Did the universe really start with a big bang?

Answer 1

sweet! I'm #30. I'm glad I didn't have to start a new page on this question

the big bang is only a theory. Its works mathematically until we look at the expansion or crunch of the universe.

sting theory has a solution to that. Its called a cyclic universe.
where big bangs happen all the time, only on a layer of our dimension, that we cannot see.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1953244.stm

The big bang might have come from other dimensionial containers called branes crashing into each other like ripples on two lakes all within the 10th dimension.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4183875433858020781&q=parrelell+universes&total=1029&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

lets make one of our own universe to see. just make sure you bring a magnetic monopole. we've been needing that for this experiment.
once the new universe is created it should immediatly be seperated off into its own universe, like ours was.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg19125591.500-create-your-own-universe.html

(I think this monopole could be within blackholes.)
We're not really sure what is happening in there on a quantum level.
matter and time and other dimensions are could be squished together in blackholes, ripping into the 10th where they can collide again. once they do they spilt off again.

just like a wormhole would due to its violation in the laws of thermodynamics.

the result would be called a white hole. still a disputed theory though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hole

Answer 2

No one knows. That's why it's called the Big Bang THEORY. Mathematically, it seems to work - at least for the portion of the universe that we can currently detect. However, it is far from proven, and new ideas and theories are constantly being tested. And since those new theories are being disproved (so far), the Big Bang Theory is still the best that scientists can come up with that explains most - but not yet all - of what we know about the beginnings of the observable universe.

However, there are some situations that still aren't explained completely by this theory, so we know that some of the details may be wrong, or possibly our understanding of the universe may be flawed in some way. Take dark matter and dark energy. These were discovered by the very fact that the universe didn't fit completely into the theory. Then scientists mathematically showed that they fit well into the equations - in fact, they explained a number of other discrepancies (that they weren't even trying to work on at that time) that were also puzzling the astronomical community.

In a nutshell: we think it may be correct, or at least on the right track, but we can't be certain. However, nothing else can currently stand up to testing the way this theory has, so it's as good as it gets for the moment. Tomorrow, who knows?

Good luck!

Answer 3

If you watched a film of a horse race (never knowing they raced) in reverse you might guess that they all started at a starting gait of some sort. It is known that (most of) the universe is expanding in every direction as evidenced by the red shift of the Doppler effect. The reverse of expansion (that we can imagine) would be contraction and the limit of contraction is a single point. A single point could start an expansion as a Big Bang. Logic says that the universe started from a single point (singularity) in a Big Bang.

It is known that singularities do exist in the universe at the centers of massive black holes where the density is infinite and all the laws of physics likely break down. Therefore initiating the universe from a singularity is not all that far fetched.

The Big Question is what preceded the Big Bang?

Answer 4

A lot of evidence points to a big bang. The microwave background radiation that exists in the universe has been measured and calculated to be the proper temperature if the universe started from a singularity some 12 to 15 billion years ago and then cooled. Those findings have recently been supported through the use of string theory.

Answer 5

I don't know if anyone has tried this experiment yet......there must be a way to measure the curvature of space-time with the aid of Einstein's equations. We could perhaps do the same experiments at different times and see if the curvature of space time has flattened out. That would be consistent with an expanding universe and provide support for the big bang theory.

Answer 6

Good question. I wonder what was here before there was a big bang? What went bang? Who set it all in motion? How far does the universe extend, and if it ends, what's next to it? Water, Water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!

Answer 7

the big bang was not an explosion, but the release of a huge volume of matter. einsteins E=MC^2 equation tells us the equivilent amount of energy for a given mass. so if we re-arrange it, Mass (stuff in universe)=E/C^2. What i want to know, is that if there was nothing, and then the big bang occured, where did the energy come from in the beginning?

Answer 8

All evidence points that way...

Backgruond radiation,
Galaxies moving apart which can be drawn back to a single point
Existence of helium atoms in stars needed from an event as the Big Bang

Answer 9

I wonder just what "science" Aussie Bloke has been a "buff" of if he thinks that "no-one knows" how the universe came about. Utter tosh, I'm afraid.

The Big Bang Theory has been proven correct beyond reasonable doubt. Any physicist or astronomer worthy of the name will tell you that without hesitation.

Answer 10

We don't know. It happened a long time ago and no-one was around to record it.

The universe is expanding. If we examine what we can see, it appears to be moving away from a central point. Current thinking is that this central point is where it all came from in a single explosion.

In the 1950s, Professor Fred Hoyles preferred the "Continuous creation" theory where matter came into existence and passed out of existence continuously at random. He thought the alternative idea of a single explosion was so ridiculous, he called it the Bing Bang Theory - and the name stuck.

There will be new theories. All we can be sure of is that in 100 years time our present ideas will be thought of as quaint superstition.