• Question: Can scientists predict the end of the world (what will happen and when)??

    Asked by Eleanor to Jackie, Michele, Oliver, Vicky, Yelong on 9 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Michele Faucci Giannelli

      Michele Faucci Giannelli answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      We can use our understanding of the law of physics to predict what will happen in the future. So, for example, at some point in the far future all stars will exhausts their fuel and stop heating nearby planets. We can go even further ahead in the future as we know at some point all protons in the universe will decay making the Universe a very different place from what we know know. At some point even the black holes will exhaust their mass due to emission of Hawking radiation. Given our current understanding that is about it, time will continue indefinitely but not much else will happen.

    • Photo: Oliver Brown

      Oliver Brown answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      As Michele said, there’s some things we can say will definitely happen that let us put an upper bound on the lifetime of the universe. At some point everything will have decayed to a sort of low energy photon (light) soup — this is called the ‘Heat Death of the Universe’. I wouldn’t worry too much though, that’s on a VERY long time scale.

      If we are unable, or unwilling to leave the solar system then we can also predict that humanity won’t surive longer than the sun (and the end of humanity is one definition of ‘the end of the world’).

      Other than that though, lots of things could happen, it’s hard to say what and when! Of course, we’re scientists, so we give it shot 😀 there are several research centres throughout the world who specialise in ‘futurology’, including an institute at Oxford University here in the UK.

    • Photo: Jaclyn Bell

      Jaclyn Bell answered on 14 Mar 2015:

      Hmmmmm… Scientists can predict how the world might end but the exact date and time might be unforeseeable! I mean, we can use mathematics to predict whether we will be hit by an asteroid any time soon which could wipe us out (but sometimes we get very little notice!), but there are lots of factors which come into play and so their prediction will still always be just that – a prediction based on simulations/mathematics. I read somewhere a while back that the sun will get hotter as it ages, causing the CO2 levels on Earth to change and the plant life would eventually die out – meaning game over for us! There are lots of theories on how the universe might end but this is way beyond any of our lifetimes. I think we are safe for now! 🙂

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