic inflation. This theory says that in the first tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang, the universe must have expanded faster than the speed of light.

Cosmic inflation theory was first proposed by American particle physicist Professor Alan Guth. In 1979, while working on equations to describe the early universe, Guth hit upon something astonishing: the false vacuum. This is unlike what we think of as a vacuum in that it's not empty. Rather, it's a material, and a powerful force in its own right – a force great enough to ignite an entire universe.

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UNCANNY'S DANNY ROBINS

The creator and host of the BBC's Uncanny series tells us about his most chilling experiences while researching the show, and writing a ghost book for children

time to read

4 mins

Issue 208

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HOW FEATHERS GROW

A bird's proteinaceous plumage comes from the same source as our hair

time to read

1 mins

Issue 208

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New EV battery technology could power 500-mile road trips on a 12-minute charge

Scientists have used a neat chemistry trick to tackle a major challenge facing future batteries.

time to read

2 mins

Issue 208

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HOW AIR PURIFIERS WORK

These filtration devices clean a room's air of particles that can make a person sick

time to read

1 min

Issue 208

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Chinese scientists hunt for alien radio signals in a 'potentially habitable' star system

TRAPPIST-1 is a red dwarf star located about 40 light years away that hosts seven Earth-sized rocky planets, with at least three orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water could exist.

time to read

2 mins

Issue 208

How It Works UK

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?

Our bodies are vessels for life, but in death they undergo a cascade of chemical and biological changes

time to read

3 mins

Issue 208

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WHY ARE KEYBOARDS QWERTY?

There's a reason why this seemingly random arrangement of letters is widely used on keyboard layouts

time to read

1 min

Issue 208

How It Works UK

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A 'quasi-moon' discovered in Earth orbit may have been hiding for decades

A new paper describes a possible 'quasi-moon' of Earth, an interloping asteroid that may have been following our planet around for decades, undetected.

time to read

1 mins

Issue 208

How It Works UK

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WHAT'S AN ANTI-DRONE GUN?

How these devices intercept and disable unmanned aerial vehicles

time to read

1 mins

Issue 208

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Dozens of mysterious blobs discovered inside Mars may be 'failed planets'

Giant impact structures, including the potential remains of ancient ‘protoplanets’, may be lurking deep beneath the surface of Mars.

time to read

2 mins

Issue 208

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