shades fills you in

The multiverse! You’ve probably seen the term in such things as Spiderman, Everything Everywhere at All Once, or Rick and Morty

So is our universe actually one of many? Multiverse theory says heck yeah -- there could be many more, maybe even an infinite number

Here’s a more detailed explanation from Neil deGrasse Tyson

Why do we think they exist? There are many ideas -- mathematicians like the “Many Worlds” theory based in quantum mechanics, physicists like the “Inflationary” theory based in cosmology

Here’s a deeper explanation of the many worlds theory -- basically, it says that every time something could happen, it *does* happen -- but it happens in one of the other many universes

And here’s a deeper dive into cosmic inflation theory -- it’s all about infinite universes that each had their own Big Bang, and expanded in separate “bubbles”

Space.com thinks the multiverse is seriously plausible -- there might even be intelligent life out there!

Smithsonian says hold on -- multiverse theory isn’t tested, and might *never* be testable! We can’t rush to judgment, even if the multiverse is a cool concept

Scientific American agrees, and says theorists are also missing a basic point -- just because life exists on our planet in this universe doesn’t mean it exists elsewhere

Prospect Magazine says there’s another problem -- too much of the multiverse “science” is philosophical. If physicists cling to this theory, people won’t take them seriously

But if it’s true, what happens next? Another article from Space.com says there could even be multiple multiverses of different sizes -- but it’s up to the best minds in the world to prove their existence