In the beginning, there was nothing.
Then bang.
Our Universe emerged
in an explosion of light
and energy.
Or did it?
Let's shed some light on this.
The Universe is big.
Like, astronomically big.
Current theories say that
And everything we see
came from an infinitely dense point
called a singularity.
But where did that singularity come from?
There might be more to it than you think.
And maybe the Universe
never really had a beginning.
The Big Bang theory tells us that
after the Universe emerged
from a singularity,
it started expanding and fast.
This is known as
the cosmic inflation phase.
And when I say fast, I mean fast.
One moment, there was a single point
half the size of a DNA molecule.
A fraction of a second later,
it expanded to 10.6 light-years across.
This is how the Universe
we know and love today
ended up being relatively stable with
hardly any density fluctuations.
But these small density fluctuations
are the reasons why we have galaxies
and stars.
When we start talking about distances
this big,
we can use the term "parsec".
A megaparsec is a million times bigger.
Currently, the Universe is still expanding.
That means that for every 3.26 million light-years an object was away from us,
it's moving 73.5 km/s (45.6 mi/s) faster.
But there's a problem.
If the Universe keeps expanding for
billions and billions of years,
at some point, it could enlarge too much.
All the energy in it would dissipate.
And then our Universe wouldn't exist anymore.
But what if I told you there's a new theory in town?
Scientists are calling it the Big Bounce.
It's a combination of the Big Bang
and the Big Crunch.
The Big Crunch is when the expansion of the Universe
goes in reverse, and the Universe collapses.
You could say it's the exact opposite of the Big Bang.
The Big Bounce theory says that
the Universe will eventually
start to contract.
And when it does, instead of reaching a singularity,
it tunnels into another expanding universe.
Just imagine a balloon expanding
and contracting,
and each cycle would be our Universe starting over again.
So you might be asking,
how is this different
from the Big Bang?
Well, this theory is different
because of what scientists call
the scalar field.
The scalar field would make
the gravitational field exert
negative pressure,
stopping our Universe's contraction.
Then, the expansion
would begin all over again.
If this theory is right,
it could have serious consequences
for our Universe.
First off, it would mean that
our Universe would have no beginning
and no end.
It would be reborn every time it collapsed.
And if you think about it,
that would make our Universe infinite.
Maybe not in size, but in time.
If you think you could stick around to see this.
That's probably not going to happen.
That's because once the Universe contracts,
it wouldn't be the same.
For instance,
matter would be distributed differently.
So most likely, the new version of the Universe wouldn't be like ours.
And it could be so different that
the laws of physics wouldn't be like the laws we know.
The Universe could emerge in such a way
that no stars or planets would form.
Or maybe the Universe would form so that
complex life-forms could flourish.
Would that be amazing, or what?
So if we take a look at the big picture,
what does all this mean for us?
Well, not much would change
in our everyday lives.
All the changes would be so far
in the future that
they won't affect us, whatever they are.
When it comes to the future of the Universe,
we know so little
that anything could happen.
We'll need to keep looking at the stars,
as the answers are out there.
Somewhere.
You know what else is out there?
Black holes.
What would happen if you fell
into one of them?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.