3 ms·
> We are 50% of the way between the big bang and heat death of the universe. Not even close. Star formation is going to continue for at least another trillion
by consilient 3y ago
> We are 50% of the way between the big bang and heat death of the universe.
Not even close. Star formation is going to continue for at least another trillion years, and red dwarves are going to continue shining for tens of trillions of years after that.
- sroussey 3y agoWhen will the universe expand so much that atoms break down?
- Filligree 3y agoNever. Atoms break down because they’re unstable, not because of universal expansion. Unless you buy the big rip hypothesis, in which case who knows.
- ben_w 3y agoDepends entirely on what dark energy does in the future; "never" is compatible with all current observations. IIRC, the shortest interval is still x9 the age of the universe: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%2F%28%283%7C1-0.907%7C%29%28H_0%29%28sqrt%281-0.3%29%29%29 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%2F%28%283%7C1-0.907%7...
- midhhhthrow 3y agoThey’ve got a lot less time than that. Check out Nate hagens work on resource depletion and you’ll see to simplify it x1000, it’s a matter of a century or two left before the high tech comes to a halt.
- ben_w 3y ago> Nate hagens work on resource depletion May be correct, or not, but it's not that connected to either "will aliens contact us" or "will AI give us scifi future" or "when do the stars go out".