10 STEPS TO UNDERSTANDINGTHE BIG BANG THEORY

BY: DANIEL VARNIS

Tuesday, January 7, 14

STEP #1PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAP

THE BIG BANG THEORY IS A VERYINTERESTING, YET CONFUSING TOPIC. TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE THIRD WORD IN IT’S NAME...

THEORY.

NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS PROPOSED ABOUT THE BIG BANG IS DEFINITE, BUT SCIENCE HAS “PROVED” IT TO BE VERY A C C U R A T E . E V E N I F S O M E INFORMATION SEEMS CONFUSING OR UNORTHODOX, YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE “IMPOSSIBLE” IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND.

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STEP #2UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BIG BANG THEORY IS

THE BIG BANG THEORY IS A SITCOM THAT FOCUSES ON FIVE MAIN CHARACTERS. FOUR OF WHICH ARE SCIENTISTS. THEY ARE, LEONARD, SHELDON, RAJ, AND HOWARD. THE FIFTH CHARACTER IS PENNY, THE GIRLFRIEND OF LEONARD. AS THE SHOW PROCEEDS FROM EPISODE TO EPISODE, YOU CAN SEE THE MULTIPLE SHENANIGANS THAT THESE FOUR MEN GET INTO WHILE TRYING TO COPE AS NERDY, GEEKY, G I R L F R I E N D - L E S S ( E X C E P T LEONARD), LOSERS.

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BY: DANIEL VARNIS

STOP!WRONG BIG BANG

THEORY

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STEP #3UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES

TIME FOR SOME CLARIFICATION. YES, THERE ARE TWO VERY WELL KNOWN “BIG BANG THEORIES.” IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A HOW-TO BOOK ON THE S ITCOM, YOU OBVIOUSLY VISITED THE WRONG SECTION IN BARNES AND NOBLES. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A HOW-TO BOOK ON THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY OF THE BIG BANG IN RELATION TO THE UNIVERSE, WELCOME!

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SITCOM

SCIENTIFIC

Tuesday, January 7, 14

STEP #4KNOW THAT THIS THEORY CONTRADICTS RELIGION

A LARGE MAJORITY OF THE WORLD BELIEVES THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS C R E AT E D B Y S O M E “ H I G H E R POWER.” MEANWHILE, ANOTHER MAJORITY OF THE WORLD BELIEVES THE BIG BANG IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE BECAUSE SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE TO PROVE THAT THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IT WITHHOLDS WAS INDEED CREATED FROM THE BIG BANG.

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STEP #5UNDERSTAND IT WAS AN EXPANSION, NOT A BANG!

WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE NAME “THE BIG BANG THEORY”, THEY THINK THAT THIS IS A THEORY ON SOMETHING EXPLODING, OR BANGING! WELL UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS INCORRECT. THE BIG BANG THEORY DOESN’T THEORIZE SOMETIME BANGING, BUT RATHER E X PA N D I N G . T H E T H E O RY EXPLAINS THE START OF THE EXPANSION OF SPACE IN RELATION TO TIME.

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THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A GREAT EXAMPLE THAT SHOWS THE EXPANSION OVER 13.7 BILLION YEARS AFTER THE MOMENT THE BIG BANG BEGAN. IN RATIO, YOU CAN THINK OF THE EXPANS ION IN AN EAS I ER MANNER . ESSENTIALLY, THE UNIVERSE GREW FROM THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL TO THE SIZE OF EARTH IN A MATTER OF ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF A SECOND.

THAT’S FAST

Tuesday, January 7, 14

STEP #6KNOW ABOUT THE HIGGS BOSON

BACK A FEW YEARS AGO, SCIENTISTS WON THE NOBLE PIECE PRIZE FOR DISCOVERING THE HIGGS BOSON PARTICLE. SOME PEOPLE GIVE IT THE ALIAS OF “THE GOD PARTICLE.” THIS PARTICLE’S DISCOVERY ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO TRULY UNDERSTAND WHY THINGS HAVE MASS. THIS IS HUGE BECAUSE AT FIRST, SCIENTISTS BELIEVED THAT THINGS GOT MASS FROM THE BIG BANG, AND THAT’S IT. WELL, THIS PARTICLE COMES ABOUT WHEN TWO OTHER PARTICLES ARE CRASHED TOGETHER AT A SPEED EQUIVALENT, IF NOT, GREATER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

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THE IMAGE ABOVE SHOWS T H E H I G G S B O S O N I N ACTION. THAT PICTURE IS THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN THE PARTICLES COLLIDE.

Tuesday, January 7, 14

STEP #7ACCEPT THAT SOMETHING CAME FROM NOTHING

THE SUBTITLE SAYS IT ALL. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHERE THE BIG BANG CAME FROM, WHAT CAUSED THE BIG BANG, WHAT’S COMING ABOUT FROM THE BIG BANG, OR EVEN IF THE BIG BANG WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. PRETTY MUCH, ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE BIG BANG IS TOO MUCH FOR US TO COMPREHEND. THIS IS BECAUSE THE BRAIN IS WIRED TO THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS REQUIRES SOME CATALYST. WELL, BASED OFF OF WHAT WE KNOW TODAY, THE BIG BANG JUST HAPPENED. WE DON’T KNOW WHY, THAT’S WHY IT’S CONSIDERED A THEORY.

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STEP #8REALIZE IT MAY BE CLOSING LIKE A RUBBER BAND

ALTHOUGH THIS BOOK HAS EXPLAINED THAT THE BIG BANG THEORY THEORIZES THE UNIVERSE’S EXPANSION OVER TIME, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THE UNIVERSE IS COLLAPSING IN. SCIENTISTS OVER AT NASA AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BELIEVE THAT THE UNIVERSE MAY HAVE EXPANDED TO IT’S FULLEST, LEADING BACK TO NOTHING. THINK OF IT LIKE A BALLOON. A BALLOON CAN ONLY BE INFLATED SO MUCH UNTIL IT POPS. BUT THE UNIVERSE CAN’T POP. SO SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT SPACE COULD HAVE ALREADY EXPANDED TO IT’S FULLEST AND COULD BE GETTING SMALLER AT THIS EXACT MOMENT. BUT IT WOULD TAKE BILLIONS OF YEARS FOR THAT EVER HAPPEN.

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STEP #9BE SURE TO THANK THE BIG BANG FOR YOUR EXISTENCE

WHEN THE BIG BANG OCCURRED OVER 13.7 BILLION YEARS, MANY EVENTS OCCURRED OVER TIME IN A NON-LINEAR FASHION. IN OTHER WORDS, NOT EVERYTHING HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER ANOTHER, THINGS HAPPENED WHENEVER THEY COULD HAPPEN. SO WE MAY HAVE BEEN THE 20,146,129TH THING TO HAPPEN AFTER THE BIG BANG OCCURRED. THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE BIG BANG FORMED THE STATIC HUMAN BODY, BUT RATHER THE MULTIPLE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE UP THE HUMAN BODY. FOR EXAMPLE, A MAJORITY OF THE HUMAN BODY IS WATER, BUT THE MOLECULE OF WATER (MADE BY HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN ATOMS) MOST LIKELY WASN’T MADE UNTIL THE FORMATION OF ELEMENTS, WHICH WAS 3 SECONDS AFTER THE BIG BANG BEGAN.

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STEP #10NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS

THE BIG BANG THEORY IS AN EXPANDING IDEA, NO PUN INTENDED. EVERY SINGLE DAY PEOPLE ARE PROPOSING NEW QUESTIONS TO, IN SOME WAY, MAKE THE IDEA(S) OF THE BIG BANG THEORY MORE INTENSE AND UNDERSTANDING. IN OTHER WORDS, NO ONE WILL EVER TRULY UNDERSTAND EVERY LAST BIT OF THE THEORY OF THE BIG BANG BECAUSE OF ALL A COMPONENTS, BUT WE ARE CONSTANTLY RESEARCHING IN HOPES TO UNDERSTAND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. EVEN THOUGH THE SCIENTISTS WON THE NOBEL PIECE PRIZE FOR THEIR EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF THE HIGGS BOSON, THIS STILL DIDN’T ALLOW US TO COMPREHEND 100% OF THIS THEORY. THERE ARE MANY THEORIES THAT WE AS HUMANS HAVE ALREADY PROVED, BUT THIS SPECIFIC THEORY IS DIFFICULT TO PROVE CONSIDERING IT’S OUT OF OUR HANDS AND A PROBABLY GETTING LARGER AT AN INFINITE RATE.

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HOPEFULLY THIS HELPED EXPAND YOUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING ON THE THEORY OF THE BIG BANG.

THANKS FOR READING

Tuesday, January 7, 14