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Juan Fiero el Menso Estupido writes:

Tia Ghose of LiveScience writes:

If a new theory turns out to be true, the universe was never a singularity or an infinitely small and infinitely dense point of matter. In fact, the universe may have no beginning at all.

At issue is that the two most dominant theories of physics, quantum mechanics and general relativity, can't be reconciled.

The new equations are just one way to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. For instance, a part of string theory known as string gas cosmology predicts that the universe once had a long-lasting static phase, while other theories predict there was once a cosmic "bounce," where the universe first contracted until it reached a very small size, then began expanding, Brandenberg said.