before the big bang

[tali122]

now possibly this may have been answered elsewhere, but before the big bang there was matter that created it - where did this matter come from and what created it?

[MargeB]

There wasn't even matter until a while after the Big Bang...

[stevie21]

One theory is that with each big bang the universe expands, life evolves, the universe expands at a slower and slower rate until it stops expanding, starts contracting and coming together to create another big bang at which point time starts over again.

That way if there's a 1 in 10 million chance that the universe forming leads to life on any planet then it's just a matter of time before we exist.
Again.

[3Styler]

just on a side note, any evidence for the big bang? when scientists analyse light rays from distant stars they find that the light is progressivle towards the red end of the spectrum (the longer wavelength end) the longer wavelength shows that a doppler effect is occuring and this doppler effect is caused by things moving further away, and scientist believe that star and planets are moving away as the result of being blown away by a big bang.  all still theory though.

[janesmythe22]

Well, tali122, it hasn't been answered anywhere. It's the Holy Grail of physics, so the quest is going on...

[ianess]

God only knows.

[janesmythe22]

No, ianess, I haven't got a clue either...

[jno]

note how close this question is to 'What did God do before he created everything?' While the Steady State theory held sway (that the universe was infinite), there seemed no place for God; but some people think the Big Bang theory has just rediscovered God from a different direction. People still want to know: What was there before there was anything? No answer yet.

[fantastical]

For the first thing, if I have interpretated this entire argument correctly, with the things I understand, "life" has better than a 1 in 10 millionth chance at occuring in our expanding universe. Outside of our human subjective mentalities, not "too many" things need to take place to sprout life. (i.e. a shared relationship of elementary particles?)

Second, that is God. God is the big bang, God is energy. Everything is it, and it is everything. Did you ever notice how in many forms of religion they make a reference to "the light?" or that God "showed me the light," or "is the light of the way?" Light happens to be the most purest form of energy that we humans know of.

[fantastical]

...light it is the purest form of energy, right? - in wave or particle form.

[jake-the-peg]

3Styler

The evidence for the big bang is an awful lot stronger than just the Red shift. The point about the Red Shift is that all distant galaxies show it which means that everything is rushing away from us. Moreover using stars called cephid variables it was shown that the further a galaxy is away the faster it is receding. The only way this works is if the universe is expanding and carrying all the matter with it like currants in a cake as the cake rises. Obviously you then run this backwards and find a point of origin. The big bang.

On top of this it was calculated that if the big bang occurred we should be able to observe the leftover radiation the "echo" if you like. Indeed this was picked up in 1963 - somewhat by accident but it was almost exactly what had been predicted and is uniform in every direction and almost impossible to explain by any other  means.

Fred Hoyle was the last serious opponent to the big bang and he accepted it shortly before his death.

the big bang is only a theory in the same way that gravity is - you might wake up tomorrow to find your nose pressed to the ceiling - but I wouldn't lay odds on it.

[Clanad]

The microwave radiation referred to by jake-the-peg is detected in two similar but different ways.  One, the background "noise", observable by the static occurring on radio and TV receivers and the background "heat".  The theory predicted that a remnant of the heat prevalent in the initial stages of the Bib Bang should be observable.  This was confirmed by Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite in 1992. It detected an extremely even temperature in all quadrants of about 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero.  (Temperatures are usually expressed in K (kelvin).  This smoothness is still not understood, since, given the violent nature of the initial onset of the Big Bang and the initial inflation that occurred prior to 10^43 seconds into the event, it was expected the observable universe today would have been a great deal more lumpy...

[SuperPigeon]

Depends on what you think made the universe.

If God made the universe he simply created matter from nothing. (im agnostic, i dunno)

If it created itself then we haven't got the knowledge yet to find out how.

If another race created the universe then they must either:

1. Have the capabilities to create matter in the constraits of there universe
2. Moved some of there matter to our position in space.

[janesmythe22]

Re: light, fantastical. Now I know why Lucifer translates 'light-bearer'.

[fantastical]

Light? I said energy. Light is just the purest form of energy. Do I have to lecture to any of you...Science says that everything we know of is made of energy. I believe in some religion, but I also believe in science. To me, they are the same anyhow.

And Lucifer who? I'm simply making a logical transition in religious conceptualization from thousands of years ago to today's methods...and the fact that we have an inestimable amount of additional information/knowledge than we did when the Bible was written and so forth.

It's about a pedigogical progression of knowledge. Please don't confuse tradition with human intelligence.

p.s. there is no lucifer...his meaning has been fabricated.

[fantastical]

I can't stop but think, and your comment JANE was most stimulating. Maybe your response shouldn't be taken with such offense (and defense) but if your insinuating that this Lucifer character is known as the light-bearer, well...maybe Lucifer is real and he's also "light" (i.e. energy). Now that makes sense, because according to my mind, everything is energy, even blindly followed concepts and people's thoughts... hmmm... thoughts... waves of energy...put the two together... hmmm... it's unfortunate that we need ponder like humans, especially when we can't fathom it.

[jake-the-peg]

Energy is something too often misunderstood.

The statement that everything in the universe is made of energy is fundamentally misleading as is the statement that light is the purest form of energy.

Energy is a property of an entity - like it's colour. That entity may or may not have mass. If it has no mass (in the case of light) that does not make it "pure" in any way.

If I hear the expression "pure energy" one more time I think I'll scream.

There is no such thing as pure energy any more than there is such a thing as "pure mass" .

[fantastical]

details, details...fine then, there is no "pure" form of energy. That's aside from the point. Hey - that chair your sitting on - we can reduce every single particle of matter of which it consists down to the single substrate of energy. Hence, everything is made of energy.

Can you argue that? If yes, please do.

[jake-the-peg]

No you can't.

You can convert it to other particles with greater energy or you can convert it to electromagnetic radiation with energy.

You could also argue that you can convert enery to matter and therefore everything is made of matter

[Trillipse]

is there no grammatical filter for this stream?

[Discoman]

OK, so the red shift etc proves that everything in the universe is rushing away from us...

Was it something we said?