Our universe is a 3-dimensional elastic substrate which once has condensed and now is expanding within some higher dimensional space. The elastic substrate is built from tiny invisible constituents, called tetrons, with bond length about the Planck length and binding energy the Planck energy. All ordinary matter particles are quasiparticle excitations of the tetrons gliding on the elastic medium. Since the quasiparticles fulfill Lorentz covariant wave equations, they perceive the universe as a 3+1 dimensional spacetime continuum lacking a preferred rest system. Any type of mass/energy induces curvature on the spacetime continuum as determined by the Einstein equations. The 24 known quarks and leptons arise as eigenmode excitations of a tetrahedral fiber structure, which is made up from 4 tetrons and extends into 3 additional `internal' dimensions. While the laws of gravity are due to the elastic properties of the tetron bonds, particle physics interactions take place within the internal fibers. I will concentrate on three of the most intriguing features of the model: (i) Understanding small neutrino masses from the conservation of isospin, and, more in general, calculating the spectrum of quark and lepton masses. This is obtained from the tetron model's interpretation of the Higgs mechanism. As a byproduct, the connection between the large top mass and the electroweak symmetry breaking becomes apparent. (ii) The possibility to determine the full size of the universe from future dark energy measurements. This is obtained from the tetron model's interpretation of the dark energy effect. In the course of discussion, the dark energy equation of state, i.e. the equation of state of the elastic tetron background will be derived. (iii) Finally, the origin of the big bang `Hubble tension' within the tetron scheme will be elucidated, and deviations from the standard picture such as a varying Newton constant are discussed.