The death of the Universe and Life

[Kronos]

the problem with Brian Cox is that he often talks as if what he is saying are proven facts, and a lot of the time they aren't.

Agree and he only talks of one theory, i get the monthly magazine Science Focus and there is an article this month on what came before the 'Big Bang' and whether it actually happened.
Theories are just theories until proven and it is doubtful whether the beginnings of the universe even if there was such a thing will ever be proved beyond doubt.

 

[jsmoke]

What he's worked at cern that speaks for itself lol I think that beats your job as a bugger flipper

I know someone who worked at CERN for years, total tea boy, sounds good on your CV though.

 

[Stumble Bum]

You stealing my posts from the YouTube thread?

Oi, I'm subbed to good old melody sheep

 

[Feek]

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

 

[edscdk]

Of course they know how the double slit experiment works, what are you smoking? Quantum mechanics is an extremely developed field.

i'm pretty sure they don't know exactly why it works the way it does...

 

[SPG]

Everything dies eventually, its why people invented GODS to make them feel better

In the meantime just carry on trying to makes yours and everyone else a nice happy life (unless your a Tory )

 

[Terminal_Boy]

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

I have a theory on which radio show that quote came from.

 

[Orionaut]

Of course they know how the double slit experiment works, what are you smoking? Quantum mechanics is an extremely developed field.

Quantum mechanics is a very well developed mathematical model of reality that works very well at predicting the outcomes of experiments.

But do not confuse that with actual reality.

Nobody knows what exactly is happening with the double slit experiment.

Really, Nobody, at all!

 

[Feek]

I have a theory on which radio show that quote came from.

It’s from a book. Which happened to be a radio show and a record and another radio show and a stage show and an abortion of a film and is now being milked for yet even more radio shows.

Damnit, it’s not even Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays

 

[h4rm0ny]

It’s from a book. Which happened to be a radio show and a record and another radio show and a stage show and an abortion of a film and is now being milked for yet even more radio shows.

Douglas Adams wrote the books, the TV show, the radio show AND the film. He changed details around every time. Don't know why you're so down on the film.

Sparked from what? When there is nothing left but ever faster expanding space and increasingly dispersed photons thats it. Heat death of the universe, 3rd law of thermodynamics.

Presumably sparked from whatever sparked it off the last time around. Or do you reject the Big Bang?

 

[StoutMeister]

And what would this Cox fellow know? Total poppycock and balderdash!

 

[CircleFaust]

I just watched Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe and had my mind blown by the profound stuff he had to say. And my jaw dropped at the unbelievable numbers he reeled off. I've written verbatim the most interesting bits, which are a good read.

"The matter in black dwarves, the last matter in the universe, will eventually evaporate away and be carried off into the void as radiation, leaving absolutely nothing behind. With the black dwarves gone, there won't be a single atom of matter left. All that will remain of our once rich cosmos will be particles of light and black holes.

After an unimaginable length of time, even the black holes will have evaporated and the universe will be nothing but a sea of photons, gradually tending towards the same temperature as the expansion of the universe cools them towards absolute zero.

And when I say 'unimaginable period of time' I really mean it. It's 10,000 trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion years. How big's that number? Well if I were to start counting with a single atom representing one year, then there wouldn't be enough atoms in the entire universe to get anywhere near that number.

Once the very last remnants of the very last stars have finally decayed away to nothing, and everything reaches the same temperature, the universe finally comes to an end. The universe will become permanent and unchanging. Nothing happens and it keeps not happening. Forever.

It's what's known as the heat death of the universe. An era when the cosmos will remain vast and cold and desolate for the rest of time. The arrow of time ceases to exist. It's an inescapable fact of the universe and fundamental laws of physics, that the entire cosmos will die. Every single one of the 200 billion stars on our galaxy will go out.

And just as the death of the sun means the end of life on our planet, so the death of every star will extinguish any possibility of life in the universe.

As a fraction of the lifespan of the universe, life as we know it is only possible for one thousandth of a billion billion billionth billion billion billionth billion billion billionth of a per cent."


It's of course a very very long way off, but it seems incomprehensible to think the universe, and life, will eventually die completely and for eternity, never to return. Does anyone here think life will never be sparked again after the demise of the cosmos?

ha, yes remember seeing this for the first time too when it was first on
it's the music that makes it seem all the more profound i think, plus the delivery
i'm not a scientist so i'll have to take his word for it

oh hang on it was this i was thinking of, but they are related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQSoaiubuA0

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA

 

[BananaDunka]

And just as the death of the sun means the end of life on our planet, so the death of every star will extinguish any possibility of life in the universe.

Worth noting biological life! Long before that time comes, many predict humankind will have shifted into the next phase of intelligent life outside of a biological body.

 

[w11tho]

Yeh I get that, it's like he's reading from a school textbook, memorising then repeating, he's a pop scientist like Hawking, says a lot but a lot not proven or even near proven.

Hawking was an absolute giant in his field. To call him a pop scientist is woefully inaccurate.

 

[Merlin5]

Nobody knows, why care?

That sounds dismissive, but I'm serious. The length of time involved renders it utterly irrelevant to us. If (and it's a very big if) humanity lasts long enough for any of it to become relevant, the far, far descendants of humanity won't be human any more and nobody can say what they might or might not know or be able to do. A problem with cosmology is that the scales involved are literally incomprehensible. So people tend to compress them, intentionally or not, and that makes irrelevant things seem relevant in some way.

We don't even know how the universe exists. Current understanding starts after the universe started. An extremely short time after, but after. For all we know, at a certain stage in the cycle the universe reboots.

Good post. You say "humanity won't be human any more". You're saying it like you know it's fact in the same way Brian Cox is stating facts. I actually believe you're right because of the way history has recorded evolution over millions of years, and that's why I also believe in Cox's confidence in the death of the universe.

Sparked from what? When there is nothing left but ever faster expanding space and increasingly dispersed photons thats it. Heat death of the universe, 3rd law of thermodynamics.

If we or or our descendents are still around they'll have found a way to transfer to another universe by then, or face oblivion.

But you have to ask yourself, where did the tiniest particles of anything come from that brought our universe into being in the first place, and why couldn't that happen again?

 

[Mason-]

Is the universe discrete or continuous? Specifically time and fundamental matter? That is a far more interesting question to ponder imo.

 

[h4rm0ny]

Is the universe discrete or continuous? Specifically time and fundamental matter? That is a far more interesting question to ponder imo.

Time expands with the Universe. When you reach the edge of the Universe, you reach it in Time as well.

If you're then inclined to ask what is before or after "Time", picture a globe of the Earth. Ask what is before or after the North Pole. This helps visualise what the question actually means.

Although my Physics could well be out of date, that's how I remember it.

 

[terley]

I believe in the big crunch hypothesis.

Also people like @danoliver1 it doesn't just match theory, dark "energy" matches the mathematics.

people saying "Science doesn't know x"

Science is a tool for god sake, its a description surrounding the research of our natural world by all available means... The scientific method is to have those things checked and balanced by others in the industry.

Something only ever becomes a scientific theory if it is THE BEST current explanation for an observable event, scientists never use the word FACT because for all we know we could just be in a holographic universe... There always need to be wiggle room.

As far as we can see right now, the most probable and plausible end of the universe is Heat Death, there is no current better theory available as this is supported by pretty much all current observable theories.

 

[Mason-]

Time expands with the Universe. When you reach the edge of the Universe, you reach it in Time as well.

If you're then inclined to ask what is before or after "Time", picture a globe of the Earth. Ask what is before or after the North Pole. This helps visualise what the question actually means.

Although my Physics could well be out of date, that's how I remember it.

That implies it's discrete. And if it is then any analysis based on time is false (or inaccurate). Which would cause a lot of headaches.

 

[h4rm0ny]

That implies it's discrete. And if it is then any analysis based on time is false (or inaccurate). Which would cause a lot of headaches.

It does imply it is discrete.

To make sure I understand (because I'm interested). By saying it means any analysis based on time is false or inaccurate, your logic is that if it's internal to the universe, we cannot rule out outside factors?