An Hour to Make the Universe - 1993 Christmas Lectures 5/5

Explore the profound mysteries of cosmic symmetry and asymmetry in this concluding lecture from the 1993 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures series. Delve into the fundamental paradox of our existence: how a universe born from the Big Bang with equal amounts of matter and antimatter evolved into today's matter-dominated cosmos over 20 billion years. Examine the symmetrical nature of the early universe and investigate the mechanisms that led to its current asymmetrical state, drawing parallels with natural phenomena like water molecules forming hexagonal snowflake patterns when frozen. Discover how physicists are using facilities at CERN's LEP and planning the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to recreate conditions closer to the Big Bang than ever before, potentially unlocking the secrets of the original symmetries that governed natural laws. Learn about the mysterious "Dark Matter" that comprises 90% of the universe and how future experiments may reveal its nature. Understand how each scientific breakthrough throughout the century has not only answered fundamental questions but opened new avenues of inquiry, driving innovation and extending our reach beyond our natural senses through sophisticated tools like telescopes and particle accelerators that allow us to peer into atoms and across the cosmos.