The same goes for the theory of the evolution our universe that reigns within the realm of science. According to theory, in the beginning, for a brief instant after the Big Bang, the dominant state of matter in our universe was a soup of sub-atomic particles known as quarks and gluons. From this primordial soup -- scientists call it a "quark-gluon plasma" -- ordinary matter as we know it today came about. Once this plasma cooled and transformed into ordinary matter, the stars were born.