The universe was supposed to limp along into entropy for something like 10^1100 years. Which is such an enormous amount of time that it’s essentially forever. That’s a 1 with 1,100 zeros after it. But, according to new research, it seems like we have to update the date of the universe’s Inevitable doom.
Dutch researchers just announced that the universe will die in 10^78 years. That’s the one with 78 zeros. Still long enough for you to check off everything on your bucket list, but cosmically speaking? That’s significantly sooner than previously expected.
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They discovered this by calculating when white dwarf stars would eventually die out, since they are considered some of the most “durable” of all celestial bodies.
The Universe Will Die ‘Much Sooner Than Expected,’ New Research Suggests
In a study soon to be published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, scientists from Radboud University say that not only do black holes evaporate over time due to Hawking radiation (named after the man who first theorized it, Stephen Hawking), but so do neutron stars and even ultra-durable white dwarfs. They’re now leading candidates for how the universe slowly fizzles out of existence.
Stephen Hawking theorized back in the mid-70s that black holes leak so much radiation that they eventually dissolve. The researchers at Radboud figured, that if it’s happening to black holes, surely it must be happening to other celestial stuff. They were right.
That’s surprising since neutron stars don’t have the infinite gravity of black holes. Turns out, black holes might be worse at dying. “Black holes have no surface,” says postdoc researcher Michael Wondrak. “They reabsorb some of their own radiation, which inhibits the process.” Meanwhile, neutron stars have surfaces that let that radiation bounce off.
Here’s where the white dwarfs come into play. Once believed to be cosmic immortals, Radboud researchers say they’re slowly outlasting almost everything and dragging the universe into final darkness.
For fun, the researchers calculated how long it would take for a single human or even the moon to evaporate via Hawking radiation. Answer: 10^90 years. Again, no need for panic. Climate change, rogue AI, or an invasion by malevolent aliens will likely take us out before that happens.
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