Is our universe lucky?

Dark energy is the force causing our universe to expand at an accelerating rate. But current theories of our universe’s formation predict more dark energy than we observe. Astronomers have speculated that more dark energy would accelerate the universe’s expansion even faster, spreading matter too thin before it could turn into stars or planets, thus preventing the formation of life. The multiverse theory explains our universe’s ability to foster life by stating that our universe is one of many, but it’s lucky — there are many other universes with more dark energy, and thus no life. In this case, the multiverse would be largely inhospitable.

However, an international team of researchers recently conducted simulations under the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) project that contradict this theory. The team found that even multiplying the amount of dark energy in our universe by a few hundred would only minimally impact its ability to form planets and stars. The discovery suggests that if a multiverse does exist, there’s a good chance that life could exist in many other universes within it, rather than relatively few (such as our own).