# What is the universe made of?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 23, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399 "2015-04-23T23:06:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/1 "2015-04-23T23:06:21Z")
Do cosmologists or astrophysicists have any hypotheses or theories on the stuff of which the universe is made? By this I mean the “space-time stuff” in which matter, light, time etc “float” or, in other words, the expanding vacuum or ether etc.
I initially thought that it was probably dark matter but was corrected on that assumption.
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### Author:  [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/2 "2015-04-23T23:49:57Z")
Are you asking what space and time are made of? I don’t think that scientists claim that they’re made out of anything more primitive or fundamental than “space-time.” That’s the turtle way down at the bottom.
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### Author:  [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/3 "2015-04-24T00:10:53Z")
I’m so reluctant to mention it given all the people here who actually know about this stuff, but, I think that if you look up Higgs-Boson Particles you will find some information.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/4 "2015-04-24T00:12:41Z")
Cheese.
Next question.
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### Author:  [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/5 "2015-04-24T00:14:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#):
>
> Cheese.
> Next question.
What kind of cheese?
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/6 "2015-04-24T00:16:10Z")
> [@Robert163](#):
>
> What kind of cheese?
Mousetrap variety.
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/7 "2015-04-24T00:46:26Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#):
>
> Are you asking what space and time are made of? I don’t think that scientists claim that they’re made out of anything more primitive or fundamental than “space-time.” That’s the turtle way down at the bottom.
We could also call it quantum foam, I suppose.
String theorists think we’re all living on a matrix of little tiny strings that rearrange themselves in different ways to make up all the various particles. They’d be tiny even on the scale of subatomic particles. As I understand it, even empty space would be made up of strings, with the “emptiness” property defined by the configuration of the strings. There’s some interesting math regarding string theory, but not a lot of experimental evidence.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/8 "2015-04-24T00:59:13Z")
> [@Robert163](#):
>
> I’m so reluctant to mention it given all the people here who actually know about this stuff, but, I think that if you look up Higgs-Boson Particles you will find some information.
The Higgs Boson (or more technically the Higgs field) may provide mass to certain other particles but it is in no way is what space-time is “made of.”
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### Author:  [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/9 "2015-04-24T18:11:35Z")
Coincidentally my latest issue of Scientific American came in yesterday with an article about gluons. I don’t think that there is an answer to my question, yet, though I’m sure that something will be theorized or discovered in the next several years.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/10 "2015-04-24T20:35:39Z")
How does the old quote go? Particles can’t be made of stuff, because stuff is made of particles.
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/11 "2015-04-24T20:45:19Z")
> [@velomont](#):
>
> Coincidentally my latest issue of Scientific American came in yesterday with an article about gluons. I don’t think that there is an answer to my question, yet, though I’m sure that something will be theorized or discovered in the next several years.
The problem with answering the question is that it’s a little hard to define it without being self-referential. For example, we can say an atom is made of protons and protons are made of quarks, but what are quarks made of? There’s only two answers: 1) something smaller than a quark we don’t know about or 2) nothing smaller; a quark is a quark.
If #2 is the case, asking “What is a quark made of?” is almost a metaphysical question rather than a scientific one.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/12 "2015-04-24T21:48:25Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> “What is a quark made of?”
Obviously, something with even less physical definition.
Peeps.
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### Author:  [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/13 "2015-04-24T22:51:39Z")
Loop quantum gravity suggest spin networks or “spin foam”.
> **[Loop quantum gravity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_quantum_gravity)**
>
> Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a theory of quantum gravity, which aims to merge quantum mechanics and general relativity, incorporating matter of the Standard Model into the framework established for the pure quantum gravity case. It is an attempt to develop a quantum theory of gravity based directly on Einstein's geometric formulation rather than the treatment of gravity as a force. As a theory LQG postulates that the structure of space and time is composed of finite loops woven into an extreme...
“More precisely, space can be viewed as an extremely fine fabric or network “woven” of finite loops. These networks of loops are called spin networks. The evolution of a spin network over time is called a spin foam. The predicted size of this structure is the Planck length, which is approximately 10−35 meters. According to the theory, there is no meaning to distance at scales smaller than the Planck scale. Therefore, LQG predicts that not just matter, but also space itself has an atomic structure.”
When I read about this a few years ago, I thought I understood the spin networks to be ‘events’ or interactions.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/14 "2015-04-24T23:34:05Z")
To paraphrase Dave Barry: universe molecules.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/15 "2015-04-24T23:56:25Z")
I’m no expert, but I have heard people who speak quantum field theory say things like “the universe is made of fields”. (Hey, what can I say, I go on some strange dates sometimes.)
Particles can be thought of as excitations of fields. Every type of particle has an associated field, which extend through space. (Sometimes infinitely, and sometimes, I think, not. I’m not sure, I got distracted by my date’s cleavage when she got to that part.) There’s your electromagnetic field, your gravitational field, other fields for types of quark, your Higgs field, and so forth.
Of course, then the question is: “What are fields made of?”
Thankfully, the answer to that one is simple: Venezuelan beaver cheese.
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### Author:  [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/16 "2015-04-25T00:16:57Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> If #2 is the case, asking “What is a quark made of?” is almost a metaphysical question rather than a scientific one.
Quarklettes:p
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### Author:  [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/17 "2015-04-25T00:41:27Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#):
>
> Mousetrap variety.
I thought it would be String Cheese, in theory.
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### Author:  [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/18 "2015-04-25T01:13:47Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#):
>
> I thought it would be String Cheese, in theory.
It would take a mousetrap the size of our solar syatem to PROVE that it it is string cheese.
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### Author:  [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/19 "2015-04-25T03:57:51Z")
I would have never guessed that I would Google the search term “venezuelan string cheese quantum theory”.
But I did.
_(OK, I am off to my corner now, where I will sit quietly until called)._
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### Author:  [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-universe-made-of/718399/20 "2015-04-25T04:50:08Z")
Space is made of ummm…space?
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