• Question: What was there before the Big Bang?

    Asked by alexanderg123 to Alan, Deepak, Francesca, Lilly, Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Nick Wright

      Nick Wright answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      We don’t know! Its ok in science to say that you don’t know something, because it just means that we want to find that thing out! Some people have theories about what was before the Big Bang, including other Universes or perhaps that there wasn’t anything before the Big Bang. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to find out, perhaps with an experiment that a future scientist like yourself might design!

    • Photo: Alan Fitzsimmons

      Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      No one knows, like Nick says! Some people think there could have been other Universes before our one, but others say there was nothing.

      The weird thing is that as far as we understand it, space AND time started at the big bang. So how can you have something before the big bang when time didn’t exist?

    • Photo: Francesca Day

      Francesca Day answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      No one knows! Lots of scientists (and even philosophers) are thinking about this question right now. Some people think that there was a whole different universe before the Big Bang, but others think there was nothing at all.

    • Photo: Lilian Hunt

      Lilian Hunt answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      We don’t know and the best answer I’ve heard is ‘everything or nothing!’ which is quite a difficult idea to get your head around!

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