Baby Universe

Vol. II

From Big Bang to Big Crunch!

Author

Mr. Scientific
In the loving memory of my father,
Rajendra Singh
 Contents

Introduction ............................................................................ 1
Timeline of History ................................................................ 3
PART - I ................................................................................ 6
The Origin of the Universe .................................................... 6
Before the Big Bang ...............................................................7
The Big Bang ....................................................................... 11
Universal Forces ...................................................................19
The Story of Light ................................................................24
Time Travel ..........................................................................31
Multiverse ............................................................................ 37
PART - II ............................................................................ 41
After the Big Bang ............................................................... 41
Matter ................................................................................... 43
Dark Matter .......................................................................... 50
Dark Energy ......................................................................... 53
Early Galaxies ...................................................................... 56
Supernova .............................................................................59
Black Holes .......................................................................... 64
Our Solar System ............................................................... 722
PART - III ...........................................................................84
Our Planet .............................................................................84
Earth's Story ......................................................................... 85
The Moon ............................................................................. 89
The Next 100 Years ............................................................. 95
Types of Civilization ........................................................1034
End of Life on Earth ...........................................................114
PART - IV ......................................................................... 125
Death of the Universe .........................................................125
Big Freeze ........................................................................ 1278
Big Rip ............................................................................. 1301
Big Crunch ....................................................................... 1323
Timeline of the Future ......................................................1367
Glossary ............................................................................1401
The Purpose ......................................................................1478
The Conclusion ................................................................ 1471
 Introduction

Modern humans first walked on Earth about 200,000 years

ago. Two hundred thousand years might sound like a long
duration, but it is minuscule compared to the age of this vast
cosmic arena. By the time we opened our eyes and started
looking up at the night sky, most of the things we observe
today had already happened. We might never be able to
understand some of them, but still, there is a lot of universe
just waiting to be discovered.
In the search for answers, we have done things that no other
species on this planet is capable of doing. We have launched
telescopes millions of miles into space, split the atom, and
cracked the DNA code. We have even created our personal
gods; gods that give us a sense of belonging, a purpose to
live and die for, and a 'universe' that makes sense.
Our understanding of the universe has gone through a state of
drastic changes throughout human history. We have come all
the way from knowing nothing about the universe to
understanding how little we know about it. From a
Geocentric model in which Earth is the center of the universe
and humans are the special beings of God, to the Big Bang
model where we are not so special. We have also learned that
there could be thousands of other civilizations like ours or
even more advanced ones roaming in the universe.
We have created many powerful telescopes such as Hubble,
James Webb, and Very Large Array to understand the outer
universe. However, to understand the inner universe, we have
created powerful particle accelerators, such as the Large
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 BABY UNIVERSE

Hadron Collider and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The

study of the deep universe is the study of our universe's past.
Suppose we are observing a star 1 billion light-years away.
We are not seeing it as it is today; instead, we are seeing it as
it was 1 billion years ago. Suppose there is an alien
civilization 66 million light-years away with advanced
technology to see our planet. They would see dinosaurs
wandering the Earth or even a giant asteroid wiping out most
of the life forms from this planet if they could get their
timing just right.
So, let me take you on this journey. We will start from before
the beginning of the universe, sail through the newborn stars
and galaxies, understand the complex Black holes,
investigate the possibility of advanced alien civilizations, and
explore how our universe could end.
I am sure this book will make you fall in love with the
universe!

2
 Timeline of History

Event Number of Years Ago

The Big Bang 13.8 billion

13.8 billion (380,000 years

Formation of Early Atoms
after the Big Bang)

Early Stars and Galaxies 13.6 billion

Formation of Sun 4.6 billion

Formation of Earth 4.54 billion

Formation of Moon 4.51 billion

Oldest Rocks Found 4 billion

The Beginning of Life 3.5 billion

Oxygenation of Atmosphere 2.4 billion

Complex Cells 2 billion

First Multicellular Life 800 million

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 BABY UNIVERSE

Life Moved from Ocean to

530 million
Land
Vertebrates (Creatures with
525 million
Backbone)

Fish 500 million

Land Plants 450 million

Insects and Seeds 400 million

Reptiles 300 million

Dinosaurs 230 million

Mammals 200 million

Flowers 130 million

Mammals 225 million

Death of Dinosaurs (Giant

65 million
Impact)

Primates 60 million

Apes 15 million

4
 TIMELINE OF HISTORY

Human-Like Creatures 4 million

Primitive Humans 2.5 million

Use of Stone Tools 2.5 million

Domestication of Fire 400,000

Modern Humans (Homo-

200,000
Sapiens)

End of the Ice Age 12,000

Agriculture 10,000

Development of Wheels 6,500

Iron Age 3,000

Invention of Telescope 400

Moon Landing Year 1969*

First Black Hole Image Year 2019*

5
 PA R T - I
______________

The Origin of the Universe

6
 Before the Big Bang

A lot of people ask me: We know about the Big Bang

explosion and how it created the universe, but what existed
before the Big Bang? What was there when there was no
universe? I often answer with a simple question: Do you
know who or what you were before you were born? The
answer is obvious; we do not know. All that we know comes
from what we have learned throughout our lives, and the
universe is not so different.

13.8 billion years ago, our entire universe existed in a tiny

singularity. After the Big Bang explosion occurred, space and
time came into existence. When there was no universe, there
was no space, and there was no time. The terms 'before' and
'after' are strictly bounded by the laws of time; that is how we
use them. But since there was no time, there was no 'before'
as well. Time itself was nonexistent before the explosion and
started counting as the Big Bang occurred. So, when we ask

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 BABY UNIVERSE

ourselves 'what existed 'before' the Big Bang?', we ask the

wrong question.
Throughout our lives, we have grown up knowing there is a
past. We know what we did yesterday and the day before that.
The human brain is trained in a way that it is hard for us to
imagine a universe without a past, just like it is hard for you
to imagine who or what you were before you were born.
Hawking-Hartle Model

Physicists Stephen Hawking and James Hartle have tried to

answer this question through the Hawking-Hartle model.
This model shows that it is possible to create a model of the
universe in which asking what happened before the Big Bang
is the same as asking, "Where is the north of the north pole?"
According to them, once you go before the Big Bang, time
does not exist and the universe becomes pointless in the
absence of time. Time, as we know it, is just one of the
universe's properties, and we still have a lot to learn about the
nature of time. Our understanding of time is limited to how
we measure it using our clocks. The universe itself is indeed
bound to follow the laws of time. However, it becomes
timeless when we go before its beginning.
Before we knew about genetics and started sequencing the
DNA, philosopher John Locke advocated for The Blank Slate
theory. This theory argues that when a child is born, they
have no built-in traits. They do not have any beliefs, desires,
memories, thoughts, intentions, or a wish of their own. They
are like a Blank Slate. How children study in their early years,
what they learn, and the environment they grow up in decides
their personality. In general, this theory seems to hold some
truth. It is common sense that you need to study astronomy
and not animal behavior to become a good astronomer.
However, the reality can be a little astonishing.

8
 BEFORE THE BIG BANG

Has it ever happened that you went to see a doctor and they
asked you if anyone in your family has a particular disease?
It turns out that there are various traits that we inherit from
our family. Different physical characteristics, such as the
bone structure, the color of your eyes, hair, and how tall you
are, are inherited from your family. Also, certain diseases run
in some families. There is no denying that education plays an
essential role in who you are, but where you come from also
makes a large part of it.
Why are we talking about Biology? Like The Blank Slate
theory, some theories gave us an early model of the universe.
So, before we jump to the Big Bang, the current leading
model of the universe in cosmology, we must talk about one
of its most renowned historical rivals, The Steady-State
Theory.
THE STEADY-STATE THEORY

Sir James Jeans first put forward the Steady-State theory in

the 1920s. As time passed, more observations came in, and
the theory was revised by Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold,
and Fred Hoyle. Steady-State Theory argues that the universe
is constantly expanding. As it expands, it creates more and
more matter by itself. This new matter forms new stars and
galaxies at the same rate at which the older ones are
becoming unobservable due to the expansion of the universe.
As a result, the mean density of matter throughout the
universe remains the same. So, it doesn’t matter in which
direction you are looking or what your observation point is;
the universe will always look the same.
Steady-State Theory further argues that we live in a universe
without a beginning or an end. The universe has existed
forever, and it will exist infinitely. This theory produces a
map of the universe that is infinite, with no beginning or end,
and does not change with time. Steady-State Theory was

9
 BABY UNIVERSE

famous in the 1950s, but today, most scientists do not accept

it, especially after we started observing the deeper universe.
First of all, no new matter is being created out of a thin
vacuum. All the new stars and planets born in the universe
are from the matter created in the Big Bang; matter that has
existed for billions of years.

In 1968, Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 became the

first successful space telescope. Since then, we have
launched over 100 telescopes into space, and none of them
have found traces of new matter being created by itself.
Today, we know that a limited amount of matter is present in
the universe. As the universe expands, galaxies drift apart,
eventually reducing the overall density of the universe. Also,
based on how far we can glimpse into the universe, in time,
our universe seems to have a finite age with a beginning that
can be explained. We call it, The Big Bang Theory.

10
 The Big Bang

Let me ask you a simple question: How old are you? Really,
how old are you? The simple answer is the number of years
from the year of your birth. That is the human way of looking
at it. In a more cosmic way, we are billions of years old
because that is how old all the atoms in our bodies are.
Edwin Powell Hubble was an American astronomer. While
observing distant galaxies in the 1920s, Hubble discovered
something that changed the course of astronomy. He found
that the light coming from two galaxies located near and far
away from Earth is not the same. The light from a galaxy
farther away from Earth is more shifted toward the red
spectrum than a nearer one. In simple words, the wavelength
of light is increasing; it is being stretched before it reaches
our planet. This phenomenon is known as redshift.
This discovery made him think that something must be
happening between Earth and those galaxies, causing the
redshift effect. So, what did he do? He observed more
galaxies and, surprisingly, noticed the same phenomenon
with every galaxy he pointed his telescope toward. He knew
that the space between the Earth and those galaxies was
increasing. In other words, he discovered that the universe
was expanding. As a result of this expansion, by the time
light reaches the Earth, it is shifted toward the red end of the
spectrum. Hubble published his findings in a paper in 1929.
At that time, astronomy was not considered a part of Physics,
making him ineligible for a much-deserved Nobel Prize.
Just two years later, a Catholic priest and physicist, Georges
Lemaître, coined the idea of the Big Bang. His reasoning was
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 BABY UNIVERSE

simple. If, at this point in time, the universe is expanding,

when we go back in time, the universe must contract.
Furthermore, if you contract the universe enough, it becomes
a point—a point of infinite potential.
Let us go back 13.8 billion years in time to understand the
universe's origin. Everything that exists today, everything
that we know, and everything that we will ever know is lying
somewhere in a tiny bundle of energy. This bundle of energy
is smaller than an atom and infinitely dense. We like to call it
a point of singularity. The energy required to give birth to an
entire universe that will have trillions of stars and billions of
galaxies is contained within this point of singularity. One day,
a species born from the same energy released from the
singularity will write about it because this infinite energy
point is not stable at all.
When the singularity acquired enough randomness, the Big
Bang explosion occurred. This explosion gave birth to both
space and time. It was more powerful than any explosion we
have ever witnessed or will ever see. Within a fraction of
time, Big Bang created all the energy that will fuel billions of
galaxies and give birth to trillions of stars. Things get hot
when there is an explosion. For comparison, the temperature
at the core of our Sun, where all the fusion takes place, is 15
million degrees Celsius. When the Big Bang explosion
occurred, the immediate temperature was over 1000 trillion
degrees Celsius, hotter than anything we have ever seen. The
closest we have gotten to this temperature is inside the Large
Hadron Collider, and it is below 10 trillion degrees Celsius.
One of the fascinating things about the energy released after
the Big Bang is that it can be converted into different forms.
Let me ask you what is common between a pen, a
smartphone, the people you love, and the very planet you
walk upon. Every single thing we can see or touch is made
from the different forms of energy released after the Big

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 THE BIG BANG

Bang. We are all nothing but a naturally organized heap of

the same condensed form of energy. The Big Bang explosion
was so powerful that our universe went from a size smaller
than an atom to larger than a galaxy in a short period of time.
As the universe expanded exponentially, it also cooled down.
When the universe was cold enough, electrons, protons, and
neutrons were formed from the same energy released in the
Big Bang.
There was a time when we thought that the Earth was the
only planet in the universe, and look where we are today.
Today, we cannot go 13.8 billion years back in time and
observe what happened. Even if we could go back in time,
we would not be able to observe the singularity because time
and space did not exist back then.
Foundations of the Big Bang model

There are foundations upon which every scientific theory

stands. When it comes to the Big Bang model, we have
multiple shreds of evidence that it happened, and here are
some of them. Big Bang theory states that lighter elements
such as Hydrogen and Helium were formed in large
quantities after the explosion. It was easy for single or double
protons and neutrons to bump into each other and sometimes
even stick together, forming the nucleus of an atom. Today,
when we observe the universe, we find that approximately
73% of the total mass is Hydrogen, and another 25% is
Helium. Almost all the stars in the universe, including our
own Sun, are made up of Hydrogen and Helium.
Whenever we talk about the Big Bang Theory, it is essential
to talk about the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
because it confirms the essence of this theory. Moreover,
what might be one of the most significant revelations of the
20th century started with bird droppings.

13
 BABY UNIVERSE

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson are two American

astronomers. In the early 1960s, they set out to map radio
signals from the space between galaxies. Nevertheless, no
matter where they pointed their telescope, there was a
constant background noise interrupting their observation.
They cooled down the receiver with liquid Helium to
eliminate all interference, but it did not help. Then they
thought it might be due to the birds nesting on the horn-
shaped antenna; they spent hours cleaning the antenna and
bird feces. Even then, they had constant static radio-like
noise from all directions.
The antenna was located close to New York City in Holmdel.
So, they decided to point the telescope at New York City to
ensure that it was not coming from the city either. After
eliminating all the known sources, they knew they had
something on their hand. Penzias and Wilson quickly began
looking for a theoretical explanation for what they saw. At
the same time, physicist, Robert Dicke, theorized that if our
universe was superhot at its beginning, it must have created a
lot of radiation. The same radiation would still exist
throughout the universe. He visited Penzias and Wilson at
Bell labs and confirmed their findings. The mysterious signal
was the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation left over
from the Big Bang. Penzias and Wilson won the 1978 Nobel
prize in physics for this discovery. By using modern
telescopes, astronomers have mapped out the entire
observable universe and created a map of the CMB radiation.

14
 THE BIG BANG

The Flaws of the Big Bang Theory

Big Bang Theory has been wildly successful so far. However,

no theory is perfect, and there are things that even this model
cannot explain. There are some areas that the Big Bang
model has left untouched. The Big Bang model states that
before Big Bang, the universe was infinitely dense, stuffed in
a point we call a singularity. So, where did the singularity
come from? Did it come from an event that we do not know
yet, or has it always existed?
We have come to the conclusion of singularity from the fact
that our universe is expanding today. But there is an even
bigger question: Was there a singularity? How can something,
the singularity, come out of nothing? The closer we cruise to
the Big Bang, laws that govern our universe seem to break
down. We are not sure if singularity is the only reasonable
explanation for our universe's birth.
Let us suppose that our universe did come from a singularity
that came out of nowhere. Let us assume that the Big Bang
model is the only true universe model. Why did it bang? If
the singularity has existed for eternity, what forces acted

15
 BABY UNIVERSE

upon it that caused it to become unstable and explode? Was

that force internal? Did the singularity become unstable from
the inside, or were there some external forces? We can only
speculate because we have no way of knowing it today. If we
can figure out where the singularity came from and why it
exploded, everything else will slowly fall into place.
Age of the Universe

Today, scientists can confidently say that the universe is 13.8

billion years old with an uncertainty of less than 1%. But
how do we know the precise age of the universe? Well, we
have two methods for it.
First of all, we have the Hubble's Law. Hubble's Law states
that the rate at which a particular galaxy moves away from us
is directly proportional to its distance. This means that
galaxies farther away from us are moving faster. If this
expansion continues, there will be a time when we will no
longer see those galaxies because the expansion rate will be
faster than the speed of light, and their light will never reach
us. By calculating the expansion rate based on their distance,
Hubble estimated how long ago galaxies started moving apart.
Initially, Hubble underestimated the distance of galaxies and
figured that the universe was about 2 billion years old. Today,
we know his calculations were way off.
The second method involves measuring the age of the oldest
stars in the universe. The first stars in the universe were
formed from gas clouds about 150 to 200 million years after
the Big Bang. Suppose we can point our telescopes toward
the oldest stars and measure their age. In that case, we can
also get a rough estimate of the universe's age. This method
is a bit more complicated as it is not easy to find a star that
old. Most stars die out within their first 10 billion years,
depending on their mass. A star like our Sun can live up to 10
billion years, whereas a star 20 times its size can only live

16
 THE BIG BANG

about 10 million years. Even if we can find the star, it is not

easy to precisely measure their age. For example, the oldest
star we have found in the universe is The Methuselah Star or
HD 140283. Scientists have estimated its age to be 13.7
billion years with an uncertainty of 700 million years. If The
Methuselah Star is younger than the universe, that is fine. But
the uncertainty says that it can be as old as 14.4 billion years,
taking us back to the drawing board.
There was a time when the Steady-State Theory seemed to
have all the answers to our questions concerning the origin of
the universe. As we looked deeper, our understanding
changed. Naturally, the Big Bang Theory replaced the
Steady-State Theory. For decades, the Big Bang Theory has
been on the front line of our exploration. How long before
you think another theory or a better version of this theory
comes to light?
Even today, we have theories that challenge or at least add
something to the Big Bang model, such as the Eternal
Inflation Theory and the Oscillating Universe Theory.
In a way, the Eternal Inflation Theory is the extension of the
Big Bang theory. Eternal Inflation Theory suggests that our
universe went through a rapid expansion for a brief period
called inflation after the Big Bang. This inflation did not stop
even after a few billion years, and it never will. The inflation
will go on for an infinite period or as long as the universe
exists. Today, we can observe this inflation in the form of the
expanding universe.
The Oscillating Universe Theory is a bit complicated. Let us
suppose you have a spring in your hand. When you stretch
the spring and release it, it oscillates. According to this
theory, our universe goes through an endless series of
stretches and contractions, just like the spring. The universe
begins with the Big Bang and expands. Once it has reached

17
 BABY UNIVERSE

the maximum possible expansion, the force of gravity will

take over, and the universe will start to contract. Eventually,
it gets to the point of singularity and Bang—a new universe
from the older universe. The cycle continues.
Steady-State Theory is a theory of the mid-1900s that has
been ruled out by our current understanding of the universe.
Even though Eternal Inflation Theory and Oscillating
Universe Theory are still popular among scientists, neither of
these theories is as successful as the Big Bang theory.

18
 Universal Forces

Whenever scientists discovered a new force, it changed

history. Sir Isaac Newton first came up with the theory of
gravitation in the 1660s. Once this force of the universe came
to light, it revolutionized science. People started wondering if
Earth's gravity keeps us on this planet, then what impact it
might have on other objects in space? The discovery of
electromagnetism in the 1820s brought light to this world and
revolutionized the modern world we live in. Today, we know
there are two more fundamental forces of the universe, i.e.,
the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force.
If you see an atom, you will find an order there. There is a
tightly held nuclei at the center and electrons in a particular
orbit. If you look at the solar system, there is an order there.
There are planets, asteroids, and comets circling in a specific
orbit. There are systems in our universe that seem chaotic
and unpredictable. But if you look closely and give them
enough time. You will see that there is an order there. We
have order because fundamental forces govern whatever
happens in the universe. Today, we know these fundamental
forces in the form of Gravitation, Electromagnetism,
Strong Nuclear Force, and Weak Nuclear Force. Let us
look at them closely one by one.
Gravitation

Gravity is the weakest force in the universe, having an

infinite range. Suppose you and your friend are standing at
the opposite corners of the universe. Both of you would still
be attracting each other with gravity. However, its strength

19
 BABY UNIVERSE

would be near zero. The nature of gravity is that it is always

attractive.

Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein described this force in

their tongue. Sir Isaac Newton said that objects experience
gravity because they have mass. The more mass an object has,
the greater its gravity is. Later, Albert Einstein made
significant contributions to this matter. He explained the
entire universe as a sheet of fabric distorted by the mass of
stars and planets. This distortion causes objects to fall toward
the bigger objects. In simple words, you can stand on planet
Earth not because Earth is pulling you toward itself. But
instead, the space is pushing you toward the Earth. The same
force also binds the solar systems together.
Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism comes from two separate words,

Electricity and Magnetism. Earlier, it was believed that
Electricity and Magnetism were two independent forces.
However, when we study charged particles, they are the same
thing. If you have two positive and negative electric charges,
there is an attractive force between them. If the electric

20
 UNIVERSAL FORCES

charges are the same, the force would be repulsive. At the

same time, if you have two magnets, the North and South
would attract each other and vice versa. The relationship
between electric and magnetic forces is simple. If we move a
magnet, we can generate a charge. Furthermore, if we move a
charge, we can generate a magnetic field.

Electromagnetic force has lightened our entire world since its

discovery. Its discovery gave birth to electronic appliances.
All the electronic gadgets in our homes, such as laptops,
personal computers, lights, and T.V., are based on this force.
The computer revolution we have seen in the last 50 years
would be incomplete without this force.
Strong Nuclear Force

Have you ever wondered why the gold jewelry you wear
does not just fall apart? Why do the atoms of gold, more
specifically the nuclei of gold with 79 protons, stays intact?
The same charges are repulsive in nature, and gold atoms
have 79 identically charged protons at their nucleus. In

21
 BABY UNIVERSE

theory, there must be chaos there. Turns out, there is a force

that binds the hearts of all the atoms in our universe together.
This force is known as the strong nuclear force or the Strong
Interaction.

This force not only binds the atomic nuclei, the protons, and
neutrons together but also binds the quarks—the fundamental
particles that make up protons and neutrons. It is impossible
to detect this force directly as it works on a tiny scale. To
detect a strong nuclear force, we need a particle smasher—a
machine that smashes particles together and breaks them
apart into their constituents. Once a particle is broken, we can
study the trail it left behind and understand what it is made of.
Weak Nuclear Force

There are three quarks in both protons and neutrons. Protons

consist of two up quarks and one down quark, whereas a
neutron has one up and two down quarks. The strong nuclear
force binds these quarks together, whereas the weak nuclear
force allows them to change orientation. For example,

22
 UNIVERSAL FORCES

changing one up quark to a down quark turns a proton into a

neutron, which results in the decay of an atom.

The weak nuclear force make nuclear fusion at the core of

our Sun possible. It also plays an essential role in nuclear
fission used in nuclear power plants, where radioactive
elements such as uranium are used to generate electricity.

23
 The Story of Light

Fear is necessary for the survival of a human being. Imagine

standing on the edge of a mountain cliff and not being afraid
of falling down and injuring yourself. Would you not want to
try what happens when you go down? After all, it is just an
unexplored territory. When a baby is born, they have two
fears—the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. The fear
of falling prevents a baby from getting severely injured. The
fear of loud noises helps them alert their parents by crying
when they hear something unusual. There are other fears that
we develop as we grow up, such as the fear of the dark.
Humans fear what they cannot see. From an evolutionary
point of view, it is natural for humans to be afraid of the dark.
The best way to eliminate any fear is to understand what you
are afraid of. In the language of science, darkness is nothing
but the absence of photons. There is absolutely nothing to be
afraid of in the absence of photons. A photon is a particle of
light that carry electromagnetic radiation. A tiny portion of
this radiation is called visible light, which allows us to see
the world.
In his theories, Sir Isaac Newton predicted that the speed of
light could be changed. It is variable depending on the frame
of reference. For example, if you have a torch in your hand
and you are running in the direction of an object with a
velocity 'v.' The full speed of light would be equal to the
speed of light (c) plus your running speed, c+v, and vice
versa. Newton believed that the entire universe was filled
with a hypothetical medium called Ether. A massless,
invisible and infinitely low density medium. Ether provided a

24
 THE STORY OF LIGHT

rest frame for the propagation of light. The high value of

elasticity and very low density enabled light to propagate
through this medium without losing its intensity. Not only
light, but this ideal medium also enabled electromagnetic
waves to travel through space.
To check the existence of Ether, one of the most significant
and long-lasting experiments in human history was carried
out; the Michelson-Morley Experiment. The basic idea of
this experiment was to calculate the relative motion of light
with respect to Earth. If there was a medium called Ether in
space with a low density, there must be a relative motion. In
the end, no relative motion between Earth and Ether was
detected. This experiment won Michelson the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1907.
Albert Einstein strongly believed that the speed of light is
invariant and independent of the frame of observers. C+v and
c-v are the wrong assumptions, and it is always c no matter
what frame you are in. An object cannot outpace the speed of
light even if you continue to apply force. If an object reaches
the speed of light, its energy would become infinite, making
it impossible to push further. We have a star, the Sun, as our
primary source of energy and light. The presence of light has
transformed our dark universe into an observable one. In the
absence of light, we would not be able to do most of our
space-related experiments. Our telescopes rely on the
presence of light, and without it, they would become useless.
The speed of light

The speed of light has been a major discussion among

scientists for centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries,
scientists were divided into two categories. One group
believed that the speed of light is too fast or infinite, so it can
never be measured. At the same time, the other group

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 BABY UNIVERSE

believed that light travels at a finite speed; therefore, it can be

measured using scientific instruments.
In 1676, astronomer Olaus Roemer conducted one of the
earliest experiments to calculate the speed of light. Romer
was working at the Paris Observatory. His primary role was
to observe the orbit of Io, one of Jupiter's moons, and
accurately time the eclipses. He observed Io for many years
and found something he was not even looking for.
Roemer noticed that, in its orbit, as Earth moves toward
Jupiter, the eclipse would start early. Also, it comes at a later
time when Earth is moving away from Jupiter. Roemer
calculated that the eclipse occurs 11 minutes earlier than its
predicted time when Earth is closest to Jupiter and 11
minutes late when it is at the farthest point. He realized that
this time difference must be due to the finite speed of light.
When Earth is near, light reaches faster, and late when it is
farther away. He estimated that overall, light takes about 22
minutes to cross the entire orbit of Earth around the Sun. By
dividing the diameter of Earth's orbit by the time taken by
light, he estimated that the speed of light must be around
220,000 kilometers per second. Even though he was way off,
he dismantled the myth that light has an infinite or non-
measurable speed.
In 1726, James Bradley measured the speed of light by using
the method of Stellar Aberration. To understand stellar
aberration, let us use falling rain as an example. Suppose you
are standing still in the rain with no winds. The droplets will
fall vertically and hit you directly on the head. However, if
you start running, the rain will hit you on the front at a
specific angle, depending on your running speed. As we
know, our planet revolves around the Sun, so the position of
distant stars must change slightly due to its yearly motion.
Knowing the speed of Earth around the Sun, Bradley

26
 THE STORY OF LIGHT

measured this angle for starlight and measured the speed of

light to be about 301,000 km/s.

In 1849, Armand Fizeau measured the speed of light to be

315,000 km/sec using the Toothed Wheel method. Fizeau
used a beam splitter and focused the beam of light onto a
plane where a spinning toothed wheel was located. Light
passing through the toothed wheel was projected to a mirror
located 5 miles away. The endpoint beam of light was then
reflected back to the point of origin. Fizeau kept increasing
the rotating wheel's speed until the tooth of the wheel entirely
blocked the returning light from 5 miles away. Knowing the
wheel's speed and the distance light has traveled back and
forth, Fizeau measured the speed of light to be 315,000
km/sec.

27
 BABY UNIVERSE

In 1862, Leon Foucault measured it to be 298,000 ±500

km/sec using the method of Rotating Mirror. Leon Foucault
made one of the most accurate measurements of the speed of
light in his time. His experiment consisted of two mirrors—
one fixed mirror while the other was rotating. The basic
technique here is to send a sharp beam of light on a path to
bounce between a rotating mirror, a fixed mirror, and right
back to the rotating mirror for a total distance of 2D. As light
travels the 2D distance and comes back, the rotating mirror
will have turned very slightly in angle. This slight rotation in
the mirror deflected the beam of light through a small angle θ
from its original path, producing a measurable effect. Using
this idea, Foucault calculated the speed of light to be 298,000
±500 km/sec, which is very close to what we know today.

28
 THE STORY OF LIGHT

In 1958, K.D. Froome measured it to be 299,792.5 ±0.1 km/

sec using the Radio Interferometer method. Interferometry
can also be used to measure the wavelength of
electromagnetic radiation, which can be very useful when
determining the speed of light. At that time, laser technology
had not been invented, so Froome used other coherent radio
sources of light to measure the speed of light.
In 1973, Evenson et al. measured it to be
299,792.4574±0.001 km/sec using Lasers. It was the most
accurate value because lasers are highly monochromatic and
unidirectional.
Finally, in 1983, the speed of light was accepted by the
community of scientists worldwide to be 299,792.458 km/sec.
Roughly, we use it as 3×10^8 m/sec in our mathematical
calculations. The real credit for calculating the speed of light
goes to Olaus Roemer, who could measure its rough value by
observing the motion of planets even when the distance
between planets was not accurately known.
What is a light-year?
A light-year is misunderstood as a unit of time. Instead, it is a
unit of distance. One light-year is the distance traveled by a
29
 BABY UNIVERSE

beam of light in 1 year, equal to 5.8 trillion miles or 9.4

trillion kilometers. The diameter of our Milky Way galaxy is
about 100,000 light-years. If the light starts traveling from
one end of the Milky Way, it will take 100,000 years to reach
the other end.

30
 Time Travel

Is it possible to travel in time? The straightforward answer is

'we are all time travelers.' Time is one of the fundamental
properties of the universe. Even when you are going through
these lines, you are traveling in time. Time is taking us into
the next moment after every present moment. The universe
itself governs this time machine and has its own set of laws.
That is why we consider time to be the fourth dimension of
the universe. After every present moment, we are heading
into the future, and the past has become a memory.
If we are all time travelers, what is time travel?
Time travel is about going into the future or past moments at
a faster or slower rate. Alternatively, simply switching
between different points in time is time travel. Time travel
into the future has already been proven experimentally as
scientists have observed particles that can travel in time.
However, time travel into the past is a bit more complex and
needs more understanding.

31
 BABY UNIVERSE

Into The Future

Practically, it is impossible for humans to travel in time right

now. Theoretically, there are multiple ways to travel into the
future. Some of the possible explanations for forward time
travel are:
High Velocity: Suppose there are twin brothers, Sam and
Leo, aged 24. One day, Leo decides to enter a very high-
speed spaceship and travel to the Proxima Centauri. It is the
nearest star to Earth after Sun, located 4.2 light-years away.
Leo's spaceship is very advanced and can reach a speed close
to the speed of light. Leo enters this spaceship and programs
it to travel toward the Proxima Centauri at 99.9 percent the
speed of light. Once he reaches the star, Leo decides to return
to Earth.
During this whole time, Sam stays back on Earth. From
Sam's frame of reference, over 8 years have passed since Leo
took off. Whereas for Leo, only a few months have passed.
Sam is now over 32 years old. Whereas Leo is only a few
months older. This phenomenon is called Time dilation.
Time dilation states that time slows down as you approach
the speed of light compared to someone in a stationary frame
of reference.
In order to make such time travel possible, we need high
velocity. Today, we do not have the technology as well as the
spaceship that can travel close to such speed. Our fastest
spaceships can reach only a fraction of the speed of light. We
have made significant leaps in technology in the last 50 years.
We can hope to make it possible in the coming 1000 years.
Until then, we can explore other means of time travel, such
as using a Black Hole.
Using Black Holes: The idea of using Black Holes to travel
forward in time comes from our understanding that time

32
 TIME-TRAVEL

slows down when you are near an object with high

gravitational potential. Gravity has the ability to bend the
fabric of space-time. The stronger the gravity, the more
fabric of space-time it can bend, resulting in a slower passage
of time. What in the universe has a higher gravitational
potential than Black Holes?
If we take a very advanced spaceship and revolve around a
Black Hole, time will run slower for us than the person on
Earth. Do not get confused when I say that time will run
slower. Time running slower does not mean things will
happen in slow motion for us in the spaceship. Our feeling of
time will remain unchanged. Instead, what will happen is that
after we revolve around a massive Black Hole for one month
and return to Earth, several months would have passed on
Earth. Our feeling of time and the way we experience it will
remain unchanged. We might not even notice that we have
traveled in time. This is the 2nd form of time dilation, also
known as the Gravitational Time dilation.
There are two main problems with using a Black Hole as our
time machine:
The first problem is that they are mighty and have powerful
gravitational potential. Most Black Holes can suck an entire
star system, so our spaceship must be fast and powerful
enough to escape. Just being fast enough will not work near a
Black Hole. Our spaceship should also be strong enough to
withstand its gravity.
The second problem is the humans in that spaceship. We
have all grown up on Earth, experiencing a specific
gravitational field. If you try to stand on the surface of a
Neutron Star, you will get crushed almost immediately to the
level of an atom. We have already seen examples of human
body acting differently in different gravitational fields. The
astronauts who go to the ISS (International Space Station)

33
 BABY UNIVERSE

and spend a few months in zero gravity get stretched. Their

height increases by a few centimeters. Living here on Earth,
we are continuously pushed toward this planet. How would
that impact the astronauts when our spaceship gets very close
to a Black Hole? Would they be able to stay alive while
being in an intense gravitational field?
Both of the above scenarios seem impossible to overcome in
a short time. Our nearest Black Hole is A062000 (V616
Mon), which is located roughly 2800 light-years away,
making it difficult to reach there.
Time travel is not impossible, but that does not mean it is
possible either. Time dilation has been scientifically proven
correct in measurements of atomic clocks. One of the daily
life examples of time dilation is the μ-mesons. μ-mesons are
the unstable cosmic rays formed 10km above Earth. Their
lifetime is about 2×10-6 sec and their velocity is about 0.998c.
In theory, μ-mesons should travel a distance of about 600
meters before their disintegration, but here comes relativity.
Their lifetime increases slightly because of time dilation, and
they can be found all over the Earth. For some physicists,
time travel is a human construct, and we are playing with the
property of space itself, especially when we are moving
forward in time. Time may flow in a definite direction and
we may travel forward in time, but traveling back seems
impossible. It is like a game where the door behind you
closes once you have taken a step forward.
Into The Past

Let us begin with a small story. Suppose Max is a time

traveler. He travels back in time to the 1950s when his
grandfather was a handsome young man. He steps into his
grandpa's home and finds that it is the day his grandfather is
going to meet his grandmother for the very first time. Max
meets his grandfather and somehow stops him from meeting

34
 TIME-TRAVEL

his grandmother. This way, his grandfather will not be able to

meet his grandmother. This means Max's father will never be
born in the future and thus, there will be no Max. In this
paradox, Max prevented his father's birth and, consequently,
his own. However, this is untrue in the real world because
Max is already present in the future. How can two opposite
events occur at the same time? How can Max be alive when
his parents were never born? Does that mean we cannot
travel back in time? This problem is known as the
grandfather paradox.
One theory suggests that even if we could travel back in time,
we would not be able to influence the future. From where
you traveled back in time, the future will go on its path
without any influence of time travel. Physicists explain time
and traveling back in time using the example of a river. Time
is like a river flowing in one direction, and we are sitting in a
boat on that river. This way, all of us are experiencing the
same time. Now suppose someone jumps out of the boat and
tries to swim backward. They will not be able to do so.
However, let us suppose they do swim backward. In that case,
they will create a separate timeline of their own. In the new
timeline, the consequences of their actions will occur, but the
future they came from will remain untouched.
So, if Max travels back in time, he will create a new timeline.
In this timeline, his father will never be born, and things will
go as they should. Some scientists suggest that it is
impossible to create a separate timeline. If we somehow
travel back in time, we will not be able to influence it. This
means that Max will not be able to stop the meeting of his
grandfather with his grandmother. This idea raises questions
about the nature of the grandfather paradox. Also, why
should we travel back if we cannot interact with it or have
any influence?

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 BABY UNIVERSE

There is one more idea that revolves around the grandfather

paradox. Whenever Max goes back in time and modifies his
past, he creates a new universe. This way, he stops the
meeting of his grandparents in a universe where he is
unknown. Backward time travel is not just difficult but also
very confusing.
One of the best examples of why backward time travel is not
possible is that we do not have any humans from the future.
If it were humanly possible to travel back in time, why would
the future humans not come and share all of their
technological secrets to make things easy for us? However,
the counterargument is that maybe we are the future humans.
Maybe, we are on the front seat of the cosmological
timescale. We are the ones who will go back in time since we
have had a past.

36
 Multiverse

There was a time when Earth was considered the center of

the universe. This is not surprising because, at that time,
when we looked up at the night sky, all the stars appeared to
be moving around Earth. So, it was natural to assume 600
years ago, especially with the limited knowledge presented in
their religious textbooks.
It was also a common belief that we are the only living
creatures in the universe and there is zero possibility for life
on any other planet. This is still the case because we have not
found alien life yet. But some things have changed. We have
found that we are not the center of the universe. There are
billions of planets orbiting the habitable zone of their
respective stars. The possibility of finding an alien life has
only gone up in the last few decades. We have become more
open-minded to new ideas with time, especially the ones we
can observe.
As per the discoveries made in the 19th century, our universe
was supposed to be the only one. Everything that we know or
will ever know was supposed to be confined within the
boundaries of a single universe. But today, we have theories
describing the possibility of multiple universes, i.e., a
multiverse. Multiverse theories suggest that our universe is
not alone. There is a series of multiple universes where our
universe is just one of the finite/infinite number of universes.
One of the biggest pieces of evidence of the multiverse is us.
We know at least one universe that exists, i.e., our universe.
So why can’t there be other universes out there? The
presence of our universe does not answer the question, but it
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 BABY UNIVERSE

opens the possibility. We have theories that suggest the idea

of multiple universes, such as the String Theory. It says that
there could be other universes, and we can move out to other
universes. When two universes collide, they fuse into each
other, forming a much bigger universe. When a single
universe splits, it creates two independent universes with
their own laws and properties. The multiverse seems strange
to imagine because this is the only universe we have ever
known.
It is predicted that our universe is a part of a much bigger
picture. We are nothing but a drop in the ocean. We do not
know the easy answer to this question because we have no
way of finding out for ourselves. Some scientists believe that
multiple universes originate from an enormous ocean of
energy foam. The birth and death of a universe in energy
foam are like bubbles coming in and out of existence in a
bathtub. Few of those bubbles break almost instantly,
whereas the others hold for some time. The idea of our
universe in an energy foam seems fascinating. However, it
takes us back to the first piece of the same puzzle. If our
present universe is a part of a much larger ocean, where is the
ocean? Inside an even bigger entity? Who knows.
Some physicists believe that multiverse is just a vague term
that has nothing to do with reality. If our universe is just one
of many universes, where did the multiple universes come
from?
Now you might ask, if there are multiple universes, how can
we leave this universe and enter a new one? Well, this is
where the idea of wormholes comes into play.
Wormholes

In the 1930s, Albert Einstein and physicist, Nathan Rosen,

came together and proposed the idea of wormholes.

38
 MULTIVERSE

Wormholes are also known as Einstein Rosen bridge. They

used Einstein's theory of relativity to conclude that 'bridges'
can be created in space-time. These bridges can connect long
distances, reducing travel time distance.
To understand the working of wormholes, we will use a
straightforward concept. Take a sheet of paper in your hand
and mark two points, A and B, at the different edges of that
page. If you want to travel from point A to point B, you can
take as many routes as you want, but the shortest one would
be a straight line. Suppose the distance between points A and
B is around 15 cm. Starting from point A, you travel at 1 cm
per second. It would take you 15 seconds to reach point B.
Now take the same piece of paper and fold it so that the two
points are sitting upon each other. The distance between A
and B would become almost zero, and you can travel from A
to B in no time.

Wormholes can also be called pathways or tunnels within

one or more universes. As we know, matter and energy can

39
 BABY UNIVERSE

warp the fabric of space-time. But at a particular

configuration, it could act as a tunnel, thus allowing the
passage of data. Creating a wormhole would require energy
and tools that we do not possess today. However, some
physicists suggest that wormholes can exist naturally in the
universe. If we look deep enough with the right tools in the
right places, we may even find one. Instead of creating a new
wormhole, we can use an already existing one.
With our theoretical understanding of wormholes, it is not
clear if we can pass through them without splitting them into
small pieces. It is still debated how a wormhole would react
when a piece of matter passes through it. Alpha Centauri is
located around 4.3 light-years away. Practically, if we started
traveling from Earth in a spaceship, we would never reach
there in a lifetime. It would take over 70,000 years of
continuous travel just to get there. Wormholes can come in
handy in such travels. We could create a wormhole whose
one end is in our solar system, and the other end opens near
the Alpha Centauri.
What is the difference between a Black Hole and a
Wormhole?
Black Holes are more like a suction device. They take in
anything that comes their way. Their gravity is so strong that
nothing can escape. Black Holes are caused by massive
amounts of matter that collapse because of their own gravity
and end up in a singularity. Wormholes are the shortcuts
between two distinct parts of the universe. Instead of ending
up at a singularity, a wormhole opens up at some distinct part
of the universe. Today, we have proof of the existence of
Black Holes, whereas wormholes are purely theoretical.

40
 PA R T - I I
______________

After the Big Bang

41
 BABY UNIVERSE

There was a time when scientists believed that our universe

consisted of matter only; matter that you can touch, see and
feel. It was a common belief that there was nothing in
between the galaxies. As a result, matter was the only point
of discussion among scientists before the 20th century. The
study of matter helped us to a large extent. We discovered a
large number of subatomic particles, which gave birth to
quantum mechanics.
But as we looked deeper, we realized that there are forces in
the universe that we haven't touched yet; forces acting on
galaxies and keeping them together. Without them, most of
the galaxies would fall apart. We named it Dark matter. Our
quest to understand the expanding universe has taken us
beyond the Milky Way galaxy and toward the edges of the
universe. We realized that there is another force driving the
universe's expansion, and we call it Dark Energy.

42
 Matter

To understand matter and its nature, let us do a simple

experiment. Let us reverse the clock and go back to the Big
Bang explosion. As we move backward in time, we will
become Apes. We will see the dinosaurs roaming around
planet Earth. As we keep going, we will find ourselves in the
ocean in the form of aquatic life 500 million years ago. 4.5
billion years back, we can see the formation of our planet.
And the formation of our own galaxy about 13.6 billion years
ago. We're close. As we approach the Big Bang explosion,
we will find ourselves in the form of early atoms falling apart.
Soon, our atoms will completely disintegrate into pure
energy. Eventually, we will find ourselves in a tiny
singularity; the same singularity where it all began. At that
point, there will be no space for us and time will stop. We
will not be able to go any further back.
In the first moments of the Big Bang explosion, the universe
was too hot for anything to form. But as the universe
expanded exponentially, it also cooled down. At a lower
temperature, the conditions became right to give rise to the
building blocks of matter, such as the quarks and electrons. A
few millionths of a second later, once the universe acquired a
specific temperature, quarks came together and arranged
themselves, forming the first protons and neutrons. A few
millionths of a second after the Big Bang, we had a universe
full of subatomic particles, the protons, neutrons, and
electrons. Scientists describe it as a super-hot soup with all
the ingredients to form matter. But there is one problem. It is
still too hot. Even if the protons and neutrons try to interact
with each other, they will get ripped apart by the heat.

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 BABY UNIVERSE

About 3 minutes after the Big Bang explosion, the universe

was cold enough for these protons and neutrons to form the
first nuclei. Now our universe was full of atomic nuclei
roaming around. Only one last ingredient was left to create
the first atoms, the electrons. Even after hours, days and
years, the nuclei couldn't catch the electrons. The heat of the
universe always prevented these nuclei from doing so.
It took another 380,000 years of expansion and cooling down
of the universe for these nuclei to catch the electrons and
form the first atoms—the building blocks of life and
everything around us. The very first atoms that were created
were the Hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen requires only one
proton and one electron to form a stable structure. There are
other hydrogen isotopes, such as deuterium and tritium, with
one and two extra neutrons respectively. But after deuterium,
Hydrogen becomes unstable and can't stay for too long. Due
to the simplicity of formation, Hydrogen was formed
excessively in the early universe.
Another element that was formed but not so excessively was
Helium. Two electrons are bounded by two protons with
either one or two neutrons. This fact can be observed in the
universe even today. Almost all the stars that we see in the
night sky are mostly made up of Hydrogen and Helium. The
early universe was like a big cloud of fog. With the formation
of atoms, it became more and more transparent. So, how do
we get from a universe full of atoms to a universe full of stars
and galaxies? Well, the simple answer is gravity! After the
formation of the first atoms, over the next millions of years,
gravity did its magical work. Gravity combined the unevenly
scattered atoms and formed large gas clouds across the
universe.
As these gas clouds became sizeable, their collective gravity
attracted more matter. Smaller gas clouds combined with big
gas clouds, resulting in massive gas clouds. And the process

44
 MATTER

went on. From a distance, everything looked normal. But if

we moved to the center of these gas clouds, something else
was happening. In the womb of these clouds, the very first
stars are being born—a result of the massive gravitational
force of these clouds. Hydrogen and Helium atoms are being
forced to fuse into each other. At a temperature of hundreds
of million degrees, Hydrogen is being fused into Helium.
Helium is being fused into other heavier elements such as
Lithium. In this process of combining smaller atoms into
bigger ones, some energy is released. The same energy
shines our newly born stars.
The early stars were massive since there was little
competition and too much matter, and our universe twinkled
with their light. However, the bigger the star is, the quicker it
fuses matter at its core, reducing its overall lifespan. At the
end of their life cycle, most of those stars exploded in the
form of supernova explosions. They gave us heavy elements
such as Carbon, Oxygen, Iron, Gold, etc. The Carbon in your
body and the gold jewelry you wear were formed at the core
of dying stars billions of years ago. Some of them even
became Black Holes and guided the formation of the first
galaxies.
Anti-matter

No story is complete without a good rivalry. In our story,

matter and anti-matter had the biggest rivalry in the history of
the universe. On meeting, matter and anti-matter completely
annihilate each other, leaving pure energy behind. In
moments after the Big Bang, our universe was filled with
protons, neutrons, electrons, and their antiparticles. For every
proton, there was an anti-proton, and for every neutron, there
was an anti-neutron. For every electron, there was an anti-
electron, also called a positron.

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 BABY UNIVERSE

What is anti-matter, you might ask? Well, it is the opposite of

ordinary matter. Anti-matter is composed of antiparticles that
have the same mass as ordinary matter but opposite charge.
In the early universe, just like normal matter, antiparticles
came together, forming anti-matter. An anti-neutron and anti-
proton came together, comprising an anti-hydrogen atom
with a positron in its orbit. The Big Bang explosion created
equal amounts of matter and anti-matter to preserve the
universe's symmetry. But in normal circumstances, these two
must have annihilated each other, leaving a universe that is
full of energy. But wherever we look, everything is made up
of matter. No traces of anti-matter are left. So, there must be
processes that we currently don't understand that resulted in
the creation of matter.

Some scientists believe that our universe isn't symmetric.

Under exceptional circumstances, it could form different
amounts of matter and anti-matter. But even then, the net
amount would be too little to explain all the matter in the
universe. We know from experience that most matter
particles are highly stable. They can stay as they are for
billions of years. The expiry date on the water bottle is not
for water but for the plastic bottle. After a certain period,
plastic releases chemicals that can change the smell and taste
of water. The water inside is billions of years old and can

46
 MATTER

stay like this for billions of years. We also have a few

exceptions when it comes to matter that isn't much stable,
such as Uranium, Plutonium, Thorium, and Radium. These
elements decay slowly.
One theory suggests that anti-matter particles are highly
unstable and decay quickly. Their decaying process begins
the moment they are created. Even though matter and anti-
matter were formed equally after the Big Bang, the quick
decay of anti-matter caused it to go extinct and helped
ordinary matter become dominant.
In the beginning, if anti-matter had won the race, our
universe would be just as it is today but made up of opposite
particles. Our stars would be made up of anti-hydrogen atoms,
creating anti-helium at their core. There would be planets
made up of anti-matter. At the same time, we would be
curious to know what ordinary matter is and how it works.
Suppose the multiverse theory is correct and there are infinite
universes. In that case, there must be some universes where
anti-matter had won the race.
String Theory

There is a famous saying, ‘Don't trust atoms; they make up

everything.’ Well, people who believe in string theory would
like to correct it, ‘Don't trust strings; they make up atoms that
make up everything.’ In the 1950s, when scientists started
smashing atoms, no one had imagined that there could be
100s of hidden particles inside an atom. These different
particles have different roles they play. String Theory says
that one more fundamental piece of matter is yet to be
discovered. Without this particle, the standard model of
particle physics we know is incomplete.
So, what is String Theory, and what is the basic idea?

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 BABY UNIVERSE

String Theory suggests that matter consists of tiny vibrating

strings of energy. Suppose you have a piece of matter in your
hand, a potato. If you slice that potato and put it under a
microscope, you will find that it is mainly made up of water,
starch, and protein. Now take any molecule, a starch
molecule, for example, and put it under a giant microscope.
Now you can see atoms that make up the starch molecule.
Inside atoms, you can find the protons and neutrons. These
protons and neutrons are made up of up and down quarks.
We know this much. But what are the quarks or electrons
made of? What would you find if you zoom inside a quark or
an electron? This is where the String Theory comes into play.
String Theory suggests that if you take a quark and observe it
closely, you will find that it consists of tiny vibrating one-
dimensional strings of energy. These strings are the
ingredients that make up everything in the universe. You
might ask that we have discovered so many subatomic
particles. How does String Theory explain their presence?
According to string theory, one type of vibration of these
strings makes up quarks, whereas a different kind of
vibration makes up Higgs Boson or a muon, and so on. All
the different types of particles in the universe are nothing but
different kinds of vibrations of the same string, which
includes Dark Matter.

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 MATTER

String Theory says that Dark Matter also consists of the same
strings. Their vibration occurs at a different frequency than
ordinary matter. As a result, we cannot see dark matter or
even interact with it. How small are these strings? Strings of
the string theory are of the order of Planck Length, i.e., 10 to
the power negative 35 meters. Searching for a string inside
matter would be similar to searching for a small needle in the
Atlantic Ocean. As per the standard physics model, smaller
particles are considered fundamental building blocks of
matter. String Theory challenges particle physics and our
current understanding of atomic and subatomic particles.
String Theory sounds fascinating. However, this work is not
practically proven yet. We do not have the ability to look that
deep into the matter and observe the vibrating strings. We
can hope that particle smashers like the Large Hadron
Collider will prove or disprove this theory one day.
Physicists have revolutionized human history in terms of
what forces they have discovered. String Theory could be the
next step in that direction.

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 Dark Matter

Our universe is made up of three types of substances, Matter,

Dark Matter, and Dark Energy. It is this matter that makes us
and everything we can see or feel. But there is a bigger and
more dominant side of matter—Dark Matter. When it comes
to matter, about 85 percent of the total matter in the universe
is Dark Matter, and only 15 percent of it is ordinary matter.
So, what is Dark Matter and how do we know it exists?
Born in June 1730, Charles Messier was a bright French
astronomer. Messier was fascinated by comets. Every night,
he would go out and observe distant comets. One night,
Messier saw something that changed cosmology forever. He
observed some fuzzy objects in the sky. Upon further
investigation, he became sure that they were not comets.
Messier was worried that other comet hunters might get
confused with these objects. So, he made a list of objects in
the sky that were not comets. He talked about star clusters
and spiral nebulae visible in the night sky in his list.
Everyone understood what the star clusters were, as the name
states. But the fuzzy "spiral nebulae" kept astronomers in the
dark for the next two centuries. In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble
put this matter to rest by confirming that these fuzzy "spiral
nebulae" are galaxies. And there are many more of them.
With this confirmation, galaxies became a point of discussion
among astronomers. More and more astronomers started
studying them.
During the 1930s, when scientists studied the motion of
distant galaxies, their calculations did not fit with their

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 DARK MATTER

rotation. Based on the amount of matter present in those

galaxies and the speed at which they are rotating, they must
fall apart. Astronomers calculated that the amount of matter
in these galaxies does not have enough gravitational pull to
hold them at their rotational speed. This discovery made
them wonder, hmm, so what else could be holding these
galaxies together? Scientists made various calculations based
on the visible mass of those galaxies. Every analysis
indicated one thing. There is an invisible mass whose
gravitational force is holding the galaxies together.
Something is there that scientists have missed for so long.
The answer came from a missing piece of the universe, dark
matter—dark because we can't see it and matter because it
interacts with ordinary matter in the form of gravity. It is the
gravitational force of Dark Matter that holds most of the
galaxies in our universe together. If Dark Matter were to
disappear from our universe today, our own milky way
galaxy would fall apart. Most stars would lose their orbit and
scatter in the universe.
Dark matter does not emit any electromagnetic radiation, so
it's impossible to see it directly. So, how do we know it's
there? There is no way of seeing it directly. But there are
ways in which we can confirm its presence. One of them is
Gravitational Lensing. As explained by Albert Einstein, mass
distorts the fabric of space-time. The heavier an object is, the
more it will warp space-time. As light travels through this
distorted space-time, its path gets diverted based on the
object's mass. If there is a large cluster of galaxies between
Earth and a distant galaxy, this cluster will act as a lens,
bending the path of distant light toward us. Have you ever
seen images released by NASA that are stretched and oddly
shaped? Now you know why.
The same phenomenon has been found in the case of Dark
Matter. Astronomers have found that light is being deflected

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 BABY UNIVERSE

in space with little to no mass present. And the culprit here is

Dark Matter. Just like ordinary matter, the gravity of Dark
Matter also distorts the fabric of space-time, causing the
Gravitational Lensing effect where it shouldn't be. Through
this effect, we can trace the presence of dark matter
everywhere in our galaxy. It can also reveal the distribution
and amount of Dark Matter around us.
At first, scientists thought that Dark Matter was just a new
type particle of ordinary matter that does not emit light. But
this idea does not hold any ground. Dark matter is unlike
anything we have ever seen. It impacts the formation and
spin of galaxies. It's possible that Dark Matter is passing
through your body right now. You can't feel it, as it doesn't
interact with ordinary matter. Dark matter could be an
undiscovered particle, but it does not act like any particle we
know. If it is a particle, one thing we know is that it can
interact with us in the form of gravity. What the nature of this
particle is and what it is made up of is a point of discussion.
Another possibility is that our current understanding of
gravity is incomplete. Our current theories break down when
we talk about the gravity of dark matter. Everything we know
about dark matter comes from the understanding of its
gravitational effects. By studying the radiation left over from
the Big Bang explosion, we can identify where more
radiation exists. More radiation means more matter, or dark
matter was created there. This way, we can locate Dark
Matter across the universe.
Some scientists believe that Dark matter is not from our
world. It comes from a higher dimension or a higher world.
But for some reason, the gravity of Dark Matter is leaking
into our universe. If that is the case, it will prove that gravity
can travel between multiple dimensions and open doors to
new worlds.

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 Dark Energy

We know about the 5% of ordinary matter that we're all made

of. Next, we have the 27% of the dark side of the matter, dark
matter. We cannot directly interact with it, but we know it's
there. So, what is the remaining 68% of our universe made of?
At the beginning of the 19th century, astronomers believed
that space was nothing but an empty void. It doesn't have any
properties of itself. At the same time, Albert Einstein was
working on his Theory of Relativity. What he discovered
changed the course of astronomy. While working on
relativity, Albert Einstein discovered that space isn't just an
empty void. Space itself can have its own properties. Einstein
predicted that it is possible for more space to come out into
existence. An empty space can have its own energy.
Since this energy is the property of space itself, when more
space comes into existence, more energy will be generated.
At that time, the static model of the universe was widely
accepted by the scientific community. Theoretically, Einstein
determined that our universe must be expanding, but that idea
did not sit well with other known cosmological facts of that
time. So, to give a static model of the universe, Einstein
dropped his idea of the expanding universe and added a new
term to his equations, the cosmological constant.
In the late 1920s, a talented astronomer, Edwin Hubble,
studied the deep universe. Distant galaxies, stars, and
supernovas were his points of interest. One thing that
interested him the most was the supernova explosions. With
their help, Hubble tried to figure out if our universe was
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 BABY UNIVERSE

expanding. After long observations and studying supernovas

in multiple galaxies, Hubble concluded that our universe is
not static at all and that, in fact, it is expanding. With this
discovery, the static model of the universe was put to rest.
This discovery also made Albert Einstein drop the
cosmological constant from his equations.
The model of the universe was changed with the discovery of
an expanding universe. As the Big Bang theory gained more
interest among scientists, the common belief was that this
expansion was just an aftermath of the Big Bang. Since
gravity has infinite attractive strength, the expansion must be
slowing down. The gravitational force of all the objects in the
universe must be working collectively to stop the expansion.
Another question came for astronomers to answer: At what
rate is our universe slowing down?
To find the answer, astronomers turned their telescopes
toward the exploding supernovae. What they discovered blew
their mind. Instead of slowing down, the rate of expansion is
increasing exponentially. There is something in the universe
working actively against the force of gravity driving this
expansion. Scientists later named it, Dark Energy. By
calculating the amount of energy needed to overcome gravity
and expand the universe exponentially, scientists concluded
that dark energy makes up about 68 percent of the universe.
It is believed that, just like ordinary matter and dark matter,
dark energy was also created after the Big Bang. It's been
here since the beginning, and we have just figured it out
recently. After the Big Bang, as the universe expanded
rapidly, dark energy took over the force of gravity. With the
expansion, the strength of dark energy also increased
exponentially.

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 DARK ENERGY

There is both a positive and negative impact of dark energy

dominating the universe. If dark energy was not as strong as
it is, the collective gravitational force of matter and dark
matter would have stopped the universe's expansion long ago.
It would have reversed the process of expansion. As a result,
our universe might have contracted, ending up as a gigantic
ball of matter and energy. That would be a nightmare for all
the species living on this planet. It’s also possible that the
universe might have contracted long before our solar system
was formed. Thanks to the repulsive nature of dark energy,
we live in a universe where galaxies and stars are not getting
closer over time and smashing into each other.
The repulsive nature of dark energy has prevented the super-
hot fate of the universe. At the same time, it has opened a
new possibility. As a result of the expansion, distant stars and
galaxies are moving away from us. There may be a time
when we would not be able to see other galaxies.
It is possible that our current understanding of gravity and
how it works is incomplete. We know about the gravity of
matter and dark matter. The force of dark energy could be
just another part of gravity, but opposite in nature. It's also
possible that dark energy is a property of space itself. It
originates with the birth of space and further increases its
expansion. But it is still a point of discussion when it comes
to what dark energy really is.

55
 Early Galaxies

The early universe was full of massive Hydrogen and Helium

gas clouds. When these clouds came together, they formed
the very first stars. It is not easy for stars to shine and bring
us their light. Gravity plays a significant role in this process.
The early stars started shining when Hydrogen began to fuse
into helium and other heavier elements due to the
gravitational force and heat of the star. The gravitational
force not only provided extra pressure but also raised the core
temperature, making fusion much easier.
Early stars in our universe were colossal compared to the Sun
because their formation took place in large Hydrogen and
Helium clouds. Also, there was little to no competition
between stars to capture more matter. Matter was abundant;
they just had to take it. Due to their gravitational force, those
stars added more and more matter and went on becoming
denser and heavier. As they became big, they added more
matter to their pile, becoming unstable. Most of those early
giants ended up in supernova explosions, creating heavier
elements. The early universe was lit up and explosions were
everywhere. However, not all stars exploded. Some of them
collapsed under their own gravity, resulting in the formation
of Black Holes.
It was the best time for Black Holes to exist because the
universe was small, dense, and full of matter for them to feed
upon. So, the Black Holes started sucking more and more
matter, becoming massive and supermassive black holes.
Because of their enormous gravitational attraction, long-
distance matter also found itself revolving around them.

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 EARLY STARS AND GALAXIES

Because of the rotation, the disk shape around them turned

spiral and concentrated toward the center. This structure
remained stabilized for the next billions of years.
The surviving matter did not fall into the black hole due to its
angular momentum. Neither did it break away because of the
gravitational attraction and kept on steadily revolving around
the Black Hole. As time passed, the revolving matter began
to form its own stars, planets, and eventually solar systems.
This complete structure is known as a galaxy. There is a
supermassive Black Hole at the center of almost every galaxy
in the universe.
Galaxies are being formed to this day; it has been found that
nearly all the galaxies we see today were formed shortly after
Big Bang. Our Milky Way galaxy is considered to be roughly
13.6 billion years old. We are unsure whether the stars that
formed first gathered into galaxies or the galactic clouds
formed first from which the first stars were born. It is
possible that the galaxies were formed where the dark matter
and ordinary matter clumped together due to the irregularities
in distribution left over from the Big Bang.
GN-z11
It is essential to talk about GN-z11 because it is one of the
oldest, if not the oldest, galaxies in the universe. Identified in
March 2016, GN-z11 is also the most distant galaxy in the
observable universe. Scientists observed GN-z11 as it was
13.4 billion years ago, just 400 million years after the Big
Bang. Due to the universe's expansion, the current distance of
this galaxy is approximately 32 billion light-years.
GN-z11 belongs to the first stars and galaxies formed after
the Big Bang. When this galaxy was born, the universe
emerged from a period known as the Dark Ages. During this
period, the entire universe was covered in darkness. Stars that
make our universe shine did not exist. However, that era did
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 BABY UNIVERSE

not last too long as new stars and galaxies began to form as
soon as the universe cooled down.
GN- z11 does not have a massive size; it is about 25 times
smaller and just 1% the mass of our Milky Way galaxy. All
galaxies form new stars at a specific rate, depending on the
amount of gases and dust. But GNz11 forms new stars at 20
times the rate of our Milky Way, proving that at the
beginning, galaxies formed stars rather quickly. Since it is
forming new stars quickly, it is very bright, making it
possible for the astronomers to detect it. Observing GN-z11
is a significant step back in time; we look at creation itself in
its earliest form. When we observe GN-z11, we observe the
very beginning of the universe. Because light from such
distant galaxy travels vast distances to reach Earth. When we
look at GN-z11, we are looking at it as it was 13.4 billion
years ago.

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 Supernova

We are stardust. A supernova is an event that releases an

enormous amount of energy in a short period of time. They
occur when the life cycle of a massive star comes to an end.
The majority of stars in the universe are average in size.
When they are born, they light up the space around them, and
after a few billion years, they become red giants. Their
luminosity keeps decreasing with time and eventually, they
fade away. Before fading away, their temperature reaches so
low that you can touch those stars with bare hands.
Our Sun itself is an average-sized star and is one of them. It
has been around for over 4.6 billion years and will remain
here for the next few billion years. In about 110 million years,
our Sun's luminosity will increase by over 1 percent. This
increase will not be noticeable directly, but it could threaten
life on Earth. In about 1.1 billion years from now, Sun's
luminosity will increase by 10 percent, causing the average
Earth's temperatures to reach over 45 °C. This would be a
severe threat to humans and all life on Earth. By this time,
almost all species would have died on Earth. Earth's
atmosphere will become a moist greenhouse, and our oceans
will evaporate at an alarming rate.
In about 5.4 billion years, Sun's hydrogen supply at the core
will get exhausted, and no more fuel will remain for fusion to
occur. As a result, the Sun will begin to evolve into a red
giant and start expanding. Earth will receive more light and
become hotter every day. Being the closest planet to Sun,
first, it will consume Mercury and Venus. In about 7.6 billion

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 BABY UNIVERSE

years, the Sun will have expanded so much that it will likely
consume our home planet.
It will contract quickly in about 8 billion years, becoming a
white dwarf star. Sun will lose over 50% of its current mass
in this quick expansion and contraction process. White dwarf
stars do not emit as much energy as regular stars. So, by this
time, if our planet is not eaten by the Sun, its surface
temperature will start to drop rapidly. The Sun will have
cooled to five degrees above absolute zero in about one
quadrillion years. It will be so cold that you would not be
able to touch its surface with bare hands. The Sun will not be
shining at all. It would have become a black dwarf with no
emitting light. Its core would also have cooled down
significantly, and the fusion would stop completely.
All the stars we see in the night sky will use all of their
energy and be gone one day. What happens before that
depends upon their mass. Most of the stars in our universe
are average-sized. Most of them will die like the Sun, but not
all. Only the stars whose mass is 0-8 times that of the Sun
will die like this. Stars whose mass is 8 to 20 times the mass
of the Sun have a different fate.
Have you ever wondered why it takes millions or billions of
years of fusion for a star to become unstable and collapse?
Why do they not collapse into themselves as soon as they are
made? After all, they are purely made up of gases like
Hydrogen and Helium with no solid core. Well, that is due to
fusion. The gravity of a star wants to collapse, but at the
same time, it is being held in place by the outward force of
fusion. The more gravitational force pressurizes the core, the
more fusion occurs. This is why bigger stars die early; they
burn matter rather quickly than smaller stars.
A star is an equilibrium of its gravitational and nuclear forces.
The gravitational force is caused by its mass and the fusion

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 SUPERNOVA

by nuclear forces. When stars use all of their fuel, and no

more fuel is left to burn, this equilibrium is disturbed. Stars
whose mass is 8 to 20 times the mass of our Sun collapse into
themselves due to this pressure difference. Boom. A
supernova explosion occurs. The bigger the star is, the bigger
the supernova explosion. These stars light up the entire
galaxy with their explosion. The effects of their explosion
can be seen in nearby galaxies and can be detected thousands
of light-years away.
These stars create the building blocks necessary for life with
their explosive fate. Our element factory (stars) cannot form
heavier elements like Iron, Gold, etc., on a large scale
through fusion. Their core temperature can only fuse
Hydrogen into Helium and some sort of Lithium in massive
stars. So, if we want to create large amounts of heavier
elements, we need very high temperature and pressure.
Nothing can bring this temperature except when a star
collapses into itself and blows up in the form of a supernova.
Supernova explosion provides enough energy to form heavier
elements. The inner temperature of the star reaches millions
of degrees, enabling nuclei to fuse into each other. We have
iron in our blood, which came from a supernova.
Heavy elements are not the only things that these stars leave
behind. Neutron Stars are also born from these explosions.
When giant stars die in the form of supernova, it crushes
protons and electrons into neutrons at the core. So eventually,
what is left is a massive ball of neutrons that we call Neutron
Stars. Any denser than that, they would become black holes.
Neutron stars are typically tiny but extremely heavy. They
have a radius of roughly 12 kilometers, but their mass could
be 1.4 to 2.2 times that of the Sun.
Neutron Stars are the tiniest and densest stars ever known to
exist. Their density can be imagined from the fact that one
teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh roughly 10

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million tons. Neutron stars also rotate very fast; they rotate
up to 43,000 times per minute without falling apart. It has
been predicted that our Milky Way galaxy alone hosts 100
million neutron stars. Most of the Neutron stars we have
observed are extremely hot. Their surface temperature can
reach 60,000K, much more than that of the Sun, which is
6,000K.
Pulsars are also born the same way. As we know, almost all
stars rotate about their axis. However, when it goes
supernova, it loses a lot of its mass. So, to maintain its
angular momentum, the remaining star, the Neutron star,
must spin faster. When a Neutron star spins that fast, it blasts
small radiation beams. When we observe such stars from the
Earth, we see pulsating light beams. So instead of calling
them average Neutron stars, we call them Pulsars.
Stars that are heavier than 20 times the mass of our Sun have
a different fate. Whenever these stars run out of fuel, instead
of collapsing into themselves and then exploding into a
supernova, they only collapse into themselves, forming a
Black Hole. We will talk about them later in detail.
Supernova is one of the most extreme events in the universe.
When we talk about a supernova, we talk about a star
exploding into bits and pieces in a small fraction of a second.
An entire star could collapse, creating either Neutron stars or
Black Holes. They release more energy in a fraction of a
second than our Sun will release in millions of years.
Supernovas are characterized into two different categories,
i.e., Type-1 and Type-2. This distinction is generally based
upon their dramatic way of explosion and the type of star
involved.
Supernovae are rare; they are not easy to detect even in our
galaxy. Since the invention of the telescope, we have been
able to observe only around ten supernova explosions in our

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 SUPERNOVA

galaxy. Astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1604 observed one

of the first supernovae ever. He observed this supernova even
before the invention of the telescope with the naked eye.
However, calculations show that there should be a minimum
of three of these explosions occurring in a century in our
Milky Way galaxy.
Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse is one of the shiniest stars in the night sky. When

you are stargazing from your roof, one of the stars you see in
the sky might be Betelgeuse. It is important to learn about
Betelgeuse because it can go supernova anytime soon.
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star located 642 light-years
away from Earth. This is a massive star has a diameter of
about 1.2 billion kilometers. Betelgeuse is very young,
roughly 10 million years old, much younger than our Sun.
But due to its immense size, it is burning its fuel very rapidly.
Some astronomers suspect that this star may go supernova
within 100,000 years. One million years is the maximum
estimated time until this red supergiant star explodes.
When Betelgeuse explodes, it will light up our sky for
several months. Its light will be so bright that it will be
visible during the daytime. Recent high-resolution images
show that Betelgeuse is going through some internal changes;
we do not know what they are. It is not clear, but it is
possible that Betelgeuse has exploded already, and we do not
have to wait 100,000 years to see this supernova. But
distance is the problem. Betelgeuse is located 642 light-years
away, which means light will take 642 years to reach our
planet after it explodes. All we can do is wait and watch the
sky.

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 Black Holes

John Michell was the first person to suggest the presence of

black holes, which he called "dark stars." He predicted that
when a body is so dense that its escape velocity is close to
the speed of light, it will turn into a black hole. He said that
we could only observe them by their gravitational effects.
Scientists speak in a different tone when it comes to black
holes. For some, they could be the pathways to new
dimensions. For others, black holes are nothing but an ultra-
dense space that does not let anything out.
Albert Einstein explained that black holes curve the space-
time fabric more than anything else because of their infinite
density. As light travels through that curved space, it bends
forever and can never come out of that region. It is said that
black holes are not black but instead are the brightest objects
in the universe; they just do not allow the light to reflect. Our
Milky Way galaxy contains more than 100 billion stars. If we
assume that 1 out of every 100 stars has enough mass to end
up as a black hole, then there are over 100 million potential
black holes in our galaxy alone. There are enough black
holes in the universe, but we don't see them because they
don't let us. Almost all the galaxies have a host black hole
located at the center. Milky Way also has a supermassive
black hole at the center known as Sagittarius A*.
In general, a black hole is a place in space where the
gravitational force is so strong that not even light can escape.
Black holes come in different shapes and sizes, depending on
the amount of matter they have sucked and the star's mass
that resulted in their formation. There is no specific size for

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 BLACK HOLES

black holes. There are black holes that are less than 25
kilometers in diameter, while others are supermassive, with
billions of kilometers in diameter.

To understand a black hole better, let us try and get into one.
Suppose you have a spaceship that can take you to a black
hole. Let us find out what will happen as you approach the
black hole. In reality, you will get stretched like spaghetti,
your body will break down to atoms, and you will die long
before reaching it in a process called spaghettification.
However, we assume that the black hole's gravity has no
impact on us in this case.
Accretion disk

You will first encounter the Accretion disk as you get close
to a black hole. An accretion disk is a disc of superheated
gases and dust swirling around the black hole at a very high
speed. This superheated gas produces electromagnetic
radiations (such as x-rays) that we generally use to locate a
black hole. Matter from the accretion disk falls into the black

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 BABY UNIVERSE

hole, giving it more strength. It is the lunch of a black hole,

which gives it more energy.
Innermost stable orbit

As we pass through the accretion disk, the next place we will

encounter is the innermost stable orbit. This orbit is the inner
edge of the accretion disk. It is the last place from where we
can turn back and come out safely. Once we cross this point,
there is no going back. In simple words, it is the last stable
circular orbit with a minimum radius for a particle to revolve
around the black hole.
Photon Sphere

Before falling into the black hole, we will encounter the

photon sphere. The photon sphere is a spherical region
around the black hole where gravity is so strong that even
photons (light particles) are forced to travel in an orbit. This
means that the black hole's gravity bends its path, and thus, it
is forced to orbit the black hole until it falls into it or spirals
out into space.
Event Horizon

Event Horizon is the point of no return. Once you cross the

event horizon, you are forever stuck inside the black hole,
and there is no way out. Event Horizon is the radius around
the singularity. It is the boundary that separates a black hole
from the rest of the space. The escape velocity within the
event horizon exceeds the speed of light. You must travel
faster than the speed light to get out of the event horizon.
Physics does not allow such travels. Going forward is the
only thing left.

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 BLACK HOLES

Singularity

After crossing the event horizon, we come to the singularity.

It lies at the very center of a black hole. Singularity is where
the matter has collapsed into a point of infinite density. All
the matter that falls into a black hole eventually ends up here.
We are not sure about the point of singularity and what it is.
Singularity is still a point of discussion among scientists. The
laws of physics we know break down at this point, making
them hard to understand.
Hawking Radiations

Physicist Stephen Hawking said that black holes might look

stable, but they are not. They evaporate in the form of
Hawking Radiations. The bigger the black hole, the faster it
evaporates. Hawking explains it in terms of space and how it
works. Free space does not mean nothing; it consists of
particles and antiparticles that come into existence; soon after
they inhale and destroy each other. This process occurs
continuously and everywhere in space. The process of
creation and inhalation of particles occurs near the black hole
as well.
Something crazy happens at the event horizon. Hawking said
that as soon as particles and antiparticles form at the event
horizon, one gets sucked into the black hole while the other
particle stays out. The other particle may escape and have no
one to pair with. The particles come out in the form of
radiation that we call Hawking Radiation. This phenomenon
reduces the life of a black hole. However, this process is
relatively slow. Given enough time, the black hole will
radiate away its mass and eventually vanish. But if the black
hole continuously devours more matter, it will stay.

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 BABY UNIVERSE

Based on their mass and how they are formed, black holes
are divided into four categories: stellar, intermediate,
supermassive, and miniature black holes.
Stellar Black Holes

Stellar black holes are the most common black holes. These
black holes are formed by a stellar death. As stars reach the
end of their lives, most of them inflate, lose mass, and
eventually become white dwarfs. However, stars whose mass
is more than 20 times the mass of our Sun become a black
hole. These black holes are known as stellar black holes.
Stellar black holes can be found almost everywhere in the
universe. Their mass is generally 5 to several tens of solar
masses.
Intermediate Black Holes

Intermediate black holes are a particular class of black holes.

These black holes have a mass of 100 to 100,000 times the
mass of our Sun. Intermediate black holes are massive
compared to the stellar black holes but smaller than the
supermassive black holes. Several intermediate-mass black
holes have been found in our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists
could trace their presence by observing the gas clouds and
accretion disk around them.
Supermassive Black Holes

As their name suggests, supermassive black holes are heavy.

They are one of the biggest objects in the universe, only
behind a galaxy itself. Their mass is in the order of hundreds
of thousands to billions of times the mass of the Sun.
Astronomers believe that supermassive black holes are
formed from the collapse of massive gas clouds during the
early stages of the formation of a galaxy. As a result,
supermassive black holes are generally found at the center of

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 BLACK HOLES

most galaxies. The bigger the galaxy is, the bigger its central
black hole must be.
Sagittarius A* is located at the center of our galaxy, roughly
26,000 light-years from Earth. It has a diameter of 44 million
kilometers and 41 million times the mass of our Sun.
Sagittarius A* is also a powerful radio source, giving off
strong radio waves, likely originating from the matter
orbiting around it. Astronomers have not seen Sagittarius A*
with a telescope. Instead, they have noticed the strange
motion of stars around it. That can be explained only by the
presence of a heavy object at the center.
Miniature Black Holes

Miniature black holes are hypothetical tiny black holes. They

have a shallow mass. The concept of miniature black holes
was introduced in 1971 by Stephen Hawking. The problem
with miniature black holes is their small size. Even if they are
formed, they will radiate away almost instantly. Some
scientists predict that miniature black holes can be formed
due to the high energies available in particle accelerators,
such as the Large Hadron Collider.
First Image of a Black Hole

Previously, it was thought impossible to capture the image of

a black hole since they do not allow light to escape. However,
with the advancement in technology, scientists have made it
possible. We have studied black holes for a long time, but
none of us had seen one until recently. Messier 87 is an
elliptical galaxy located in the constellation, Virgo. It is one
of the biggest galaxies observed in the universe. It is located
about 53 million light-years away from Earth.
At the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy, there is a supermassive
black hole, designated M87*, with a mass 6.5 billion times

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that of the Sun. Astronomers used the Event Horizon

Telescope to study this black hole. Based on the data
gathered from this source, they created the first image. This
image contains a rotating disk of ionized gas surrounding the
black hole. Matter continuously falls into the black hole and
keeps feeding it. The disk rotates at a very high speed of
roughly 1,000 km/s.
Until now, we had only seen the indirect evidence of black
holes. We were able to study the high-energy jets shooting
straight from them. We were able to study the x-rays coming
from the matter circling the black hole. Not just X-rays, but
we were also able to detect the gravitational waves supposed
to be coming out of colliding black holes. However, this
image of a black hole taken in 2019 is one of the most
significant landmarks in human history.

If black holes are black, how do we know they are there? A

black hole cannot be seen directly, but scientists can observe
the effects of the Black Hole's strong gravity on the stars and
gases orbiting it. If a star is orbiting a point in space and it is
not clear what it is orbiting around, we can study its motion
to see if that point is a Black Hole. Generally, high-energy
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 BLACK HOLES

light is produced when a star and black hole are orbiting very
closely.
A black hole's gravity can sometimes steal the outer gases of
a star. However, that gas does not directly fall into it; some
do, but most of it orbit around the black hole in the accretion
disk. While orbiting, it gets heated to a point where it starts
releasing x-ray light in all directions. Space telescopes can
measure this light.

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 Our Solar System

A solar system is an arrangement of one or more planets

around a star. Sun is our star and the planet we live on. The
journey of our solar system began more than 5 billion years
ago with a massive cloud of dust and gas, mainly containing
Hydrogen and Helium. A new star emerged from the very
center of that gigantic cloud. That was our Sun. Five billion
years ago, there was no sign of a planet, let alone a blue
planet.
However, as the dust cleared, gravity began to force bits of
matter to clump together, forming a large number of planets.
There was a beautiful structure of planets around this newly
born star. Scientists believe there were hundreds of planets in
our solar system initially, but not all had a stable orbit. Some
of them fell into the Sun, becoming a part of it. At the same
time, others left the orbit and flew away into the darkness of
Milky Way galaxy. Many of them collided, forming giant
planets like Jupiter and Saturn.
With every impact, planets grew. Planets that moved faster
and had large orbits grew bigger because they swiped more
matter while revolving around the Sun. Jupiter is an excellent
example of that. Mars could have been a massive planet, but
it could not get enough matter in its orbit. It is hard to believe
that dust and gas clouds combined, forming planets in a
process that took millions of years, not to mention that Earth
was made in the same way.

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Planets around the Sun are divided into two categories: the
inner and outer planets. The inner planets include Mercury,
Venus, Earth, and Mars. All of them are primarily composed
of rocks and metals. In the beginning, these planets were
nothing but hot balls of lava whose surface temperature was
1000's of degrees Celsius. These planets had an atmosphere
full of CO2, Nitrogen, and other harmful gases. The planets
were a boiling ball where volcanic activity was widespread.
It was a living hell on the surface.
The outer planets include two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn,
and two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune. The gas giants are
primarily made of gases like hydrogen and Helium. These
planets are also referred to as failed stars because of their
similarities in composition to the Sun. If Jupiter was 13 times
its current mass, it would have become a brown dwarf. There
would be some fusion occurring at its core. However, to
make it a small red dwarf star, it needs to be 80 times heavier.
The ice giants are primarily made of dense icy materials such
as water, ammonia, and methane. These planets also have a
small rocky core at the very center. If you stand on the
surface of these planets, you will descend into thick clouds
until you reach the core.
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The Sun

Sun is our host star. It dominates the solar system with

around 99.8% of the total mass. If we compare our central
star with Earth, it has 109 times the radius and around
333,000 times the mass of Earth. The escape velocity from
the outer surface of the Sun is also very high, around 617
km/sec, about 55 times that of Earth. When it comes to our
place in the galaxy, our solar system is an average of 27,000
light-years away from the center of the Milky Way. The Sun
orbits at ~230 km/sec around the center of the Milky Way.
We do not notice this movement because we live in Earth's
protective atmosphere.
Nearly 3/4th of the Sun is pure Hydrogen, whereas 1/4th is
Helium. There is also a negligible amount of heavy elements
such as Oxygen, Carbon, Iron, Neon, etc. Scientists estimate
that the core of our Sun is over 15 million degrees Celsius.
This is where the process of converting light elements into
heavier elements occurs. Being an average-sized star, the rate
of fusion of the Sun is slow. Today's Sun is likely the same
as it was 4 billion years ago and will remain the same for 2-3
billion years, except that its luminosity will increase with
time slightly.
The distance between Sun and Earth is used as a parameter to
measure the various large distances, also called an
astronomical unit or AU. The average distance between Sun
and Earth is about 150,000,000 km or 93 million miles. One
astronomical unit equals 149,597,870 km. We have a stable
future because we have a stable host star nurturing life on
Earth with its light. All the plant life uses the same light for
photosynthesis and gives us the oxygen we breathe. All the
sunlight we receive is just a tiny fraction of the Sun's total
energy output in terms of energy. Yet, if we can capture only
90 minutes of sunlight, it would be enough to power the
entire world for a full year.
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Our Sun is essential because its heat keeps us alive and its
energy enables plants and trees to feed. It's crazy to think, but
our planet is rotating at roughly 1600 kilometers per hour. It
is also revolving around the Sun at about 108,000 kilometers
per hour. Our Sun is orbiting the center of the Milky Way at
828,000 kilometers per hour. At the same time, our galaxy is
moving at 600 km per second in the universe with respect to
extragalactic frames. All of this is happening as you read this
book.
Mercury

Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and the smallest
planet in our solar system. Mercury has a rocky surface with
a large number of craters on it, much like the dark side of the
Moon. These craters show the brutal bombarding that
occurred for billions of years after the formation of Mercury.
Mercury is one of the two planets of our solar system that
does not have a moon. Mercury has a fragile atmosphere
consisting of Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen, sodium, calcium,
potassium, and water vapor. Being the closest planet to the
Sun, its surface temperature can reach above 420 degrees
Celsius.
Mercury is tidally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit
resonance. Relative to the Sun, it rotates on its axis three
times for every two revolutions around the Sun. The side of
Mercury, which faces the Sun, has a very high temperature,
whereas the opposite dark side has freezing temperatures.
Due to this dramatic temperature variation and toxic
atmosphere, there are no chances of survival on this planet.
Mercury takes only 88 Earth days to complete one revolution
around the Sun, making it the fastest planet. It has a surface
density of 5.51 g/cm³, slightly lower than Earth. Making it
the second most dense planet.

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Venus

The next planet is Venus. Venus is very similar in physical

characteristics, such as size, mass, gravity, etc., to Earth. Due
to this fact, Venus is also called Earth's sister planet. The
inner core conditions of Venus are also similar to Earth.
Venus has an atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon
dioxide—more precisely, over 96% carbon dioxide and about
3.5% Nitrogen. This high carbon dioxide density makes
Venus a perfect example of the greenhouse effect. Being
closer to the Sun, Venus receives much more sunlight than
Earth. Most of the Sunlight gets trapped by the carbon
dioxide in its atmosphere and cannot leave. This raises the
overall temperature, reaching up to 460 degrees Celsius.
Making it the hottest planet around the Sun, hotter than
Mercury.
Venus has Sulfuric acid clouds, so whenever it rains, sulfuric
acid drops from the sky, which is a horrifying scene to
imagine. The presence of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere
and the high temperature make it unsuitable for life. Venus
has a larger atmosphere than Earth, resulting in a lethal
surface pressure 92 times that of Earth. Venus takes 224.7
days to complete a single revolution around the Sun. After
the Moon, it is the second brightest natural object in the night
sky. It looks like a small bright spot when observed with the
naked eye.
Earth

The third planet from the Sun is our home planet, Earth. Just
look down at the ground; that is Earth. Earth is neither hot
nor cold; it is perfect for the growth and well-being of life.
Earth is the only planet we know that supports life. We will
briefly discuss about this planet in a later chapter.

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Mars

The fourth planet is Mars, the red planet or the next home to
human civilization. The abundance of iron oxide in its
atmosphere makes it reddish. Mars is smaller than Venus and
Earth, but it is larger than Mercury. Mars has a fragile
atmosphere consisting of CO2 and Oxygen. The presence of
water ice over a large part of Mars makes it an exciting
planet that could support life in the future. The discovery of
water as ice on Mars indicates that this planet may have
supported life in its past. However, Mars lost its atmosphere
and the oceans of water due to solar storms and a lack of
magnetic shield. Mars is the next target of many space
research organizations like NASA and SpaceX to land a
human on its surface. Humans are yet to land on its surface,
but our rovers are already there. The Curiosity rover is one of
them.
After Earth, Mars is the next planet that has its own Moon.
The beauty of Mars is enhanced by its two moons, Phobos
and Deimos. Its moons are not as big as our Moon is, nor are
they round like ours, but they are beautiful. Because of their
dramatic structure, scientists believe that these two moons
might be some large asteroids captured by Mars's gravity.
They might have arrived from the asteroid belt between Mars
and Jupiter.
Asteroid Belt

The asteroid belt is located between our solar system's inner

and outer planets, i.e., Mars and Jupiter. It contains a large
number of asteroids orbiting the Sun. Hundreds of thousands
of asteroids are there in the asteroid belt, but almost half of
its mass comprises four bigger asteroids. These are Ceres,
Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. Among these asteroids, Ceres is
also designated as a dwarf planet. This means that it is
neither too small to be a proper asteroid nor too big to be
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considered a planet. Ceres has a diameter of about 946

kilometers. The asteroid belt consists of various solid
asteroids, comets, and irregularly shaped bodies, where some
objects are as small as a particle, whereas others are over 900
kilometers wide.
There are two leading theories that describe the presence of
Asteroid belt. The first theory is that it is just as it was at the
beginning of the solar system. When our solar system formed,
gas and dust combined, forming minor asteroids and comets,
but they could not form a proper planet. It will make an
excellent small-sized planet if we assemble all the asteroid
belt's mass. But since the asteroids could not combine, they
are here since the beginning. Now and then, we observe
asteroids and comets leaving the asteroid belt due to the
influence of the gravitational force of either Mars, Jupiter, or
even its own objects. Those asteroids and comets often fall
into the Sun or leave the solar system. We never know when
the next asteroid or comet will leave the belt and face our
planet.
The second theory is that there were two small-sized planets
between Mars and Jupiter in the beginning. But somehow,
their orbits intersected with each other. As a result, a massive
collision between them occurred, forming an asteroid belt. A
large amount of debris either fell into the Sun or escaped the
solar system, and only a few hundred thousand objects
remained in the belt.
Jupiter

The fifth planet from the Sun is Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest
planet and the second biggest object in our solar system after
the Sun itself. Jupiter has no surface. It is mainly made up of
gases. Since there is no land on Jupiter, if you try to land on
it, you will get sucked toward the center. Some scientists
believe that Jupiter might have a solid core made up of

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 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

metals because of its tremendous pressure. However, we

have no substantial evidence supporting this prediction
because we cannot go there and look down. It is all gas as far
below as we can see. Jupiter has nearly 79 known moons.
Most of these moons are very small. But some are the largest
moons of our Solar System. With a diameter of 5,262
kilometers, Ganymede is one of Jupiter's 79 moons; it is even
bigger than the planet, Mercury. If Ganymede were not
orbiting Jupiter, it would be a planet by itself.
Jupiter is not as cool and calm as we see it in the pictures
from Earth. There are terrible storms on Jupiter. Most of
them are bigger than the biggest storms seen on Earth. One of
its storms can be seen from the surface of Earth. It is known
as the giant red spot. This storm has been going on for the
last 200 years. It is so violent that the speed of winds can
reach over 430 kilometers per hour.
Saturn

After Jupiter comes Saturn, another gas giant. Saturn is the

most beautiful planet to observe through a telescope. It is
also the farthest planet seen from Earth with the naked eye.
Saturn is famous for its beautiful rings. These rings were
once thought to be solid, but they are made up of rocks, ice,
and other stardust. It is still not clear how old Saturn's rings
are. Saturn's rings may have been around for 4.5 billion years,
since the beginning of our Solar System. Another possibility
is that Saturn has gained its rings recently in the collision of 2
or more of its moons. Icy moons such as Enceladus have
been found orbiting Saturn. So, it will not be surprising if
Saturn got its rings by ripping apart one of its moons by the
force of its own gravity.
Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system, with a
density of 0.68 g/m³. If you put Saturn in a giant tub of water,
it would float. Saturn has more than 60 known moons, and

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some are the same size as Mercury. Another thing that makes
Saturn interesting is Enceladus. Enceladus is a small ocean
world fully covered in ice. We cannot see what is below the
ice sheet, but scientists have predicted that there could be
vast oceans of water below the ice sheet. Scientists are
looking forward to sending underwater drones to Enceladus
to check if there is underwater aquatic life.
Uranus

The seventh planet from the Sun is Uranus. Uranus is much

smaller than Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus has small rings
around it, much smaller than Saturn. We usually do not see
them in the images coming from NASA. It is the coldest
planet in our solar system, where the lowest temperature can
reach -224.2 degrees Celsius. Since Uranus is so distant from
the Sun, it takes a lot of time to complete one orbit around
the Sun, roughly 84 Earth years. It is the second least dense
planet with an average density of 0.687 g/cm3.
Uranus's upper atmosphere is covered by methane gas, which
gives it a beautiful blue color. We do not have much
information about this gas giant because it has been visited
only once by Voyager 2. This visit for the first time revealed
the secrets of planets located in the outer solar system. All
the planets in the solar system rotate on their axis; some slow
and some fast. In many cases, such as Earth and Mars, they
have an axial tilt. Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees away
from Sun, while Mars is tilted 24 degrees. This tilt results in
seasonal change. Uranus is different; it has an axial tilt of
almost 98 degrees. In a way, Uranus is like a ball rolling
around the Sun in a circular pattern.
Neptune

The eighth and most distant planet from the Sun is Neptune.
Neptune is another ice giant with similar compositions as

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 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Uranus. It is mostly made of ice materials such as water,

ammonia, and methane. Neptune has 14 known moons. The
average distance between Neptune and the Sun is around 30
astronomical units. It takes a very long time to go around the
Sun, close to 164.8 Earth years. Neptune is famous for its
strong winds that can reach well over 2000 kilometers per
hour. Neptune is also the coldest planet in the solar system.
In its top clouds, the temperature is well below negative 220
degrees Celsius.
Neptune does not have a surface that you could stand upon,
but if you could, you would feel something amazing. The
gravity of Neptune is almost the same as that of Earth.
Neptune is 17 times heavier than Earth, but also 4 times
bigger. Overall, its gravitational force is only 17% higher
than Earth’s gravity. So, you would not notice any significant
difference in that regard. Voyager 2 visited Neptune back in
1989, passing within 3000 kilometers from the planet’s north
pole. Just like Uranus, Neptune also has rings, but they are
very small.
Pluto

Discovered in 1930, Pluto was once listed as the ninth planet

of our solar system. However, Pluto is too tiny to be
considered a planet; even smaller than many moons we know
today. In 2005, Eris, which is much bigger than Pluto, was
discovered. When people started discovering other objects
bigger than Pluto and demanded their object to be given the
status of a planet, Pluto was removed from the list of planets.
In 2006, after 76 years of being listed as a planet, Pluto was
declared a dwarf planet, which means that it is like a planet
but too small to be called a planet. There are at least five
known official dwarf planets in the solar system discovered
after Pluto, and there could be many more. There are

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estimates of up to 200 possible dwarf planets in the Kuiper

belt.
Kuiper Belt

The Kuiper belt is a circumstellar disc located in the outer

Solar System. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but it is much
more massive and broader. Where the orbit of Neptune ends,
the Kuiper belt starts. It extends at a distance ranging from 30
to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. For us, this place is
not only mysterious but also very cold and dark. Since this
region is so far, the Sun's heat and light do not reach there
effectively. As a result, Kuiper Belt is thought to be the
source of comets we receive in our solar system. So far, we
have mapped only about 2000 objects from this region, but
there are many more.
Astronomers believe that Kuiper Belt is the remnant of our
solar system's formation. The Kuiper Belt might have formed
a planet if Neptune did not exist. However, Neptune's gravity
has stirred up this region and prevented them from forming a
planet. Kuiper belt is one of the largest structures in the solar
system only second to the Oort Cloud.
Oort Cloud

Oort Cloud is a shell of icy objects located in the outermost

region of our solar system. Oort Cloud encloses the Sun at
distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 astronomical units.
Some astronomers believe that Oort Cloud has not existed
forever. Instead, Sun might have captured the material of
Oort Cloud from the outer disks of other stars in our nebula.
It is hard to study Oort Cloud because of its distance from the
Sun. However, it is estimated to contain more than 2 trillion
icy objects, comets, and asteroids. In a way, Oort Cloud
completes the solar system. It gives us a boundary to which

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we can look and say that this is how big our solar system is.
Since it is too far and complicated, astronomers are yet to
study most of its bigger objects and predict their trajectory
around the Sun.

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PA R T - I I I
______________

Our Planet

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 Earth's Story

Every planet in the solar system has its own story. To

understand Earth’s story, we must follow the tracks left
behind since its formation. Even though the early solar
system's dramatic conditions have destroyed almost all the
evidence, a few of them still remain. One of them is the rocks
that were formed billions of years ago. Rocks can reveal all
the transitions our planet has been through. Geologists hunt
for such rocks to reveal what they looked like back then.
Rocks of that time are very hard to find today, so geologists
generally use meteoroids and date them to get Earth's age.
Some meteoroids found on Earth can be over 4.5 billion
years old.
Our planet began forming about 4.5 billion years ago. In the
beginning, it was in a molten state. There was nothing but
large oceans of lava. If you stood on Earth, you would get
submerged in lava and die instantly due to the intense heat.
At the same time, Earth was getting bombarded by millions
of large asteroids, comets, and meteoroids every day. This
bombardment prevented the Earth's surface from cooling
down quickly. In the molten state, most of the heavier
elements, such as iron, steel, and gold, moved towards the
center. Today, when we study the center of our planet, that's
where most of the heavy elements are. Lighter elements such
as clay and sand stayed at the top of the surface. There was
no sign of life as the average temperature was over 1000
degrees Celsius.
The vacuum of space is cold; its temperature is near absolute
zero, -273.15 degrees Celsius. As soon as our planet started

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cooling down, it began to form the outer surface, the same

surface that we stand on today. It took more than 1 million
years for Earth to become cold enough to cover its surface
with solid lava. Earth changed slowly. After millions of years
of cooling down, Earth began to take shape and form. The
lava oceans turned into hard surfaces. A surface that can hold
solid objects atop. From the outside, Earth looked like a dark
and calm planet, but something else was happening inside. A
lot of volcanic activity was about to take place. Over the next
millions of years, a large number of volcanoes erupted. All
the heat and gases building up from Earth's formation
suddenly spewed into the atmosphere. Sending tons of dust,
gases, and mainly CO2 into the atmosphere.
Even after 100 million years of its formation, our planet was
not suitable to support life. Earth had a solid surface, and
volcanic activity was also slowing down with time, but there
was two more ingredients that our planet needed to harbor
life, water and oxygen.
How did Earth get all this water? Scientists still wonder how
Earth acquired its water, but some scientists believe they
have found an answer. The answer to this question lies in the
meteoroids. When scientists studied meteoroids falling on
Earth from space, they discovered tiny liquid water droplets
inside them. It is believed that as the universe cooled down,
the water present in meteoroids became ice and stayed in
outer space. When our planet was formed, meteoroids that
struck Earth brought water with them. Millions of meteoroids
collided with our planet every day, adding more water, drop
by drop. Every drop of water on Earth is billions of years old.
The water we drink may have traveled billions of kilometers
in space inside a meteoroid.
It seems impossible to believe that small meteoroids can
bring so much water to our planet and fill a large ocean.
However, it is possible when the bombardment occurs for

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 EARTH'S STORY

millions of years. We are lucky that the water did not cover
the entire planet. 3/4th of our planet is underwater, whereas
the rest is solid land where we build our homes and live with
our families. If too many meteoroids had hit the Earth,
covering the entire planet with water, only aquatic life would
be thriving.
After 700 million years of the formation of Earth, life-giving
water covered its surface. The lava busted over the oceans
and cooled down quickly, resulting in the formation of small
islands. In the future, these islands will join to form
continents. Sizeable volcanic activity filled Earth's
atmosphere with Carbon dioxide. Nitrogen gas makes up 78
percent of the air we breathe. It is thought that most of this
nitrogen was trapped in primordial rubble that formed the
Earth. When they smashed together, nitrogen was released.
Still, there is one essential ingredient needed for life to
thrive—oxygen. Where did the oxygen come from?
Every minute, we inhale and exhale several gases 20 times.
About 21% of that gas is oxygen. Early Earth had none of the
oxygen we inhale today. The atmosphere was poisonous for
life. A substantial volcanic activity filled Earth's environment
with a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and
even some sulfuric acid. We would not stand a chance in
such a hostile environment. Stromatolites made it possible
for Earth to have such a large amount of oxygen in an
environment with nothing but poisonous gases. Stromatolites
are found underwater; they contain microbes called
cyanobacteria. Even a tiny piece of stromatolite can have
millions of cyanobacteria. What makes these cyanobacteria
unique is that they can produce oxygen.
Cyanobacteria changed the course of this planet with their
ability to produce oxygen. Cyanobacteria take water and
sunlight to produce oxygen. The process through which
cyanobacteria produce oxygen takes longer. It took millions

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of years of continuous pumping to fill Earth's atmosphere

with oxygen. If we go close to cyanobacteria underwater, we
can see it forming oxygen bubbles and releasing them. Life
evolved and grew under the atmosphere that cyanobacteria
created. Stromatolites can be seen even today in the depth of
the oceans and in places where the water has evaporated.
Living stromatolites are very rare to find. Stromatolites are
an example of how microbial life dominated early Earth.
Without stromatolites and cyanobacteria, Earth's geology
would be very different. Water and a toxic environment
would be there, and you and I would not.

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 The Moon

If we look at the entire human history, one object that has

had the most profound impact on human lives is the moon.
Earth is unique because it has a special moon, the brightest
object in the sky after the Sun. Since its birth about 4.5
billion years ago, Moon has influenced Earth and the lives of
its beings.
Earth spins at about 1000 miles an hour at the equator; this
number was much higher in the beginning. Our planet was
spinning faster and the moon was close to the surface.
Scientists believe that Earth and Moon were formed at almost
the same time. At that time, the moon was orbiting only
32,000 kilometers from the Earth, compared to today's
384,400 kilometers. We see tides in our oceans due to the
moon's gravity. When the moon was much closer, and Earth
was spinning faster, tides were high, as far as 100 meters or
more in height. With time, Earth's rotation has slowed down,
the moon has moved away from us, and the waves are calm.
Currently, the rate at which the moon is getting away from
Earth is roughly 3.82 cm per year.
Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, showing only one side
to Earth. The force of gravity between the Earth and Moon
causes some fascinating effects. The most obvious is the tides.
Moon's gravitational attraction is maximum on the side of
Earth closer to the moon and minimum on the opposite side.
This effect of the moon's gravity can be seen over the seas of
Earth. Not being perfectly rigid, the Earth's oceans are
stretched out along the line toward the moon; in the same
way, the Sun's gravity also does its work, and as a result, we

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 BABY UNIVERSE

see two little bulges—one toward the moon and one directly
opposite and toward the Sun. This gravitational effect is
much stronger on ocean water than on the solid crust. As the
Earth rotates, these bulges move around the Earth once a day,
giving two high tides per day.

How the moon came to be is still a mystery. But there are

some theories that explain its existence.
1. Sister Theory
2. The Capture Theory
3. The Daughter or Fission Theory
4. The Impact Theory
Sister Theory

Sister theory suggests that during the formation of our solar

system, Moon formed as a separate object near Earth. The
formation of Earth and the moon took place at the same time.
The material that formed Earth also gave birth to the moon.
As a result, in the beginning, we had two planets, one bigger
(Earth) and the other smaller (Moon). It was a 'double planet

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 THE MOON

system.' However, there was a problem with this system.

Earth took out more material from the raw disk of the solar
system and acquired more mass, whereas the moon could not.
Earth was bigger; it had more gravitational force. So, Earth's
gravity attracted the moon, and it fell into an orbit.
The Flaw in the Sister Theory

Even though this theory seems very satisfying, there is a

significant flaw. The problem revolves around the density
and composition of Earth and the moon. When scientists
studied the density of Earth and the moon, it was
significantly different. Earth's density is around 5.5 g/cm³,
whereas the moon's density is around 3.3 g/cm³. If Earth and
Moon had formed as a double planet system side by side
from the same interplanetary material, their density must be
the same. The difference in density proves that they did not
originate together.
Capture Theory

As we know, Earth and Moon's density are not similar, which

means that the moon did not form anywhere near Earth. This
is precisely what Capture Theory suggests. According to this
theory, Moon was formed far away from Earth, somewhere
outside our planet's orbit. However, it did not have a stable
orbit around the Sun. As a result, the Sun's gravity pulled the
moon towards itself, and it started falling towards the Sun.
As it passed near the Earth; it got captured. Since then, the
moon has been orbiting in a stable orbit. If there were no
Earth, Moon would have either fallen into the Sun or collided
with Mercury or Venus.
The Flaw in the Capture Theory

The main problem with Capture Theory is the abnormal mass

of our moon. For us, Earth might seem like a giant planet, but

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it is tiny on the solar system's scale. If the moon was formed

far away from Earth, it must have a very high momentum
while passing near Earth, making it hard to capture for our
planet. This way, either the moon would have escaped Earth's
gravity or destroyed Earth with a huge impact. It is also
possible that the moon could have altered the Earth's orbit
around the Earth, resulting in the duo falling into the Sun.
Computer simulations show that such a capture would be
physically impossible due to the moon's high mass.
Daughter or Fission Theory

This theory suggests that the moon is the daughter of Earth,

and it originated from Earth itself. As we know, Earth used to
spin at an immense speed during its formation. This speed
slowed down with time, but it is still spinning at 1,000 miles
per hour on the equator. According to the Fission Theory, a
large portion of Earth was expelled due to the spinning
motion. That expelled matter did not leave Earth's orbit and
fall into the Sun. Instead, it started orbiting our planet. As
time passed, that orbiting matter collided and clumped
together, becoming bigger and bigger. After millions of years,
all that matter came together and formed our moon.
The Flaw in the Fission Theory

Fission Theory has the same major flaw as the Sister Theory.
Both the Earth and Moon have different densities. The moon
might have the same composition of some essential
ingredients as we see on Earth, but the overall density is not
the same as Earth.
Impact Theory

Impact Theory suggests that the moon was formed by the

collision of a Mars-size planet named Theia with Earth.
Theia was about the size of Mars, with a diameter of about

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6,102 km (3,792 miles). According to Impact theory, at the

beginning of the solar system, a planet named Theia formed
in our solar system. Evidence published in 2019 suggests that
Theia might have formed in the outer Solar System rather
than the inner Solar System. Since Theia did not have a
stable orbit, it was pulled toward the Sun. While on its way to
falling into the Sun, a small part of it collided with Earth.
Such types of collisions were common in the early solar
system.
It was not a direct face-to-face impact; both planets touched
each other and continued moving on their path. This impact
sent billions of tons of matter shooting into space, while most
of it stayed in orbit around the Earth. This impact increased
the rotation of Earth; a day took just six hours to complete.
This collision resulted in the formation of a lava belt around
the Earth. As time passed, the belt assembled, resulting in the
formation of two similar-sized moons. However, there was a
problem. These moons did not have the same velocity in the
same orbit, which means one more impact. Both the moons
collided, resulting in a single moon around the Earth.
Evidence of Modern Impact Theory

In the beginning, Earth was a super-hot ball of magma. As a

result, most of its heavy metals moved to the core. Thea
collided with the outer part of the Earth, sweeping matter
from the outer layers. The primary physical evidence of this
theory was seen in rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo
astronauts. On examination, it was found that the rock
contained a tiny amount of iron, similar to that of Earth’s
outer layers. These samples also showed that the moon's
surface was once molten. Over time, it cooled down and
became a solid rock.

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 The Next 100 Years

The next 100 years are going be the most crucial years for
humanity. In the coming 100 years, what we do will decide
whether humanity survives in the universe. Frank Drake is an
American astrophysicist and astronomer involved in the
search for extraterrestrial intelligence and alien life. He
developed a mathematical equation to predict the possibility
of finding civilizations in the universe. This equation
considers the average life of a galaxy and stars with planets
capable of developing life.
According to Frank Drake, 10,000 years is the estimated
lifetime of any technical civilization. We are a technical
civilization with multiple threats hovering over our heads. If
we make it through the next 100 years, the possibility of
making it through the next 10,000 years will increase
dramatically. We are developing at an exponential pace. Just
imagine where the world was 50 years ago. Remember those
massive computers that no one could afford and the
oversized mobile phones made for the rich only. In the last
50 years, we have taken a significant leap in technology and
science. Our smartphones are a thousand times faster and
more capable than the computers used by NASA to put a
man on the moon in 1969.
With the help of science, we have shaped our giant
computers into small laptops. Our large 50-kilogram TVs
have become OLED. The large telephones can now fit in our
pockets. What technological advancements would we have in
2100? How would normal life function with the use of
technology? Let us have a closer look:

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1. Future of Artificial Intelligence: There is no doubt that

Artificial Intelligence is the future. The ability of AI to learn
any task by doing it repeatedly makes it unique. AI will open
many doors for us and take over control of things we struggle
with in our daily lives. The ability of ordinary matter to
acquire such intelligence without consciousness is something
beyond this world, but we have already made it happen.
Today, AI can manage a home; Mark Zuckerberg took one
year to develop an AI capable of handling many things at his
home. It can turn off the lights, play music, entertain the kids,
and so on. It cannot assemble its parts into an Iron Man as Mr.
Stark did in the movie; it is limited to the screens only.
Future AI will be smarter; you will not need to pay your chef
and gardener their salaries. AI would handle that. You will
not have to drive your car because AI will take complete
control and drop you at your destination.
Some people have anxiety that AI will take over their jobs,
and they will have no work to do. This is a grave and genuine
concern. However, as technology continues to advance, our
means of generating revenue will also change. Today, more
and more people are working sitting on a chair than those
doing physical work. Maybe the stock market and crypto will
become a new currency, and we will not have to do much.
Others fear that AI could take over humans and rule this
planet. Well, I do not think humans are dumb enough to build
a machine that will have the ability to take over their lives.
We want to develop it, but at the same time ensure it does not
cause any harm, just like what we did with the internet.
However, AI can be used by bad actors. The harmful use of
AI would be people or governments using it against each
other. But proper regulation could solve those problems as
well.
2. Control of Mind Over Matter: No matter how advanced
Artificial Intelligence becomes, it will always have some

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limitations; after all, it is artificial. Due to the evolution of

millions of years, the human brain is beyond those limitations.
Our intelligence is beyond the limits of Artificial Intelligence.
Once we are done with AI, we will start looking at the
possibilities of the human brain gaining control over the
matter. Using small chips implanted in the brain, we would
be able to gain control of things around us.
The brain of an average human weighs around 3 pounds and
contains more than 100 billion neurons. Neurons are cells
that carry information from one place to another. Having a
cell phone in our pockets enhances our capability to a large
extent. We can reach out to anyone anywhere in the world.
Imagine what wonders humans would do with enhanced
brain capabilities. By implanting a chip in your brain, you
would be able to do most of your tasks by just thinking about
it.
If you want to go somewhere, you tell the driver your
destination. When AI comes, it will drive your car, but you
still have to tell it where to go by inputting the destination.
However, by implanting a chip in your head, you would not
need to tell anyone anything. Just sit in the car and think
about giving instructions to your car, and it will take you
there. The same chip will control not only the car but most of
the things in your daily life. Your TV will start, your pizza
will be ordered with location, and you will be able to shop
for any item from any store just by thinking about it. There
would be no need to carry a 6-inch smartphone.
3. Space Travel: Space Travel opens the doors of a new
future. Over time, the speed of space exploration will be
boosted. I am not sure if we would be able to use wormholes
or warp drives to travel vast distances until 2100, we can
only hope that it’d be possible in the far future. In 1000 years
from now, future space shuttles will use the energy from stars
to power themselves. These giant ships would then take us

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anywhere in the solar system at a speed close to that of light.

We would be able to harness the energy of space to travel
vast distances. The future spaceships would also work with
the power of an atom; they will use nuclear reactors to power
themselves. Our current thrusters will become old enough to
be placed in a museum.
4. Computers: In the late 20th century, having a cell phone
used to be a sign of wealth and well-being. When Steve Jobs
announced an iPod with 1000 songs in your pocket in 2001,
people went crazy. They had seen nothing like that. In less
than 20 years, everyone is holding a smartphone with access
to unlimited songs through the internet. That is how rapidly
the world is changing. In the beginning, computers used to
weigh multiple tons. It used to take an entire team to operate
them. Doing some small calculations that we can now do in
our calculators was the best use of computers. Today, all
those computers can be found in museums.
I am sure that by 2100, today's laptops and computers will
become artifacts in museums. You would no longer need to
carry a smartphone or 2-3 kg laptop in your backpack. Using
the chip implanted in your brain, you would be able to turn
any piece of paper into a computer and do the work you
usually do. That chip will also store data for further use. The
difference between a smartphone and a computer will come
down to nothing.
5. Civilization: Till 2100, we can hope to transform into a
type-1 civilization—a planetary civilization with no
boundaries. We will talk about it later.
6. Colonies on the Moon: By 2100, we will have colonies on
the moon. Our colonies will include multiple dome-like
structures. This will protect the astronauts and engineers
from solar radiation and provide them with a comfortable
atmosphere. The moon has no atmosphere, and it is very

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calm. The things we need to take care of are the food, water,
air, and solar radiation. Colonies on the moon would become
a big tourist attraction. People from different countries would
be able to sign up for the tour of the moon. A rocket from the
Earth will take them directly there. In general, there will be
two types of tourists on the moon—those who will land on
the surface and explore, and those who will fly by the moon
and return to Earth. This will become a new normal. An
entire tourism industry for Earth's orbit and the moon will be
established.
What could be the use of a Moonbase? A base on the moon
can be used for many things. First of all, we can build a giant
telescope on the moon's far side and observe the universe at
our will. NASA is already planning to do so, but no physical
work has been done so far. Our Moonbase will also serve as
the base for travel to Mars. When rockets take off from Earth,
they burn most of their energy, trying to get out of the Earth's
atmosphere. If we have a base on the moon, we would not
have to waste so much energy. The escape velocity of the
moon is significantly low. If we want to land on the surface
of Mars and be able to return home, we need rockets with
lots of fuel. Thus, Moonbase will serve as a good launching
point.
Hubble Space Telescope

Humanity has always looked up to the stars and wondered

about their place in the universe. In the beginning, we were
dependent upon our eyes. All we knew came from
observations made via the naked eye. Once we started
looking deeper into the universe with telescopes, having a
telescope on the ground was not enough. Ground telescopes
can observe nearby stars and galaxies, but they tend to
produce blurry images. They are not helpful in looking at
distant objects. As light from distant stars and galaxies enters

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our atmosphere, it gets distorted by the variation in

temperature and density of our environment.
The presence of vast amounts of dust and other impurities
further lowers the quality of the image. We see the stars
twinkling at night because their light has to pass through the
atmosphere before reaching our eyes. If you go outside the
atmosphere and look at those same stars, they would not be
twinkling and would be brighter and shinier. Ground-based
telescopes are not fully efficient. Another problem ground-
based telescopes encounter is that the atmosphere
blocks/absorbs specific wavelengths of radiation like
ultraviolet, gamma, and X-rays before reaching the ground.
To solve this problem, the idea of a telescope in space
orbiting Earth was put forward by Hermann Oberth in 1923.
By being outside Earth's environment, this telescope would
be able to get better images and collect other scientific data.
The launch of the Hubble Telescope was the beginning of a
new era in space exploration. Hubble was one of the first
significant scientific instruments placed in space until 1990.
Scientists have used Hubble to observe some of the
universe's most distant planets, stars, and galaxies. Scientists
have also used the Hubble telescope to study our solar system,
not just the deep universe.
Hubble has a length of roughly 13.25 meters or 43.5 feet with
a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters or 14 feet. Hubble has
many scientific instruments on board, which increases its
weight to more than 24,000 pounds or 10,886 kilograms. It
orbits at an altitude of roughly 547 kilometers, at a high
speed of 27,300 kilometers per hour, completing one orbit in
only 95 minutes. Hubble uses its primary mirror to take most
of the images, which has a diameter of roughly 2.4 meters or
94.5 inches.

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Hubble has two large solar panels that extend to 25 feet in

direct sunlight and powers six nickel-hydrogen (NiH)
batteries, the powerhouse of this telescope. It has been three
decades since Hubble started to work in space. Since then,
more than 1.3 million different observations have taken place,
based upon which scientists have published thousands of
research papers. Hubble's first image was taken on May 20th,
1990; it was a star cluster called NGC 3532. There are
multiple instruments placed on this telescope, which work as
the eyes and heart of this machine. From time to time,
astronauts have gone up and replaced the older instruments.
They have also installed some new instruments for better
observations. Here are some of the important pieces of
instruments present on Hubble:
1. Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer:
The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer
(NICMOS) is Hubble's heat sensor. These sensors are highly
sensitive to the infrared light produced by the vibrations of
atoms and molecules. Many objects are hidden in interstellar
dust, and NICMOS enables us to see them. One of the
primary examples of such objects is stellar birth sites. When
new stars are born, they are usually hidden in clouds of dust
and gas. NICMOS measures the heat of that star and based
upon that data, scientists can further calculate its geometry.
2. Advanced Camera for Surveys; The Advanced Camera
for Surveys (ACS) can see visible light. The excitation of
electrons in atoms produces visible light. By measuring the
visible light, we can get most of the information about that
object. By looking deep into space, scientists study some of
the earliest activities of the universe. Using ACS, scientists
have measured some of the most distant objects in the
universe. ACS also helps us map out the distribution of dark
matter across the universe by observing gravitational lensing.

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The search for small or big planets around the stars is carried
out using ACS.
3. Wide Field Camera: The Wide Field Camera (WFC) can
detect the spectrum of three different kinds of light. Near-
ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared. It is one of the most
technologically advanced instruments on Hubble. WFC is
also being used to study dark energy and dark matter. This
instrument generally observes galaxies that are beyond the
vision of Hubble.
4. Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: The Cosmic Origins
Spectrograph (COS) acts as a prism. COS works by
separating the light from the different objects into its
constituents. Scientists can measure an object's temperature,
density, and chemical composition by separating the light.
5. Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph: The Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a spectrograph
that sees ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. STIS is
generally used to observe the larger objects of the universe.
These larger objects include Black Holes, massive stars, and
clusters.
7. Fine Guidance Sensor: Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) are
devices that help Hubble to keep track of its direction. It
helps in pointing Hubble in the right direction. Hubble must
point in the right direction when observing some sudden
phenomena in the universe. This device can also measure the
distance between stars and their relative motions.
All of these instruments are powered by sunlight. Hubble is
useless if it is not powered by the Sun. Hubble uses large
solar panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity.
When Hubble is in the dark shadow during its orbit around
the Earth, batteries keep it running. Initially, scientists
wanted to use a nuclear reactor to power the Hubble. But a
nuclear reactor is not only costly but also very risky. So, the
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idea was struck down. For the last 30 years, Hubble has been
working day in and day out, guiding our way into the
universe. However, this machine also has its deadline.
Hubble could last until 2030–2040. After this, it will retire
and most likely burn up in the atmosphere. Its successor,
James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST), has already been
launched by NASA in December 2021. With improved
sensitivity and resolution, JWST would be able to see what
Hubble could not.

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 Types of Civilization

From being a single-cell organism to the most sophisticated

biological beings on this planet, the creation and evolution of
life have been an extraordinary journey. From what we have
learned so far, evolution never ends; even today, we are
evolving. We do not notice it because evolution is steady and
prolonged. Only after the billions of years of evolution do we
proudly call ourselves the most intelligent species on this
planet. If evolution had stopped 6 million years ago, we
would still be ape like animals living in the forest. Not just
humans, even the universe is evolving. We can calculate it in
terms of entropy, the extent of increasing randomness.
To a vast extent, technological advancements have taken
over evolution. In the last 4 billion years, evolution has been
our primary driving factor for survival, but not anymore.
Where the next thousand or, perhaps, millions of years lead
us will be purely decided by the kind of technological
advancements we make.
When it comes to our planet, we do not have any control over
it. We have to dig massive mines to extract coal and huge
wells to take out oil buried for millions of years. Floods,
volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes kill thousands of people
every year, and we are helpless.
When it comes to the solar system, we have not even reached
our closest planet. We have stepped on the moon, but it was
over 50 years ago. It seems like we forgot to return.
Undoubtedly, Voyager 1 has crossed the solar system and
reached interstellar space, but that small accomplishment
alone took us over 40 years.
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When it comes to the Milky Way galaxy, we find ourselves

on a distant edge orbiting a medium-sized star. In the
universe, we do not even know where we stand. The only
thing we know is that we do not know.
Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev was a Soviet and Russian
astrophysicist. In 1964, he proposed a scale known as the
Kardashev scale to classify the different types of civilizations
living in our galaxy and the universe. This scale was made to
distinguish between the types of civilizations based on the
amount and form of energy they can use. How we control
different things, how we are using our resources for a better
future, and how far we can reach today are the parameters
that will define our position on this scale. Let us look at the
different types of civilizations and where we stand on this
scale.
Type-Zero Civilization

We can pat ourselves on the back and say how advanced we

are. On the Kardashev scale, we are just a Type-Zero
civilization. A Type-Zero Civilization has to do with how life
preserves itself under the dramatic conditions of its planet—
how life sails through floods, hurricanes, and various natural
disasters and still comes out unharmed. We will remain a
Type-Zero civilization until we can control all these natural
calamities. Since the beginning of time, the entire human
history can be marked as a Type-Zero civilization because
we are still struggling to fight with nature to preserve
ourselves.
When life was in the water, it had its challenges, such as
small creatures getting eaten by bigger creatures. For bigger
creatures, it was necessary to have a particular diet every day.
When life came out of the water, new challenges came to
light, as it was living in a unique environment. Today, we
drive our cars on the road, but we never realize that we are

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using the energy of dead plants and animals. Coal being our
primary source of energy shows how backward we are. We
are not even an intercontinental civilization because we have
divided ourselves into small countries and have different
laws. The division of humanity in the form of countries
protected by borders has its advantages and disadvantages.
One of the advantages is that the growth of a country is
directly linked to the growth of its people, but it also limits us.
This division prevents us from being a planetary civilization
working together for humanity.
The introduction of race, caste, and religion had its advantage
1000 years ago. Race, caste, and religion had brought people
together in the form of small groups. They were able to relate
to each other about something common. However, these
things prevent us from taking a step forward in the modern
world. Whenever there is a significant scientific discovery or
breakthrough, religious people often say it is already written
in our book. This shows how eager we are to protect our
limited religious identity.
We might have differences, religious or otherwise, but in the
last 100 years, we have also taken some bold steps toward
becoming a Type-1 civilization. The creation of the European
Union in 1993 is just one of them. It is not that humans do
not want to come together and work as one. We have proven
that we can act as one, but it usually happens in extreme
situations when there is no other way or an external threat is
looming. In the 1980s, we learned that the Ozone Layer was
depleting due to the excessive use of Chlorofluorocarbons.
The entire world came together and signed the Montreal
Protocol to limit their use. Today, the Ozone hole is healing
slowly and will fully recover in the next 50 years.
Generally, humans follow the tried and tested path and
hesitate to do something different. However, if we want to
move toward becoming a Type-1 civilization, radical changes

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need to happen. There is a clear indication that we're moving

in the right direction. Some of them are the use of the internet
and the wide acceptance of English as an international
language. We are living in a world that is evolving rapidly. If
you go 100 years back, you might not believe it. In the last
100 years, we have gone all the way from slow bullock carts
to fighter jets that challenge the speed of sound. This is a
clear sign that we are transforming from a Type-Zero to
Type-1 civilization, even though we are decades away from
actually doing so. Today is one of the most decisive times for
humanity as a whole. If we make it to the Type-1 civilization,
that would be our biggest achievement so far.
Type-1 Civilization

We have already discussed a type-zero civilization and how

we are slowly transitioning into a type-1 civilization. So,
what is a type-1 civilization? A type-1 civilization is a
planetary civilization. This civilization can use and store all
the energy available on its planet. In simple words, this type
of civilization can control everything happening on the planet.
A planetary civilization has the power of an entire planet in
its hands. It can control earthquakes. It can use the energy
bursting from a volcano. It has the technological power to
stop hurricanes from causing massive damage to human lives.
Instead of burning coal and petroleum and destroying nature,
a type-1 civilization can harness the energy that falls on a
planet from its parent star. It can collect this energy and store
it to meet the increasing demands of the population. This
ability further revolutionizes its industries and technological
era. This civilization will have a robust defense system in
space that will deflect any asteroid that can potentially harm
the lives of its inhabitants.`
There will be large-scale use of nuclear power. A type-1
civilization will use the energy of atoms, through fusion or

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fission, to power their industries. Harnessing Earth's energy

would also mean control over the natural forces. We would
be able to use wind energy, construct more dams on flowing
rivers, and use the energy of ocean waves.
How would a type-1 civilization communicate? It will likely
speak a common language. For humans, English may become
the first or preferred second language. This type of
civilization will be open to new ideas. Religion, as we know
it, will no longer exist, or at least most people will not
consider themselves religious. Instead, they will consider
themselves seekers, trying to understand their existence.
This civilization will no longer have an identity limited to its
caste, religion, or nation. Their identity will be cosmic or at
least human. Borders might still exist between countries, but
they would have little to no significance. There would be a
free movement among countries like the European Union.
The internet is a planetary communication system. We can
contact anyone from anywhere, except for a few countries
that like to be secretive. Similarly, there will be a planetary
flow of knowledge and culture without restrictions.
By the time we become a planetary civilization, we will have
several human missions on Mars and multiple colonies on the
moon. It is not clear if we would be able to transform and
colonize Mars, but colonizing the moon would be a great
start. A planetary civilization would have complete
knowledge of the Solar System. We would know if alien life
is living underwater on Europa, Titan, or Enceladus. Our
probes would have reached all the planets and their moons in
the solar system. There is a limited supply of minerals on
Earth. We will start mining asteroids for metals and other
essential ores by then. We are no doubt progressing, but we
are another 100 to 200 years behind. Famous American
astronomer and science communicator, Carl Sagan, believed

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that we are currently at 0.7 on our way to becoming a type-1

civilization.
Type-2 Civilization

After becoming a type-1 civilization, we will most likely

leave Earth. We will look for other energy sources from other
parts of the solar system. A type-1 planetary civilization can
harness the energy of a planet, but a type-2 civilization would
require energy directly from its mother star. The energy of a
planet is not enough to fulfill their needs, so they will look up
to their mother star and use its energy to power their gigantic
machines. This civilization is also called a stellar civilization.
To harness the energy of their mother star, a type-2
civilization can use the concept of a Dyson Sphere. A Dyson
Sphere is a device that would encompass a star and gather its
energy. This energy will be transferred to a planet and stored
there for later use. A type-2 civilization will use this energy
to power their machines and spaceships that can travel to
nearby stars. Not only the star, but this civilization would
also utilize the hydrogen of nearby gas giants. They would
drain their energy using orbiting reactors and bring that
energy back to their home planet or planets for later use.

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A type-2 civilization would have transformed and colonized

Mars. It would have colonized almost every place in the solar
system wherever possible. A type-1 civilization could deflect
large asteroids to prevent them from hitting their home planet,
whereas a type-2 civilization could vaporize it long before it
reaches their planet. A type-2 civilization would be able to
move a planet from its orbit, thus ensuring its survival. This
civilization will also send multiple rockets to explore life
further into the galaxy. They will have complete knowledge
of their solar system and are ready to move to the galactic
scale. Life as a type-2 civilization would be about technology
and science, not family and friends.
People often ask, if there are millions of habitable planets in
our galaxy alone, why don't we see the aliens here on Earth?
Why do they not come and visit us? Well, maybe we are not
that interesting to them. Maybe they know we are here, but
they let us live comfortably and not disturb our lives. They
may be choosing to ignore us because they want us to figure
everything out. Or maybe they are hoping we will find them.
It is also possible that they are not advanced enough. Maybe
they are still fishes in the ocean evolving their way out.
Scientists predict that if we ever encounter alien life or if
there is a time when aliens visit us, it will be a type-2 or type-
3 civilization. This is because only that civilization can travel
vast distances between solar systems. However, we see no
evidence of alien life visiting us. We are still trying to find a
type-zero civilization in the solar system on the moons of
different planets. When you become a type-2 civilization,
you are immortal. There are no known forces in the universe
that can destroy your existence. Even if their mother planet
gets destroyed by accident, this civilization will fly to another
planet in the solar system. If a supernova explosion occurs
nearby, destroying almost all of its life, this civilization can

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enter its giant spaceships and move to other stars where they
can survive.
As a type-zero civilization transitioning into a type-1
civilization, we are creating small probes and sending them
to nearby planets and moons within the solar system. A type-
2 civilization would be able to create an army of bionic
robots and send them to nearby stars so they could start life.
These bionic robots would transform themselves according to
the planetary situations. The environment is not a big concern
unless it is too hot or cold. A type-2 civilization is a big jump
in capability and intelligence. How close are we to becoming
one? It will probably take 1000-2000 years to reach that point.
Type-3 Civilization

A type-3 civilization is a galactic civilization. It is a

civilization that can possess the energy of its galaxy. In
simple words, a type-3 civilization would have access to the
energy of a galaxy. If humans ever become a type-3
civilization, our humanity would be left much behind in the
process. We would become cyborgs—beings with both
biological and robotic abilities.
A type-3 civilization would use all the tools and methods it
learned as a type-2 civilization and apply them on a galactic
scale. A type-3 civilization would be able to build Dyson
Spheres all over the galaxy and harness the power of as many
stars as they want. They would use this energy to do the
things that appear in science fiction today, such as traveling
at the speed of light and traveling in time. The civilization
would not be one planet or multi-planet-centered. Instead, it
will spread its arms across the galaxy and live on as many
planets as possible. Black Holes would become just another
source of energy for them. They would be able to withstand
the high gravitational potential of Black Holes. Using the
vast energy of black holes, a type-3 civilization would create

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wormholes and quickly travel inside the galaxy or in between

the galaxies.
For this civilization, there will be no boundaries known to
science. They will have the ability to prevent supernova
explosions. They would use the strong magnetic field of
neutron stars to their benefit. A type-3 civilization would not
be limited to one galaxy only. As soon as a type-2
civilization become capable, it would try to reach other solar
systems. In the same way, a type-3 civilization would try to
reach out to other galaxies.
Once this civilization becomes intelligent enough, it would
not need to steal the energy of stars and black holes. Empty
space does not mean nothing; it has the power of dark matter,
dark energy, radiations, and particles popping up and going
out of existence. To boost their rockets, they will use the
energy of space. There are vast distances between galaxies,
so the use of the energy of space would allow them to travel
between the galaxies in case wormholes do not work out. By
doing all these things, this civilization will play with the laws
of nature to its fullest— something that we want to do right
now.
Not just regular black holes, they will snatch energy from the
supermassive black holes that exist at the center of almost
every galaxy. Humans are afraid of gamma-ray bursts as they
can be harmful. For this civilization, a gamma-ray burst
would be a source of pure energy coming directly from a
black hole. A type-3 civilization would know everything to
help them become the masters of space and time. Dark matter
would no longer be a riddle, and they would be able to use
the power of dark energy to their benefit. This civilization
would create colonies of cyborgs capable of self-replication
and send them to nearby galaxies for exploration. Their
population might also increase rapidly as every cyborg will
self-replicate and colonize every star that comes in its path. A

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type-3 civilization would have the highest order of adaptation.

We are nowhere close to that. It would take 100,000 years or
maybe longer for us to get there.
Type-4 Civilization and more

A type-4 civilization is a universal civilization that can

control all the laws of the universe. Kardashev believed that
no civilization could become a type-4 because the
capabilities and power it would possess are almost god-like.
Kardashev also believed that humans or any alien creature
would not be able to cope with such powers. Some scientists
believe that it is possible for such a civilization to exist, so
types 4, 5, and 6 civilizations have already been proposed.
One of the big reasons it is almost impossible for a
civilization to become a type-4 is that our universe has a
limited age and will die one day. We have limited time to
transform ourselves into beings of higher capabilities. This
civilization does not abide by any known rules or laws of the
universe. A type-4 civilization would harness the energy of
the universe itself. It would open the singularity of black
holes and even live inside a supermassive black hole.
The type-3 civilization has exploited almost all known
energy sources, so a type-4 civilization would have to tap
into unknown energy sources. They must discover or
generate new laws of physics and govern the universe
however they want. A type-4 civilization would be able to
teleport themselves by various means; wormholes are just
one of them. They would be able to create wormholes in this
universe that open in a different universe. That way, they will
travel between universes and discover different kinds of new
laws.
Our known science variables cannot describe this type of
civilization; it is beyond everything we know. Their mental

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abilities are beyond our grasp. This civilization would have

unlocked all the mysteries of the universe. Today, we know
about three dimensions of space and one dimension of time.
However, theories suggest that there could be many more
dimensions beyond our reach. A type-4 civilization would be
able to travel to higher dimensions and even to dimensions as
small as an atom.
A type-5 civilization can do the same thing in a multiverse
that a type-4 civilization can do in this universe. They can
even create universes with their own unique laws and
parameters. What a type-6 civilization would do, we cannot
even imagine. Humans are far behind in reaching something
like this. The first obstacle in our path is transitioning from a
type-zero civilization to a type-1 civilization. It will be a
good start if we do not blow ourselves with the various kinds
of weapons we have created.

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 End of Life on Earth

In the last 500 million years, there have been several

instances where life on this planet was wiped out. In some
mass extinctions, up to 95% of all species were wiped out.
One thing those extinctions had in common was that they
were all natural. Today, humanity has taken over the charge
of this planet. A large part of what happens on Earth is
controlled. Thus, the chances of us annihilating ourselves
have also gone up. Let us look at five realistic natural and
artificial ways in which this could happen.
Nuclear Warfare

Albert Einstein once said, “Two things are infinite. The

universe and human stupidity, and I am not so sure about the
universe.” Humans might be the brainiest species on Earth,
but they do not know how to handle power with
responsibility. Splitting the atom and discovering a whole
new world inside it was a tremendous success, but at the end
of it, we built nuclear bombs—bombs that can threaten
humanity in the wrong hands.
There was a nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union, the
United States, and their respective allies during the Cold War.
By the 1980s, there were over 70,000 nuclear weapons,
enough to destroy this planet several times. As the Cold War
ended, both countries agreed to reduce their stockpile
significantly. I consider it one of the best decisions of the
20th century. Even though both countries did not agree to
reduce their stockpile to zero, the numbers fell below 14,000.

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Some people might not agree, but nuclear weapons have

played a significant role in keeping world peace. We are
unlikely to see another world war because of their presence.
Nuclear weapons are handy for threatening other nations and
making them align with your terms. Mighty nations have
been using this tactic for decades. Today, nine countries in
the world possess roughly 13,900 nuclear weapons. The
United States and Russia account for 91 percent of them.
Many countries have given up their deadly weapons and
nuclear programs in the past 30 years, whereas others have
tried to acquire them.
Nuclear Warfare is one of the biggest and most realistic
threats that can wipe out humanity. Nuclear warfare is also
called thermonuclear warfare or atomic warfare. It refers to
the use of nuclear weapons to destroy and damage the enemy
to resolve a political conflict. In contrast to conventional
warfare, nuclear warfare is highly destructive and damaging.
A nuclear weapon can release a large amount of energy in a
short period, which could have a long-lasting impact on
humanity, the environment, soil, and almost everything else.
On July 16th, 1945, the United States tested its first nuclear
bomb in New Mexico. After this test, the world entirely
changed within three weeks. On August 6th, 1945, the United
States dropped this weapon on Hiroshima, a city in Japan. It
wounded many and killed approximately 130,000 people.
Three days later, another city in Japan, Nagasaki, was
bombed. This blast instantly killed 74,000 people. After these
two explosions, there was chaos, fear, and terror on the entire
planet. These tremendously powerful blasts also ended the
World War II.
What would happen if global nuclear warfare occurred?
When a nuclear blast occurs close to the surface, soil
particles mix with the highly radioactive fission products of
the nuclear bomb. Some debris is transferred from the

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detonation site to other places by wind and falls back to the

Earth. A nuclear bomb causes instant casualties, injuries,
infrastructure damage from the blast, and heat of detonation.
It is similar to a conventional bomb but on an enormous scale.
However, it has a long-term effect, which includes nuclear
radiation from the initial explosion and the radioactive fallout
that settles much later on.
People that come in contact with this radiation often face
genetic damage and may develop cancer. The survivors of
the nuclear detonation and the population of contaminated
areas are at high risk of such effects. Not just humans but all
the animals are also affected by these radiations. Wherever
there is a large amount of radiation, such as at old nuclear
test sites, no life can survive there. If it is underwater, no
aquatic life can survive as well. The thought of nuclear war
may create images of emerging mushroom clouds, duck and
cover drills, or local radiation fallout. These instant effects
are terrifying, but experts say the after-effects are more
damaging than the initial explosion.
Nuclear explosions can also eject large quantities of soot into
the atmosphere, blocking sunlight from reaching the Earth's
surface. Suppose a small percentage of Russian and
American nuclear weapons were used. It would cover the
planet with dark clouds. In the absence of light, food would
not grow. So, even if a nation survives the nuclear explosions
and radiation, it would certainly die from hunger. This
phenomenon is called nuclear winter.
Climate Change

Another threat in the face of humanity is the slowly changing

climate. In simple words, climate change is the constant
change in the condition of wind, rainfall, temperature,
humidity, atmospheric pressure, and other such elements.
When the usual conditions show drastic changes over a

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period of time, climate change is taking place. Climate

change can be due to natural or human activities. Earth has
seen various dramatic climate changes over its history,
including the last Ice Age. Climate change through human
activities is a result of population explosion, deforestation,
excessive use of fossil fuels, automobiles, industrial waste,
and hazards.
Climate change has a long history, and it is not new. We are
hearing more about it today because it is becoming
irreversible with every passing year. Swedish scientist,
Svante Arrhenius, first reported climate change in 1896. He
predicted that the increasing carbon dioxide levels could alter
the surface temperature of the earth. The same was observed
in the 1930s in the form of greenhouse effect. Today, these
effects are becoming more apparent. Heatwaves are
becoming common in Europe, Asia, South America, and
Australia. Every year, we see a drop in the amount of ice
present on the north and south poles of the planet.
During the summer, rising temperatures worldwide create a
genuine fear among people and climate activists. Some parts
of the world have experienced temperatures up to six degrees
higher than the average for months. We should not forget that
2016 was recorded as the hottest year since we started
recording temperature. Scientists fear that as the climate
changes, the chances of new infections, diseases, and
outbreaks could increase significantly. Viruses will more
likely jump species and catch humans.
The rise of greenhouse gases and the increase in carbon
dioxide emissions worsen the already bad situation. It is
expected that temperature levels could rise by over 4°C by
the end of this century. With the increase in temperature, sea
levels are expected to rise by 18 cm to 59 cm. Other expected
changes include reduced snow cover and acidification of
oceans, frequent heat waves, intense cyclones, and frequent

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floods. The long-term effects of climate change are

horrifying. Rising sea levels and floods could displace
millions of people. Over centuries, increasing temperature
could increase sea levels by over 7 meters. Many countries
such as China, India, Japan, and Vietnam will face severe
consequences.
We cannot stop climate change, but we can at least prevent it
from getting worse. We can slow down its pace, which will
give us enough time to handle this problem. We can put
pressure on the government to act urgently. Almost everyone
reading this book will be gone by the end of this century, but
the coming generation will have to face the consequences of
climate change caused by our actions.
A Pandemic

The world has seen many pandemics throughout history. A

pandemic is the spread of a new disease around the globe,
like the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In the 14th century,
humanity faced a dreadful pandemic known as Black Death.
This pandemic is estimated to have killed 75 to 200 million
people, approximately 40% of the total population.
The influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) of 1918 was one of the
deadliest in modern history. It infected almost 1/3rd of the
global population and killed over 50 million people within a
short interval of January 1918 to December 1920. This
pandemic impacted people of every age. Young, old, sick,
and even healthy people became infected, and over 10% of
them could not make it.
The Spanish flu broke out in the US Midwest. As World War
1 was going on, soldiers took it to Europe with them.
Countries like Britain, Germany, France, and America kept it
secret in the beginning to keep the morale of their forces high.
When the disease became a pandemic, it seemed to have

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emerged in Spain. Hence, it was named 'Spanish' flu. Spanish

flu was first suspected around March 1918. Throughout April
and May of 1918, the virus spread like wildfire in England,
France, Spain, and Italy via the army troops. This pandemic
occurred in two different phases—a milder form in early
1918, which affected mainly sick and older people. Most
people who died from it were either sick or too old to fight.
The second wave of this virus began in August 1918, and it
was much more deadly. It affected the immune system of
younger adults. As a result, more people were killed in the
second wave than in the first one.
During this pandemic, people were struck with blistering
fever (104 degrees), malaise, nasal hemorrhaging, and
pneumonia. The patient would drown in their fluid-filled
lungs and not be able to breathe. The primary cause of its
high fatality was pneumonia and other respiratory
complications brought by the flu. WHO or a similar body did
not exist during World War 1; the situation was
uncontrollable. Nobody had a clear idea of what to do with
this pandemic, and there was no organization to direct other
countries to take concrete steps to control its spread.
Worldwide, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 killed more
people in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. It
killed more people in just 24 weeks than AIDS killed in 24
years. In India, it is referred to as Bombay fever. The death
toll in India was estimated to be 10-20 million, making India
the worst-hit country. A large percentage of the Indian
population died due to this pandemic. 1911-1921 was the
only period when the Indian population fell.
Today, the world has become more globalized than ever;
there is far more travel between countries in the form of
tourism and work than it has ever been. This travel makes it
easy for a virus to spread quickly and effectively. COVID-19
had reached every continent within 3 to 4 months because

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people from other countries brought it. Next time, a

pandemic occurs, the first step should be to halt global travel
and quickly learn more about the virus.
Supervolcano

A volcano whose volcanic eruption is higher than 1,000

cubic kilometers by volume is called a supervolcano. The
volcanic eruption of a supervolcano is a thousand times
greater than a typical volcano. Today, we have several
supervolcanoes such as Yellowstone Caldera in the USA,
Taupo in New Zealand, and Toba in Indonesia.
Globally, there are about 20 known supervolcanoes.
Supervolcanic eruptions occur very rarely—only once every
100,000 years on average. But when they erupt, they have an
unpleasant impact on the atmosphere and climate. The last
time such a volcano erupted was Yellowstone Caldera, about
650,000 years ago. Nowadays, it is a famous Yellowstone
National Park in the United States. This eruption ejected over
1,000 cubic kilometers of lava and ash into the atmosphere,
large enough to bury an entire city several feet under the
ashes. The effect of such eruptions is comparable to holding
a volleyball underwater. When you release it, the air-filled
volleyball is forced upward by the high-density water. As a
result, we see a quick and violent eruption.
Yellowstone Volcano

Yellowstone is one of the world's oldest national parks,

established in 1872. Yellowstone spreads across 8,987 square
kilometers in multiple states. Nearly 3 million people visit
this park every year to enjoy a stunning natural landscape,
including hiking trails, geysers, hot springs, and mountain
peaks. Below the surface of this park lurks another natural
wonder, one with the power to wipe the park off the map.

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The Yellowstone volcano is one of the biggest known

supervolcanoes. The standard view of this volcano is not like
a typical cone-shaped volcano. The magma of Yellowstone
volcano is very explosive, thick, and almost paste-like.
Although there is no possibility of its eruption anytime soon,
a full explosion would be bad for nature lovers and people
near the park. If this volcano were to erupt, heat rising from
within the Earth's core would begin to dissolve the molten
rock below the surface. That will create a mixture of rocks,
magma, vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases. As the
mixture accumulates and rises over thousands of years, the
pressure will push the ground upward into a
dome/hemisphere shape and create cracks along the edges.
As that pressure is released via the cracks at the edges, the
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dissolved gases will explode, quickly emptying the magma

across the park.
Its eruption could kill as many as 100,000 people instantly
and spread a 3-meter layer of molten ash as far as 1,600
kilometers from the park. Rescuers will have an extremely
difficult time getting in there. The ash would block all entry
points from the ground and spread gases and ash into the
atmosphere that would stop most airflow, just as it did when
a much smaller volcano erupted in 2010 in Iceland. The
aftereffects of its eruption are equally as frightening as the
'nuclear winter.' It could put a blanket of ashes and dust over
the planet. The good news is that a large-scale eruption is
unlikely to happen in our lifetime. Yellowstone last erupted
about 650,000 years ago. The United States geological
survey says the probability of it blowing its top again is
minimal.
Asteroid Impact

The word 'asteroid' means 'star-like.' Asteroids are

mineralized space rocks, smaller than planets, and are mainly
found in the asteroid belt around the Sun. Not to get confused
with comets made of dust and ice. Comets remain icy as they
orbit far away from the Sun. If they get too close to the Sun,
its intense heat will melt them. Undoubtedly, asteroids are
smaller than planets, but some are big enough to end all life
on this planet. If a giant asteroid hits the landmass, a
tremendous amount of soil and dust particles would be
thrown into the atmosphere, resulting in animal and plant life
loss. Similar to the nuclear winter caused by nuclear
explosions. However, if an asteroid hits the oceans there
might be tsunamis, hurricanes, and earthquakes in coastal
regions due to the release of a large amount of energy.
Large asteroid impacts have devastated the planet in the past.
Dinosaurs that once ruled this planet are no longer here. To

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prevent a future asteroid impact, first, we need to know the

location and the trajectory of an asteroid. Today, we have
many observatories around the globe just for this purpose.
They have calculated the trajectory of thousands of asteroids.
We have identified almost all the giant asteroids capable of a
global disaster. However, many minor asteroids capable of
regional disaster are yet to be discovered. Here's how we can
prevent an asteroid from crashing into our planet.
Target Change: Changing the trajectory of an asteroid
would be the easiest thing we can do to prevent a disaster.
Suppose there is an asteroid, 1 billion kilometers away,
heading straight toward the Earth. If we change its trajectory
by just 1 degree, it will be enough to prevent a crash. By the
time it travels 1 billion kilometers, its trajectory would have
been changed by hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Target
change would also be the safest method to prevent a disaster.
Asteroid Destruction: If target change does not work, we
can opt for the asteroid's destruction. If the asteroid is too
close and its too late to change the trajectory, why not blow it
up into small pieces? Even if the pieces enter our atmosphere,
most of them will burn up long before they reach the Earth’s
surface.
Most of the asteroids of our solar system are orbiting within
the Asteroid Belt between Jupiter and Mars. A small
percentage of them are larger than one kilometer in diameter,
whereas the majority are smaller ones. These asteroids come
nowhere close to our planet and are fixed in their orbit.
Asteroids that cross Earth's orbital path are called Earth-
crossers. That come close are called Near-Earth asteroids.
There are roughly 10,000 Near-Earth asteroids. Out of these,
about 860 asteroids are larger than one kilometer, posing a
significant threat. The total number of asteroids that are
potentially hazardous and could be threatening is around
1,400.

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Apophis is a near-earth asteroid with a diameter of 370

meters and an average orbital speed of 30 km/s. In December
2004, it caused a brief period of concern because initial
observations indicated a 2.7% chance of this asteroid hitting
our planet. The probability has come down significantly as
we have learned more about this asteroid. Astronomers have
calculated that the probability of Apophis impact is none in
the near future.
Asteroids having a diameter of 1 kilometer or close to one
kilometer hit Earth every 500,000 years on average. Larger
Asteroids with a diameter of more than 5 kilometers collide
with Earth once every twenty million years. Even though we
have observed many potentially hazardous asteroids, the
chances of them hitting our planet is significantly low.

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______________

Death of the Universe

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Different scientists predict the future of our universe
differently with a finite and infinite age. However, everyone
cannot be correct. The death of the universe is one of the
biggest subjects of discussion among scientists. From what
we have learned so far, the death of our universe comes
under physical cosmology and is directly affected by the role
dark energy and dark matter play as the universe ages.
There is one strict rule that all life follows—everything
comes to an end. Does this rule apply to the universe as well?
Maybe, yes. But when that happens, no one will be there to
see it. The fate of our universe not only includes the death of
all the stars, solar systems, and galaxies but also the death of
all life. It is the death of intelligence and consciousness that
took billions of years to become what it is today.
Our universe is 13.8 billion years old. What the next 13.8
billion years would look like can only be imagined. Ever
since Edwin Hubble pointed out that the galaxies are moving
apart, various scientists have predicted the universe's fate.
Most of the theories about the death of the universe are
related to what Hubble had discovered. Let us discuss the
different ways in which the universe could end:

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 Big Freeze

Big Freeze is also known as the 'future of the ever-expanding

universe.' It is one of the most accepted scenarios for the
death of our universe. It is a scenario in which the universe's
continuous expansion results in a universe that approaches
absolute zero temperature. Absolute zero is the minimum
possible temperature of a body, taken as -273.15 degrees
Celsius. At this temperature, the heat inside a system is zero
and cannot go any lower. Various scientific observations also
suggest that the universe's expansion will continue forever.

Although we are yet to fully understand what dark energy is,

what we have learned about it so far has given rise to the idea
of Big Freeze. The universe is going through a one-way
expansion, where dark energy is the leading force. We cannot

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control this expansion and it is beyond our grasp. So, the

universe will continue to expand, resulting in even stronger
dark energy, which will further accelerate the expansion.
With this acceleration, the universe will expand so rapidly
that galaxies will break the light barrier and never be seen
again.
There is a limited amount of gas and dust clouds in galaxies,
which are needed to form new stars. In the next 1 trillion
years, there won’t be any more gas or dust clouds, as galaxies
would have used them for the formation of stars. As soon as
the galaxies run out of gas and dust clouds, the formation of
new stars will cease. At that point, there will be a finite
number of stars in the universe. As we know, stars have a
limited lifetime due to the limited amount of fuel. So, at first,
the bigger stars will run out of fuel, resulting in supernova
explosions. After that, the smaller stars will run out of fuel,
becoming white dwarf stars. At this point, the universe will
become dim and a limited amount of heat and light will
remain.
Stars are the powerhouses that light up the entire universe. In
the absence of these stars, everything will start cooling down
rapidly. Even the white dwarf stars would start cooling down.
They will get so cold that you could touch them. The fusion
activity at their core will stop completely and they will freeze.
With no new source of heat and light, the universe will turn
cold and dark, reaching an absolute zero temperature. Black
Holes would still be there, but they are not a good source of
heat and light. Advanced civilizations (if any) would want to
get closer to the Black Holes and use their gravitational force
to generate heat and electricity. It would be challenging to
survive near a black hole because they would have minimal
resources. They might survive a few years, but not forever.
No creature would be able to make it in such a cold universe.

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Some scientists suggest that gravity can prevent the

expansion of the universe. However, there is not enough
matter in our universe that could overpower the force of dark
energy. Matter makes up just 4.9% of our observable
universe, the overall strength of gravity is weak in from of
dark energy. Only a miracle can save our universe from this
fate. The majority of scientists believe that the Big Freeze
fate of the universe is inevitable. No matter what we try, it
will happen one day. No known force in science can stop this
expansion. Right now, research is going on about the nature
of dark energy. Maybe as we learn more about the repulsive
nature of dark energy, we can find a way to prevent this fate.
Today, there is no hope for a future that is not absolute zero.

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 Big Rip

Big Rip is the extension of what we have learned in the Big

Freeze death of the universe. Big Rip is a scenario in which
the universe will keep on expanding, and expand so rapidly
that everything in the universe will be ripped apart and turn
into pure energy.
As we know, the universe is expanding at an increasing rate.
With this expansion, the strength of dark energy is also
increasing, causing an even faster expansion. This theory
states that the universe will keep expanding faster and faster.
The Big Freeze theory states that galaxies will move apart,
but galaxies themselves will remain intact. However, the Big
Rip theory suggests that the galaxies themselves will also
expand and this expansion will increase with time. All the
stars we see in the night sky are from the Milky Way, all
within a few thousand light-years. Due to this expansion,
nothing will remain in the night sky.
We would be able to see Alpha Centauri, our nearest star,
breaking the light barrier and gone forever. But that's not all.
Even the solar system will be ripped apart. The distance
between the Sun and Earth will increase. All the solar system
planets will start moving away from each other. What's more
fascinating is that this expansion will act on the atomic scale
as well. With the rate of expansion fast enough, the atoms
will swell. The distance between electrons and the nucleus
will increase, and they will not be able to orbit the nucleus.
Protons and neutrons that make up the nucleus of an atom
will not be able to hold together and will be pulled apart.

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They will get dissipated into their constituents and never

interact with each other.
It is getting horrifying because all of us are made up of atoms.
When it happens, we would feel our body swelling, and the
length and width of our body increasing. Of course, that
would cause tremendous pain in our bodies. However, we
will not be able to bear it for too long. Our arteries will
rupture, and most of our body organs will stop working when
the atoms are pulled apart. Eventually, everything in the
universe will turn into pure energy, just like at the beginning
of the universe.
From the point of view of String Theory, nothing will remain
in the universe except for the vibrating strings. This is scary,
but it seems possible considering the repulsive force of dark
energy. While dark energy is causing the expansion of the
universe, it is not only fighting with the attractive force of
ordinary matter but also the attractive force of dark matter. If
dark energy can dominate these two forces and accelerate the
universe's expansion, it will have enough power to rip us
apart into pure energy.
What will happen to the Black Holes? It is interesting to see
the universe's fate from the point of view of black holes
because they seem immortal. We have already talked about
the Hawking radiations and how they slowly kill a black hole.
All the black holes, including the supermassive ones, radiate
energy in the form of hawking radiations. With the expansion
of the universe, the rate of Hawking radiations will increase.
Black holes will weaken and eventually radiate away as the
universe expands exponentially. However, this will take
longer compared to the disintegration of ordinary matter.
Once a black hole has radiated away, an uncurved and
expanding space will remain in its place.

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 Big Crunch

Big Crunch is a bit different from what we have learned so

far. It is the opposite of what we discussed in the Big Freeze
death of the universe. This theory assumes that the mean
density of the universe is enough to stop the rate of
expansion by overpowering the expansion. This theory
assumes that the universe is expanding at an exponential rate
due to the effects of the Big Bang. As time passes, this
expansion will slow down. As the expansion slows down, the
attractive force of matter and dark matter will take over, and
the universe will start to contract.
Because of this contraction, all the galaxies will start coming
closer. The universe's diameter will decrease. All the stars of
our night sky would become brighter and brighter. The
planets of our solar system would come closer and closer to
each other. The Sun will become bigger, and brighter every
day, and the Earth will receive more heat. As the galaxies,
solar systems, stars, planets, and everything else come closer,
the rate of contraction will increase. The universe's overall
density will increase. Eventually, the universe will become a
hot plasma ball and collapse into a dimensionless singularity.
Gravity will pull everything back together into one point,
once again, as it has done with the previous form of our
universe. The universe will be squashed into a gigantic ball,
and the Big Bang will occur once again!
This theory allows the Big Bang to occur immediately after
the Big Crunch of the preceding universe. This theory
suggests that the universe repeatedly goes through a series of
formation, expansion, contraction, and the Big Bang. This

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theory also answers our question: What existed before the

Big Bang? Even though everything we have found
experimentally is against it, current evidence indicates that
the universe is not a closed system. It has caused
cosmologists to abandon the oscillating universe model. Big
Crunch will result in the universe's heat death, which is
totally against our current observations. Current observations
have shown that the expansion is neither slowing nor
constant; instead, it is increasing with time. With the
increased power of dark energy, there is no way our universe
will end up in a Big Crunch. Big Freeze and Big Rip are the
more acceptable scenarios in today's cosmology.

Big Bounce is another model of the universe that strongly

supports the idea of Big Crunch. It suggests that this cyclic
model or oscillatory universe is possible. In this model, every
Big Bang results from the collapse of a previous universe.
Some scientists predict that dark matter is not from our
dimension; instead, it is a part of higher dimensions currently
leaking into our universe. So, if a large amount of dark
matter suddenly leaks into our universe, that could
significantly increase the hold of gravity and make this
scenario possible. Apart from that, there is no hope for this
particular fate of the universe.

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Other Fates

Eternal Inflation: Eternal inflation is the model of a

hypothetical inflationary universe. It is an extension of the
Big Bang theory. Big Bang explained the universe's birth but
could not explain its fate. According to eternal inflation
theory, our universe is like an inflating bubble. All the matter
in the universe, including stars and planets, is on the skin of a
bubble. Since the Big Bang explosion, this bubble has been
expanding, and it will continue to expand forever. No known
force in the universe can stop this expansion.
Eternal inflation theory supports the Big Freeze model of the
universe, where the universe will eventually freeze to death.
Hubble's law also supports the future of the universe to be
inflationary. However, this theory contradicts the Big Rip
model of the universe and suggests that the expansion could
never occur at the atomic scale.
False Vacuum: Consider a balloon full of air. The balloon is
filled with air by an external force, and it looks very stable.
The air is not leaking out and it stays right where it is.
However, that is not the reality. In reality, this stability is
only an illusion caused by the surface that holds all the air
and does not let it pass. If you pop the balloon, the air will
come out and acquire a state of minimum potential, equal to
the atmospheric pressure.
Some scientists believe that the universe we live in might not
have reached its lowest and most stable state yet. If we are
inside this balloon, we will never see it coming. When this
fate occurs, the very fabric of space-time will fall apart. All
the known forces of the universe will become obsolete and
the universe as we know it will end. As we know, the
vacuum has its energy. Therefore, the universe might try and
acquire a state of minimum energy. The universe has existed
for a very long time and nothing has happened. So, it is

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possible that there is no such thing as a false and true vacuum;

therefore, we should not worry about it.

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 Timeline of the Future

Event Number of Years

Halley's Comet Visit 49

Colonies on the Moon 80

Antares Supernova Explosion 10,000

Niagara Falls Erodes Away 50,000

VY Canis Majoris explosion 100,000

Humans Terraform Mars 100,000

Supervolcanic Eruption on
100,000
Earth
WR 104 Explodes into
300,000
Supernova
Earth Likely Hit by 1 km
500,000
Asteroid
Pyramids of Giza Erodes
1 million
Away
Humanity Colonizes Milky
1 million
Way

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 TIMELINE OF THE FUTURE

Likely Supervolcanic
1 million
Eruption
Gliese 710 To Pass Within
1.4 million
9,000 AU

Grand Canyon Will Erode 2 million

Phobos Collision with Mars 50 million

Saturn Loses Its Rings 100 million

Sun's Luminosity Increased

110 million
by 1%

One Day is 25 Hours Long 180 million

Solar System Completes 1

240 million
Galactic Year

New Supercontinent 250 million

Near Gamma-Ray Burst 500 million

CO2 Levels Too Low for

700 million
Photosynthesis

Death of All Plant Life 800 million

Earth's Oceans Starts

1 billion
Evaporating

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 BABY UNIVERSE

Sun's Luminosity Increased

1.1 billion
by 10%
Earth's Oceans Evaporate
2 billion
Away

Death of Most Life on Earth 2 billion

Sun Expands into a Red Giant 4 billion

Andromeda Collision with

4.5 billion
Milky Way

Sun Destroys the Earth 7.9 billion

Sun Becomes a White Dwarf 8 billion

Moon Collision with Earth 65 billion

Universe End Via Big Crunch 1 trillion

Peak Habitability in the

10 trillion
Universe

Formation of New Stars Ends 100 trillion

All Stars Exhaust Their Fuel 110–120 trillion

Universe Will Become

150 trillion
Completely Dark

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 TIMELINE OF THE FUTURE

Sun Cools Down to -268 °C 1 quadrillion

Nucleons Start Decaying 2 undecillions

Black Hole TON 618

0.6 googol
Dissipates

Black Hole Era Ends 1,700,000 googols

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 Glossary

Absolute Zero: The lowest possible temperature of a body;

its value is -273.15 degrees Celsius.
Anti-gravity: The opposite of gravity. Anti-gravity (in the
form of dark energy) is causing the universe's expansion.
Antimatter: Antimatter is the opposite of ordinary matter.
Anti-protons have a negative charge, and anti-electrons have
a positive charge. Every particle is supposed to have its
antiparticle.
Atom: The basic unit of matter. It consists of a nucleus made
up of protons and neutrons surrounded by moving electrons.
Big Bang: Scientific theory in explaining the origin of the
universe. Evidence shows that this explosion occurred
roughly 13.8 billion years ago.
Big Crunch: The fate of the universe in which gravity will
take over the expanding forces of dark energy. The whole
universe will revert into a singularity, and the Big Bang will
occur again.
Big Freeze: This theory suggests that the universe's
expansion will last forever. Stars will use all of their energy,
black holes will radiate away, and intelligent life will die at
absolute zero temperature.
Big Rip: This theory suggests that everything in the universe
will be ripped apart due to the expanding universe. All the
matter will be ripped apart into its constituents.

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 GLOSSARY

Black Hole: A region in the space where gravity is strong

enough that even light cannot escape. The escape velocity of
any Black Hole is higher than the speed of light.
Blue Shift: Blue Shift arises due to the shrinking of space. If
a yellow star is heading towards us at high speed, it will
appear blue in the telescope.
Chandrasekhar Limit: The maximum possible mass of an
object above which it turns into a Black Hole.
Conservation Law: This law predicts that energy can neither
be created nor destroyed.
Cosmic Microwave Background: The leftover afterglow or
footprints of the Big Bang explosion in the form of cosmic
radiations.
Cosmological Constant: An extra term Einstein used in his
equations, giving a static model of the universe. Later he
removed this term after the discovery of an expanding
universe.
Cosmology: The study of the universe from its beginning to
the end.
Critical Density: The average density of matter at which the
universe will halt its expansion. The universe is not very
dense due to which dark energy has taken over.
Dark Energy: An unknown form of energy in space that
constitutes 68.3% of the total universe. Dark Energy causes
the one-way expansion of the universe by overcoming the
gravitational pull.
Dark Matter: An unknown form of matter, constitutes 27% of
the total universe. Its presence is measured by the distortion
it creates in the path of light.
Dimension: A parameter to measure space and time.
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 BABY UNIVERSE

Electromagnetic Force: The force of electricity and

magnetism.
Electron: An elementary particle discovered by Sir J.J.
Thomson. It is negatively charged with a charge of -
1.602×10- 19 C and has a mass of 9.109×10-31 kg.
Entropy: The extent of randomness in a body. Gases have
more entropy or disorder than solids or fluids. In any closed
system, entropy increases with time.
Eternal Inflation: The model of a hypothetically inflationary
universe.
Event Horizon: The boundary, after which nothing can
escape from the Black Hole, not even light.
LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation. Laser produces a highly monochromatic, coherent,
and concentrated beam of light.
False Vacuum: Vacuum that has not acquired its lowest
energy state yet. In the case of a supernova, the star explodes
and acquires the minimum state of energy. Similarly, the
transition of a false vacuum into a true vacuum may occur at
any time, causing the end of the universe.
Frequency: The number of vibrations or the number of cycles
per second.
Fusion: Process in which elements fuse into each other
resulting in the formation of a new element. This process is
primarily exothermic, which means energy is released.
Galaxy: The elliptical/spiral/irregular beauty of the universe.
Galaxies consist of billions of stars and planets. Our Milky
Way galaxy is made up of 100 to 400 billion stars.

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 GLOSSARY

General Relativity: One of the most successful theories given

by Albert Einstein in 1916. It explained the gravitational
force in terms of the bending of space-time.
God: The creator and the ruler of the universe.
Grand Unification Theory (GUT): A theory that could unify
Electromagnetism and Nuclear forces. The GUT theory does
not involve unifying all four fundamental forces of nature.
Gravitation: The weakest force of nature that keeps us on the
ground.
Higgs Boson: A particle that gives matter its mass.
Higgs Field: A field that swept across the universe just after
the Big Bang and gave particles their mass.
Hubble's Law: The distance of a galaxy is directly
proportional to the rate at which they are moving away.
Large Hadron Collider: LHC uses a high-energy beam of
photons and collides them to learn more about them.
Light: Electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths.
Light Year: One light-year is the distance traveled by a light
beam in a year. This parameter is used to measure vast
distances, such as distant stars and galaxies.
Magnetic Field: Field generated by the charged particles
when in motion, responsible for the magnetic interactions.
Mass: The amount of matter in a body.
Matter: Matter is made up of atoms and molecules.
Everything around you that you can touch or see is an
ordinary matter.
Multiverse: The idea of multiple universes. It suggests there
could be infinite universes, and we live in just one of them.

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 BABY UNIVERSE

Neutron: Neutral subatomic particle with a mass of

1.672×10- 27 kg. Along with protons, it makes up the atomic
nuclei.
Neutron Star: As a result of a supernova explosion, these
smallest and densest stars are born. A neutron star is the
collapsed core of a giant star.
Nucleus: The combination of protons and neutrons. It is a
dense and positively charged central region of an atom.
Particle Accelerator: A machine that provides acceleration to
moving charged particles.
Photon: An elementary particle with zero rest mass; it is the
constituent of light. Absorption of a photon excites electrons,
making the photoelectric effect possible.
Proton: Positively charged subatomic particle with a charge
of 1.602×10-19 C and mass of 1.672×10-27 kg.
Quantum Mechanics: Small scale and lower energies of
atoms and subatomic particles are studied in Quantum
Mechanics.
Quarks: The elementary particles which make protons and
neutrons. Three individual quarks make up a proton or a
neutron.
Radioactivity: The natural disintegration of some elements.
In this process, the nucleus ultimately breaks into daughter
nuclei. The rate of radioactivity depends upon the type of
matter.
Red Shift: The wavelength of light wave emitted by a distant
source moves toward the red end of the electromagnetic
spectrum because of the expanding fabric universe.

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 GLOSSARY

Singularity: A point of infinite density. In the beginning, a

singularity exploded and created our universe. Generally,
singularities are found at the center of a Black Hole.
Space: Three-dimensional area where different objects have a
position and direction relative to each other.
Space-time: A term derived to reflect that space and time are
the two faces of the same coin.
Special Relativity: An idea that no matter how fast the
observer is moving, the laws of physics would remain the
same. Einstein's Special Relativity was published in 1905.
Steady-State Theory: The basic idea is that the universe has
always existed and will always exist. The formation of stars
and galaxies is a continuous process.
String Theory: String Theory suggests that the presence of
one-dimensional vibrating strings makes different particles.
Strong Nuclear Forces: The strongest of four fundamental
forces binding the protons and neutrons inside an atom.
Supernova: A short event in which a star produces enormous
energy in its explosion.
Time: The continuous sequence of existence.
Time Travel: Going backward or forward in time.
Types of Civilization: Civilizations in outer space based on
their requirements and usage of energy.
Unified Field Theory: A theory by Albert Einstein that would
unify all the four fundamental forces of nature— Gravitation,
Electromagnetism, Strong Nuclear Force, and Weak Nuclear
Force.
Universal Forces: Forces that govern the entire universe.

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 BABY UNIVERSE

Vacuum: Vacuum is empty space. Empty space does not

mean nothing. Physics says that empty space also has its own
energy.
Virtual Particles: Particles that form in pairs and destroy each
other within a fraction of time.
Visible light: Detectable to the human eye, it enables us to
see the world. It lies within a specific range of wavelength
~390 to 700 nm.
Weak Nuclear Forces: Forces that are responsible for nuclear
decay.
Weight: Force experienced by a body because of gravity.
White Dwarf: A star in its final stage that has burned nearly
all of its fuel.
Wormholes: Shortcuts/pathways/tunnels to travel vast
distances within the universe or universes.
X-Rays: A type of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a
wavelength of 0.01-10 nanometres

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 The Purpose

We have done remarkable work in cosmology in the last 500

years. However, one question still bothers us: does the
universe have a purpose? When we look deeper into the
universe, we do not seem to find a reason for its existence.
Maybe it was created for a reason and is too complicated for
us to find out. But whenever we talk about the purpose,
scientists are divided into two groups:
The first group of scientists believes that the universe has a
purpose. Most of them also believe in the existence of God.
The God who created us must have a plan. The universe has
a purpose because lives, from their very first spark, are
governed by various laws of nature. All the past events where
life came out of the water and became what it is today cannot
be a mere coincidence. We find a similar pattern if we look at
the universe from an atom to the solar system and the giant
galaxies. There are a set of rules and laws that govern them,
and we must be thankful for that. Maybe we will discover the
purpose in a million years, but until then, we have to keep
this cycle going.
The question 'What or who is God?' is a valid question in
science, so finding an answer becomes our responsibility.
There was a time when it was believed that whatever is
happening is a divine act of God, and it would be a sin to
question it. However, not everyone believed it. Some people
stood for themselves and questioned the existence of God
even though they feared going straight to hell. The curiosity,
even to question the existence of God, has helped us in
making various advancements in science. If no one had

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 BABY UNIVERSE

questioned god's existence, there would be no agnostics,

atheists, and spiritual people.
There is a misconception that since many scientists believe in
God, there must be a god. Well, scientists who believe in
God do not use God or their holy books such as the Bible,
Qur'an, or Gita for their scientific research. They use religion
for spiritual enlightenment, finding a purpose or maybe in an
existential crisis. When it comes to science, religion has no
significant role to play. When I see so much suffering in the
world, people dying in floods while others are dying in
droughts without water, it makes me question the existence
of a god. Maybe God does not care about the human
suffering, or maybe God does not exist at all.
The second group of scientists believes that the universe does
not have a purpose because we do not play a central role in
the universe. We are tiny creatures living on a small planet,
circling an average-sized star in an average-sized galaxy
somewhere in the universe. When it comes to our role in the
universe, we do not matter to the cosmos. The universe will
go on its way, whether we are present or not. There are
universal forces inside us that support and nourish life, but an
equal number of forces are trying to kill us. Every day,
people are dying due to all sorts of silly reasons.
Every passing moment, the universe is growing toward its
fate. Maybe in a trillion years from now, the universe will die
out. So, what is the meaning of our existence? A universe
without a purpose does not mean that our lives are
purposeless. The universe might not have a purpose for us,
but we create our own purposes. For people who believe in
religion, religion gives them a purpose to serve a god, go to
heaven, and live forever.
Today, we struggle to find our place in the universe, and it is
even harder to predict our purpose. The search for a purpose

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 THE PURPOSE

creates a purpose in itself. If the universe does not have a

purpose, it will die anyway. That does not make our lives
meaningless. We are capable of creating meaning. Life starts
and ultimately ends, then it starts again but not from where it
ended. It is hard for science to say whether we have a
purpose. Science itself goes through a continuous state of
change. Only religion can answer this question confidently,
but we must not forget that 'religion cannot show it and
science cannot prove it today.'

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 The Conclusion

American astronaut, Gene Cernan, also known as the 'last

man to walk on the Moon,' once said, “Curiosity is the
essence of our existence.” If the Wright brothers were not
curious about how things can fly, we would not have an
airplane. If Sir Isaac Newton was not curious about the
falling apple, he would have never discovered the laws of
gravity. If the first humans were not curious about new lands,
we would still be living in Africa. Curiosity is the mother of
all inventions; it propels the wheel of innovation and
discovery.
Our view of the universe was different ten years ago, and I
am sure it will be significantly different in the next ten years.
The universe will continue to make us wonder, and the day it
stops doing so, we are doing something wrong. We must look
back and start fresh. Today, we know a little about the
universe because we are standing on the shoulder of giants
such as Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, whose
teachings stand right in the middle of our understanding of
the universe.
As a kid, I have always looked up to many scientists and
thinkers who helped me understand how little I knew. Some
of them are Professor Stephen Hawking, Sir Michio Kaku,
and Sir Neil deGrasse Tyson. Studying their work and
watching them has made me realize how vast the cosmos is.
The universe without us is not a universe. It is nothing
because there is no one else to understand its language. The
role of science is to do just that.

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 THE CONCLUSION

As you move on in life, there are two ways to live; either you
do not know that you have never opened your eyes because
of some strong faith, or you do not want to close your eyes
because the beauty of the universe is endless. Above all, we
must remember that science is the only way forward.
Stay curious!

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