The Universe is a vast, diverse, and interesting place, full of matter and energy, in various forms, playing out on the stage of spacetime, in accordance with the laws of physics. This is exemplified by this Hubble space telescope image of galaxy cluster IDCS J1426.5+3508. How much do you need to take away, though, before you’re truly left with nothing? Image credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Brodwin (University of Missouri).

The Four Scientific Meanings Of ‘Nothing’

If you want to know how we get something from nothing, you’d better understand what we mean!

When we look around at our world and Universe today, we talk and think about all the things that are in it. These range from particles, atoms, and human beings to planets, stars, galaxies, and the largest structures of all. Depending on…