Astronomy questions from kids, Part 5 (last one!)

[aliciaten]

as a question of science not of christianity even though i am a christian how did this happen if there was no time or space there was no way for this to happen and what if you went outside space where it is still expanding?

[hznfrst]

@99thmonkee How about you read a book about it, monkee man?

[hznfrst]

Great stuff! I have a bachelor's degree in astronomy and got sidetracked into computers, but still follow it because I got hooked at a young age and am constantly amazed at the progress being made all the time. That, physics and cosmology are where it's at!

[osity]

I'm a grown adult and i found your video to be very inspiring! :)

[charronfamilyconnect]

Hey Phil, I heard from Nassim Haramein that we are spiralling along in a path towards the sun or following the sun through space and time, and that we are not actually returning to the same orbital path like on a record player. Is this true??

[Ruudsosalsa]

But if the earth is 6013 (today!) years old, how can this be true? :P

[prophetsluva1]

wow!! those 6th graders asked some really difficult and intelligent questions!

[BabyGirlxBina]

Thank you for postinng a video for everyone who wants to learn. I absolutely agree with you about the excitment and beauty of science!

[ILIPU]

OMYGOSH why couldn't I explain like that to my 15 year old student today?

[lobnasameer]

I think we are acutally wasting time studying how the universe was created, what's the importance of that anyway? I'm talking about NASA and scientists and so on

but thx for your video it's very onformative

[Ripley747]

wha..? Among other things if we know how it starts, we can predict what will happen in the end. Furthermore, if we figure out the secrets of the big bang, we can understand what forms a universe (we could create our own). It might lead to Michio Kaku's "theory of everything." We might be able to explain things like dark matter and black holes. I'm not even going to mention man's natural curiosty. How can that possibly be a waste of time? Use your imagination. It might even make humans immortal.

[selraith123]

@lobnasameer because if we want to know how the universe works, how the stuff works and behaves (one of the most basic human instincts, curiosity) we have to know how it was created so we fully understand it.

[hannigan06]

The Universe is finite=not infinite. It only expands so far until it is retracted back in. 3,000 galaxies. Each has a black whole. Soon all small galaxies with be swallowed by larger ones. Such as Milky way Galaxy has done to the M64 I think it is. Until only super galaxies are left. Such as 5 billion yrs in the future the Andromeda and our own with absorb the other. Until there is just 1 super massive galaxy. That will be gulped up my the Super Massive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

[hannigan06]

And with no sign of life any were in the Universe. Time will end until again there is another Big Bang. Cause time is only relevant to living things. So if nothing is alive in the Universe time is no relevance. The whole if a tree falls down and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound no. Why because nothing is there to pick up the noise. A void emptiness the black that is in the distance of the light hovering over our heads.

The Universe gave rise to man in the form of meteorites.

[krrrruptidsoless]

Space has always been. And space is endless. The universe started with absolutely nothing in it. And when has science ever admitted to be wrong. They would lose their oh so praised monkey man theory. Animals made us this time.  And the times before who knows. Other planets have had life but are now dormant. Just like earth will become dormant again. But life will spring forth as always. And someone else will be wrong leading the next life forms to doom.

[Ripley747]

@krrrruptidsoless "And when has science ever admitted to be wrong (sic)." Um...Steady State Universe Model. Lamarckian evolution. Alchemy. Bohr model of an atom. Geocentricism. Black holes (which aren't totally black). Cumbustion of stars like burning hydrogen (pre-fusion). TBA even explained some like planet X and Vulcan. Newtonian physics. Relativity. Quantum Mechanics. Thomas Edison's light bulb (the failed attempts). Darwin's model of evo. All that only off the top of my head. U serious?

[krrrruptidsoless]

I believe the galaxies and the universe grew slowly. Just like life grows slowly.

There had to be a lot of death to get all this dirt in the universe. So alot of things had to die. Therefore a very slow growth.

[binladencansukmy]

if the galaxies move apart from from time, then thousands of years ago, maybe a galaxy that contained suprior aliens were actually really close b4 but now they r very far away

[Matuxmatux]

Great video!

[nthn007]

so what was before the big bang? a big white room that never ends?

[archiemedes42]

@nthn007 No.... since, as I believe he said, there was no time before the Big Bang. Time began at the Big Bang. It makes no sense to ask what was "before" the Big Bang, just like it wouldn't make any sense to ask what is North of the North Pole.

The Big Bang was the beginning of time and space. There was nothing "before" it. (There is no such thing as "before" it anyway.) In this context, the 'nothing' is a nothingness that is incomprehensible to us.

[dudearanamie]

...you just wrinkled my brain.

It's hard to think of a time without time.

[enndroc]

impossible, there is no way that all of that matter could fit into one spot even at its most compressed state.

[BboyWorthington]

Nice vid! Thanks.

[rozz2656]

i belive in big bang AND god but like how could it juts explode with nothing but i belive in science and god so dont reply with a dumb athiest reply by being an ass

[BboyWorthington]

@rozz2656 Well, I think scientists are doing alot of good work trying to answer that question, e.g. the Large Hadron Collider. To say that "it exploded from nothing" is a phrase used to get you as close as possible to understanding what the scientist know about the big bang without having to sit you down in lectures for 20 years.

Cool thing is that if you did study it and read it etc, you could follow the logic and test it yourself, today.

[rozz2656]

exploded from nothing but like how is that possible wouldnt something have to have caused the explosion thats why i belive god made that lol

[Ripley747]

@rozz2656 Theoretical physicists are working on that very question. It turns out it IS possible. There is a video of Lawrence Krauss called "A universe from nothing" that explains it. It's a long video, but highly recommended. And before you ask, the answer is no - the BBT does NOT disprove the existence of God. That's the great thing about philosophy. It can be totally independent of science. Some of the greatest scientists were all theists. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[rozz2656]

@Ripley747 but there is a possiblity of god..or did u say that haha i didnt really get what u said haha sory

[Ripley747]

@rozz2656 I didn't say that directly, but I implied it. Sure, it might have been God. It could also have come from nothing (turns out it is possible) but even if it were proven conclusively, it doesn't disprove God. That's all I was saying. There you go:).

[rozz2656]

@Ripley747 haha sorry now i get it i just couldnt find the comment i wrote and god could have made the big bang too? yea well what ever i dont care anymore haha

[Epistemofo]

So great, really. I know I'm gushing, but... Awesome. One question: In part 4 you mentioned that our galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy in a billion years. I take it that's pretty much the endgame? I mean, I have previously heard estimates which put the earth's natural lifespan at approximately another 5 billion years; is this model just not taking galaxy collision into account? Nice to know how long we have left! Thanks again... Peace.

[mattrix2007]

does the galactic plane exist, do we pass through the centre of it every so many thousand of years, and if so, what would the affects be on our planet?

[Martymer81]

Uh... Yeah, the galaxy looks sort of like a fried egg if you look at it from the side. Except for the core, it's pretty thin, and can be approximated as a plane.

Do we pass through the center? No. We orbit the center at a distance of about 30,000 light years, IIRC. If we *did* go through the core... Well, the stars are packed up pretty close together there, so we'd probably be ripped out of solar orbit by their gravity and either freeze or fry. Basically, it would be bad.

[enndroc]

@Martymer81 if an object has more then two dimensions it can not exist as a plane, not even approximated.

[Martymer81]

Actually, yes it can be approximated as a plane by simply ignoring one dimension. It all comes down to whether it's appropriate to do so. In physics, we always build mathematical models. If one dimension is small relative to the others, or isn't relevant to the problem we're working with, a 3D object can easily be approximated as a 2D object (or a 1D or even 0D object -- it all comes down to how accurate we want/need the model to be).

[zxaviusLOL]

NO IT DOSNT!

[mattrix2007]

to zxaviusLOL. and what the fuk would you know? a 20yr old from sweden, keep your stupid comments to yourself, you fukin retard.

[Jazzywho86]

Why are people on here trying to correct others??? No one really knows what really happened these are theories...Theory's are valid until proven wrong

[PandaLord13]

so basically we used to be smaller then a little Particle so we used to be microsopic if the big bang started from a little particle? hang on what if an atom exploded in space cuz maybe it got split in half?

[didjabringadidjalong]

split the atom = A-bomb technology... btw, happens out in space all the time.

And the Big Bang Singularity isn't a particle, like an atom, not even in size. The singularity IS spacetime. It has no size, as there's nothing to relate that size to.

[PandaLord13]

thanks i learnt stuff from that thank u :)

[neestle]

You are confusing theory with hypothesis. A theory is a model of reality, and can be either confirmed, disproven, or supplanted by a modified theory or one proven to be a superior model of reality.

Which theory of gravity? Newton's Law of Universal Gravitaion? The Theory of Quantum Gravity? Einsteinian relatavistic theory of gravity involving warped spacetime? All are formal theory, two of them confirmed and reliable models of reality, one of them a viable but unconfirmed model.

[billythewill67]

@neestle: Hey there! I was just wondering: if a theory is a model of "reality", then how can it be disproven if it is, in fact, actual reality? I'm sorry that I can't find a better way to present my question.

I hope you can find time to answer me. Thanks a lot in advance.

[neestle]

@billythewill67 If a theory is an accurate model that describes something true and universal about how things work, then it won't be disproven. It may be supplanted by one of more detail or descriptive power.

We should also keep in mind that a theory is useful only so far as it works. There is no "gravitational force" a la Newton, it's an inherent property of bent space, not a force like magnetism. It's just a useful shorthand for something real.

[sarkerm2]

the more we do it = the better we get it at (noted) lol if you know what he means... jk

[mattrix2007]

we used to think the world was flat, and that was the leading edge in science at that time, until we knew different. science will always explain everything logically.But, As long as time continues, we will always be updating our "theories". (And thats just what they ALL are, theories. nothing is proven, all suposition.) When people start these explanations, i wish they would say, " This is the most logical theory but we dont know for sure), instead of talking like its a known fact.

[YellowNumberFive]

Yes, like the theory of gravity needs a disclaimer. It is pretty clear you don't understand what the word theory means in the scientific vernacular.

[Yakzur]

The term "theory" is a model of reality. "Theory" is not used in science as it is in typical everyday vernacular.

The earth being flat was NOT the frontier of science, considering scientists and philosophers of the time often perceived the earth as round. it was ACTUALLY the frontier of religion and people's presuppositions without measurement.

Updating theories doesn't mean they're any less valid, it just means that there was more that needed explaining.

[fenaocha]

Well, technically Christans more believe that God made the Universe.

[superjeff14]

well yes but the question that combines theology and science is "how?" How did god make the universe? how did god form life? When i still believed in god these were the kinds of questions i would ask to support the contradictions because i realized that the bible was just a book.

[mtanti87]

I worry about the way you described what a theory is since there are creationists about.

[poland1230]

What if there was a force beyond space stretching everything outwards and space just appears to have been formed by an explosion.

[mobby32]

the force stretching it out is dark matter but i do agree with you

[carvertkd]

No, dark matter is the unknown "stuff" that exerts a gravitational effect that we can observe. Dark energy is the unknown force that is expanding the universe faster then would be otherwise predicted.

[whiteboyjimmy20]

physicists cant really mathematically go be on the big bang to ever solve this conundrum can they?

[YellowNumberFive]

That's exactly what they are trying to do now. Never say never. Scientists have discovered gobs of things they were "never" supposed to be able to figure out.

[caste2510]

where do u guys think that minute small particle that exploded in the big bang come from? dont say god... thx

[sandydevlin]

That's literally a billion-dollar question. Whoever comes up with even a somewhat plausible answer for your question gets a nobel prize - seriously - lots of scientists are looking for it. You really can't think of the "big bang" as an explosion either. The current model says that it's more like a balloon inflating REALLY quickly. Also, our "balloon" universe didn't expand to fill a "nothing" around it - there was no "nothing" around it - that small particle WAS the universe ... trippy, hey?

[YellowNumberFive]

Why did it have to "come" from anywhere? We know that matter-energy is conserved, why shouldn't that basic law extend beyond the big bang?

[blues260]

i wish i had a teacher like him in school :) when you listen to him you really can hear his love for astronomy and science.

and he is right about everything he said. sice i explored space with my telescope when i was a kid.. well.. i became kind of addicted to it :) and i still am.

our universe is just fantastic and beautiful far beyond imagination :)

[waldoman7]

the big bang is the best guess that a race of tiny-brained bipeds managed to come up with based on an obscenely small amount of knoledge about the universe.

Could it be true? sure. It's just ridiculous to act like it's a proven fact, as most people seem too.

[marcpreston1]

my theory of life is that we will all look like each other, think like each other but we will not do like each other. you speak of a time where we where all at our smallest point in space which means we must have all came from the same region of space and as it has expanded we have gradually moved away from each other.

[Sarax18]

Ah something more: Taraalcar (sorry if I misspelled your user account) well you kinda contradict yourself because you dont agree with scientific definition of the Universe and you tell them they should know a bit more about religious conception, but later you say you dont know about the scientific conception of Universe (well, it doesn't balance)well we kinda have to respect the "philosophy" of ppl around you (don't meant to offend anyone)

[Sarax18]

omg, you left me without a word: not because of the explanation, just because of the definition of a scientific, because we, as people never like to be wrong about anything, we love to be clapped and to have ppl who asseverate your arguments, but your definition of science covered like... the human perception of the world. Enhorabuena!

[JessicaTG2008]

Excellant series Phil!! Very informative... and not just for kids! LOL I am a backyard astronomer who's 4?..3?.. Well, I have been out of school a while and I learned alot too.

Thanx and keep up the good work!!

[OmarF1]

Loved the finale about Science, keep the good work mate, your videos are very illustrative.

[ZeromusIV]

aaww.. :)

[sebita4]

you explain very well.Great video =)

[Zodiac6594]

Do you think Nibiru will destroy the earth?

[allaboutrandom]

see kids this is why there are missinaries...

[trendgil]

probably there was an explosion.. but not the one that created the universe as we know it... we are probably the outcome of a much smaller sized explosion as compared to the one that actually cause the "unable to be seen part of the universe" (which i assume is more vast then what we are even capable of thinking, anyone with me on that one??? hopefully i made sense.. if not, i at least know and feel comfortable thinking of alternative beginings... (whom are as plausible as the "big bang theory")

[trendgil]

sorry.. i couldnt get half way before i had to comment so here it is... ok.. so im all for "the big bang" BUT!!!!!

what if wea re wrong int eh sense that the reason why we think galaxies are moving away is not because the universe is expanding but just shifting.. and to our eyes it seems at if it is getting larger... my question is.. tot he galaxies that we dont see.. not even with the most powerful of telescopes.. how sure are we that there wasnt space before??? probably there was.. but...

[frankieboi82]

ok, so its you're theory against the smartest minds on the planet who spend lifetimes studying the universe, i dont really understand what you're trying to say about this subject but at the end of the day the big bang is a "theory" so who knows really? peace.

[dangerouswhenwet4]

Don't say ' "theory" ', that's what people ignorant of the scientific method say. "It's just a theory". A Theory is a hypothesis (scientific word for what the lay-person would refer to as a theory as Phil says) that has withstood the test of time and through scrutiny is accepted as the best explanation by the relevant experts. Please, it's intellectually dishonest to say something like "it's just a theory".

[frankieboi82]

this comment was meant for trendgil, dont know why it's gone to the top lol! just wasted 10 minutes writing a rant then noticed you were not the right person, please see his comment then mine, then put the claws away.

[KamratSvenneryd]

This was a great set of videos, everything explained in basic terms so even elementary student can comprehend it. :)

[indridcold1311]

I think it's neat to have the president of JREF be this hardcore about science.

[kablamo9999]

Great videos!

[IVFADE2BLACKVI]

Great videos! i watched parts 1 through 5 and you do a great job of telling astronomy in a fun way.

[gul11and]

i study solar systems and i got a really powerfull telescope you think ill be a astornomy or a sciencetest

[mstoons]

It's hard to understand. Someone earlier said how can something come from nothing, which is what I always thought. Or if I can reword it, why did the big bang happen? I don't like the God answer, because there's always that, "well if god created the universe, then who created God, and so on".. There must be something else to it.

[mrvez]

(2)Can the phenomenon of galaxies moving further away from us-thus proof the universe is expanding- be explained by an unobserved, GIGANTIC mass somewhere else in the universe causing other bodies to be thus attracted? i am really curious if these questions have already been explored and what the answers are. thanks!

[riorio23]

I was thinking the exact same thing. The observation that the universe is expanding is fairly recent so the science behind it is hardly solidified.

If I were to observe a balloon being pooped from an atom within the balloon I would also observe the universe expanding, and could come to the same conclusion that the universe is expanding. We are observing a very tiny portion of the universe over a very short time.

[mrvez]

(1) since we can observe space expanding-galaxies moving farther away- and can use that information to "reverse the clock" to determine the approximate age of the universe; have we determined the "center of the universe? Is there a geographical(?)location that the regression actually points to as the location where the big bang originated started?

[mrvez]

This is so great, Phil. Having science explained in terms an elementary student would understand, makes it that much easier for me to comprehend as well.And may i ask two questions?  maybe they'll inspire a video response to this video?!

[KGSProductions]

MORE!

(Please?)

[IFishyI]

noone cares.. this is life buddy, as long as we live, noone gives a shit, i mean look at the earths polutions/ lack of forests / garbage ect..

-Da Fish ☻

[Musicismylife83]

Great video! You nailed the explanation of what science really is.

[faroreswind]

You should get paid for these :o

[Islandfad]

But does that mean that something came from nothing (before the big bang)? And what is the universe expanding into? Every time I ask people just say it's a bull$*% question.

[Chaosblade777]

It's not that there wasn't anything there before the Big Bang, it's that there was no nothing for anything to be in. The Big Bang was literally an explosion of space.

So as space expands, it creates more space as it goes, not fills some sort of larger emptiness.

[ELX222]

very informative mate, watched a few of your vids - love the LHC one, would love to get in there and look around!

[watto86]

Maybe galaxies are just moving away because ours smells of feet or something? lol jk

[wesnile12]

OMG!!! If I hear ONE MORE FREAKING PERSON talk about "God" and all of that horse shit, I'm gonna fucking break something!!!

[ScrewAttackChina]

Why?

[wesnile12]

Because, whenever someone has a discussion on the comment boxes, it is ALWAYS the person who BELIEVES in "God" that tries to force it on others. Im summing this up by saying, the people who are trying to describe their beliefs, as in they dont believe in god, are respectfull to others beliefs. BUT, when the person who believes in god writes, they always say, "God is real", "the bible is always write and you are wrong". Its just that they try to force yhat their beliefs are alwats the right ones.

[watto86]

I'm atheist, and I see what you're saying. But not all atheists/non believers are as respectful as we'd like to think. There are a lot out there who are just obnoxious and smug. But yes, at least they don't set up institutions trying to convert people and get them into education. Unless you want to count schools, colleges, universities, laboratories, etc. :P

[SaintInferno]

nor did they go out killing every one that thought differently

[Taraalcar]

Hey man, calm down. Read my above post.

[mazack00]

Please don't bring God into a conversation about science.

[ScrewAttackChina]

Dear Mazack00,

Please accept my apologies for bringing up God into the comment section for this video. I am aware everyone has different beliefs and I will honor the spirit of this video by refraining from posting religious comments.

Sincerely,

Breezy

[TheMeeble]

Thank you

[Taraalcar]

There is nothing wrong with saying GOD CREATED THE BIG BANG.

God and science DON'T contradict each other! I believe in God but I have no trouble believing in science.

[CENSOREDFORSEX]

How old do you think the universe is? Do you believe in evolution? Science relies on evidence, and a book from thousands of years ago is NOT evidence.

[Taraalcar]

I don't know about the universe, but the earth is about 4,500,000,000 years old.

I'm a bit torn on evolution, but i believe it doesn't really matter if it's true or not.

The Bible was never meant to be a scientific document to answer scientific questions. Using scientific reasoning to either prove or disprove the existence of God is ultimately futile.

And much of the old testament is metaphorical. For example "God created the universe in 7 days" doesn't have to mean 7 24-hour periods.

[CENSOREDFORSEX]

What is the old testament a metphor of? All it is is god killing a bunch of people. And are you saying that god has a different meaning of the word day then us? And what about all of the stuff in the new testament that is grossly immoral and unscientific.

Science is reality, if it isn't science it's not real.

[Taraalcar]

Oh wow. I REALLY hope you were joking when you wrote that. Have you ever even read the Bible, or any other religious book for that matter? Do you even know a thing about religion?

I'll start with the meaning of 'day.' The Bible was not written in English originally. Things get lost in translation. So yes, whatever the original word was, and whatever it meant to God, was by no means necessarily the exact same as our english word 'day.'

Reply back via PM, to avoid cluttering things up here.

[mightyling]

also.. you didn't rly tell the meaning of 'day.' a day is how long it takes for a mass to complete a rotation... if the earth were to be slowed to half its speed, a day would then be 48 hours long. if they said that the universe was created in 7 days, I would think 'wtf' because if there's no universe yet, there's no day, there is no time, etc. etc. just a though

[mightyling]

everything, ultimately, is futile

[Giezer1984]

This was very interesting, its a shame half of the american people still don't even believe that DNA exits although the police uses it all the time.

I'm 23 year's old but I learned of interesting things today becease of you're videos. I liked the part in the end the most. thanks

[ThePhascolarctos]

Your passion about science is heartwarming. I feel along. :D

[Jprotevi]

(Sorry, I sort of ran out of space on my last post)

So the big bang is the explanation for how the singularity produced the ever-growing space all around us. As Phil said in the video: in the big bang, space literally exploded; in it, space began to expand and is continually growing.

[Aurini]

That was a beautifully impassioned speech you gave towards the end of the video. Well done.

[Jprotevi]

I should also add that the big bang is not an event. Events occur in a space-time context and require a cause. However, neither the singularity nor the big bang can be placed in a space-time context, so the notion that the big bang is an event that requires a cause is the wrong way to think about the issue.

[deconstrained]

Nicely done, Phil. These five videos were a great inspiration! I gave a presentation to some 6th/7th graders recently about the scale of the universe and methods of measuring distances in space. The first two of these videos of yours (which I watched first) were a very good example of the pedagogy and enthusiasm that teaching this stuff requires. I don't know whether they grasped the concept of the inverse square law, but they apparently liked my presentation!

[idontbelievereligion]

absolutely brilliant as usual.

[nickolas177]

And who created that spot that resulted in big bang later??

[Jprotevi]

The singularity that produced the big bang, as we understand it, couldn't have a cause. The idea is that causality didn't come into existence until after the big bang, so it's wrong to try to place the big bang singularity in the consequent of a causal relationship.

[nickolas177]

Excuse me but what the hell??????

[Jprotevi]

The question "what caused the big bang singularity?" is illegitimate, since physical laws like causality didn't come into existence until after the big bang.

[nickolas177]

really funny point of view. Scientists are trying to say God does not exist and creatures created each others but now you are saying that causality didn't exist before big bang?? So, where that small point comes from??? How creats it. If it is created by itself where do the ingeredients and contents of that point comes from. If you follow it you will find out that everything has a creator or creators.

[Jprotevi]

You've missed the point again. The whole notion of "before" doesn't apply the singularity because time didn't exist after the big bang. Moreover, the notion that everything has a creator is based on our limited expeirence of things in the universe, but the notion doesn't apply to the universe itself. Certianly, individual things in the universe, e.g. chairs, houses, trees, etc. had to come from something; but the same doesn't apply to the singularity.

[nickolas177]

man I'm not talking about time and hour I'm not talking about any physical aspects of time, I'm talking about NOW, PAST, FUTURE. I think you want to say there was no Now, Past , and future. What it was then??

[Aurini]

What is zero? Seriously, what is it? Think on it long enough, and maybe you'll be the next bodhisattva - or maybe you'll realize that there is no answer, and the question doesn't make sense.

[nickolas177]

In terms of math and numbers it means the middlest number between negative and positives. what are you trying to say??

[Aurini]

Are you intentionally being thick, or are we wasting our time trying to explain this to you? You can't "have" "nothing." There was no "before" "time began."

[nickolas177]

So, do the proponents of singularity beleive in god as creator of that spot??

[Jprotevi]

The proponents don't believe in ANY creator of the singularity. It couldn't have a creator, because for a thing to be created, it has to exist in a space/time context. The singularity did not exist in a space time context. Therefore, it could not have a creator.

[nickolas177]

so what is or was singularity then?? Could come up with a reasonable theory if you don't say because logic did not exist I can not explain it.

[Jprotevi]

I'm not sure what you're asking in your second sentence. But I'll try to briefly explain what the singularity is; it's an extrapolation made from our observations of the ever-expanding universe around us. In the singularity, the universe was concentrated at a timeless and spatially zero-dimensional point. About 13.7 billion years ago, space itself began to expand and this is what we mean by the big bang.

[nickolas177]

thanks alot for your information buddy. I think I need to do more research on it.

[Jprotevi]

"I think you want to say there was no Now, Past, and future"

This is right. But when you ask the question "What it was then?" you've misunderstood something. Remember, the concept of time can't be applied to the singularity, since doesn't exist in any kind of time. You have to keep in mind that time itself didn't come into existence until after the big bang. So there literally wasn't a "before the big bang," there's only an "after the big bang."

[nickolas177]

how do you believe in singularity?? Just because you can't find any starting and ending point for the world??

[Jprotevi]

The singularity is not something to believe in; rather it's an inference made on the basis of evidence. Scientists have a lot of evidence that the singularity produced our universe. All the stuff we can see in space including galaxies, stars, dust, etc. is moving out into the reaches of space. The further those things move, the faster they recede. The inference scientists draw from this is that at some point, space itself was concentrated at a single point, which is what we mean by "singularity"

[Aurini]

But that doesn't answer the question: who created the first creator? Positing an infinite regress of Godheads creating one another until the penultimate created the universe is just a silly complexification, which explains nothing. It's an anthropomorphic personification, asking "What happened before the universe?" It sounds like a reasonable question, but that's solely due to our perpective. It makes no more sense than asking "Which way is up?" while in freefall.

[HKragh]

5 great videos...!!! Very interesting, and your passionate attitude is just so damn refreshing...

[heathey2]

Very interesting

[macronencer]

BRAVO! :)

[LordSapiens]

Wow. I was smiling and nodding during all those last minutes of the video. I had to resist the impulse of applauding at the computer when it finished.

Great, just great.

You're an awesome divulgator, Phil.

[leporidus]

Yay science! Your enthusiasm is contagious, and now many of us have it too: the MEME ... of SCIENCE!

[drone1203]

Well phil good job, i think your way to explain stuff is about the same has Hubert Reeves. I look foward to read your book. ( btw i like astronomy but im an artist(in other word i suck in science even though i like to learn about it))

[shanedk]

The Big Bang Theory is a REALLY funny comedy show that EVERYBODY should watch!

(And the neighbor girl's a cutie!)

[idontbelievereligion]

...it's not that funny.

[shanedk]

Really?

"I'm a Saggitarius, which should tell you everything about me."

"Yes, it tells us that you've bought into the mass cultural delusion that the positions of the sun, moon, and planets relative to arbitrarily-defined constellations somehow determines your personality."

How is that not comedy?

[idontbelievereligion]

ok, i conceed

[royalandonyx]

I love your little thing describing science. It was nicely put. Although, the desciption of the Big Bang Theory that you gave made gave me conflict in my belief in it. I'm pretty sure that time is infinite and always has been. If not, then what possibly could have cause the Big Bang? It would probably be more practical if our universe was just one growing among many, and if there was a certain point when it would stop growing... Hmm...

[Atheistprimate]

You should check up on the Big Crunch theory, makes the Big Bang easier to think about if indeed its a cycle of Big Bangs that then collapse again into a Big Crunch that will again Big Bang again after it reaches a point.

For folks of religion think of it as God recycling the universe with time restarting with each big bang.

There are some good videos on Youtube about it.

[idontbelievereligion]

unfortuneately the big crunch theory is becomming less and less credited, looks like we are headding for a big freeze, it's a little more comforting to think of a big crunch but the numbers just dont work out.

a good book on the subject is "Bang the complete history of the universe"- by Sir Patric moore- check it out.

[Atheistprimate]

Thanks for the tip, ill look that book up on Amazon later today.

[CousinoMacul]

Great series!

[rowanofrin1]

Fantastic Phil. I can really see how impassioned you get about scientific thinking, and it makes me happy, because a lot of people around me including my family view my skeptical view as a bad thing, labeling me as 'conservative' or argumentative, just because I wont accept something such as homeopathy etc at face value. I hope one day I can be as great a scientist as you are, I think I have the passion down pat, now for the school!

[MichaelJG9]

Great great job on the five part series Phil. Its good to see that you can make intricate scientific questions easy to understand.