Can scientists make a universe from nothing?
“Empty space is never really, truly empty,” says science writer Zeeya Merali.
A composite photo illustration of the spiral galaxy Messier-106, located 22–25 million light-years from Earth (NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team [STScI/AURA], R. Gendler [for Hubble Heritage Team], and G. Bacon [STScI])
Zeeya Merali is a science writer and author of A Big Bang in a Little Room. She also edits the Foundational Questions Institute website, where she blogs and cohosts a physics podcast. A version of this interview originally appeared in season two of the Century podcast In Search Of.
Let’s start with this mind-blowing idea that scientists are trying to create a universe in a lab. What did you learn about it?
They sound like supervillains, don’t they? They’re trying to create a universe in the laboratory.
