TTC Video - The Great Unanswered Questions of Physics

See how scientists think about the big questions of the universe, connecting past breakthroughs to future research.

What happened before the Big Bang? Why does time flow only forward? Do we live as part of a multiverse? Could the universe vanish in an instant? These questions and more are at the forefront of physics, cosmology, and quantum theory, and they keep some of the best minds of modern physicists awake at night.

The Great Unanswered Questions of Physics gives you the chance to probe these mysteries of the universe. Taught by Dr. Don Lincoln, an esteemed particle physicist and a senior researcher at Fermilab, these 24 captivating lectures delve into some of the most vexing cosmic and quantum puzzles. From the strange behavior of subatomic particles to the enigmas of supermassive black holes at the center of a galaxy, Dr. Lincoln blends engaging storytelling with rigorous science as he brings to life the cutting-edge questions of 21st-century physics.

With decades of real-world expertise, he unravels the challenging concepts of physics at both the cosmic scale—stars, galaxies, black holes, and the Big Bang—and the quantum scale—dark matter, the fundamental forces, and the search for a unified “theory of everything.” As much as the “what” of these enigmas, Dr. Lincoln delivers the “how.” You’ll learn to think like a scientist as you walk through the business of theorizing, testing, rethinking, and testing again. Many of these unanswered questions will not be answered in our lifetime, but as you will see, the joy of scientific inquiry is in the journey, not the destination.