{"id":284114,"date":"2025-04-17T10:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/the-universe-how-will-it-end\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T10:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:35:09","slug":"the-universe-how-will-it-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/the-universe-how-will-it-end\/","title":{"rendered":"The universe: How will it end?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_crunch_chill_rip.png?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"The universe: How will it end?\" title=\"The universe: How will it end?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text alignright\"\/>\n<p>Some endings are easy to predict. Throw a ball in the air and it will fall back down. Run off a diving board and you\u2019ll land in a pool. Stick a thumbtack in a balloon and it\u2019ll pop. But forecasting something as big and complex as the end of the universe? That\u2019s not even a little easy.<\/p>\n<p>People have been making predictions about the end of everything since the start of civilization. Scientists have been chasing this question for hundreds of years. And in all that time, they\u2019ve proposed many possibilities \u2014 often with ominous names.<\/p>\n<p>The Big Rip suggests the universe will eventually shred itself apart. The Big Crunch says everything will ultimately collapse on itself. In the Big Freeze, our universe slowly, coldly, fades to black. Other ideas suggest there may never truly be an end at all.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153542\">The Big Crunch idea suggests the universe will eventually cave in on itself. The Big Freeze says it will expand until everything cools to nearly absolute zero. The Big Rip says the cosmos will violently tear itself apart.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153542\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"noopener\">design und mehr\/ESO (CC BY 4.0); Adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>These predictions might sound wild. But they aren\u2019t just imaginative speculation. They have been shaped by what scientists know about physics and their observations of distant stars and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-galaxy\">galaxies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, centuries of research have not led to certainty. If anything, with time scientists have become less certain of the fate of our universe \u2014 and they often disagree.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think all bets are off,\u201d says Arjun Dey. That is, it\u2019s hard to be confident in any of the current ideas. But more research might uncover new clues. Dey is an astronomer at the National Science Foundation\u2019s NOIRLab in Tucson, Ariz. There, he studies distant stars and galaxies using a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-telescope\">telescope<\/a> atop a mountain in the desert. It is called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI.<\/p>\n<p>Studying the end of the universe brings together science, uncertainty, curiosity and imagination. Those who do it say that it\u2019s both unpredictable and fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Katie Mack agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to study something where the consequences are really big and interesting.\u201d An astronomer in Canada at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario, she\u2019s written a book on the destiny of the universe. It\u2019s called <em>The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)<\/em>. Her research uses math and physics to study how galaxies form and change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re a little kid playing with a chemistry set and you make an explosion, that\u2019s exciting,\u201d Mack says. \u201cI feel like that. But I play with equations. And sometimes there\u2019s an explosion \u2014 and it\u2019s the whole universe!\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies.jpg\" alt=\"two spiral galaxies sail past each other in this telescopic image\" class=\"wp-image-3153540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-680x319.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-800x376.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-330x155.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-768x361.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-1030x484.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_galaxies-1380x648.jpg 1380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153540\">The universe is in constant motion, full of galaxies sailing past each other (like the two seen in this image from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes) or flying away from each other. They also can collide. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153540\">NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things fall apart<\/h3>\n<p>The night sky might look calm and still. But our universe is always in motion.<\/p>\n<p>Moons <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-orbit\">orbit<\/a> planets, and planets orbit stars. Stars move together in giant galaxies. Some galaxies collide. Or they may stream away from each other at breakneck speed.<\/p>\n<p>Because it takes so long for light to reach us from distant galaxies, when we look in the sky we\u2019re actually looking back in time. The motions we see today happened long ago.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/explainer-stars-and-their-families-white-red-brown-dwarfs-supernovas\">Explainer: Stars and their families<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Foretelling the future of the universe requires knowing what pulls things together and what pushes them apart. Scientists know more about what pulls stuff together. That\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-gravity\">gravity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Four hundred years ago, physicist Isaac Newton described how gravity behaves. Everything with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-mass\">mass<\/a> attracts everything else with mass. That attraction is stronger for objects that are more massive and closer together. It\u2019s what keeps people from flying off Earth\u2019s surface and Earth from being flung from the sun.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists still study gravity to predict how the universe changes. The rules of this law explain how planets in the solar system move around the sun. But for their orbits to be stable, those planets had to be arranged in just the right way. If they were moving too slowly or too close to the sun, they\u2019d likely fall into it. If their orbits were too close to each other, they might smash together.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to a friend, Newton wrote that he thought only \u201cdivine power\u201d keeps the whole fragile planetary system from collapsing.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"582\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system.jpg\" alt=\"a computer illustrationshowing our solar system, with planets orbiting the sun\" class=\"wp-image-3153539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system-678x383.jpg 678w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system-796x450.jpg 796w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system-330x186.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system-768x434.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_solar_system-1026x580.jpg 1026w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153539\">Physicist Isaac Newton once wrote that only \u201cdivine power\u201d keeps our solar system (illustrated here) from falling apart under gravity.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153539\">MARK GARLICK\/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Later discoveries further shaped ideas about the fate of our cosmos.<\/p>\n<p>One was the second law of thermodynamics, discovered in 1850. It says that energy moves from a warmer region to a cooler one \u2014 but never the other way round. If you put a warm muffin in a cool, insulated box, heat from the muffin flows into the air of the box. The muffin cools and the air warms until they reach the same temperature. Heat doesn\u2019t go from a cool object to a warm one.<\/p>\n<p>In much the same way, this law applies to messiness.<\/p>\n<p>A raw egg, for instance, is nice and orderly. It has yolk and egg white in two distinct parts. Scrambling the egg moves it from ordered to disordered. But you can\u2019t unscramble the egg by stirring more to make it orderly again. Likewise, you can stir up blue and yellow paint to make green paint. But you can\u2019t stir green paint so that the two colors separate themselves.<\/p>\n<p>You can see this law everywhere. And scientists explain it by noting that there are many, many more ways to be disorganized and unstructured than there are to be organized. So any system is more likely to end up in one of those disorganized, messy states.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"mGDJO2M7RBg\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is the Second Law of Thermodynamics?\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mGDJO2M7RBg?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This video explains how the universe becomes messier over time \u2014 and how that\u2019s related to an idea called the Heat Death of the Universe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 1862, a scientist known as Lord Kelvin saw that the universe should follow this law, too. Today, the universe has some order. Stars are hot. The space between them is cold. Stars are grouped together in galaxies. But eventually all that stuff in the universe should spread out as much as possible. Energy will spread out so much that everything will cool down close to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-absolute-zero\">absolute zero<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And because movement requires energy, nothing will ever move again. The cosmos will just be fully, irreversibly messy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe universe will be in a state of ultimate rest,\u201d Lord Kelvin wrote. This led to one possible end of everything, dubbed the \u201cHeat Death of the Universe.\u201d Others call it the \u201cBig Freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many scientists resisted Kelvin\u2019s idea. They believed the universe would stay as it is forever.<\/p>\n<p>But they were wrong.<\/p>\n<section class=\"newsletter-signup__wrapper___lZ0W1 wp-block-house-ads wp-block-newsletter-signup\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/conversion\/zephr-iframe-test\" width=\"100%\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/section>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There goes the cosmic neighborhood<\/h3>\n<p>The last century has completely changed what we know about the universe.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1920s, two scientists independently discovered that the universe is getting bigger. Catholic monk Georges Lema\u00eetre made the discovery by studying math in physics equations. Astronomer Edwin Hubble did it by looking through a telescope.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the lights Hubble saw through his spy glass were galaxies. And no matter which direction he looked, most galaxies were flying away from us. In fact, the farther the galaxy, the faster it moved away. This suggested the whole universe was expanding.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"6PiyUjVxukI\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is the universe expanding into? - Sajan Saini\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6PiyUjVxukI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">When we say the universe is expanding, what does that really mean? TED-Ed explains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine the universe is a balloon covered with polka dots, where those dots are galaxies. As the balloon inflates, each dot moves away from every other one. And those dots that are farther apart move away from each other faster than dots close together.<\/p>\n<p>The universe, it seemed, is not unchanging but growing. It must have been smaller yesterday, scientists reasoned, and even smaller the day before that. The universe must have had a tiny start in the distant past, Lema\u00eetre argued.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists now call that moment the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-big-bang\">Big Bang<\/a>. It\u2019s when a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/started-with-big-bang-what-happened-next-physics-universe-cosmos\">tiny nothing blew up to jumpstart the universe<\/a>. For that reason, Lema\u00eetre is often called the \u201cfather\u201d of the Big Bang theory.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"847\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang.jpg\" alt=\"an illustration of the idea of the big bang, a bright explosion in the bottom right corner of the image expands out in a trumpet shape spewing energy, matter, stars, and galaxies into existence\" class=\"wp-image-3153546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-466x383.jpg 466w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-547x450.jpg 547w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-226x186.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-768x632.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-705x580.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_big_bang-944x776.jpg 944w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153546\">If the universe is expanding, then it must be expanding out from something. Scientists call that something the Big Bang. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153546\">MARK GARLICK\/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One problem with that theory is that no one knows what happened right before \u2014 or how it started. (But scientists continue to work on that.)<\/p>\n<p>An expanding universe fits with Kelvin\u2019s Big Freeze idea, in which everything spreads out. That idea remains popular, in part because it lines up with what scientists see in the universe today.<\/p>\n<p>In this scenario, over trillions of years, stars and planets will form, die and fall apart. Some big stars could explode and become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-black-hole\">black holes<\/a>, which eventually will gobble up everything else. Long after that, black holes might evaporate and vanish. The universe will grow big, cold and quiet \u2014 and stay that way forever.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"579\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole.jpg\" alt=\"an illustration of a black hole, a black sphere with bright energy swirling around it, and a vortex of light beaming from the top \" class=\"wp-image-3153547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole-680x383.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole-330x186.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_black_hole-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153547\">Black holes (one illustrated) might end up being among the last recognizable things in the universe. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153547\">NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPeople don\u2019t like the idea of a heat death because it\u2019s basically just too sad,\u201d says Mack. But she\u2019s not concerned. After all, it would happen a long, long time from now. This slow fadeout would unspool over 10<sup>40<\/sup> years or so. That\u2019s a 1 followed by 40 zeroes. In just 5 billion years (5 followed by 9 zeroes), the sun will swell so big that it engulfs Mercury, Venus and maybe Earth. No Earthlings will be around to see the Big Freeze. By then, people will have moved to another planet, evolved into a new species or gone extinct.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"lfo0049igX8\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The End of the Universe Explained by Katie Mack | Cosmology 101 Episode 9\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lfo0049igX8?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Astronomer Katie Mack explains why she thinks that \u201cin a lot of ways, Heat Death is the best case scenario\u201d for an end to our universe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defying gravity <\/h3>\n<p>Because of the Big Bang, by the end of the 20th century most scientists suspected that the universe was expanding. They thought that expansion was like a ball thrown in the air. A ball moves upwards \u2014 then slows down. Likewise, cosmic expansion was thought to be slowing down. After all, gravity is pulling all the matter in the universe together. That should eventually counter the initial explosive expansion of the Big Bang.<\/p>\n<p>If the expansion slowed but never stopped, the universe would be infinite. If it slowed down and stopped, then the universe would have a finite size. And if it stopped and then reversed course, the universe would start to shrink.<\/p>\n<p>That last idea is exciting and terrifying. Galaxies would crash into each other. Then stars and planets, too. The collisions would blaze like spectacular fireworks at the end of time. The universe would end as a dazzling ball of light and destruction.<\/p>\n<p>This scenario is what physicists call the \u201cBig Crunch.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"721\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch.jpg\" alt=\"an illustration of an earthlike planet being smashed by other large planetary sized objects\" class=\"wp-image-3153538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-680x340.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-800x401.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-330x165.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-768x385.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-1030x516.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_end_of_the_universe_big_crunch-1380x691.jpg 1380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153538\">In the Big Crunch scenario, first galaxies, then stars and planets, would smash into each other.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153538\">Yuri_Arcurs\/E+\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some scientists have proposed that a Big Crunch might trigger another Big Bang. In that case, the whole universe would start over. Maybe our universe has expanded and contracted many times in the past and will keep doing so in the future.<\/p>\n<p>In 1998, scientists tried to measure how much the expansion of the universe was slowing down. They pointed powerful telescopes at distant stars. But yet again, they discovered they were wrong. The expansion of the universe is not slowing. It\u2019s actually speeding up. It was as if someone had thrown a ball in the air, but instead of slowing down, it sped up into space.<\/p>\n<p>What could be driving an acceleration of the universe\u2019s expansion? Something must be pushing everything away from everything else. Scientists now call this unknown thing \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-dark-energy\">dark energy<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It behaves \u201calmost like it has negative gravity,\u201d says Dey. \u201cThat\u2019s the part that\u2019s really mysterious.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1112\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev.png\" alt=\"a diagram showing the timescale of various cosmic events from the Big Bang (13.7 billion years ago) to the Big Rip (22 Billion years from now)\" class=\"wp-image-3153545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev.png 1440w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-496x383.png 496w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-583x450.png 583w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-241x186.png 241w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-751x580.png 751w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1440_big-bang-to-rip-layers_rev-1005x776.png 1005w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153545\">How long does it take for a universe to go from being very small to very large \u2014 and then possibly ripping itself apart? Some scientists see a \u201cBig Rip\u201d some 22 billion years in the future. Currently, the universe is more than 13 billion years old.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153545\">Jeremy Teaford\/Vanderbilt University; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dark energy apocalypse<\/h3>\n<p>Scientists still don\u2019t know much about dark energy. They do know, though, that there\u2019s a lot of it. It makes up some 70 percent of the everything in the universe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s very disturbing,\u201d Dey says. \u201cWe don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Understanding dark energy is important to knowing how the universe began and evolved. It\u2019s also critical to predicting how the universe will end.<\/p>\n<p>If dark energy pushes the expansion of the universe at the same rate, then a Big Freeze is most likely. As galaxies and stars zoom apart, their light will no longer be visible to each other. If Earth weren\u2019t already obliterated by the death of the sun, we would see the lights in the night sky dim and eventually fade to black.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not the only possibility. Dark energy might speed expansion of the universe even more. If it expands too quickly, the fabric of reality could get ripped apart like a piece of paper. First galaxies would get shredded, then stars and planets. This is the idea behind the Big Rip.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"454\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/680_end_of_the_universe_DESI.png\" alt=\"an extended release photo of the DESI telescope tower at night, stars streaking across the sky above it\" class=\"wp-image-3153541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/680_end_of_the_universe_DESI.png 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/680_end_of_the_universe_DESI-574x383.png 574w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/680_end_of_the_universe_DESI-674x450.png 674w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/680_end_of_the_universe_DESI-279x186.png 279w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153541\">The DESI telescope, on top of Kitt Peak in Arizona, may help scientists understand dark energy \u2014 which will shape the fate of the universe.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153541\">P. Marenfeld and NOAO\/AURA\/NSF (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/deed.en\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY-NC-ND 4.0<\/a>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But maybe dark energy is changing in the other way. Scientists have found hints of this from DESI, that telescope in Arizona. It sits inside a white dome that stands like a futuristic lighthouse on a peak. In April 2024, researchers there unveiled data on how the <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2404.03002\" rel=\"noopener\">universe has been expanding<\/a> over the last 11 billion years.<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, those data hint that dark energy may have been weakening over that time.<\/p>\n<p>The DESI team has not confirmed that finding. But since early last year, they\u2019ve studied exploding stars and bright patterns in the cosmos. They\u2019ve studied the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-cosmic-microwave-background-definition-pronunciation\">cosmic microwave background<\/a> \u2014 the light echo of the beginning of the universe. And this has turned up even more evidence to support that idea of a change in dark energy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map.jpg\" alt=\"a computer illustration representing a 3D map of the universe\" class=\"wp-image-3153536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map-573x383.jpg 573w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map-674x450.jpg 674w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map-278x186.jpg 278w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_DESI_3D_map-868x580.jpg 868w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153536\">Scientists used DESI data to create the largest 3-D map of the universe yet.  DESI data suggest that dark energy has changed over time. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153536\">Claire Lamman\/DESI collaboration; custom colormap package by cmastro<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last month, the DESI team reported that all of its measurements fit better with the idea that <a href=\"https:\/\/data.desi.lbl.gov\/public\/papers\/y3\/KP.DR2.BAO.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">dark energy is changing<\/a> \u2014 not remaining the same. Dey wonders, \u201cWhat was [dark energy] doing at earlier times?\u201d If dark energy changes, then maybe the universe has had many phases where the expansion speeds or slows. If dark energy gets too much stronger, a Big Rip might become more likely. If it loses too much oomph, the universe might contract into a Big Crunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe dark energy is stronger and weaker at different points in time. Perhaps the universe expands and contracts in cycles, says Paul Steinhardt. He\u2019s an astrophysicist at Princeton University in New Jersey. For decades, he\u2019s studied how the history of the universe connects to the future. He investigates the idea that scientists might be wrong not only about the current universe, but also its beginning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could begin with an infinite universe,\u201d Steinhardt says. \u201cIt contracts, bounces \u2014 and 1744886109 we\u2019re 14 billion years after the bounce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That idea doesn\u2019t require a Big Bang. In fact, he doesn\u2019t like the idea of a Big Bang because it doesn\u2019t fully explain why the most distant reaches of the universe look the way they do. If the expanding universe we see today started with a bounce, he says, \u201cyou don\u2019t need the bang.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"232\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles.jpg\" alt=\"a series of different colored funnels representing a universe expanding then contracting then expanding over and over again\" class=\"wp-image-3153537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles-680x153.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles-800x180.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles-330x74.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_cycles-768x173.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153537\">Could the universe expand, contract and expand again in cycles? The math checks out. Still, it\u2019s hard to test. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153537\">VICTOR de SCHWANBERG\/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stranger ideas still<\/h3>\n<p>A universe that grows and shrinks, over and over, isn\u2019t even the wildest idea out there.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not impossible, for example, that a blob of nothingness could suddenly appear somewhere in the universe and grow at the speed of light until it burns up everything. Mack, at the Perimeter Institute, calls this possibility the \u201cbubble of quantum death.\u201d It\u2019s not very likely, she says. But thanks to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/quantum-world-mind-bogglingly-weird\">bizarre rules of quantum physics<\/a>, we can\u2019t completely rule it out. (Mack admits that she thinks about the bubble quantum death a lot.)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also possible that what we call the \u201cuniverse\u201d is only one small cosmic neighborhood, says Andrei Linde. He\u2019s a physicist at Stanford University in California. His work has shaped much of what we know about the cosmos.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group cheat-sheet-cta is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Do you have a science question? We can help!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/YbhPosFTMqjbSNnV7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Submit your question here<\/a>, and we might answer it an upcoming issue of\u00a0<em>Science News Explores<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>When the universe began, most scientists believe it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/started-with-big-bang-what-happened-next-physics-universe-cosmos\">expanded extremely quickly in a phase called inflation<\/a>. But that growth spurt could have produced many \u201cmini-universes,\u201d Linde says. Think of them like the black and white hexagons on a soccer ball. We may live in one black hexagon and not see the rest.<\/p>\n<p>As the universe \u2014 that is, the soccer ball \u2014 expands, \u201cthere will be a practically infinitely large black part,\u201d Linde says. \u201cAnd those who will live in a black part will never see a white part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even as mini-universes grow, shrink or vanish, the entire universe could go on forever. \u201cSome part of the universe ends,\u201d Linde says, as \u201csome part of the universe is being resurrected.\u201d Maybe as one part of the universe vanishes, another bursts into existence. But the universe, as a whole, keeps going.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists don\u2019t know how to measure or test such ideas about the universe. So \u201cat some level,\u201d Dey admits, \u201cthey\u2019re made up.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"557\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of the Vera Rubin Telescope under a very starry night sky\" class=\"wp-image-3153535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope-680x368.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope-800x433.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope-330x178.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_Rubin_telescope-768x415.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3153535\">The Vera Rubin Telescope, in Chile, is scheduled to start watching the sky in 2025. Its observations could help scientists understand dark energy.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3153535\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/deed.en\" rel=\"noopener\">B. Quint\/AURA\/NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (CC BY 4.0)<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Contemplating fates of the universe gives scientists freedom to think about wild possibilities. It also shows how incomplete today\u2019s theories are. \u201cThey\u2019re limited by our imagination,\u201d Steinhardt says. And just because scientists can observe something doesn\u2019t mean they understand how it got that way.<\/p>\n<p>All this creativity isn\u2019t wasted, though. The end of the cosmos fits into the larger, enormous question of where the universe came from and where it\u2019s going. And that question has led to remarkable discoveries (such as the expansion of the universe) and inspired the design of new telescopes, technologies and ideas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt tells you how useful imagination is in science,\u201d says Dey. \u201cThings have changed quite dramatically in our understanding of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/how-will-universe-end\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some endings are easy to predict. Throw a ball in the air and it will fall back down. Run off a diving board and you\u2019ll land in a pool. Stick a thumbtack in a balloon and it\u2019ll pop. But forecasting something as big and complex as the end of the universe? That\u2019s not even a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1030_end_of_the_universe_crunch_chill_rip.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[4310],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284116,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284114\/revisions\/284116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}