Existence: Why is there a universe?

AS DOUGLAS ADAMS once wrote: "The universe is big. Really big." And yet if our theory of the big bang is right, the universe was once a lot smaller. Indeed, at one point it was non-existent. Around 13.7 billion years ago time and space spontaneously sprang from the void. How did that happen?

Or to put it another way: why does anything exist at all? It's a big question, perhaps the biggest. The idea that the universe simply appeared out of nothing is difficult enough; trying to conceive of nothingness is perhaps even harder.

Existence: Why is there a universe? - space - 26 July 2011 - New Scientist