The universe shouldn't even exist and scientists are baffled that we're here at all

Scientists have taken a look at one of the most profound questions imaginable, pondering why life in the universe exists at all, and come back scratching their heads…

Essentially, there is a fundamental juxtaposition at the heart of our current understanding of the universe, which challenges our understanding of physics and the nature of life existing anywhere.

A new study is set to be published in Physical Letters B [via Indian Defence Review] focuses on the Higgs field.

The Higgs field is a field of energy that gives particles mass, and it’s our understanding of this essential component of the universe which the new study challenges.

The Higgs field has the potential to change and “bubble” – and this could have huge consequences. If it did “bubble” then it would lead to the creation of pockets of altered reality in which nothing would exist at all, which is a pretty terrifying thought.

In fact, if these bubbles did come into existence, then protons and neutrons would completely disappear and electron masses would change.

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“The Higgs field isn’t likely to be in the lowest possible energy state it could be in. That means it could theoretically change its state, dropping to a lower energy state in a certain location,” said the study’s lead researcher, Lucien Heurtier.

That in itself is a scary thought, but the really significant implications of the research come when considering the Higgs field in relation to primordial black holes, which have fascinated scientists for decades.

Current research suggests that these black holes do exist, even though they’re potentially as small as a single gram, and that they formed right after the Big Bang happened, during the universe's inflationary period.

However, the fact that scientific modelling suggests they exist is a pretty big problem when it comes to our understanding of the universe.

The new research states that if they do indeed exist, then they would have caused “bubbling” to take place in the Higgs field – and if “bubbling” took place, then life wouldn’t exist at all in the universe.

It’s a pretty mind boggling thought, and the paradox right at the heart of the universe – enough to put anyone in a slightly existential mood, you might think.

So, scientists now know that there are either elements of the Higgs field or primordial black holes (or indeed both) that we don’t fully understand and it just goes to show that there are many mysteries out there in the universe which we’re yet to comprehend.

Black holes, of course, are some of the most fascinating (and utterly terrifying) elements of the universe. Recently, experts observed two pairs of black holes on the verge of colliding for the very first time in a rare cosmic event.

With advances in technology, astrologers have been able to view outer space in greater detail than ever before, witnessing a huge black hole “starving” its host galaxy to death and answering questions that have long gone unanswered.

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