For decades, the standard theory has been that the universe began from a single point of infinite density (a singularity) and then expanded rapidly (inflation). But String Theory offers a different, wilder alternative. Proposed by physicists like Neil Turok and Paul Steinhardt, the Ekpyrotic Model suggests that our universe is actually a three-dimensional membrane (or "brane") floating in a higher-dimensional space called the "bulk." It isn't alone. There is another brane floating right next to