So last week’s New Scientist attempted to familiarise me with the concept of  ‘loop quantum cosmology’. If I get this right (and please, somebody correct me if I am wrong) this theory states that before the big bang our universe already existed: after expanding to its fullest diameter it then shrank back until it reached microscopic volume in which things were pretty dense: 5.1 × 10⁹⁶ kilograms per cubic metre dense (also called Planck Density) . Now that is even denser than population density in the East End. So when the universe reached that state of density, every thing started anew with a ‘big bounce’.

That of course means that we are all recycled, like a park bench made ouf recycled plastic.  A comforting thought, but the creationists will probably have another hissy fit when they find out (again) that the universe is older that 6000 years.