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Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe header image



Programme two: The Future

A little magnet easily picking up a paper clip
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The fact that this little magnet can easily pick up a paper clip may seem boringly normal, but in fact it is an extraordinary feat. To do this, the magnet is fighting the force of gravity produced by the entire planet Earth. Four forces were created at the Big Bang – electromagnetic, strong force, weak force and gravity. Gravity is weaker than the other three forces by many orders of magnitude. Why?

Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History of Time'A little magnet easily picking up a paper clipSuper symmetryString theory
String theory brings together Einstein's relativity and quantum mechanicsGreen and Schwarz's calculations showed that 11 dimensions must existDoughnut shapes could represent two dimensions curled up togetherIf gravity does seep into our world through extra dimensions, then it will produce lots of tiny exploding black holes around the points of entry
The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in Switzerland, the biggest particle accelerator in the worldIf they do exist, Hawking's tiny exploding black holes will show up in the particle accelerator like the lights of a Christmas tree
Master of the Universe: Video Clips
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Watch Master of the Universe on 4oD
> The Theory of Everything
String Theory and how the universe works
> What We Still Don't Know
Are we alone? Why are we here? Are we real?
> The World's First Time Machine
Discover the truth behind time travel
> Space FAQs
Black holes, asteroid collision and much more...
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