Laws of nature and origins of the universe

As per our discussion last week about laws of nature, read here. I think the most important laws are conservation laws, mass energy equivalence, and chemical laws, such as chemical equilibrium, First Law and Second Law of thermodynamics, and what is known as Classical Electromagnetism.

As per how these laws can change (a point one of you suggested in class), read this Wikipedia article:

Experiments and observations suggest that the Universe has been governed by the same physical laws and constants throughout its extent and history. The dominant force at cosmological distances is gravity and general relativity is currently the most accurate theory of gravitation.

I think for the sake of our future discussions it would be a good idea to check out the origins of the universe. Here is a PBS presentation entitled NOVA. Click "launch interactive."

What's the age of the universe? Click here for a brief discussion of the time-line of cosmology.