what came first

bear with me now.

mass has always been present. without mass, space has no existence. and there can be no universal inversion/"expansion/inflation" of space where space doesnt exist. now can there? lol. look at it this way. all the mass in the universe becomes further separated from all the other mass in the universe with a factor of time. so the more time passes the further objects get from eachother. this means that the further u go back in time the closer objects get to eachother. and if u go back far enough in time all the mass(infinite) in the universe will finally join. so the total mass density of the universe is increased with a factor of   -time. heres the trick, the strength of gravity is proportional to the density of mass. but gravity doesnt quite work the way you think. it does not "attract" objects from within the space which surrounds it. but instead draws in the surrounding space where the objects are contained. a state of universal mass density means the complete inversion of space and time. this is why an universal singularity cannot be localized. and why time cannot be said to exist "prior" to the "big bang". and hence the reason why matter must have always existed lol.. ...i think that makes sense

Ferns came first.

beer comes first for me,,,haha, been a while too, time to get smashed

smasheroo

...smashifide

I can confirm, I am idiots.

There is no first because time does not exist. The universe changes, but man invented time.

God Invented Time, so that everything can't happen at once.

And the new Movie, LOOPER simply sucks.  Time travel is for childrens' minds.

SmashMouth time. 

Mesons? Masons? Or maybe just the Singularity, at least according to the Standard Model.

You should refer this thread to @Kingpatzer.  He can set everyone straight.

the universe today is expanding at an increasing rate not going back in, so they brought in the "fudge factor" dark matter to explain it. but the dark matter would be there all along when it was first expanding and contracting messing things up.

It's Dark Energy that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Dark matter is what holds together galaxies that, from their apparent mass, would not be able to hold themselves together.

Of course I think and hope that someone will come up with a more elegant solution, but this is what we got for now.

There is 21 forums about Chess and chess.com, this one is called "Off Topic" where anything goes.

oh my, a German trying to tell people what to do and what not to do, whatever next 

Drop your drawers and get some chilisauce?  If you don't know, don't ask?

Anything goes, in Las Vegas, and (apparently) the Falklands too.

i haven't a clue what you're on about

so, from my original list which came first?

Maybe your Christian Chess World group is poised to answer that question, @Dunay.

Still reeling from the Chilisauce photo from @Charlotte's group list.  Hot to  Trot. 

what do you believe about our origin, @zborg?

I suffered through 12 years of Roman Catholic education, the last 4 in an all boys High School.  While I respect theology, and virtue ethics, when it comes to "belief" regarding origins, I tend towards the proposition advanced by Brandon Carter in the 1950's, and elucidated in the following book by Barrow, Tipler, and Wheeler--

http://www.amazon.com/Anthropic-Cosmological-Principle-Oxford-Paperbacks/dp/0192821474/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350314365&sr=1-1&keywords=john+barrow+anthropic

P.S.  This is NOT a religious argument in the book above.  Despite the assertions of many to the contrary.

And I am certainly NOT an "intelligent design" advocate (however that crazy term might be construed).

Just a secular guy who likes the Royal Game, and that picture of @Charlotte's "Chillisauce Group" on Chess.com. 

Unfortunately, she has now changed that photo back to two simple chili peppers.

Aw Shucks.  

It's there, top left hand corner above "What came first".