Nothing always produces something—this is one of three discoveries about the universe that have an impact on its origins and future, according to renowned theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. The other two are that the total energy of our universe is zero, and that the universe of the future will be far different than we had expected even a decade ago.

These provocative topics are discussed by Krauss, who has intensely researched humanity’s oldest questions—where we came from and how long our universe will exist. Noting that quantum mechanics implies that all systems are constantly fluctuating—exploring all possible allowed states at any instant—and that nothingness is unstable, zero total energy allows the universe’s expansion to continue ad infinitum and the birth of a universe like ours is probably inevitable.

Krauss, author of many books, is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the physics department at Arizona State University, and is the inaugural director of its Origins Project. His book A Universe from Nothing (Simon & Schuster) is available at the program.