🌌 Researchers are developing new cosmology ideas that could extend physics past the big bang, suggesting it may not be an absolute beginning in some models 1. New Scientist reports that these approaches are producing results that don’t line up with some expectations 1.
Separately, a Space.com analysis looks at how Einstein-Rosen bridges (often popularly called wormholes) are being reconsidered. The focus is less on science-fiction travel and more on what these solutions might reveal about spacetime—and time itself—in modern theoretical physics 32.
Sources
- We’ve glimpsed before the big bang and it’s not what we expected [newscientist.com] (2026-02-16)
- Wormholes may not exist – we've found they reveal something deeper about time and the universe - Yahoo [google.com] (2026-02-16)
- Wormholes may not exist – we've found they reveal something deeper about time and the universe [space.com] (2026-02-16)
Highlights
- Beginning of time as a modeling limit: New Scientist describes a "new kind of cosmology" that treats the big bang as a boundary where standard equations break down, and explores how a theory might be extended beyond that limit even if it can’t be directly observed 1
- Wormholes and quantum fields: Space.com argues that the Einstein-Rosen-bridge problem was never mainly about building travel shortcuts. Instead, it uses wormhole mathematics to probe what gravity and quantum fields imply in curved spacetime—and what that says about the structure of spacetime and time—even if wormholes aren’t physically real 32
Perspectives
New Scientist: The publication calls the findings unexpected, saying what scientists infer about pre-big-bang conditions doesn’t match some theoretical predictions.
Space.com analysis: The outlet says Einstein-Rosen bridges are being reframed as clues to deeper principles, not literal tunnels through spacetime.
Historical Background
Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen published a 1935 paper on bridges in spacetime geometry, introducing what would later be popularly called wormholes [common]. The big bang theory—holding that the universe began from an extremely hot, dense state about 13.8 billion years ago—has been the dominant cosmological model since the mid-20th century [common].
Scientific Significance
- Testing pre-big-bang ideas: New Scientist notes that extending models on paper isn’t enough; progress hinges on finding observational signatures in early-universe data that can distinguish between competing scenarios 1.
- Quantum-gravity clues from wormhole math: Space.com emphasizes that revisiting Einstein-Rosen-bridge solutions alongside quantum fields in curved spacetime can sharpen modern thinking about time and spacetime—separate from sci-fi ideas about traversable tunnels 3.