A Harvard scientist has an interesting theory as to how our universe was formed: in a laboratory by higher “class” of lifeform.

Avi Loeb, bestselling author and the former chair of Harvard’s astronomy department, penned an op-ed in Scientific American this week positing that the universe could have been formed in a lab by an “advanced technological civilization.” If true, he said the origin story would unify the religious idea of a creator with the secular idea of quantum gravity.

“Since our universe has a flat geometry with a zero net energy, an advanced civilization could have developed a technology that created a baby universe out of nothing through quantum tunneling,” Loeb wrote.

Class A Civilization
One of the more interesting ideas posited in an article chock full of them is the civilization classification system. Loeb said that as a low-level technological civilization, humans are class C (or a civilization dependent on its host star).

If and when our technology progresses to the point where we can become independent of the Sun, we’d be class B. If we can create our own baby universes in a laboratory (like our theoretical creators) we’d be class A.

Of course, there’s a wide number of things in our way — the biggest hurdle being our inability to create a “large enough density of dark energy within a small region,” said Loeb. However, if and when we do ever get there, we’d be able to join our theoretical creators in class A!

In any case, the theory is compelling, humbling, and a little bit frightening as well. If Loeb’s past theories are also to be believed, we’re likely not the only ones out there gunning for class A status either.

In other words, it is impossible with physics as we know it. Humanity needs to re-write the known laws of physics or accept that the ones we know might not be applicable to the entire universe. Certain renowned scientists have been discussing the possibility that our laws of physics are wrong for ages. If not wrong, at least, incomplete. There are too many mysteries in the universe that simply do not fit in our models.

Besides the hypothetical alien lab experiment and civilization classes, Loeb scratched another topic that often makes people angry – the degradation of humankind. According to his understanding, humanity might not even be a class C civilization yet.

He named the destructive activities that destroy Earth’s natural habitats as a reason for his verdict. Even if we are class C, our own actions push us backward.