Bob CollinsWe like to think we’re a pretty smart species and, as species go, we are. But there are some things we can’t explain, like why we exist at all when science says we shouldn’t.
This week, the scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland released more research in Nature that provides further evidence that the universe shouldn’t exist, which, of course, only makes the question “why are we here, then?” all the more confounding.
It involves matter and anti-matter particles created by the Big Bang and, in theory, each particle of matter should cancel out each particle of antimatter and the result — via the Big Bang — should be, well, nothing. But we’re left with more matter than antimatter. Why?
Scientists are a patient lot and, apparently, a lot of them go to work each day with the dream that one day they’ll be able to declare that they’ve discovered the very secret of the universe.
It doesn’t appear today is going to be that day.
To do the latest research, it took 10 years just to come up with a way to even measure antimatter.
If you’re really into this sort of thing — and I mean really into it — then watch this video. Otherwise, just keep reading.
Having figured out the problem of measuring antimatter, the researchers did their experiments and concluded — again — that we shouldn’t be here.
“All of our observations find a complete symmetry between matter and antimatter, which is why the universe should not actually exist,” Dr. Christian Smorra declared.
And yet, here we are.
The researchers could spot no differences in mass, electric charge, or magnetism via protons and antiprotons that might’ve provided a clue as to why something exists when all the science we know says it shouldn’t.
Inverse Science writes that it’s possible the imbalance between antimatter and matter involves some minuscule property of antimatter science doesn’t know about.
If it doesn’t, then, perhaps, the idea of a Big Bang will have to be reconsidered.
