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> If dark energy really is Einstein’s constant, the standard model portends a bleak future: The universe will keep speeding up, forever, becoming darker and lon

> If dark energy really is Einstein’s constant, the standard model portends a bleak future: The universe will keep speeding up, forever, becoming darker and lonelier. Distant galaxies will eventually be too far away to see. All energy, life and thought will be sucked from the cosmos. The laws of thermodynamics pretty much guarantees this anyways does it not?

Cthulhu_ 2y ago
Sure, but this may be news to the target audience of the article.
TheSpiceIsLife 2y ago
Still, we’ve got a little while to go before star formation can no longer occur. Some estimates put the star formation period from 1 to 100 trillion years. I’d be more concerned about our collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy in four to five billion years.
- nkrisc 2y ago
  Like two gas clouds colliding, not like two cars colliding.
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    like two flammable gas clouds colliding perhaps. Literally one of the most energetic processes in the known universe, with 100x the rate of star formation.
    - nkrisc 2y ago
      True, but what I meant is it’s not like all the existing stars are going to collide and be blasted to bits.
- beeforpork 2y ago
  Why would you be concerned? Earth and everything living on it will be long dead by then, and probably gone and swallowed by the sun. And maybe the Sun dies before that, too. So what would be particularly concerning about merging of our galaxy with another one?
  - Timwi 2y ago
    > Earth and everything living on it will be long dead by then How do you know? It's not far fetched to think that, if humans don't go extinct in the meantime, they will continue to find ways to shape the world according to their needs. By the time the Sun goes red giant, we may well have found a way to alter the orbit of Earth. By the time the Sun goes supernova, we may be able to move to another star. Who knows. But let's not get distracted. We need to tackle climate change first. That's our first self-made extinction challenge.
    - beeforpork 2y ago
      > How do you know? Hmm, yes, I don't. I just honestly don't get why that galaxy collision is concerning. What's the concern? For whom? Four billion years is very, very long compared to humankind's evolutional history. Homo may be 2 My old, that's 1% of the time it takes the sun to rotate a single time around the center of the galaxy. Sol completed already ~20 rotations since it exists. Homo's whole history is 1/2000th the time ntil Andromeda will arrive. So, what's the concern? Humankind will not exist for many, many hundreds of millions of years. > It's not far fetched to think that, they will continue to find ways to shape the world according to their needs. Humans fixing Earth's and Humanity's problems is totally out of character. I did not even consider it. Earth's death is certain. Sun's death is certain. Galaxy collision might even go unnoticed for quite a while -- it's not like millions of stars would crash into each other -- very unlikely. It's more like a reshaping, but what's concerning about that? More supernovas around us? Yeah, maybe. But why is it more concerning that any other demise? It is an interesting question, I think, about perceived danger.
      - s1artibartfast 2y ago
- Sharlin 2y ago
  The collision probably won't do much more than trigger a period of star formation – although that will be accompanied by an increase in supernova frequency as the most massive of the newly-born stars quickly burn out in mere millions of years.
mr_mitm 2y ago
No, it could also end in a big crunch or big rip scenario. They'd have a finite lifetime of the universe.
flowerthoughts 2y ago
Thermodynamics says there will be equilibrium, not that it will be all dark. But all the visible stars will run out at some point, and since nothing new can get into that sphere, each place in space will be "dark" at some point. What about the CMBR, I've never heard anyone say that's decaying, but surely it's not an infinite source of energy?
- ben_w 2y ago
  The CMB is red-shifting due to the expansion of the universe. If the big bang was infinite then the CMB is also infinite, but at some point it becomes so redshifted that photons from it have a wavelength larger than the Hubble volume.
- adrianN 2y ago
  To harness energy you need a gradient. Once everything will be in equilibrium there is no gradient.
- mr_mitm 2y ago
  In the standard model, the temperature of the CMBR evolves reciprocally with the scale factor, so it will go to zero.
wantoncl 2y ago
> The laws of thermodynamics pretty much guarantees this anyways does it not? Yes, but: http://www.thelastquestion.net/ http://www.thelastquestion.net/
- cryptonector 2y ago
  One of my favorite sci-fi stories!
nuorah89 2y ago
The laws of thermodynamics are statistical laws, not fundamental laws. On a long enough timescale entropy might reverse

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

Sure, but this may be news to the target audience of the article.

TheSpiceIsLife 2y ago

Still, we’ve got a little while to go before star formation can no longer occur. Some estimates put the star formation period from 1 to 100 trillion years. I’d be more concerned about our collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy in four to five billion years.

nkrisc 2y ago
Like two gas clouds colliding, not like two cars colliding.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  like two flammable gas clouds colliding perhaps. Literally one of the most energetic processes in the known universe, with 100x the rate of star formation.
  - nkrisc 2y ago
    True, but what I meant is it’s not like all the existing stars are going to collide and be blasted to bits.
beeforpork 2y ago
Why would you be concerned? Earth and everything living on it will be long dead by then, and probably gone and swallowed by the sun. And maybe the Sun dies before that, too. So what would be particularly concerning about merging of our galaxy with another one?
- Timwi 2y ago
  > Earth and everything living on it will be long dead by then How do you know? It's not far fetched to think that, if humans don't go extinct in the meantime, they will continue to find ways to shape the world according to their needs. By the time the Sun goes red giant, we may well have found a way to alter the orbit of Earth. By the time the Sun goes supernova, we may be able to move to another star. Who knows. But let's not get distracted. We need to tackle climate change first. That's our first self-made extinction challenge.
  - beeforpork 2y ago
    > How do you know? Hmm, yes, I don't. I just honestly don't get why that galaxy collision is concerning. What's the concern? For whom? Four billion years is very, very long compared to humankind's evolutional history. Homo may be 2 My old, that's 1% of the time it takes the sun to rotate a single time around the center of the galaxy. Sol completed already ~20 rotations since it exists. Homo's whole history is 1/2000th the time ntil Andromeda will arrive. So, what's the concern? Humankind will not exist for many, many hundreds of millions of years. > It's not far fetched to think that, they will continue to find ways to shape the world according to their needs. Humans fixing Earth's and Humanity's problems is totally out of character. I did not even consider it. Earth's death is certain. Sun's death is certain. Galaxy collision might even go unnoticed for quite a while -- it's not like millions of stars would crash into each other -- very unlikely. It's more like a reshaping, but what's concerning about that? More supernovas around us? Yeah, maybe. But why is it more concerning that any other demise? It is an interesting question, I think, about perceived danger.
    - s1artibartfast 2y ago
Sharlin 2y ago
The collision probably won't do much more than trigger a period of star formation – although that will be accompanied by an increase in supernova frequency as the most massive of the newly-born stars quickly burn out in mere millions of years.

mr_mitm 2y ago

No, it could also end in a big crunch or big rip scenario. They'd have a finite lifetime of the universe.

flowerthoughts 2y ago

Thermodynamics says there will be equilibrium, not that it will be all dark. But all the visible stars will run out at some point, and since nothing new can get into that sphere, each place in space will be "dark" at some point. What about the CMBR, I've never heard anyone say that's decaying, but surely it's not an infinite source of energy?

ben_w 2y ago
The CMB is red-shifting due to the expansion of the universe. If the big bang was infinite then the CMB is also infinite, but at some point it becomes so redshifted that photons from it have a wavelength larger than the Hubble volume.
adrianN 2y ago
To harness energy you need a gradient. Once everything will be in equilibrium there is no gradient.
mr_mitm 2y ago
In the standard model, the temperature of the CMBR evolves reciprocally with the scale factor, so it will go to zero.

wantoncl 2y ago

> The laws of thermodynamics pretty much guarantees this anyways does it not? Yes, but: http://www.thelastquestion.net/ http://www.thelastquestion.net/

cryptonector 2y ago
One of my favorite sci-fi stories!

nuorah89 2y ago

The laws of thermodynamics are statistical laws, not fundamental laws. On a long enough timescale entropy might reverse