One important area in the study of the Big Bang and the origin of the universe is particle physics. By generating and studying the smallest, most energetic subatomic particles in huge particle accelerators, physicists can glimpse, if briefly, the conditions that might have existed in the early universe. This can be done, for example, by crashing atomic nuclei together that are moving at 99 percent or more of the speed of light, and then seeing what comes out of the wreckage.