Chapter 1 - Baby Pictures of the Universe

Since the beginning of human existence, we have pondered whether or not the universe is timeless or has a beginning or end. In different cultures, you’ll find different answers. Scientifically, we have found that there was beginning, but when did this beginning happen?

Scientists have been studying a new satellite known as the WMAP or the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe. This satellite was launched in 2001 and can paint a detailed picture of the universe when it was 380,000 years old. (Comparing the universe to an 80 year-old man, this detailed picture would show the man as a newborn less than a day old.) The WMAP can detect the radiation emitted from the original fireball that created the universe. This map measured the age of the universe to be about 13.7 billion years old and that the temperature of the universe was between 2.7249 and 2.7251degrees Kelvin.

When the Big bang originally happened, the universe had a great period of inflation. Now, scientists predict that within a fraction of a second, the universe is expanding by a factor 1050. But, what caused this inflation? It is not yet discovered what caused it, but Russian physicist has proposed that whatever caused the inflation then could still be at work randomly causing other regions of the universe to expand.

According to this theory, a part of the universe will “bud” creating a “daughter” parallel universe which will in turn bud and create another daughter universe. This theory could mean that our universe could simply be the daughter universe of another universe.

So, if our universe was simply a daughter of another universe, the chances of life in other universes are relatively high. And so, the next question is proposed: will we ever be able to leave our own universe, and how can we do this?