What We Know about The Structure of The Universe

On October 23, 2013, Graca Rocha, Staff Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, spoke at a public event for a Peter Wall Institute International Roundtable entitled Time and Life in the Universe.

Our current understanding of the universe on the largest scales has improved dramatically. We now know many of its detailed properties: the overall energy budget, how fast it is expanding, and a description of the density variations which grew into all the structure we observe today. However, there are some basic mysteries remaining: how the universe originated, why it is the way that it is, and whether it is a coincidence that it seems just right for us to live in.