BIG BANG THEORY
TWIN PARADOX
MULTIVERSE
Space
A Whole New World: Exploring The Vast Seas of Galaxies
What What is the Big Bang Theory? What is is the the Big Big Bang Bang Theory? Theory?
By Andrew May | Contributions by Daisy Dobrijevic
The Big Bang Theory stands as the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of the universe. According to this theory, the universe began as an infinitely small, hot, and dense point, which rapidly expanded and continued to stretch over 13.7 billion years. This initial period of rapid inflation set the stage for the vast and still-growing cosmos we observe today. Although astronomers cannot directly witness the universe's ormation, much of what we know about the Big Bang Theory Comes from advanced mathematical models and simulations. Evidence supporting this theory includes the cosmic microwave background, a faint "echo" of the universe's early expansion that scientists can study in detail.
While the Big Bang Theory is widely supported within the scientific community, some researchers propose alternative ideas, such as eternal inflation or a cyclical, oscillating universe. These theories aim to address questions the Big Bang does not fully resolve, keeping the debate about the universe’s origins alive and dynamic. Around 13.7 billion years ago, everything in the entire universe was condensed in an infinitesimally small singularity, a point of infinite denseness and heat. Suddenly, an explosive expansion began, ballooning our universe outwards faster than the speed of light. This was a period of cosmic inflation that lasted mere fractions of a second — about 10^-32 of a second, according to physicist Alan Guth’s 1980 theory that changed the way we think about the Big Bang forever.
When cosmic inflation came to a sudden and still mysterious end, the more classic descriptions of the Big Bang took hold. A flood of matter and radiation, known as "reheating," began populating our universe with the stuff we know today: particles, atoms, the stuff that would become stars and galaxies. This all happened within just the first second after the universe began, when the temperature of everything was still insanely hot, at about 10 billion degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 billion Celsius), according to NASA. The cosmos now contained a vast array of fundamental particles such as neutrons, electrons and protons — the raw materials that would become the building blocks for everything that exists today.
According to NASA. The cosmos now contained a vast array of fundamental particles such as neutrons, electrons and protons — the raw materials that would become the building blocks for everything that exists today. Due to its inability to retain visible light, this early "soup" would not have been visible. "The free electrons would have caused light (photons) to scatter the way sunlight scatters from the water droplets in clouds," NASA said. But as time went on, these free electrons collided with nuclei to form neutral atoms or atoms with equal positive and negative electric charges.
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the correct term for this light, which is sometimes referred to as the "afterglow" of the Big Bang. Ralph Alpher and other scientists made the initial prediction in 1948, but it wasn't discovered until nearly two decades later. This isn't really a statement that we can make in general. The best we can do is say that there is strong evidence for the Big Bang Theory and that every test we throw at it comes back in support of the theory. Mathematicians prove things, but scientists can only say that the evidence supports a theory with some degree of confidence that is always less than 100%.
About 380,000 years after the Big Bang, this made it possible for light to emerge.
HOW HOW BIG IS THE UNIVERSE? HOW BIG BIG IS IS THE THE UNIVERSE? UNIVERSE?
By Jonathan Gordon, Nola Taylor Tillman
How big is the universe The map revealed that the around us? What we can universe is 13.8 billion years old. observe gives us an answer, but Planck calculated the age by it's likely much bigger than that studying the cosmic microwave background. How big is the universe? It's one of the fundamental "The cosmic microwave questions of astronomy. By background light is a traveler looking for the farthest from far away and long ago," observable point from Earth said Charles Lawrence, the U.S. (and by extension, the oldest project scientist for the mission given the speed of light) we can at NASA's Jet Propulsion estimate a diameter. Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement. Thanks to evolving "When it arrives, it tells us about technology, astronomers are the whole history of our able to look back in time to the universe." moments just after the Big Because of the connection Bang. This might seem to imply between distance and the that the entire universe lies speed of light, this means within our view. But the size of scientists can look at a region of the universe depends on a space that lies 13.8 billion lightnumber of things, including its years away. Like a ship in the shape and expansion. empty ocean, astronomers on Earth can turn their telescopes As a result, while we can to peer 13.8 billion light-years in make estimates as to the size of every direction, which puts the universe scientists can't put Earth inside of an observable a number on it. sphere with a radius of 13.8 . In 2013, the European billion light-years. The word Space Agency's Planck space "observable" is key; the sphere mission released the most limits what scientists can see accurate and detailed map ever but not what is there. made of the universe's oldest light.
empty ocean, astronomers on Earth can turn their telescopes to peer 13.8 billion light-years in every direction, which puts Earth inside of an observable sphere with a radius of 13.8 billion light-years. The word "observable" is key; the sphere limits what scientists can see but not what is there. But though the sphere appears almost 28 billion light-years in diameter, it is far larger. Scientists know that the universe is expanding. Thus, while scientists might see a spot that lay 13.8 billion light-years from Earth at the time of the Big Bang, the universe has continued to expand over its lifetime. Centering a sphere on Earth's location in space might seem to put humans in the center of the universe. However, like that same ship in the ocean, we cannot tell where we lie in the enormous span of the universe. Just because we cannot see land does not mean we are in the center of the ocean; just because we cannot see the edge of the universe does not mean we lie in the center of the universe. Scientists measure the size of the universe in a myriad of different ways. They can measure the waves from the early universe, known as baryonic acoustic oscillations, that fill the cosmic microwave background. They can also use standard candles, such as type 1A supernovae, to measure distances. However, these different methods of measuring distances can provide answers.
How inflation is changing is also a mystery. While the estimate of 92 billion light-years comes from the idea of a constant rate of inflation, many scientists think that the rate is slowing down. If the universe expanded at the speed of light during inflation, it should be 10^23, or 100 sextillion. One explanation for this, outlined by NASA in 2019, is that dark energy events may have impacted the expansion of the universe in the moments after the Big Bang.
Instead of taking one measurement method, a team of scientists led by Mihran Vardanyan at the University of Oxford did a statistical analysis of all of the results. By using Bayesian model averaging, which focuses on how likely a model is to be correct given the data, rather than asking how well the model itself fits the data. They found that the universe is at least 250 times larger than the observable universe, or at least 7 trillion light-years across
The Shape Of The Universe The size of the universe depends a great deal on its shape. Scientists have predicted the possibility that the universe might be closed like a sphere, infinite and negatively curved like a saddle, or flat and infinite. A finite universe has a finite size that can be measured; this would be the case in a closed spherical universe. But an infinite universe has no size by definition. According to NASA, scientists know that the universe is flat with only about a 0.4 percent margin of error (as of 2013). And that could change our understanding of just how big the universe is. "This suggests that the universe is infinite in extent; however, since the universe has a finite age, we can only observe a finite volume of the universe," says NASA . "All we can truly conclude is that the universe is much larger than the volume we can directly observe."
National Geographics Scientists now think that The visible universe— For instance, according to the accelerated expansion of including Earth, the standard physics, stars at the or light but that still exert a the universe is driven by a sun, other stars, and edges of a spinning, spiral gravitational pull. Several kind of repulsive force galaxies—is made of galaxy should travel much scientific groups, including generated by quantum protons, neutrons, and slower than those near the one at CERN's Large Hadron fluctuations in otherwise are currently electrons bundled galactic center, where a Collider, "empty" space. What's more, together into atoms. galaxy's visible matter is working to generate dark the force seems to be Perhaps one of the concentrated. But matter particles for study in growing stronger as the most surprising observations show that stars the lab. universe expands. For lack of discoveries of the 20th orbit at more or less the a better name, scientists call Other scientists think the century was that this same speed regardless of this mysterious force dark ordinary, or baryonic, where they are in the effects of dark matter could energy. explained by matter makes up less galactic disk. This puzzling be modifying than 5 percent of the result makes sense if one fundamentally Unlike for dark matter, mass of the universe. assumes that the boundary our theories of gravity. scientists have no plausible stars are feeling the According to such ideas, explanation for dark energy. The rest of the gravitational effects of an there are multiple forms of According to one idea, dark universe appears to be unseen mass—dark matter— gravity, and the large-scale energy is a fifth and gravity governing galaxies made of a mysterious, in a halo around the galaxy. previously unknown type of differs from the gravity to invisible substance fundamental force called called dark matter (25 Dark matter could also which we are accustomed. quintessence, which fills the percent) and a force explain certain optical universe like a fluid. that repels gravity illusions that astronomers Expanding Universe known as dark energy see in the deep universe. For Many scientists have also Dark energy is even more (70 percent). example, pictures of galaxies pointed out that the known that include strange rings mysterious, and its discovery properties of dark energy are Scientists have not yet and arcs of light could be in the 1990s was a complete consistent with a to scientists. observed dark matter explained if the light from shock cosmological constant, a directly. It doesn't even more distant galaxies is Previously, physicists had mathematical Band-Aid that interact with baryonic being distorted and assumed that the attractive Albert Einstein added to his matter and it's magnified by massive, force of gravity would slow theory of general relativity to completely invisible to invisible clouds of dark down the expansion of the make his equations fit with light and other forms matter in the foreground-a universe over time. But the notion of a static universe. of electromagnetic phenomenon two independent known as when According to Einstein, the radiation, making dark gravitational lensing. teams tried to measure the constant would be a repulsive matter impossible to rate of deceleration, they force that counteracts gravity, detect with current Unlocking The Mystery found that the expansion keeping the universe from instruments. But was actually speeding up. collapsing in on itself. Einstein scientists are confident Scientists have a few ideas One scientist likened the later discarded the idea when it exists because of the for what dark matter might finding to throwing a set of astronomical observations gravitational effects it be. One leading hypothesis is keys up in the air expecting revealed that the universe appears to have on that dark matter consists of them to fall back down-only galaxies and galaxy exotic particles that don't to see them fly straight up was expanding, calling the cosmological constant his clusters. interact with normal matter toward the ceiling. "biggest blunder."
By Laurence Tognetti, MSc How exactly did the universe start and how did these processes determine its formation and evolution? This is what a recent study published in Physical Review Research hopes to address as a team of researchers from Spain and Italy proposed a new model for the events that transpired immediately after the birth of the universe. This study has the potential to challenge longstanding theories regarding the exact processes that occurred at the beginning of the universe, along with how these processes have governed the formation and evolution of the universe.
For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate the beginning of the universe that challenge the longstanding theory that the universe began with a period of rapid expansion known as “inflation”, with scientists estimating this occurred within the first fraction of a second of the universe’s existence. However, this inflation theory postulates that several variables were all involved in making this theory possible.
In contrast, this new model suggests that a longstanding phenomenon of general relativity called gravitational waves are responsible for the universe and all its components, including galaxies, stars, planets, and life on Earth. The team proposes these gravitational waves are part of a longstanding mathematical model called De Sitter space, which is named after the Dutch mathematician Willem De Sitter, who worked with Albert Einstein regarding the universe’s structure throughout the 1920s.
In contrast, this new model suggests that a longstanding phenomenon of general relativity called gravitational waves are responsible for the universe and all its components, including galaxies, stars, planets, and life on Earth. The team proposes these gravitational waves are part of a longstanding mathematical model called De Sitter space, which is named after the Dutch mathematician Willem De Sitter, who worked with Albert Einstein regarding the universe’s structure throughout the 1920s.
“For decades, we have tried to understand the early moments of the Universe using models based on elements we have never observed”, said Dr. Raúl Jiménez, who studies experimental sciences & mathematics at ICREA in Spain and is a co-author on the study. “What makes this proposal exciting is its simplicity and verifiability. We are not adding speculative elements but rather demonstrating that gravity and quantum mechanics may be sufficient to explain how the structure of the cosmos came into being”. First proposed in 1893 and 1905 by Oliver Heaviside and Henri Poincaré, respectively, gravitational waves received a huge boost in attention in 1916 when Albert Einstein proposed them to be ripples in the space-time continuum as part of his general theory or relativity.
Despite myriads of sources, including supernovae, black holes, and neutron stars, gravitational waves are incredibly difficult to detect and require very sensitive instruments. This is potentially why gravitational waves were not detected until September 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) observatory, which have locations in Washington and Louisiana. The origin of the universe remains one of the biggest mysteries in science, as the Big Bang has long been theorized to have been the catalyst for the origin of the universe. Despite ongoing scientific breakthroughs and advancements, scientists remain puzzled regarding the origins of the universe, and especially what might have happened before the Big Bang.
To put it bluntly, we know more about the curvature of Earth than almost any other topic in the realm of physical science. There are countless experiments, observations and demonstrations that have, time and time again, revealed the curve of the Earth. And it all starts with the horizon. As objects recede from you, they begin to look smaller and slowly disappear in a very specific order: first, their bottoms become hidden, and then their tops. If you've ever watched a ship on the horizon, you've seen this effect firsthand. Similarly, from a great distance, the tops of tall objects like mountains are visible well before their bases.
An interesting application of time dilation is the so-called twin paradox, which turns out not to be a paradox at all. Two twins are initially the same age. One twin travels to a distant star on an interstellar spaceship which moves at speed V , which is close to the speed of light. Upon reaching the star, the traveling twin immediately turns around and heads home. When reaching home, the traveling twin has aged less than the twin that stayed home. This is easily explained by the time dilation effect, which shows that the proper time elapsed along the world line of the traveling twin is (1V2/c2)1/2 times the proper time elapsed along the world line of the other twin.
And Earth's curvature is the photograph, although clearly apparent from the effect is subtle as the high altitudes, as Capt. image encompasses only Albert Stevens of the U.S. 1/360 of the Earth's Army Air Corps showed in circumference." the 1930s. In December 1930, for example, Stevens And in November 1935, snapped a photo looking Stevens and Capt. Orvil westward while flying at Anderson took a photo an altitude of 21,000 feet from a balloon that lifted (6,400 meters) above Villa off from Rapid City, South Mercedes, Argentina. Dakota and soared to a maximum altitude of "The Andes Mountains, 72,395 feet (22,066 m). 287 miles [462 kilometers] "The photograph showed away, and although taller the tropospherethan the plane's altitude, stratosphere boundary lay below the sensible and the actual curvature horizon, marked by the of the Earth and white horizontal line in demonstrated the potential for long-range the photograph," NASA reconnaissance from officials wrote in a high-altitude balloons," description of the flight. NASA officials wrote. "The Earth's curvature explains this phenomenon, as described in the diagram accompanying the photograph. The Earth's curvature is also visible laterally in
The “paradox” part of the twin paradox arises from making the symmetric argument in which one assumes the reference frame of the traveling twin to be stationary. The frame of the earth-bound twin must then travel in the sense opposite that of the erstwhile traveling twin, which means that the earth-bound twin must age less rather than more. This substitution is justified on the basis of the principle of relativity, which states that the laws of physics must be the same in all inertial reference frames. However, the above argument is fallacious, because the reference frame of the traveling twin is not inertial throughout the entire trip, since at various
points the spaceship has to accelerate and decelerate. Thus, the principle of relativity cannot be used to assert the equivalence of the traveler’s reference frame to the stationary frame.
Astronomy Astronomy is a science that studies everything outside of the earth's atmosphere, such as planets, stars, asteroids, galaxies; and the properties and relationships of those celestial bodies. Astronomers base their studies on research and observation
VS. Astrology, on the other hand, is the belief that the positioning of the stars and planets affect the way events occur on earth. If you're interested in the solar system and the planets, other celestial objects like asteroids and comets, other galaxies and the rest of the universe, what makes up space, and the possibility of alien life or space travel, astronomy is the field you're considering.
Astrology
Of particular importance is the period of deceleration and acceleration near the distant star. During this interval, the line of simultaneity of the traveling twin rotates, as illustrated in Figure :, such that the twin staying at home rapidly ages in the reference frame of the traveler. Thus, even though the acceleration of the traveling twin may occupy only a negligible segment of the twin’s world line, the overall effect is not negligible. In fact, the shorter and more intense the period of acceleration, the more rapidly the earth-bound twin ages in the traveling frame during this interval!
T T wP w P i a i a n rr n a a d d o o x x David J. Raymond
How Do We Know The Earth Isn't Flat Emily Furfaro
In a one-year follow-up observation of the planet in 2025, Cherubim and his team no longer detected helium. The study concluded this absence could be explained by a variability in the rate of escape of the helium, which would have put it below the instrument’s threshold of sensitivity. However, Cherubim admitted, “That’s a big mystery right now that we’re very actively thinking about.” The researchers will start a new round of observations on LHS 1140b in the fall. “I’ve also applied for time on an even more sensitive instrument in Chile that I’m hoping will get approved,” Cherubim said. “Several other people are going to be looking at it, too. The James Webb Space Telescope is going to look at it. Hubble’s going to look at it. Basically, everybody who can see it is going to be training their eyes on it.”
Study coauthor Jason Dittmann shares Cherubim’s relief over the discovery. “I was starting to worry that maybe atmospheres around rocky planets weren’t that common or maybe red dwarfs weren’t very good planetary hosts,” Dittmann, an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Florida, said in an email. “So I think finding a positive example of a rocky planet with an atmosphere is really significant. It’s what we’ve been hoping to find for years.” For Dittmann, it’s especially thrilling that LHS 1140b will receive attention from so many scientists, because he led the team that discovered the exoplanet in 2017. “It’s like my little planet is all grown up now,” he said. “I hope we’ll start seeing more rocky planet atmospheres over the next few years. And it’ll be really exciting to compare these planets to each other and see what makes them different.”
of replication limit the strength of this interpretation. The Wow! signal has inspired targeted searches, scientific discussion about rare astrophysical phenomena, and references in popular culture. The Wow! Signal has captivated the imagination of scientists and the public alike since its detection in 1977. This powerful radio signal, picked up by the Big Ear telescope in Ohio, remains one of the most compelling potential signs of extraterrestrial intelligence ever recorded. But a new study suggests a natural explanation for this enigmatic event. In a recent conversation on the SETI Institute's YouTube channel, Dr. Franck Marchis, Director of Unistellar Citizen Science at the SETI Institute and manager of Laser SETI, and Dr. Lauren Sgro, Astronomer & Outreach manager for Laser SETI, discussed a paper that proposes a novel explanation for the Wow! Signal. The paper, authored by Mendez et al. (2024), suggests that the signal could have been caused by a transient astrophysical phenomenon.
s s u u p p e e r re e a a r r t t h h
Seti Institute The researchers used data from the Arecibo REDS (Radio Emissions from Red Dwarf Stars) survey and found evidence of signals, albeit much weaker than but similar to the Wow! signal, emanating from clouds of neutral hydrogen. They propose that such a signature could have been amplified in a process called “superradiance,” which would make it strong enough for the Big Ear telescope to detect. Mendez and team suggest that this superradiance event was triggered by an unknown object such as a magnetar and produced the intense burst of energy that was detected as the Wow! Signal.
Dr. Marchis and Dr. Sgro emphasize the importance of ongoing research and the need for multi-station observations to verify any potential signals of extraterrestrial intelligence. This is the driving force behind the Laser SETI project, which aims to overcome the limitations of individual telescopes by deploying a global network of observation stations. By continuously monitoring the sky for laser emissions, Laser SETI hopes to provide more robust evidence and enable deeper analysis of any detected signals.
While the paper doesn't definitively solve the mystery, it offers a plausible natural explanation for the Wow! Signal. However, this famous signal has never been observed again, so the transient nature of the event makes it challenging to confirm Mendez’s hypothesis.
In a recent conversation on the SETI Institute's YouTube channel, Dr. Franck Marchis, Director of Unistellar Citizen Science at the SETI Institute and manager of Laser SETI, and Dr. Lauren Sgro, Astronomer & Outreach manager for Laser SETI, discussed a paper that proposes a novel explanation for the Wow! Signal. The paper, authored by Mendez et al. (2024), suggests that the signal could have been caused by a transient astrophysical phenomenon.
Planet Shows Signs It
The LHS 1140b observations provide the strongest evidence so far Have for an atmosphere on a rocky exoplanet in the An habitable zone, Ana Atmosph Glidden, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, said in ere an email. “As LHS 1140 b orbits a quiet star and is a super-Earth, the odds of it holding onto an atmosphere are in its favor,” added Glidden, who was not involved with the study. “However, more observations are critical to confirm the result and to understand why helium was seen during the first observation, but not in the second.” Michaël Gillon, research director at Belgium’s University of Liège, called the study exciting, but warned no definitive proof exists that LHS 1140b possesses a substantial atmosphere. “The helium signal was detected only once and was absent in follow-up observations in 2025,” Gillon wrote in an email.
Could
Jacopo Prisco
The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and
bore expected hallmarks of extraterrestrial origin. Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the anomaly a few days later while reviewing the recorded data. On the computer printout, he circled the reading of the signal's intensity, "6EQUJ5", and wrote the comment "Wow!" beside it, leading to the event's widely used name. The entire signal sequence lasted for the full 72-second window during which Big Ear was able to observe it. Despite numerous follow-up searches and hypotheses (including brief consideration of reflections from space debris, interstellar scintillation, and comet hydrogen clouds), the signal has never recurred, and no explanation, terrestrial or otherwise, has been confirmed. While some researchers have suggested it could represent an extraterrestrial transmission, its single occurrence and lack
If the detection of helium can be confirmed, however, the implications would be profound, Gillon said. “Until now, we had only limited evidence for atmospheres on temperate rocky exoplanets,” he added. “Demonstrating that LHS 1140 b has retained a substantial atmosphere over billions of years would show that at least some habitable zone Super-Earths around red dwarfs can survive the intense early activity of their host stars.” Such a result would significantly strengthen the prospects for finding truly habitable rocky worlds nearby, Gillon concluded, and would make LHS 1140b one of the highest-priority targets for the James Webb Space Telescope and future observatories.
The Plot Thickness The north pole’s John Tierny
hexagon saturn We’re still not quite finished testing how many sides make the hexagon. At least one scientist believes Saturn’s hexagon actually has more than six sides. The good news: We’re not sure just how the facts get in the way of logic. Obvious is not always absolute, and what we know about Saturn is not always the most accurate. The multiverse is a theoretical concept that the universe as perceived by humans is just one of many universes—perhaps an infinite number—that exist in reality. Also known as parallel universes, the metauniverse, or the Many Worlds theory, the idea has long been a staple of science fiction. Scientists, however, believe multiple universes may be a very real possibility and have cited evidence for their existence. Theories on the multiverse range from matching universes arranged like a
The most straightforward explanation is that Saturn’s hexagon is a jet stream with a very strange shape. The hexagon has six sides, but it may have more. still learning about it. The hexagon’s pattern has remained relatively stable, making it one of Saturn’s most recognizable features.
patchwork quilt to bubbleshaped universes bumping into one another. One exotic idea holds that each choice made by humans in this universe creates an alternate branch of existence where a different choice becomes the reality. One of the more popular concepts of the multiverse assumes that the universe is unending and continues for infinity. Because the atoms that make up matter can only be arranged in a finite number of ways, in an infinite universe it is inevitable that matter will eventually begin repeating itself. In this scenario, countless
unique weather has been observed for years, and scientists are still learning about it. The hexagon’s pattern has remained relatively stable, making it one of Saturn’s most recognizable features.
universes must exist with identical Earths. These multiple universes would be laid out in a pattern like a giant patchwork quilt extending for infinity. Another theory proposes that the universe did not expand in a uniform manner at the time of the Big Bang. Instead, some parts of the early universe inflated at a faster rate than other parts. Each of the expanding pockets formed its own "bubble" universe. The universe humans perceive may have stopped expanding, but other bubbles may still be growing and forming completely new universes with different laws of physics. Evidence for another type of multiverse is seen in the seemingly bizarre behavior of subatomic particles involved in the science of quantum physics. Through indirect experimentation, scientists have proven that these particles can exist in more than one physical location at the same time. In the 1950s, American physicist Hugh Everett proposed the reason this happens is that upon observation, the particle "chooses" a particular state in which to exist
The other states branch off and exist in other realities in other universes. Everett's Many Worlds theory was later expanded on to allow for an immense number of parallel universes with many possible realities. Each time an electron takes a particular path, another universe is instantaneously created in which the electron took the opposite path. The theory also holds that each decision a person makes in life creates a "fork" in reality, creating two or more alternate universes. In one universe, the original decision becomes reality, while in the others, different choices are made. If this theory were true, multiple universes would exist, each with a landed on the moon, different version of computers would never reality. have been invented, or World War III would For each set of possible occurred outcomes from a in the 1960s. specific decision, the Despite the many theory suggests an theories surrounding the alternate universe must idea of a multiverse, no exist in which one of tangible evidence exists those other outcomes to support the theory, became reality. For although speculation example, if a person met exists around their future spouse on a unexplained anomalies blind date, an alternate in space, such as the reality must exist where large region in the the person decided to Cosmic Microwave skip that date, married Background radiation someone else, and had a known as the 'cold spot'. different set of children. Nevertheless, without This also means that definitive proof, the idea there must be other of the multiverse has universes with drastically remained just different historical theoretical. timelines. In one, the British would have won the Revolutionary War (1775–83) and the United States would never have become an independent nation. In others, humans would not have
Astronomy Furfaro, E. (n.d.). How do we know the Earth isn’t flat? We asked a NASA expert: Episode 53. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/earth/how-do-we-know-the-earth-isnt-flat-we-askeda-nasa-expert-episode-53/ Gohd, C. (n.d.). Dark matter. Space.com. https://www.space.com/20930-darkmatter.html Gordon, J., & Tillman, N. T. (n.d.). How big is the universe? Space.com. https://www.space.com/24073-how-big-is-the-universe.html May, A., & Dobrijevic, D. (n.d.). What is the Big Bang theory? Space.com. https://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html Prisco, J. (2026, July 31). ‘Super-Earth’ planet shows signs it could have an atmosphere. CNN. https://keyt.com/news/national-world/cnnother/2026/07/31/super-earth-planet-shows-signs-it-could-have-an-atmosphere/ Ramon, D. J. (n.d.). Twin paradox. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/twin-paradox SETI Institute. (2025, May 11). The Wow! Signal: A lingering mystery or a natural phenomenon? https://www.seti.org/news/the-wow-signal-a-lingering-mystery-or-anatural-phenomenon/ Sheposh, R. (n.d.). Multiverse (meta-universe). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/multiverse Sutter, P. (2021, August 23). What is multiverse theory? Do we live in a multiverse? Maybe, maybe not. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/multiverse Tierney, J. (n.d.). Saturn’s hexagon: The plot thickens. The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/saturnshexagon-the-plot-thickens/ Wikipedia. (2004, November 25). Wow! signal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal