"Why is there something rather than nothing?" cannot have the kind of answer why-questions usually get, because the universe is not embedded in anything bigger — it can just be.

Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University

I think that specifically the question why is there something rather than nothing? does not have the kind of answer that we would ordinarily attribute to why questions because typical why questions are embedded in the universe. And when we answer them, we take advantage of the features of the universe that we know and love. But the universe itself, as far as we know, is not embedded in anything bigger or stronger, and therefore it can just be.