Theory: We’re running out of time if we ever want to meet aliens
What happens when the universe stops expanding?
A broken clock
The truth of the matter is that we have no way of knowing if and when the universe is going to end. It’s not that we don’t have the technology. We don’t have theperspective.
When we look up at the stars we’re gazing at light that’s traveled for millions or even billions of years. Some of those stars don’t even exist anymore.
Yet, by observing these distant lights we’re able to determine that the universe is expanding. And, in a series of simulations, scientists have used that data to try and figure out whether that expansion is infinite or if there’s some sort of universal reckoning coming.
To that end, a team of scientists from Princeton and NYU recently publisheda pre-print research paperdescribing the problem. According to them, if dark energy is responsible for the universe’s expansion, it’s plausible the energy could wind down and lead to a contraction.
Per their paper:
Basically: the universe gets big, then it gets small.
However, as mentioned above, we’re in no position to know when this will happen. All we can do is guess.
According to the scientists:
And that means, for all we can tell, the universe could continue expanding for billions of years. Or, perhaps, the time is already nigh.
ThePhysics arXiv Blogdescribes the researchers’ time-frame as such:
The end of days
Right now, that 65 million years time-frame is just a guess. But if we could definitively determine that our universe has such a short amount of time before it starts contracting, the ramifications of this knowledge could have immediate, far-reaching impacts on humanity.
It would essentially mean we’re unlikely to ever findalienlife. This simply boils down to the odds: if we look at 65 million years as the final few flakes in our universe’s hourglass, we have to concede that time’s almost up forallliving beings.
If we haven’t found each other by now, the odds are mathematically against it ever happening.
Betweenexpansion spreading us apartand contraction ultimately resulting in everything in the universe being compressed to a single point, it may even be pragmatic to give up the search all together and focus on something else. We could use ourspaceresources to advance the goal of spreading Earth’s life throughout the galaxy, for example.
The universe may only have a little time left, but it’s worth making sure we’re all there to watch the grand finale. That is, of course, unlessthe world really did end in 2012.
The scientists also postulated that the universe’s expansion and contraction werecyclical,meaning another Big Bang is likely imminent.
On the bright side, this would mean there’s almost certainly going to be life again once we’re gone. But, on the not-so-bright-side, it also makes it less likely that life is prolific.
With such a tiny window for life to miraculously appear during each expansion and contraction cycle, planets like Earth might be once-in-a-Big-Bang occurrences.
Story byTristan Greene
Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns:(show all)Tristan is a futurist covering human-centric artificial intelligence advances, quantum computing, STEM, physics, and space stuff. Pronouns: He/him
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