Brian Cox - Why Did The Big Bang Happen?

English physicist and professor of particle physics Brian Cox explains the details behind the Big Bang theory.
The moment where space, time and everything else that came into existence which would eventually give rise to the present day cosmos, occurred some 13.75 billion years ago.

The prevailing cosmological model explaining the existence of the observable universe from the earliest known periods is known as The Big Bang theory.

It is one of the best theories we have in all of science. But of course it doesn't explain everything. Like "Why" did the big bang happen in the first place. But maybe the question "Why" is not a good question. As it presupposes the Universe had a purpose. Maybe, a better question is... "How".

Brian Cox points out how the idea that the universe began as an unfathomably single point, then expanded and stretched out to grow as large as it is today is truly mind boggling. But that's what the evidence strongly suggests happened.

Two major scientific discoveries provide strong support for the Big Bang theory: Hubble’s discovery in the 1920s of a relationship between a galaxy’s distance from Earth and its speed. And the discovery in the 1960s of cosmic microwave background radiation.

When scientists talk about the expanding Universe, they mean that it has been increasing in size ever since the Big Bang. But what exactly is getting bigger? Galaxies, stars, planets aren’t getting bigger. Their size is controlled by the strength of the fundamental forces that hold atoms and sub-atomic particles together, and that hasn’t changed. Instead it’s the space between galaxies that’s increasing – they’re getting further apart as space itself expands. And if that's the case, one might wonder: What is the Universe expanding into?

Brian Cox explains that its extremely difficult to imagine the idea that space and time itself may have been created at the big bang.
As counterintuitive and as strange these ideas may sound, they have firm theoretical framework based on our understanding of the laws of physics.

#bigbang #ProfBrianCox #science

Sources:
"Brian Cox" by p_a_h is marked with CC BY 2.0.

[sweper]

The only thing I know about the speed of light is that it arrives too early in the morning

[davyjones]

As a historian, I find science just as fascinating. I could also listen to professor Cox all day. Absolutely skilled at making complex things sound simple.

[Nonixification]

"We don't know." - Brian Cox

[ESL-O.G.]

Save you ten minutes: we have no frikin idea

[bigsteve]

It was actually Carl Sagen who said "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you". NDT might have just been quoting him.

[mikebeer]

I can comprehend everything starting at a single point, what I can't comprehend is where that single points was and what it expanded into

[johnhough]

Again, I think I've I've finally got it (took long enough).
"In the middle of a timeless nothing in the midst of a non-existent nowhere ... something suddenly changed and triggered a massive explosion; the fallout from which is us and the universe."
Okay, Scottie, NOW you can beam me up ...

[joehinojosa]

This guy is GREAT at NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

[professor]

When the WHY is clear
then the HOW is easy....
Example:
Why I need to know time
Then.. Invent a watch (how is afterwards easy)

Why I need to communicate long distance
Then invent a phone....(how to invent is afterwards easy)

Why I need to calculate... Invented a calculator (how is afterwards easy)
Then

[tmassey]

I love this stuff. Ive always had a question though...If there was a big bang ...Is it possible that there are multiple big bands? and if so isnt it possible atr some point they may intersect?

[zacckeglee]

How can you measure the distance between planets to get an idea of when this happened if we don’t know where the exact center of the entire universe is wouldn’t we need to know the center point or where the bang took place to know how far away things have moved since the explosion happened?

[RickarooCarew]

the physics of fusion in stars has been known for all of my life.. I'm 69.. my dad was a nuclear engineer.. he helped build the weapons designed at Los Alamos in the early 50s.. he was teaching reactor physics when I was in high school.. this is something I have been aware of literally all my life...
stars can only fuse elements up to iron... even the largest blue giants... this limit involves the outward force of fusion... and.. the most fundamental law of physics.. two.. things... with the same energy cannot occupy the same space... those two forces and the infall of hydrogen from gravity going inward... are exactly what creates fusion.. but the inward pull of gravity is insufficient energy to fuse elements beyond iron... my dad said the rest occur in supernovae... 4 generations to obtain all of the 92 elements of the periodic table...

the size of stars is also limited by this two way pressure...
big bangs require an invisible guy to squeeze stuff past the point of fusion ...
black holes are another result of finite universes... and magic
because the relativity equations are very clear... as mass accelerates it gains mass through kinetic energy... provable in any car crash..
* at light speed.. the mass becomes infinite
* it takes infinite energy to move infinite mass

the event horizon of a black hole is said to be the point at which the infall exceeds 300Mm/sec... from which light can no longer escape
it's either one or the other.. not both
I'm going with Einstein

there's no such thing as magic
if you don't see the math... it's just blah blah blah
science is all about measuring the Universe we live in
measurements mean numbers... numbers don't lie

[slimpwarrior]

"Why" is a philosophical question. It's the philosophy's final question. The answer lies in the following dilemma:

If you had a choice between:
- being Nothingness;
- deluding yourself into believing this dream equals reality to create and feel love.

You would do anything to create and feel love, hence why you exist.

Note that my words have an expanded meaning:
- Nothingness = a state where nothing exists at all, yet something exists that allows the creation of the dream; a true paradox.
- Dreaming = believing this reality is real while it cannot be real due to the paradox of inability to create something out of nothing.
- You = God, Everything that exists, Absolute, All-encompassing infinity of all possible realities.
- Creativity = Love = Everything that exists, all possible combinations of things and no-things, Being, Togetherness, Intelligence, etc, etc, etc (includes everything, both Evil and Good because evil and good are relative to the POV of the material form).

[butter]

It hurts my brain thinking every single thing in the whole universe as small as an atom. How is that even possible? When I always thought of the big bang I assumed it was a cycle. As black holes form they keep sticking to each eventually creating one super ginormous black hole, but I never thought it was as small as an atom.

[-by-_Publishing_LLC]

(0:50) When following logic, "Why?" is the first question to be asked followed by all other inquiries. You don't take the #1 information-gathering question off the table merely for the appearance of presupposition.

[ariochiv]

There is no "why" in physics.
And there's no crying in baseball.

[richard]

Video title: “Why did the big bang happen?”
40 seconds into video: “Maybe why isn’t a good question…”

[Short-n-THICC]

Thumbs up. I always enjoy the videos. Thanks!

[Misses-Hippy]

Question: How can gravity be a weak force when "the great attractor" is tugging the known universe in it's direction?

[doc]

I like when Brian says, " We Know" with such conviction and assurance. In a world where so much is just guesswork, it's reassuring that there are things that we know to be true. Thx Brian.