Brian Cox

So without those ripples, without that pattern, we would not exist. Nothing of interest would exist. And so the question is, where did that come from, that pattern? It's fundamentally important.

So without those ripples, without that pattern, we would not exist. Nothing of interest would exist. And so the question is, where did that come from, that pattern? It's fundamentally important.

So without those ripples, without that pattern, we would not exist. Nothing of interest would exist. And so the question is, where did that come from, that pattern? It's fundamentally important.

and the theory of inflation that i mentioned earlier that there's this time before the universe got hot and dense that theory predicted that pattern before it was observed so this idea that you've got this very stretch very quickly stretching space by the way so it's so the stretch if i can remember the number is if you consider two points in space during inflation the distance between them was doubling

and the theory of inflation that i mentioned earlier that there's this time before the universe got hot and dense that theory predicted that pattern before it was observed so this idea that you've got this very stretch very quickly stretching space by the way so it's so the stretch if i can remember the number is if you consider two points in space during inflation the distance between them was doubling

and the theory of inflation that i mentioned earlier that there's this time before the universe got hot and dense that theory predicted that pattern before it was observed so this idea that you've got this very stretch very quickly stretching space by the way so it's so the stretch if i can remember the number is if you consider two points in space during inflation the distance between them was doubling

every 10 to the minus 37 seconds, which is 0.0000000000. So it's incredible rate of expansion that draws to a close. And those theories... So there's inflation there. So those theories... predicted slight variations in the rate at which inflation stops.

every 10 to the minus 37 seconds, which is 0.0000000000. So it's incredible rate of expansion that draws to a close. And those theories... So there's inflation there. So those theories... predicted slight variations in the rate at which inflation stops.

every 10 to the minus 37 seconds, which is 0.0000000000. So it's incredible rate of expansion that draws to a close. And those theories... So there's inflation there. So those theories... predicted slight variations in the rate at which inflation stops.

I mean, it is. He doesn't like inflation as a theory. He doesn't? Oh, no. So our universe is accelerating in its expansion at the moment, which is one of the great mysteries that was discovered in the 1990s by a friend of mine, actually. Brian Schmidt got the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

I mean, it is. He doesn't like inflation as a theory. He doesn't? Oh, no. So our universe is accelerating in its expansion at the moment, which is one of the great mysteries that was discovered in the 1990s by a friend of mine, actually. Brian Schmidt got the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

I mean, it is. He doesn't like inflation as a theory. He doesn't? Oh, no. So our universe is accelerating in its expansion at the moment, which is one of the great mysteries that was discovered in the 1990s by a friend of mine, actually. Brian Schmidt got the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

He told me once, I don't know if I told you the story before, but he told me that he'd made this measurement and it wasn't really, he was looking at supernova explosions. And he'd seen that the suggestion in the data was that the universe is accelerating in its expansion, not slowing down, but speeding up. in its rate of expansion. And no one was expecting it, so he thought it was just wrong.

He told me once, I don't know if I told you the story before, but he told me that he'd made this measurement and it wasn't really, he was looking at supernova explosions. And he'd seen that the suggestion in the data was that the universe is accelerating in its expansion, not slowing down, but speeding up. in its rate of expansion. And no one was expecting it, so he thought it was just wrong.

He told me once, I don't know if I told you the story before, but he told me that he'd made this measurement and it wasn't really, he was looking at supernova explosions. And he'd seen that the suggestion in the data was that the universe is accelerating in its expansion, not slowing down, but speeding up. in its rate of expansion. And no one was expecting it, so he thought it was just wrong.

But he couldn't find anything wrong with his data. So he published it and thought, well, that's the end of my career. Oh, boy. He was quite young. I think he might have even been a postdoc, and he just published it. That's a good scientist, right? I don't think this is right, but I can't see anything wrong with it. I'll publish it. Someone else will tell me where my mistake was.

But he couldn't find anything wrong with his data. So he published it and thought, well, that's the end of my career. Oh, boy. He was quite young. I think he might have even been a postdoc, and he just published it. That's a good scientist, right? I don't think this is right, but I can't see anything wrong with it. I'll publish it. Someone else will tell me where my mistake was.

But he couldn't find anything wrong with his data. So he published it and thought, well, that's the end of my career. Oh, boy. He was quite young. I think he might have even been a postdoc, and he just published it. That's a good scientist, right? I don't think this is right, but I can't see anything wrong with it. I'll publish it. Someone else will tell me where my mistake was.

And there was no mistake, and he won the Nobel Prize for that discovery. That's the 1990s. So this idea of the universe is accelerating in its expansion. The way that it does that is really important. Is it going to carry on doing that? Is whatever's driving that expansion going to change in some way, which could actually re-collapse the universe again?

And there was no mistake, and he won the Nobel Prize for that discovery. That's the 1990s. So this idea of the universe is accelerating in its expansion. The way that it does that is really important. Is it going to carry on doing that? Is whatever's driving that expansion going to change in some way, which could actually re-collapse the universe again?