It's actually safe to create a universe in your basement.

Space is certainly something more complicated than the average person would probably realize. Space is not just an empty background in which things happen.

The question of the origin of the matter in the universe is no longer thought to be beyond the range of science - everything can be created from nothing. It is fair to say that the universe is the ultimate free lunch.

The recent developments in cosmology strongly suggest that the universe may be the ultimate free lunch.

Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory of a bang at all. It is really only a theory of the aftermath of a bang.

It's actually safe to create a universe in your basement.

In the context of general relativity, space almost is a substance. It can bend and twist and stretch, and probably the best way to think about space is to just kind of imagine a big piece of rubber that you can pull and twist and bend.