On Another Science Front; the Universe Is Ending

But not in our lifetimes, I don’t think.  Hard not be like Alfie and ask “What’s It All About”?  Actually Alfie wasn’t doing the asking in that movie, but in any event, I am fascinated by that question.  This article is a wonderful introduction to current cosmology theory, by Dr. Ethan Siegel.  According to him, based on pretty solid current science, the universe is in its terminal phase, inevitably destined to wind down to nothingness, but that is a few billion years away (actually quite a bit more than a few billion).  The article is pretty understandable, no complex math.  And gives you a good introduction to the history of our universe, as cosmologists understand it today, but that tends to change over time, as Newton and Einstein could testify to.  (Big Think Article)

This is another site I recommend subscribing to, again free, if you are interested in physics, especially astrophysics. (the site has a bunch of other regular columns, almost all of which are pretty cool)  But I will admit that contemplating all this stuff is a little anxiety-producing.  What the heck is the universe all about.  Could it really be a one-off thing?  Are there multiples but we have no way of “seeing” the others?  I personally suspect that however our universe came about, there is not reason it can’t be begin again in the same way, if it hasn’t already in some corner of spacetime we can’t observe.  If dark energy is real, there appears to be a lot to learn about how it works, which might change our theories about where the universe is destined to go.  All very weird as I said.

And human ingenuity and creativity amazes me.  If we can keep from using it to destroy ourselves, we may find ways to control the destiny of at least part of the universe.  One of my theories about the “purpose” if there is such a thing, of the universe is that it, notwithstanding Mr. Siegel’s observations, has tended toward ever-greater levels of complexity and that the highest level in a sense is a self-awareness and ability to modify its characteristics.  Humans represent that self-awareness–we know we exist and the universe exists and we with incredible rapidity have advanced our understanding of the “laws” of the universe.  There is no reason why given sufficient time, we won’t understand how things work well enough to harness certain forces or energies to redirect what otherwise would be the fate of the universe.  So I don’t view the outcome Mr. Siegel describes as inevitable.