An alternative universe will appear within ours, and start expanding at the speed of light, destroying us as it goes.

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In "Star Trek, " as I recall, its genius creator Gene Roddenberry routinely made clear that people living in an alternative universe always needed a "life force" unique to their planet.

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All creativity imagines an alternative universe.

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So, to fend off this line of attack Mr Osborne instead seems to have asked the Treasury to come up with its own estimate of borrowing in that alternative - Labour - universe.

BBC: Mr Osborne's unwelcome statement

One intriguing alternative to inflation is the ekpyrotic cyclic universe.

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Fox tackles the origins of the current thinking on the beginning of the universe starting way, way back with Plato, and moving her way through Ptolemy, the astronomical duo of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler (did you know that Brahe had his own castle for studying astronomy?), Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and the current state of the Big Bang, String Theory, and alternative theories for the origins of the universe.

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Intel takes its know-how in digital technology, manufacturing and marketing to team up with content providers to effectively create a parallel universe for content, a shadow alternative to cable networks.

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Investors, who are considering adding a wider range of asset classes, including available alternative and hybrid investment strategies, may just find the solutions they are looking for in the ETP universe.

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