We are older than we think ;)

Universe may be much older than we think, say cosmologists from The Hindu

THE UNIVERSE we live in might just not be the real McCoy, but only the latest in a line of repeating Big Bangs stretching back through time, according to the latest theory from cosmologists.

Instead of being formed from a single Big Bang some 14bn years ago and destined to expand and eventually peter out, leaving only the cold dead remains of stars, the universe is, instead, possibly an endless loop of explosions and contractions, stretching for ever.

The latest theory has been postulated to try to account for what Einstein described as his "biggest blunder" - the Cosmological Constant, a force he proposed to account for the galaxies being driven apart but which has subsequently caused problems for physicists as it appears to be too small.

The Cosmological Constant is a mathematical representation of the energy of empty space, also known as "dark energy", which exerts a kind of anti-gravity force pushing galaxies apart at an accelerating rate.

It happens to be a googol (1 followed by 100 zeros) times smaller than would be expected if the universe was created in a single Big Bang. But its value could be explained if the universe was much, much older than most experts believe.