Simple. The Universe is some kid's science fair project. It was just sped up a bit 'cause the judges only stop briefly (a few billion years) at each booth. We're basically the equivalent of one of those baking soda volcanos. The kid's not apt to win; there aren't nearly enough black holes and exploding stars and other such "cool stuff". He might manage an honorable mention, provided the judges don't notice the carbon-based life-form contaminants.
Somewhere in the universe of recent FR threads are a couple that discuss the 5th dimension that Nima Arkani-Hamed and others hope to demonstrate in the lab within 3 years. There is speculation that dark energy and dark matter reside at least partially within this 5th dimension.