"Universe Formed, Reality Opens Up"
By SEAN TARJOTO
(April 11)
Cataclysmic Explosion 13 billion years ago begins the universe

	In the beginning, there was nothing, and then, everything happened.  Thirteen billion years ago the emergence of the universe occurred from an extremely dense and hot state.  The Big Bang theory, widely held by the scientific community, is a creation story of astronomical proportions, telling us that the universe was created in a single instantaneous event and has been expanding ever since.  
	The theory assumes the accuracy of two ideas. That Einstein's general theory of relativity correctly describes gravity interactions on all matter, and that the cosmological principle, which says that an observer's view of the universe does not depend on either his or her location or the direction they look. It implies that the universe has no edge, and that the big-bang did not occur in a single point in space but rather throughout all space at the same time.  
	In this simultaneous expansion all the laws of physics were formed in microscopic fractions of a second, an epoch called Planck time (named after the German physicist Max Ernst Planck), which began at 10-43.  Anything before Planck time has yet to be discovered, although some scientists hold the notion that since before 10-43 space and time did not exist, therefore, the question is moot.  
	In the early universe the four forces which drive the universe were combined into one single superforce, which eventually split into the electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear, and gravitational forces which exist today.  At 10-35 seconds the universe had expanded and cooled enough for the first two forces to separate, the strong nuclear and electroweak force.  This separation was simultaneous with the creation of quarks and leptons, the fundamental blocks of matter.  The event was analogous to the way rain condensation occurs due to the loss of heat in the surrounding air, and in the same way the increasing release of matter caused a change in the environment.  
	Enormous pressure vastly accelerated the expansion rate of the universe in a process caused inflation after 10-32 seconds.  By the time the universe was 10-12 seconds old the electroweak force split into the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces. By now all four forces of nature had become distinctly separate, although the particles of the universe were constantly annihilating their antiparticles.  Quarks, which existed separately combined into triplets by the time the universe was aged 10-6 seconds.  As a result, protons and neutrons were formed, as well as their antimatter counterparts, and a new state of annihilation began.  But the remaining "residue" went on to form the observable universe.  
	At age 1 second, neutrinos, tiny particles with no electric charge and little to no mass, as well as antineutrinos began reacting with other forms of matter in the universe.  Neutrinos, which belong to the family of leptons come in three types, muons, taus, and electrons, which, 15 seconds into the universe, began annihilating their antimatter counterparts, positrons. 
	The "residue" that remained after this event later combined with the protons and neutrons to form atoms.  For the first five minutes the universe began engaging in nucleosynthesis.  Neutrons were snatched and bound into atomic nuclei before they could decay into protons or electrons and resulted in the abundance of primordial elements such as lithium and helium. Although completely ionized and unable to elicit a charge, they existed in universe which was analogous to a soup of electrons.  
	After 300,000 years all of the electrons had been captured by the atomic nuclei that had been stewing in the universe.  Photons could begin traversing great distances without colliding and interacting with other matter. The cosmic background radiation was released.  This removal released pressure from the entire content of matter in the universe, allowing atoms to succumb to the now unstable forces of gravity, and set the stage for the evolution of the present day universe.  
	There is much evidence for the accuracy of the Big Bang model. The picture of an expanding universe which had a single point of origin is documented by the red shift spectra present in faraway objects. The conclusions are based on the Doppler effect, where the waves of such distant objects, as observed from Earth, have longer wavelengths or lower frequencies, and are thus red in the visible spectrum.  The cosmic background radiation which was released at the beginning of the universe was discovered in 1865 by Robert W. Wilson and Arno Penzias, further contributing evidence to the Big Bang model.  Additionally, the abundance of deuterium, and helium in the cosmos may be from the primordial stages of the Big Bang, since normal stellar nucleosynthesis does not produce in such great quantities. 
	The question of whether the universe will last forever or not has diverged into three primary theories, where the two bleakest are labeled the Big Crunch, and Big Chill, which exists beside the optimistic notion that the universe will expand infinitely.
	It is the force of gravity which plays a crucial role in the structuring of the cosmos, and its fate.  The formation of stars, planets, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies, according to Einstein's general theory of relativity, occurs after the mutual gravitational attraction of all objects results in their literally combining. The elements in the interstellar medium of gas and dust interact to form complex objects such as galaxies, which provide a gravitational source for stars to reside and form their own planetary solar systems. Planets themselves are created on the same principle as galaxies or stars. But the same force responsible for the formation of the observable universe may also be responsible for its destruction.  
	The force of gravity only remains at its current level because of the amount of  the total reserve of matter in the expanding model of the universe.  If the matter content is finite, then the universe will cease to expand infinitely and gravity will not become an overwhelming stabilizing force as it had once been in the early Big Bang.  The domination of gravity as the natural force would mean an epoch of ubiquitous gravitational attraction in the fabric of the universe.  Essentially, everything will fold in on itself in a fiery cataclysm in the theory proposed as the Big Crunch; although not necessarily in the simultaneous manner akin to the Big Bang (this may be due to changes in the structure of the universe that occur before its end).
	If the universe continues to expand because its matter is infinite, then the universe experiences a different kind of "ending".  The birth of new stars will cease after the finite number of nebula run out of stellar gas and dust, leaving a finite number of stars which will eventually die, and/or supernova due to their lesser matter content and internal gravity.  When all stars fail, all planetary ecosystems fail, and although the universe may continue to expand, it will have lost its spark. Solar energy will simply not be an option, and life will find itself living in a universe that is literally cold, hence the Big Chill.
	It is easy to believe that the cosmos are static.  Galactic evolution takes place on vast time scales daunting to percieve.  Humans must struggle to comprehend the measurements that tell us the story of its fleeting conception and its epochal death. Although it seems that to simply understand that we are all stardust, tiny in size, bold in spirit, may be more than enough.