• Question: will this world cm 2 an end

    Asked by saff to Tom on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      The ultimate fate of the universe is a big question in cosmology/astrophysics!

      If we assume that the universe started with the Big Bang, then there are a number of possible theories about how the universe will end:

      Big Freeze: where everything in the universe cools to absolute zero.

      Heat death: similar to the above, but where everything in the universe is evenly distributed — there is no temperature difference anywhere, which is essential to life.

      Big Crunch: the reverse of the Big Bang! Everything starts contracting and crunches back together! The end result is unknown…

      Big Rip: the acceleration of the universe increases until everything rips apart into its fundamental bits!

      Multiverse: no complete end…our uni-“verse” is merely one Big Bang among an infinite number of simultaneously expanding Big Bangs that are spread out over endless distances (open space). This is very interesting…

      Or maybe something else! The great thing about science is that as soon as we find new evidence, we can reassess our theories.

      Also, don’t worry — whatever happens, it is billions of years away!

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