Larger Than Life.

How unimaginably infinite this universe is has always frightened me. There's just something so contradictory about how nothingness can possibly occupy not only space - but so much space - that encroaches upon my sanity. And then there's the question of how the hell something infinite could be expanding. But even if these paradoxes could be answered, there still remains the question: where is the Universe?

I read an interview in this astronomy magazine with Lisa Randall, Professor of Physics at Harvard University (don't you wish that could be you in the future?). When asked what she felt the significance of cosmology and particle physics was, she responded, "I believe it's important to know there is something larger than ourselves and something more permanent than what I ate for dinner today. It's exciting that there are facts about the world out there that we can discover."

For some reason, when I read that, something inside me did a little epiphany dance. It's amazing how this world is just the place where you live, until you look at it again and realize it's a miracle that you're lucky to be a part of. It's amazing how the world we see around us was born, pretty much coincidentally, by interactions between elementary particles. It's amazing that while we as humans expend so much planning, so much effort, so much thought into our lives, the Universe - so completely random in its creation - is going to outlast us all.

It makes you wish you knew the answers, doesn't it?