Scroll through the entire history of the universe — from the singular moment before time began, to the silent eternity waiting at the end of it.
Everything that exists — space, time, energy, matter — begins compressed into a single point of infinite density. There is no "before"; there is no "outside." Then, in a fraction of a fraction of a second, it begins.
Density: ∞ Size: 0Space itself expands exponentially. In less time than it takes light to cross an atom, the universe grows by a factor of 10²⁶. This bizarre stretching seeds the cosmic structure we still see today.
Expansion: ×10²⁶The universe is a hot, dense plasma of quarks and gluons. As it cools, quarks bind into protons and neutrons. By minute three, the first atomic nuclei form — hydrogen, helium, a sprinkle of lithium.
Temp: 10¹² K First nucleiElectrons finally cool enough to bind into atoms. Light, which until now was scattered constantly, suddenly streams freely through the universe. This is the cosmic microwave background — the oldest light we can ever see.
CMB at 2.7 KNo stars yet exist. The universe is a vast, lukewarm fog of neutral hydrogen, drifting in darkness. Gravity quietly pulls denser regions toward collapse. The first stars are gestating in silence.
No stars · No lightThe first stars — enormous, blue, and short-lived — ignite. Their light reionises the universe. They die in supernovae, forging the first heavy elements. Around them, the first galaxies begin to assemble.
First stars ReionisationA cloud of gas and dust, enriched by the deaths of countless earlier stars, collapses under its own gravity. The Sun ignites at the centre. Eight planets coalesce from the leftover debris. Earth is among them.
Sun forms Planets accreteOn a wet rock orbiting an ordinary star in an ordinary galaxy, molecules begin to copy themselves. From those first replicators come bacteria, fish, dinosaurs, mammals — and eventually, beings capable of asking how all this began.
Life on EarthYou are reading this. Somewhere, a star is being born. Somewhere else, one is dying. The cosmic microwave background still hums in the background, cooled by expansion to a near-absolute-zero whisper. This moment is briefer than any star's life.
You are hereStar formation has run out of fuel. The last red dwarfs flicker out one by one. What remains: white dwarfs cooling into black dwarfs, neutron stars, and an ever-growing population of black holes. The universe is dimming.
No new starsEven black holes have evaporated, leaking away as Hawking radiation. Space is so vast and cold that no two particles ever meet again. There is no more energy gradient. Nothing happens. Nothing can happen. The universe has finished.
Entropy: maximum