Did She Just Prove the Multiverse Is Real? (Ft Laura Mersini-Houghton) [Ep. 501]

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Physics, Natural Sciences, Science

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? What if our universe is just one in a vast cosmic ocean of universes, and we have the evidence to prove it? In this episode of Into the Impossible, I’m joined by theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton to explore one of the most provocative ideas in modern cosmology: the multiverse is not only real—it’s testable. Mersini, author of Before the Big Bang, walks us through her bold predictions about the structure of the cosmos, including the mysterious cold spot in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that she foresaw years before it was confirmed by the Planck satellite. Together, we dissect her groundbreaking theory that our universe began as one branch of a quantum wave function stretching across a multiverse landscape. We talk quantum decoherence, cosmic scars, and how entanglement with other universes could leave measurable fingerprints in our sky. We also debate criticisms from fellow physicists and dive into what these revelations mean for the future of dark energy and cosmological theory. — Key Takeaways: 00:00 What happened before the Big Bang? 01:56 The CMB cold spot prediction 05:16 Quantum entanglement and decoherence 11:31 Criticism and evidence for the multiverse 17:06 The wave function of the universe 20:48 The string landscape and constants of nature 23:54 The cold spot and the hemispherical anomaly 37:20 Thoughts on the recent DESI suggestions 40:46 Judging a book by its cover 47:31 The multiverse and religion 57:29 Outro — Additional resources: ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠ 🔔 YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠ 📝 Join my mailing list:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠ ✍️ Check out my blog:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠ 🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠ — Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Was the Big Bang really the beginning? What if our universe is just a ripple scarred by a cosmic collision?
0:07.0	Yes, you can get evidence. Yes, you do not need to go beyond the horizon of your universe in order to see the multiverse.
0:14.0	One physicist not only works on this, but she predicted an observable signature, a cold spot in the sky that would not only indicate the
0:21.8	presence of other universes potentially, but give meaning to the question of what came
0:26.1	before the Big Bang. Stephen Hawking was once asked, what came before the Big Bang? And he said,
0:33.7	that's as stupid as asking what's south of the South Pole?
0:40.5	Well, I've been to the South Pole twice, and I think he's wrong.
0:43.6	And this ties into today's guest in a most beautiful way.
0:50.3	Today's guest is the renowned scientist, Laura Mersani Houghton, and here's her book, which is called Before the Big Bang.
0:52.6	So, Laura, who is right?
0:57.1	Stephen Hawking or Brian Keating, is it sensible to ask what happened before the Big Bang?
1:02.4	Stephen Hawking was right the second time around because he changed his mind about that question.
1:03.3	In his book, he was paraphrasing St. Augustine.
1:06.4	There is hell to pay for those that ask what was there before.
1:09.8	But on the last few years of his life, he was asking exactly that question.
1:14.1	What was there before our universe came into existence and he had his own ideas, but unfortunately
1:20.5	did not finish them.
1:21.8	So, yes, I think it would be a very simplistic view to have one universe that is 10 to the power 27 centimeters in size,
1:33.9	and it's 13.8 billion years old.
1:36.7	It would be very simplistic for us to say, we can't ask what was there, 14 billion or 15 billion years,
1:42.3	or was beyond the horizon of our universe.
1:44.5	So I think as scientists were trained to be curious and to ask the questions even more aggressively
	...

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