How Do We Fit Into the Ultimate Scheme of Things. (January 22, 2007)

    The January 5 issue of the journal Science boasts a special section on "Catching Cosmic Clues: Particle Astrophysics".

The first of six articles entitled Quarks and the Cosmos by Michael Turner of the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago summarises his contribution:

 Cosmology is in the midst of a period of revolutionary discovery, propelled by bold ideas from particle physics and by technological advances from gigapixel charge-coupled device cameras to peta-scale computing. The basic features of the universe have now been determined: It is 13.7 billion years old, spatially flat, and expanding at an accelerating rate; it is composed of atoms (4%), exotic dark matter (20%), and dark energy (76%); and there is evidence that galaxies and other structures were seeded by quantum fluctuations. Although we know much about the universe, we understand far less. Poised to dramatically advance our understanding of both the universe and the laws that govern it, cosmology is on the verge of a golden age.

And below we reproduce the image taken from his paper which takes you from 10^-44 seconds after the big bang to the present, 13.7 billion years later. From the big bang until 10^-44 seconds after it remains a mystery to be fathomed.

,