Scientists Search for the Reason the Universe Exists

Almost a mile below the surface of the earth, in the U.S. state of South Dakota, scientists are building a machine that they hope will reveal why the universe exists (BBC, May 20, 2025). The DUNE project (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) is a collaboration between 1,400 scientists from 35 countries. So far it has cost over $3 billion, and it will take years for it to start collecting data (Science.org, March 29, 2022).

The project aims to collect subatomic particles known as neutrinos, as well as their counterparts, anti-neutrinos, fired from an underground site 800 miles away in the state of Illinois. Scientists hypothesize that these neutrinos will help them discover how the universe survived the Big Bang. The current understanding is that the matter and antimatter of the early universe should have self-annihilated, instead of leaving the stable universe of mostly “normal” matter we have today. Other scientists working on a similar project in Japan are about four years ahead of the American team and hope to be the first to find answers to the neutrino question.

While scientists spend billions of dollars in search of answers to why the universe exists, a book collecting dust on many university bookshelves—the Bible—contains those answers. While the Bible does not disclose the detailed science behind the existence of matter, it does reveal the reason behind not only the existence of the universe, but also the existence of mankind within it. To discover the answers to these profound questions, you can read or listen to What Is the Meaning of Life?