#1--WHAT IS BRANE THEORY? To truly explain brane theory requires more math and theory that can fit in an Answerbag answer. Here's the explanation in layman's terms: Brane theory is the theory that the universe has four (4) dimensions (not counting time as a dimension) instead of three (3). Imagine a bacterium on top of a smooth rock. He is aware of only two (2) dimensions; he cannot sense the third dimension directly (though bacterial physicists theorize a third dimension, which is vigorously disputed by bacterial theologians). Likewise, we cannot directly sense the fourth dimension with our senses. The fourth dimension represents multiple "parallel" universes, which have come to be known as "branes." Further, the Big Bang that we all know and love may have been triggered when the brane containing our universe "collided" with an adjacent brane, causing a momentary but massive energy transfer. If you want the rigorous scientific explanation, you will need to subscribe to Physical Review Letters (at a cost of US$106). For additional information, you can Google "brane theory," or you can follow some of these links: http://www.sns.ias.edu/~witten/ http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1979/weinberg-autobio.html http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/dimitri/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nati_Seiberg http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/2004/wilczek-autobio.html http://www.stanford.edu/dept/physics/people/faculty/susskind_leonard.html http://theory.itp.ucsb.edu/~joep/ http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1979/salam-bio.html http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1979/glashow-autobio.html http://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/randall.html #2--WHY ARE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE OPPOSED TO BRANE THEORY? Why are religious people opposed to ANY late-breaking science? It challenges their dogmatic beliefs. Duh! SCIENTIST: "The Earth is round." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! The Earth is flat. The Bible says so. Just look out your window and you'll see the obvious truth." SCIENTIST: "The Earth and all the planets orbit the sun." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! We misinterpreted the Bible about the Earth being flat, but the Earth is the center of the universe. The Bible says so." SCIENTIST: "The Earth's orbits, and the planets' orbits around the sun are elliptical." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! We misinterpreted the Bible about the center of the universe thing, but all orbits are perfect circles. The Bible says so." SCIENTIST: "Colors are caused by different wavelengths of light. White light, such as from the sun, is a mixture of various wavelengths to give the appearance of white light." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! We misinterpreted the Bible about the orbits of the planets, but white light is perfect pure light. The Bible says so." SCIENTIST: "Protein molecules will form under the right conditions in an anaerobic atmosphere. Natural low-level background radiation of the Earth will cause random mutations. Some mutations will be beneficial. Over millions of generations, this process will give rise to a multitude of different creatures suited to their local environment." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! We misinterpreted the Bible about white light, but evolution is incorrect. God created all creatures as they exist now. The Bible says so." SCIENTIST: "The universe, as we know it, was created about 15 billion years ago in a cataclysmic explosion that we call the 'Big Bang.' We don't know yet what caused the Big Bang, or what existed before it." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! And you're still wrong about evolution, too! The Earth was created by God in its current state. The Bible says so." SCIENTIST: "This is still somewhat speculative, but we suspect that the Big Bang was caused by a momentary energy transfer between our universe (brane) and an adjacent universe (brane) in 4th dimensional space." THEOLOGIAN: "WRONG! That is just so obvious nonsense! All of us have teamed up against you and have given all of your answers 50% ratings, and our minds are closed to any logic that you may use in reply." SCIENTIST: "But if I now rate any of your nonsensical answers and point out your hypocrisy, then I'm a 'vindictive rater'?" THEOLOGIAN: "We all say you're an ass, so go put on your bridle and goawaynow!" BTW...a closing note...please don't judge ALL religious folk by the ignorance of the fanatics here on Answerbag. There are many religious folk who can accept the truth about the way the universe operates without shaking their faith.

I believe that our perceivable universe is confined to a sort of membrane 'brane' I find the best way to describe it is look at our whole universe as a frozen pond. We only see the 2d horizon with many things under the surface. When branes get to close this may explane the big bang. The concepts that explain the universe like General relativity dont match the sub atomic world of quantum mechanics. String theory makes sense mathamaticly but the strings are so small not much can be proven YET !!

Brane cosmology refers to several theories in particle physics and cosmology motivated by, but not exclusively derived from, superstring theory and M-theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brane_cosmology