Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.
What's the big deal behind a recent physics discovery, and what can it tell us about how the universe came to be?
Key Points:
- The universe if full of galaxies, not just our own. In the early twentieth century, astronomers noted that the observable galaxies are moving away from each other. And the farther apart they get, the faster they move from each other. This means that the universe is expanding.
- The idea that the universe used to be densely-packed and very hot before exploding outward to “expand” is called the Big Bang.
- In the 1960s, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation was discovered. This is a faint glow or temperature that seems to permeate the whole universe. The only way to two temperature extremes could exist while being lightyears apart was if they were the same temperature at some point in the past.
- Cosmic inflation is the presiding theory of the early expansion of the universe.
- The universe isn’t flat, but has ripples across it.
- The belief of many scientists today is that the universe began in this Big Bang over 14,000,000,000 years ago. Everything began as energy – all matter, and even life itself.
Quote This:
Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes – I mean the universe – but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single word of it; without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth. –Galileo Galilei
See Also: Science, Technology
Talk About It
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Are you interested in science? Why or why not?
- What is your favorite weird science fact?
- How do you feel when you consider how big the universe really is? Explain.
- A lot of people argue about the origin of the universe. Why do you think this is?
- Do you ever think we can answer the question of what things were like before the Big Bang? Why or why not?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
This topic is adapted from the PHD Comics YouTube channel.
