Since the beginning of man the question of the origin of the universe has been hotly contested. Specifically, was it created or has it always existed. It was the position of Judaeo-Christian religion that the universe was created from nothing or creatio ex nihilo. Ancient philosophers...
cosmicbackgroundradiation
cyclical universe
eternal universe
flot
friedmann's solutions
inflation theory
multiverse
red shift
slot
the universe was created from nothing
With respect to what created the universe, the question what came before that doesn't have a satisfactory answer as it leads to an infinite regression of what came before that.
So the only solution to the first cause conundrum of what came before that is "no thing" because only a "no thing" can...
cosmicbackgroundradiation
energy
first law of thermodynamics
friedmann's solutions to einstein's field equation
matter
quantum mechanics
red shift
second law of thermodynamics
space and time
universe