Pictures just revealed by the Hubble telescope show the universe as it existed 13.2 billion years ago. To put this into perspective the Big Bang occurred only about 13.75 billion years ago. The pictures, which of course are stunning in beauty, reveal already formed galaxies. One of the questions associated with this is that of why such clusters of matter formed so early in the expansion of the universe. It is hoped that this question will be better addressed by the Webb telescope which is to be Hubble's much more powerful successor. Webb is now under construction through an international effort and is scheduled to be launched into an observational space orbit about 2020.
Thanks - love that article!
My understanding is that some scientists (and I think including Stephen Hawking) think the early formation of galaxies suggests the existence of multiple universes. I think the idea is that if ours were the only universe it would have been much more evenly distributed early on for lack of any reason for it not to be. My understanding is that the multiple universe theory says our universe as well as multiple others began with random rather than even influences resulting in uneven distributions of matter that, through gravitational pull, formed galaxies early. I think the theory says that strictly by random chance there is a very evenly distributed universe somewhere as well. Assuming there is it probably wouldn't be conducive to life for lack of solid mass.