"You Shouldn’t Be Here—But You Are: 14 Cosmic Miracles"

Introduction

Most people see their lives as ordinary, assuming that what they’ve experienced is commonplace and could happen to anyone. But in reality, existence itself is anything but normal—our presence in this universe is astonishingly improbable. If even a single cosmic event had unfolded differently, everything could have been completely altered. The universe isn't just the result of the Big Bang occurring and automatically producing the cosmos in a predictable way. If the Big Bang were to happen again, the universe wouldn’t look the same.

To prove this, here are 14 key steppingstones, inspired by Michael Mallary, that show just how unlikely it is that we are here at all.

The 14 Steppingstones to Our Existence

1. Six Kinds of Quarks

Every particle in the universe contains two types of quarks, the fundamental building blocks of matter. After the Big Bang, the most expected scenario was the formation of only four types of quarks. If this had happened, the resulting particles and antiparticles would have annihilated each other, leaving nothing. Instead, six different quarks emerged—ensuring stable matter could form.

2. CP Asymmetry

Without charge-parity (CP) asymmetry, the Big Bang would have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter, leading to total annihilation. Instead, for every billion antimatter particles created, a billion plus one matter particles formed. That "plus one" made all the difference, allowing our universe to exist.

3. Just Enough Energy and Matter

The density of the universe had to be just right—neither too much nor too little. If it had been higher, we would have experienced a Big Crunch, collapsing back into nothingness. If it had been lower, stars would never have formed, preventing the creation of galaxies and planets.

4. The Right Amount of Lumpiness

In the early universe, matter was spread out, but not perfectly evenly. This slight variation was enough to seed galaxy formation. Too smooth, and no galaxies would have formed; too clumpy, and enormous black holes would dominate everything.

5. The Four Fundamental Forces

These four forces—gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force—work in harmony to shape reality. Gravity holds us together, electromagnetism enables atoms and electricity, the strong force binds atomic nuclei, and the weak force powers nuclear reactions in stars. If even one of these forces were slightly different, life as we know it wouldn’t exist.

6. Protons Don’t Quite Stick

Inside the Sun, single hydrogen protons slowly fuse to form helium. If the nuclear force between protons were even half a percent stronger, this process would happen instantly, burning through fuel so fast that stars would die before life could evolve. If the force were weaker, stars like our Sun wouldn’t be able to generate enough energy to sustain life.

7. Helium Nuclei Don't Stick Too Easily

Helium doesn’t immediately convert into carbon, which allows stars to sustain their nuclear reactions. If helium had burned too quickly, there would be no carbon—and no life.

8. Excited Carbon and Calm Oxygen

When three helium nuclei combine, they form carbon. Fortunately, carbon remains stable, ensuring its continued presence in the universe. Likewise, oxygen remains chemically calm, allowing complex molecules—including water—to form. Without this balance, life wouldn’t be possible.

9. Big Stars Explode

Large stars eventually collapse and explode in supernovae, scattering heavy elements like oxygen, iron, and carbon into space. These elements are essential for forming planets—and us. Without supernova explosions, Earth wouldn’t exist.

10. Heavyweight Neutrons for Long-Lived Stars

The neutron’s mass plays a crucial role in keeping stars stable. If it had been lower, excessive heavy elements would have formed, creating a dramatically different universe.

11. Long-Lived Protons

If protons decayed quickly, all matter would eventually disappear, cutting the universe’s lifespan short. Luckily, protons last for billions of years, keeping atoms and structures stable.

12. Three-Dimensional Reality

We exist in a three-dimensional universe, and that’s fortunate—because in a four-dimensional world, physics would behave chaotically, making stable molecules impossible. In a two-dimensional universe, basic processes like flowing water wouldn’t work.

13. The Wave Nature of Matter

Matter behaves like both particles and waves, allowing it to resist being squeezed into small volumes. This prevents total collapse into black holes, ensuring that stars, planets, and people can exist instead of an endless void.

14. Reclusive Particles That Enable Chemistry

Particles like electrons are “reclusive” in the sense that they interact in specific ways, allowing atoms to form complex chemical bonds. Thanks to this behavior, we have metals, organic compounds, and the rich diversity of materials needed for life.

Conclusion

Everything about our universe—from the tiniest quarks to entire galaxies—had to align perfectly for life to be possible. If even one of these steppingstones had played out differently, the universe could have been lifeless, chaotic, or entirely different. So, calling life "ordinary" is not just inaccurate—it's an insult to the very improbability of our existence.

We are here because of a cosmic series of fortunate events, proving that existence itself is anything but inevitable.

Quantum Teleportation Simulated: Scientists Open a Portal to Understanding Spacetime

 

Imagine being able to travel to a planet 30 billion light years away in mere minutes or jumping back and forth through time—into the future or the past—whenever you please. Sounds like sci-fi movies, right? While such ideas have always lived in the realm of the imagination, they may not remain there forever. In a groundbreaking achievement, physicists Maria Spiropulu from Caltech and Daniel Jafferis from Harvard, along with their team, have successfully simulated a "baby wormhole" using quantum loops. This wormhole is capable of transferring quantum information, or "qubits," marking a significant step toward understanding spacetime and quantum physics.

This remarkable journey began by integrating two fundamental principles: ER and EPR. The ER (Einstein-Rosen Bridge), introduced by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen in 1935, describes a theoretical "bridge" or wormhole that connects two points in spacetime. Although fascinating, this wormhole is non-traversable and purely theoretical. Meanwhile, the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paradox, also introduced in 1935, highlights the phenomenon of quantum entanglement—where two particles remain instantaneously connected, regardless of distance. In 2013, physicists Leonard Susskind and Juan Maldacena proposed the ER = EPR conjecture, suggesting that quantum entangled particles are linked by microscopic wormholes. This conjecture offers a profound connection between the quantum world and the geometry of spacetime.

While wormholes are three-dimensional objects, creating even a simplified version of one in a two-dimensional interface may seem counterintuitive. However, the holographic principle, which suggests that our universe is a three-dimensional projection of quantum information encoded on a two-dimensional surface, inspired the possibility of simulating a baby wormhole. Since wormholes and quantum entanglement are inherently connected, quantum computers became the natural tool for creating such a simulation.

The research team utilized Google's Sycamore quantum computer, one of the most advanced quantum computing systems available today. By leveraging qubits stored in superconducting circuits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously due to quantum superposition, the scientists implemented a protocol to simulate the dynamics of a theoretical wormhole. The process involved carefully manipulating entangled qubits to emulate wormhole-like behavior and mathematically ensuring that the system reflected the properties of a theoretical wormhole.

Using this setup, the team successfully transmitted quantum information, the state of qubits—particles that can represent information at the quantum level. through the simulated wormhole. Interestingly, according to the ER principle, wormholes can theoretically become traversable when influenced by negative energy—a concept nonexistent in classical physics but integral to quantum physics. The experimental results demonstrated that quantum mechanics could replicate phenomena predicted by relativity, like wormhole dynamics. The researchers validated their findings by analyzing the data and confirming that the information behaved as though it had traversed a wormhole.

This groundbreaking experiment combined expertise from quantum mechanics, general relativity, and computational physics, supported by advanced algorithms and machine learning. While this isn’t a wormhole, we could physically traverse, it marks an exciting step forward in exploring the link between quantum mechanics and spacetime geometry. This "baby step" opens the door to new avenues in understanding quantum gravity and the universe's fundamental structure. And who knows what the future holds? The possibilities we imagine today became more likely when humanity first spoke its first words centuries ago.