November 4th 2029: We face a countdown to catastrophe. A giant asteroid hurtles towards Earth … The space-rock could wipe out an entire city. How the Universe Works s11e4: Countdown to Catastrophe
Solar System: A dramatic history of elegant beauty and extreme violence. The players in our solar system story are more tangled up than we ever imagined. How the Universe Works s11e5: Solar System Special
I believe we need a long-term national commitment to explore the universe. And I believe this is an essential investment in the future of our nation – and our beautiful, but environmentally challenged planet. Gene Kranz, interview Space Lifeguard 11th April 2000
We rise above Nature. Tame the frontiers of our planet. Now we harness the force of the universe, claiming powers that could destroy us. Mankind: The Story of All of Us XII, History 2012
Sulphur and mercury are the two elements of which the alchemists thought the universe was composed. Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man 4/13: The Hidden Structure, BBC 1973
Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind is also rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good. Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, 1912
Space, says the Introduction to the Hichhiker’s Guide, is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 2005 starring Martin Freeman & Sam Rockwell & Mos Def & Zooey Deschanel & Bill Nighy & Warwick Davis & Anna Chanccellor & John Malkovich & Kelly Macdonald et al, director Garth Jennings; see also novel Douglas Adams
The infinite improbability drive is a wonderful new method of crossing inter-stellar distances in a few seconds. ibid. commentary
In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. ibid.
I perceive the entire universe as a single equation and it’s so simple. Star Trek: The Next Generation s4e19: The Nth Degree, Reginald Barclay
What we have here, Benjamin, is a proto-universe in its earliest stages of formation. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s2e17: Playing God, Dax
Jack: The fact is that the universe is going to stop expanding and it is going to collapse in on itself. We have to do something before it is too late.
Patrick: How much time do we have left?
Jack: 60 trillion years. 70 at the most.
Patrick: Oh no. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s7e5: Chrysalis
The primordial atom burst. Sending out its radiation. Setting everything in motion. One particle collides with another. Gasses expand. Planets contract. And before you know it we’ve got starships and holodecks and chicken soup. In fact you can’t help but have starships and holodecks and chicken soup because it was all determined twenty billion years ago. Star Trek: Voyager s5e11: Latent Image, Doctor to Janeway
Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance. Nikola Tesla
If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations – then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation – well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation. Arthur Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World, 1928
I am standing on the threshold about to enter a room. It is a complicated business. In the first place I must shove against an atmosphere pressing with a force of fourteen pounds on every square inch of my body. I must make sure of landing on a plank travelling at twenty miles a second round the sun – a fraction of a second too early or too late, the plank would be miles away. I must do this whilst hanging from a round planet, head outward into space, and with a wind of aether blowing at no one knows how many miles a second through every interstice of my body. ibid.
In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded. Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
If it were true, then we’d have to abandon everything we believe about the causal universal. 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God, Colin Blakemore
Most places in the universe will kill life instantly. Instantly. People say, oh the forces of Nature are just right for life – excuse me! ibid. Neil deGrasse Tyson
We’re gotten a much better grasp at the way the universe is put together. Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God, Seth Lloyd
Consciousness … is the phenomenon whereby the universe’s very existence is made known. Roger Penrose
An insatiable curiosity and a hunger to explore ... The first big step to exploring and colonizing Space is following our instinct. Futurescope with James Woods: Galactic Pioneers, Discovery 2014
So in essence the weight of empty space itself is 70% of the weight of the entire universe. Brian Greene, Beyond the Cosmos, National Geographic 2012
The astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered the universe is not static, it’s expanding due to the explosive force of the Big Bang fourteen billion years ago. ibid.
String theory has the potential to show that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe – from the frantic dance of subatomic quarks to the stately waltz of orbiting binary stars, from the primordial fireball of the big bang to the majestic swirl of heavenly galaxies – are reflections of one, grand physical principle, one master equation. Brian Greene
Physics grapples with the largest questions the universe presents. Where did the totality of reality come from? Did time have a beginning? Brian Greene
There was a time when universe meant all there is. Everything. Brian Greene, Beyond The Cosmos: Multiverse, National Geographic 2012
There’s more. A lot more. That our universe is not alone. There may be other universes, in fact there might be new ones being born all the time. We may actually live in an expanding sea of multiplying universes – a multiverse. ibid.
If there are an infinite number of universes in the multiverse, somewhere there’s a place that's almost identical to ours, excepts for the slightest details. ibid.
We really may be part of a multiverse ... The Generally accepted theory of the origin of our universe – the Big Bang. ibid.
Guth: Gravity can act in reverse. ibid.
Guth called this short burst of expansion Inflation ... the powerful repulsive gravity of inflation was the bang in the Big Bang. ibid.
Quantum Physics: The tiniest scale ... These sub-atomic bits might actually be made of something smaller – tiny vibrating strands. ibid.
Strings can take on different properties. ibid.
Extra dimensions of space ... The shape of those extra dimensions determines the fundamental features of our universe. ibid.
Extra dimensions can be curled up. ibid.
String theory was describing a multiverse. ibid.
Eternal Inflation + Dark Energy + String Theory = We may live in a multiverse. ibid.
Einstein relentlessly sought a single theory so powerful it would describe all the workings of the universe. Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe I, PBS 2003
String theory says we may be living in a universe ... of eleven dimensions with parallel universes right next door. ibid.
This is the goal of string theory: to unify our understanding of everything. ibid.
With string theory we think we may have found a way to unite our theory of the large and our theory of the small. ibid.
Why does it matter if the two laws that we have are incompatible? Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe II
It’s a triumph of mathematics: with nothing but these tiny vibrating strands of energy. ibid.
So what exactly in Nature sets the values of these twenty constants so precisely? ibid.
String theory says we’re surrounded by hidden dimensions. Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe III
The tiny strings of string theory vibrate and dance in different patterns creating all the fundamental particles of Nature. ibid.
M Theory would go even further demanding yet another spatial dimension bringing the grand total to eleven dimensions. ibid.
Its unimaginable scale still confounds us ... Just how vast is our universe? And is there anything beyond it? Unravelling the Cosmos e1: Distance and Scale, Discovery 2013
The Big Bang. Out of nothingness a universe is created which will for ever intrigue mankind. Unravelling the Cosmos e2: Forces
Empty space can also have its own energy. ibid.