Multiverse gets real with glimpse of ripples

A Nobel prize on the way for someone if confirmed. "If inflation is there, the multiverse is there," said Andrei Linde of Stanford University in California.

Wave hello to the multiverse? Ripples in the very fabric of the cosmos, unveiled this week, are allowing us to peer further back in time than anyone thought possible, showing us what was happening in the first slivers of a second after the big bang. The discovery of these primordial waves could solidify the idea that our young universe went through a rapid growth spurt called inflation. And that theory is linked to the idea that the universe is constantly giving birth to smaller "pocket" universes within an ever-expanding multiverse. The waves in question are called gravitational waves, and they appear in Einstein's highly successful theory of general relativity (see "A surfer's guide to gravitational waves"). On 17 March, scientists working with the BICEP2 telescope in Antarctica announced the first indirect detection of primordial gravitational waves. This version of the ripples was predicted to be visible in maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the earliest light emitted in the universe, roughly 380,000 years after the big bang. Repulsive gravity The BICEP2 team had spent three years analysing CMB data, looking for a distinctive curling pattern called B-mode polarisation. These swirls indicate that the light of the CMB has been twisted, or polarised, into specific curling alignments. In two papers published online on the BICEP project website, the team said they have high confidence the B-mode pattern is there, and that they can rule out alternative explanations such as dust in our own galaxy, distortions caused by the gravity of other galaxies and errors introduced by the telescope itself. That suggests the swirls could have been left only by the very first gravitational waves being stretched out by inflation.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25249-multiverse-gets-real-with-glimpse-of-big-bang-ripples.html#.UzKZ0U1OW1s

The question that really intrigues me is what was there before the Big Bang? Time, matter, energy, light, anything?

According to M-Theory, higher dimensional space.

An infinite number of bubble universes floating in higher dimensional space.

Of if you don't believe in such things, it becomes a meaningless question, because time, space, everything was created at the moment of the big bang. In this scenario there would have been absolute nothingness before, in fact there was no before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-theory

Your question reminded me of the answer Ken Campbell got when he asked your question to the then head of CERN.  A beautiful answer.  "Fields with a potentiality to be excited"

Hi Geoff, All good here, hope you guys are well. So who made GD? 

Mmm, contraction seems to have been ruled out.  No Nobel Prize for you Sir,

Dark energy Geoff.

The universe is actually not just expanding, but accelerating. Dark energy is hypothesised to permeate all of space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy

Essentially, rather than a big crunch, the universe will continue to expand until it's a very dark place. At which time any civilisation intelligent enough to observe the cosmos, will have no evidence at all that there are stars, planets, and possibly other life forms, they truly will believe they are alone. So we are very lucky to be around now, at a time when we truly can observe the wonders of the cosmos.

In answer to your god question, Mark is totally wrong. There was god, and prior to that a super god that created the reality that god could exist in. Prior to that there was hyper god, super hyper god, super mega hyper god and on and on... until we get to Q from Star Trek.

mark.hudson6 wrote: Hi Geoff, Your question reminded me of the answer Ken Campbell got when he asked your question to the then head of CERN.  A beautiful answer.  "Fields with a potentiality to be excited" It's here at 42 mins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h80C6Ovv1M0 The other 2 shows of the series 'Reality on the Rocks' is well worth a watch too. Regards, M.

Mark, that was great, enjoyed it very much.

Hope you're watching Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmos mark!

I must admit, I wasn't that well informed regarding Giordano Bruno. Incredible to think that this man actually dreamt that the Earth revolved around the sun and that the stars were other suns like ours, with planets orbiting them, some with life. He went way, way further than even the then controversial Copernican model.

He still believed in god, and was effectively claiming god was far more magnificent than the religious community had envisaged... and yes, they burnt him at the stake for his trouble.

Despite having absolutely no evidence for his claims... he was right!

Have only caught episode one so far, have two recorded.

I bet you missed the ISS orbit with Dermot O'Leary didn't you?

[QUOTE=mark.hudson6] Yes and No   We put it on but lasted about 5 mins before we couldn't take it anymore.  Was was it meant to be?  X Factor meets Stargazing Live?  Nasty telly . [/QUOTe

I agree Mark, I tried watching these progs but found Dermont O Dreary simplistic and somewhat patronising. Where's James Burke when you need him?