The beginning of the universe, for beginners - Tom Whyntie
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0:16 - 0:18The universe,
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0:18 - 0:21rather beautiful, isn't it?
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0:21 - 0:23It's quite literally got everything,
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0:23 - 0:24from the very big
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0:24 - 0:26to the very small.
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0:26 - 0:29Sure, there are some less than savory elements in there,
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0:29 - 0:32but on the whole, scholars agree that its existence
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0:32 - 0:35is probably a good thing.
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0:35 - 0:37Such a good thing, that an entire field
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0:37 - 0:41of scientific endeavor is devoted to its study.
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0:41 - 0:43This is known as cosmology.
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0:43 - 0:46Cosmologists look at what's out there in space
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0:46 - 0:50and piece together the tale of how our universe evolved:
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0:50 - 0:52what it's doing now,
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0:52 - 0:53what it's going to be doing,
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0:53 - 0:56and how it all began in the first place.
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0:56 - 0:58It was Edwin Hubble who first noticed
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0:58 - 1:00that our universe is expanding
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1:00 - 1:02by noting that galaxies seem to be flying
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1:02 - 1:05further and further apart.
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1:05 - 1:07This implied that everything should have started
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1:07 - 1:09with the monumental explosion
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1:09 - 1:10of an infinitely hot,
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1:10 - 1:13infinitely small point.
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1:13 - 1:15This idea was jokingly referred to at the time
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1:15 - 1:17as the "Big Bang,"
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1:17 - 1:19but as the evidence piled up,
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1:19 - 1:20the notion
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1:20 - 1:21and the name
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1:21 - 1:23actually stuck.
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1:23 - 1:24We know that after the Big Bang,
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1:24 - 1:26the universe cooled down
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1:26 - 1:29to form the stars and galaxies that we see today.
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1:29 - 1:31Cosmologist have plenty of ideas
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1:31 - 1:33about how this happened.
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1:33 - 1:36But we can also probe the origins of the universe
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1:36 - 1:39by recreating the hot, dense conditions that existed
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1:39 - 1:43at the beginning of time in the laboratory.
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1:43 - 1:46This is done by particle physicists.
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1:46 - 1:48Over the past century,
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1:48 - 1:50particle physicists have been studying
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1:50 - 1:54matter and forces at higher and higher energies.
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1:54 - 1:56Firstly with cosmic rays,
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1:56 - 1:58and then with particle accelerators,
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1:58 - 2:00machines that smash together
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2:00 - 2:02subatomic particles at great energies.
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2:02 - 2:05The greater the energy of accelerator,
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2:05 - 2:08the further back in time they can effectively peek.
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2:08 - 2:11Today, things are largely made up of atoms,
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2:11 - 2:13but a hundreds of seconds after the Big Bang,
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2:13 - 2:16it was too hot for electrons to join
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2:16 - 2:18atomic nuclei to make atoms.
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2:18 - 2:20Instead, the universe consisted of
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2:20 - 2:23a swirling sea of subatomic matter.
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2:23 - 2:25A few seconds after the Big Bang,
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2:25 - 2:26it was hotter still,
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2:26 - 2:28hot enough to overpower the forces
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2:28 - 2:31that usually hold protons and neutrons together
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2:31 - 2:33in atomic nuclei.
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2:33 - 2:36Further back, microseconds after the Big Bang,
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2:36 - 2:38and the protons and neutrons were only just beginning
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2:38 - 2:40to form from quarks,
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2:40 - 2:42one of the fundamental building blocks
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2:42 - 2:45of the standard model of particle physics.
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2:45 - 2:46Further back still,
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2:46 - 2:47and the energy was too great even
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2:47 - 2:50for the quarks to stick together.
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2:50 - 2:53Physicists hope that by going to even greater energies,
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2:53 - 2:55they can see back to a time
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2:55 - 2:58when all the forces were one in the same,
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2:58 - 2:59which would make understanding
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2:59 - 3:02the origins of the universe a lot easier.
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3:02 - 3:05To do that, they'll not only need to build bigger colliders,
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3:05 - 3:08but also work hard to combine our knowledge
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3:08 - 3:09of the very, very big
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3:09 - 3:12with the very, very small
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3:12 - 3:14and share these fascinating insights
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3:14 - 3:15with each other and with,
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3:15 - 3:17well, you.
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3:17 - 3:19And that's how it should be!
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3:19 - 3:20Because, after all,
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3:20 - 3:22when it comes to our universe,
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3:22 - 3:25we're all in this one together.
- Title:
- The beginning of the universe, for beginners - Tom Whyntie
- Speaker:
- Tom Whyntie
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-beginni...
How did the universe begin -- and how is it expanding? CERN physicist Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these questions by replicating the heat, energy, and activity of the first few seconds of our universe, from right after the Big Bang.
Lesson by Tom Whyntie, animation by Hornet Inc.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 03:38
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Natsuhiko Mizutani commented on English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Bedirhan Cinar approved English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Bedirhan Cinar approved English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners | ||
Bedirhan Cinar accepted English subtitles for The beginning of the universe for beginners |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 2/13/2015.
Natsuhiko Mizutani
The link to full lesson should be
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-beginning-of-the-universe-for-beginners-tom-whyntie