Quote Originally Posted by ong
How many high energy collisions can a particle experience in a nanosecond in the most insanely dense environment one cannot even begin to imagine?
oh snap

Quote Originally Posted by mojo
This is directly analogous to the early universe. The energy density was so high that at first no particles could form. Then only the lightest particles could form and interact via other light particles. As the universe expanded and cooled, gradually more and more particles were able to coalesce out of the maelstrom of energy and interact with other stuffs.