About 95% of our universe consists of dark matter and dark energy, which scientists know little about, and they themselves are just a hypothesis, the full confirmation of which has yet to be found. Or not to find. And we have many other questions about the structure of the universe, for example, what was before it and whether there are limits to outer space? In a word, there are more questions than answers.
1. What was before the Big Bang?
"Nothing existed," - that was the opinion of the great Stephen Hawking. According to the scientist, before the Big Bang, which occurred 13.8 billion years ago, our universe was nothing ... nothing: there was no matter, no time, no space. To imagine "nothing" is, of course, difficult, because it means that there was no color, no light, no emptiness, however, according to the scientist, this word best determines what was before the appearance of the universe.
However, there is another theory that states that before the "our" universe there were two others, "collapsing" among themselves and forming the world that we know. In addition, there is a hypothesis that today has practically no supporters, arguing that the universe has always existed and will never die.
2. Will there be a big contraction?
According to the theory of the Great Compression, or, as it is also called, the Big Cotton, after a while our universe will stop expanding and begin the reverse process, as a result of which it will return to the singularity, that is, to the same state as it was before the Big Bang .
Modern research suggests that the rate of expansion of the universe does not decrease (which is necessary to start the countdown at the time of "collapse"), but, on the contrary, it increases. Therefore, such an end of the universe is not yet theoretically threatened. But, on the other hand, the mysterious dark energy, which makes up about 68% of the entire space, at any moment can present a surprise in the form of a sharp slowdown of the expansion, which will be the first step to the beginning of the end.
3. What does dark matter consist of and what is dark energy?
According to scientists, about 95.1% of our universe consists of dark matter and dark energy: the first accounts for 26.8%, the second - 68.3%. The hypothesis of the presence of dark matter was derived back in 1922, when the British scientist D. Jeans and his Dutch counterpart J. Kaptein first used the term in their work, suggesting that most of the substance filling the universe is invisible.
Despite the fact that science has advanced in the last century, dark matter remains a purely theory. Although its existence is confirmed by calculations, scientists still do not have accurate data on the composition of this mysterious "substance".
4. What if our universe is just a simulation?
Perhaps this is one of the most disturbing ideas of modern science. In addition, Ilon Mask, for example, believes that it would be better for humanity if we were actually created by people of the future or an alien race as a giant simulation.
In 2006, Professor Seth Lloyd published a well-accepted book in the scientific world, "Programming the Universe", which says that our universe is a giant quantum computer, and atoms and electrons are nothing but bits of information. It seems surprising that well-known scientists seriously consider such scenarios, but remembering that even Einstein's theory of relativity does not exclude time travel, they cease to be so fantastic.
5. What if there are no black holes?
In 2015, Stephen Hawking solved the main "problem" of black holes: for a long time it was believed that information falling into black holes disappears forever and without a trace, which contradicted some of the postulates of quantum mechanics, arguing that no information can disappear without a trace. The scientist suggested that information from the "swallowed" hole of the object is stored in it in the form of a hologram. And particles leaving a hole with Hawking radiation can read data from its surface. Consequently, the information does not disappear, as black holes with quantum mechanics "reconcile".
However, in 2014, the mathematician Laura Mersini-Houghton derived mathematical proof that such structures simply can not exist. These calculations call into question not only the existence of black holes, but neither more nor less, but the very theory of the Big Bang.
The calculations carried out by Laura Mersini-Houghton disprove the very probability of the appearance of a singularity - a point with an infinitesimal size and an equally infinite density, and hence a hypothesis of the birth of our Universe, recognized by modern science.
6. What if our universe is only a part of the Multiv
We used to believe that our universe is the only and unique world, covering everything that ever existed and will exist. However, the largest modern physics scientists, such as Stephen Hawking, Brian Green, Neil Tyson, Mitio Kaku and others, believe that our "home" is just one part of a large "block" consisting of exactly the same "buildings."
The version of multiple universes enables scientists to "make friends" with contradictory physical theories: it can always be said that some work in the same Universe and others in the other. But, seriously, the theory of cosmic inflation acknowledged by science confirms the existence of many universes, although at this stage of science development it is impossible to prove their presence outside our "home".
7. If there is a boundary of the universe, then at i
Since our universe had a beginning, for which modern science takes the moment of the Big Bang, it is logical to assume that its borders should also be, even despite the constant expansion. And then the question arises: what is there, beyond it? This mystery becomes especially interesting, if we throw aside the theory of the Multiverse.
So, let's imagine that we have reached the limits of our universe, and our gaze is revealed ... no one knows what exactly. Moreover, at the moment there is no unanimity in the question of the existence of the boundaries of the Universe among scientists, but many agree that it is finite and infinite at the same time. Like this? Imagine a traveler who walks on the surface of the Earth - he will never reach its borders, but will sooner or later return to the starting point of his journey.
8. Is it true that life in the solar system originated on Earth
There are many theories of varying degrees of certainty about the origin of life on Earth. And despite the fact that intelligent life exists only on 1 of the 8 planets of the solar system, there is a version that life itself as a form of the existence of protein bodies appeared on Mars.
According to scientist Steve Brenner, at the time of the birth of life - and it happened about 3.7 billion years ago (according to other estimates - about 4.1 billion years ago) - there was not enough boron and molybdenum oxide on our planet, without which it is impossible appearance of RNA. But how did the "beginnings" of life get to Earth? The scientist claims that they were brought by meteorites from the Red Planet, which indirectly confirmed the study of the Martian "guest" found in Antarctica, which contained a boron.
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