: : Such as ? : : One question which I've been thinking about : recently is, assuming there was an initial 'big : bang' (and that's a topic in itself), then how : long did it last. I can put forward an argument : for two ideas..one, it lasted time zero, this idea : has alot going for it and fits in with a 'cosmic : switch' theory that I have. The second idea is : that it lasted a small undefined amount of time, : which directly relates to the amount of matter in : the universe and lends itself to a finite universe : theory. : I'd be interested to discuss this, I've never seen : any mainstream data on this, presumably because : no one knows yet.

I have a problem accepting the big bang theory. The idea that everything in the universe came from an infinitessimally small point seems absurd. If this were true where was it? Wouldn't there be a rather large empty space somewhere? If the universe is expanding, it must be expanding from somewhere. If everything is going away from everything else, then how is it that galaxies collide giving birth to stars? Any ideas out there?