I can add nothing to Tony's excellent answer, except to murmur "The Big Bounce."-The Big Bounce Theory has fallen flat as the landscape of the universe is flat, flat , flat according to all the recent discoveries of the past 30 years. Our fate is heat death 100 billion years from now. Don't think I'll stay around and watch.-And these fireworks still fit the Big Bang theory:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120607161333.htm