Study Hints At Time Before Big Bang

canadian_right informs us that scientists from Caltech have found hints of a time before the Big Bang while studying the cosmic microwave background. Not only does the study hint at something pre-existing our universe, the researchers also postulate that everything we see was created as a bubble pinched off from a previously existing universe. This conjecture turns out to shed light on the mystery of the arrow of time. Quoting the BBC's account: "Their model suggests that new universes could be created spontaneously from apparently empty space. From inside the parent universe, the event would be surprisingly unspectacular. Describing the team's work at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in St Louis, Missouri, co-author Professor Sean Carroll explained that 'a universe could form inside this room and we'd never know.'"

first post from

[fotoguzzi]

new universe.

A Boon to all New Yorkers

[Sierran]

They need to get cracking on this. A universe from my closet? Fan*TAS*tic! My rent/sq. ft. is going down as I write...

MIB

[WindBourne]

Sounds like MIB may have a lot more correct.

some people have said

[jacquesm]

that once we fully understand the universe it will be replaced with something even more complicated.

Others argue that this has already happened...

thhgttg

Ooops...?

[eebra82]

Sean Carroll explained that 'a universe could form inside this room and we'd never know.

Unless you had eggs and beans. Then it's kind of hard to hide it from anyone.

Re:A Boon to all New Yorkers

[davester666]

Um, no, it's NOT. Expect a rent increase application to be made tomorrow so you have to pay the same amount per sq. foot contained within your domicile.

I hope the rest of your place is filled with cash...

Wow

[mqduck]

When I first read this, it sounded so strange that I was unable to conceive it in any meaningful way. Then I got really high. Now it seems self-evident. It may not be genuinely insightful, but it sure is fun.

I think you mean...

[Anonymous Coward]

...String hypothesis.

Re:Membranes?

[Ethanol-fueled]

Sounds like you are insane in the membrane.

Re:Ooops...?

[laejoh]

What if you had egg bacon spam and sausage?

Re:Well I for one...

[kaizokuace]

Maybe it is just one overlord. Our universe could just be formed when some dude dropped a hard deuce.

Re:What did you expect to see?

[Kreigaffe]

Damn, this got modded flamebait?

I must have misunderestimated the ire of the cosmic physicists on /.

Time flies like an arrow...

[Scott Kevill]

... Fruit flies like a banana.

Re:first post from

[Negatyfus]

I find this post surprisingly unspectacular.

Re:I think you mean...

[Hal_Porter]

The consensus in science amongst string theorists is that string theory is correct.

Re:I think you mean...

[Shturmovik]

The consensus in science amongst string theorists is that string theory is correct.

Best bit of sarcasm I've read in a while!

Gravity is a Theory. String hypothesis is what you get when Cosmologists are bored and drink way too much coffee.

Re:I would now like to be a philology nazi.

[simon_c_heath]

Absolutley everything ever = Omniverse Not to be confused with Multiverse. Our pocket is but one Universe.

...and the open source version is Liniverse.

Re:first post from

[elmarkitse]

I'll start laughing once I'm finished pinching off a new universe.

Personally, I think if nothing else, the smell is indeed QUITE spectacular and I don't know how he expects to pinch one off in a room full of observant scientists with no one noticing the utterly out of place voiding process.

Re:A Boon to all New Yorkers

[Anonymous Coward]

You're in New York, and you have a spare closet?

Why aren't you subletting?!?

Re:Object naming

[kdemetter]

More like :
Universe newUniverse = new Universe(oldUniverse);

Re:first post from

[kdemetter]

Finally , a place to park my car.

Apparent Formula for Cosmological Success

[FurtiveGlancer]

1. Engage in baseless conjecture about alternative, unproveable universes.
2. Define new branch of mathematics that can support a complex multi-dimensional model reinforcing your baseless conjecture.
3. Publish in academic journals and popular media.
4. Lecture to gullible masses.
5. Profit!

6. Avoid performing any work beneficial to mankind. ~

Re:I would now like to be a philology nazi.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good thing your slashdot posts will turn this bulldozer trend around and return us to the one, true meaning of the words!

Re:What did you expect to see?

[Anonymous Coward]

I always rationalised the Tardis in Doctor Who

Why?

Re:Question

[MarkovianChained]

What is the root and history of the word 'pedantic'?

Paidagogos, from Greek (paidos = child + agogos = leader), implied either a harsh schoolteacher, or a slave who escorted a child to school and generally watched over his education in a strict fashion. This later translated to Latin as paedagogus, and then French as pedagogue, where implications meant strict learning, down to correcting the most minor details. To the point, pedantic Is, of course, of (or like) a pedagogue. ....not to be pedantic or anything.

Re:I think you mean...

[asliarun]

The consensus in science amongst string theorists is that string theory is correct.

Apparently, they're the only ones that have branes.

I would also like to be a philology "nazi"

[Reality Master 201]

Although the word "nazi" is now accepted to mean "a person who is fanatically dedicated to, or seeks to control, some activity, practice, etc." this is etymologically inaccurate. Outside of playful uses (such as "grammar nazi" or a TV serial's "soup nazi") the word "nazi" should be synonymous with "a member of the National Socialist German Workers Party," and we ought to come up with some intermediary term (like "asshole" if you feel like you require a more abusive term) to refer to this kind of pedantic overbearing we've found ourselves saddled with.

Word definitions and connotations have a tendency to move around quite a bit. The word "stink" for example, was once a neutral term to describe something giving off a scent, and now has decidedly negative connotation, if not being outright denotative of giving off a bad odor. Similarly, nazi once meant the members of the political party that established a murderous and expansionist totalitarian regime in Germany. Now it used to describe someone who likes to pick on people's misuse of its vs. it's.

Re:MIB

[Orleron]

Yeah, now if only we could pinch off all our bad sequels into a separate universe, we'd be good.

Re:first post from

[Anonymous Coward]

In Capitalist America, surprisingly unspectacular is you.

Re:AFAIK

[Missing_dc]

You can use it to describe [...] even the counter-Earth ideas from waay back
I didn't know you could describe third-rate SciFi-as-an-excuse-for-BDSM hrough mathematics. Were Norman's publisations peer-reviewed? (Given their literary qualities I doubt it.)


SciFi with BDSM AND Mathematics? I find myself intrigued with your ideas, Sir, and would like to subscribe to your publications.

Re:I think you mean...

[Anonymous Coward]

But what do physicists have to say about it?

Correction...

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, now my brane hurts.

That should be:

Grate, now my brane hertz.

Re:Time flies like an arrow...

[Scott Kevill]

They say "time flies when you're having fin" but I never could understand what would be so fun about timing flies.

That's actually "time fries when you're having fin" as part of the training procedure for Fish & Chips fast-food.

Re:first post from

[Anonymous Coward]

I've heard the inflationary universe described as an expanding loaf of raisin bread, the raisins being galaxies and other spinny objects. So considering this new evidence, you might say that God pinched off a loaf.

Re:I think you mean...

[Anonymous Coward]

I ate some bad Taco Bell last night and this morning I swear I pinched off a new universe.

Re:It doesn't mean that, though

[Chyeld]

Hinjo, he knows too much. Use the uranium apple.

Re:What did you expect to see?

[smoker2]

The reason the Tardis is bigger on the inside is because it's easier to film in than a wardrobe.

Re:I think you mean...

[genner]

and yet it can still be legally taught in public schools.
Where's the seperation of state and string?