"My understanding is that the universe "banged" at a very fast rate (within that fraction of a second) and has since slowed down, like you were saying, to avoid self-destructing/imploding."
Well ... it turns out that there is another player in the game, dark energy. As the universe expanded, it began playing a more and more dominant role until it is now the primary player in the universe. It is causing the universe to actually expand faster.
"I need some SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION, not a philosophical/faith-based explanation. But I thank you Corru for sharing."
The problem is LFL that we have not yet been able to zero in on a good model for Quantum Gravity because our labs are not sophisticated enough (got a free several hundred billion dollars anyone?). Until we crack that nut, the puzzle of the universal superforce (string theory, M theory) is an unsolved riddle as well. There are several experiments on the horizon that could point us in the right direction. But the simple fact is that we don't know what happened in that first tiny fraction of a second.
Chrome
"Recollect me darlin, raise me to your lips, two undernourished egos, four rotating hips"
