Hello all, I have just registered to this forum I have a question that might sound silly as I know hardly anything about the universe but always been fascinated by it, I haven't read through every post on this forum so forgive me if it's already been talked about but "THE BIG BANG" - if people say this is the beginning of the universe, where did the energy come from to start it off? Or is this just one of those things that scientists will never know, just like what's inside a black hole?
I am a complete "n00b" to all of this astronomy lark and thought I'd find a forum to learn about it so this is my first question, and possiby my last if I get told off for being an idiot lol

No question is stupid.

Here's your answer. It came from nothing. This is the only interpretation of big bang, because there is no other theory that can answer where it came from. It's like how virtual particle ''pop'' into existence from nothing.

There is some speculation whether existence came through tunelling.

First, Big Bang does not cover where the Universe came from, its origins or creation.

Big Bang covers the rapid expansion of the Universe.

We do not know much about the creation or origin of the Universe.
It's possible that this universe fissioned off another, or that the material of the Universe existed but in an entirely different state.

Until we have more information- it's a pretty open speculation as to the actual Origin of the Universe.

Welcome to BAUT!

There is really no answer (so far) to your question. The Big Bang Theory is a theory of what has happened to the universe since the beginning. No theory we have (so far) can get us back to the beginning without falling apart (lots of zeros and infinities falling out instead of meaningful numbers).

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Most likely, it will be one of those things that scientists never know. But then that is the case a lot more often than you may think. After all, know is a pretty strong word. The things we really know are the results of our observation. I know what I see in a telescope, but then I interpret what I see (what I know) in terms of some model, or hypothesis or theory, and my interpretation is really not knowledge so much as it is a really smart guess (since I am talking about myself, I reserve the right to insist that all of my guesses are really smart ).

We know that we measure redshifts of galaxy spectra, and we interpret the redshifts in terms of an expanding universe. So I would not go so far as to say that we know that big bang cosmology, or the cosmology of the expanding universe is really true. But we can, and do know that the "predictions" from the cosmological models are consistent with what we know through observations. So we allow ourselves the luxury of calling it "right" or "correct", because in the practical sense of things, it actually works. And nobody has really come up with a better idea anyway.

With all that in mind, yes we can make cosmological models that tell us where the energy came from. It's called "pre big bang cosmology" and is mostly based on string theory, though there are more "ordinary" forms of quantum gravity that serve the same purpose. But it's all really just a lot of educated guesswork, nothing anyone can seriously claim to know.

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Thanks for the replies, this is one of the most active forums I've ever been onit's just one of them mind boggling things, I have read that the universe is expanding and is a sort of oval shape, and people have said that there is no "outside" of the universe, but there must be surely? I posted a thing on youtube about what if you were at the very edge of the universe and could walk to the other side (I know it's not possible) but I wonder what would be there if you could? But people said there was no edge, I don't understand. I know youtube probably isn't the best place to get intelligent answers which is why I came here. Another thing that amazes me is how people on this tiny little earth, can actually predict or measure the size of the whole universe with instruments the size of probably a trillionth of an atom or less in comparison to the universe

We are used to living in our little world that has limits. Our brains are accustomed to thinking that way.

But growing up on a planet, with atmosphere and gravity... You know things fall down go boom.
You know there is such a thing as a vacuum.

Right?
Hmmm uh oh...

Maybe not. It's just that is how we are used to thinking of things.

The universe does not seem to have an "edge." Not like we are used to.

Think about traveling west. Go in a straight line. Using a hover-mobile. Eventually, you will wind up right back where you started from. Now- that's a poor analogy because it is still within the limits of what we are used to. The reason is because the Earth is a globe.. Well space is like that too. Only it isn't a globe. It just leads back onto itself.

Ok I sort of understand now lol is that a Final Fantasy character in your pic?

Yep, Cloud. I recently upgraded to the Advent Children picture. I had another one before that that folks mistook for a cute girl. Got flirted with a lot. Short stint with an angel ripping the wings from the back during my "I'm shutting up and not posting here anymore" rebellion and a fantasy art Cloud previous to that-

I thought it was cloud but I've only seen the film once I was a huge FF7 fan when it came out it took away my life lol played 8 a lot but none of the others 7 is by far the best! I suppose this is a bit off topic though

Eh.. It's a thread you started

Yes, I have lost countless hours to my life to FF7. It is the absolute best one.

I was thinking that as well that I started this thread lol it's been years and years since I played FF7 I must have spent near enough a thousand hours on it I swear there was a thing where I could never die on it something like if you master final attack and phoenix every time you die you all get revived that's how I beat emerald weapon- the memories lol I used to always have to beat that for my mates and my bro I actually thought ruby weapon was harder for some reason

I suppose it's not all of topic, Sephiroth did use a super nova attack lol

I'm STILL mastering the game. I was the guru of FF7 back in 2000. Now, 8 years later, I'm still learning new things about it.

Emerald can take several techniques- but the Desert (Ruby) Weapon is much more strict.
Post below- Sephiroth summoned Meteor.

Ah, good ol' FF7 memories! My memories of Emerald weapon can be summed up thus: "@#$)@#($*# Aire Tam storm!!!111" I did eventually learn (aka look up in FAQ's) how to negate that attack, but it sure gave me some good whoopin'!

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Ahh... But the beauty of it is that the memories can keep being made

The very first time I tried my hand at 7- I got whooped repeatedly.

That Giant snake in the marshlands (The ones under the STARS) ate my up about five times.

It took a few sessions to get a knack for the entire layout- and about twenty before I was beating Weapons.

I just recently learned that you can stave off ALL Ultima's atttacks by casting Cure on her ( I think of Ultima as a 'her' she is very graceful and ladylike and has an even temperment) if you want to delay that battle.

Please do more research before you claim that it came from "nothing", no, there are theories, for example string theory envisions BB as a collision of two membranes....

Occam's Ghost won't be posting anymore. He picked a fight with the mods, appealed to the admins, and got hisself banned!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

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Well, this is something very interesting;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brane_cosmology

And it fits wsithin my philosophy of our universe being just a part of something bigger.