Podcast: Inflation

October 15th, 2007

$A fraction of a second after the big bang, the universe underwent inflation - but what does that mean? credit: NASA/WMAP$
We interrupt this tour through the Solar System to bring you a special show to deal with one of our most complicated subjects: the Big Bang. Specifically, how it's possible that the universe could have expanded faster than the speed of light. The theory is called the inflationary theory, and the evidence is mounting to support it. Einstein said that nothing can move faster than the speed of light, and yet astronomers think the universe expanded from a microscopic spec to become larger than the solar system, in a fraction of a second.