[This ping list for the evolution -- not creationism -- side of evolution threads, and sometimes for other science topics. If you want to be included, or dropped, let me know.]
I wish Physicist would show up. My understanding regarding various theories of so-called "Oscillating Universes" is that they're supposed to undergo an entropy increase each time they bounce, so it can't be an eternal cycle. (I have my doubts about that.) Also, we recently had a thread called Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation's Polarization Detected at Last, which -- again, assuming my limited understanding is right -- puts to rest the new "crashing brane" theory of oscillating universes, proposed by Steinhardt and Turok. Polarization, so I'm told, wouldn't be a feature of the Steinhardt-Turok universe. If so, the scenario of a crunch, followed by another bang, is in deep doo-doo. But it's still early days.