Posted on 04/12/2026 10:48:55 AM PDT by Libloather
It’s the end of the world as we know it — a lot sooner than we think.
A team of researchers have drastically scaled back the going estimate of how long it will be until the universe ceases to exist.
Previously, scientists believed it would be 10¹¹⁰⁰ years until the very last objects in the cosmos would disappear forever — that’s a 1 followed by 1,100 zeroes, in layman’s terms.
But a new study published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics by a trio of researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands posits the real figure as closer to 10⁷⁸ years, or a 1 followed by just 78 zeroes, Science Aim writes.
Make no mistake, 10⁷⁸ years is a long, long, long time. But the difference between 10⁷⁸ years and 10¹¹⁰⁰ years is so enormous that it’s unfathomable to the human mind.
At the heart of the researchers’ dramatic revision is Hawking radiation, a theory proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking in 1975 that black holes aren’t completely black but rather very slowly leaking particles.
Hawking explained the process in numerous books and talks over the years, wherein a pair of temporary particles form at the edge of black holes and rather than merging, one escapes while the other is sucked into the cosmic abyss.
The surviving particle is then imbued with energy from the black hole itself.
Hawking theorized that over “extraordinarily long timescales,” black holes lose mass and eventually evaporate entirely, contradicting Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, which states that black holes can only grow larger.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I am glad we have a better date. Now I know when to run my credit card up to the limit without worrying about paying it off.
Will we finally hear “now is a great time to SELL gold.”
It was hard for me not to feel sympathy for Hawking given physical situation, but then I read a transcript of one of his conversations regarding God and believers, and it was pretty vile and demeaning.
I decided that sure, I felt bad for the hand he was dealt, but after that, it was between him and God.
Hmmm...
Means that my ammo stockpile is just fine, as is...
Whew! What a relief... I’d go broke based on that prior estimate...
How far along are we in the life of the universe so far given the new numbers?
10 percent? 99 percent?
Agreed. Enough of this shit show already.
College clown studies make me laugh.
We gotta move this microwave background...🎶
Ok. Now I know to insist that my future balloon mortgages mature 1+ 10⁷⁸ years from now.
A bigger cataclysm than the Earth one last time.
Bible.
Genesis 6.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
Good one.
Prophecy is more rational to me than some of the tenuous crap these “cosmologists” spew.
>> Will we finally hear “now is a great time to SELL gold.”
Nah to hear THAT you’ll need to wait 700 trilliony-brazillion lifetimes.
I highly doubt that this trio of researchers with delusions of grandeur could even accurately define what the Universe is and it’s extent, much less predict it’s demise.
And still, women and minorities will be hurt the most.
Good thing I have my emergency supply of MRE’s..
Maybe there’s something wrong with me, but I really and truly love living and love the shit show too. And so does my cat. I’ll be 90 in June and she’ll be 10. Already have good place for her to go if I croak before she does. My afterlife will be what it will be, as I fall far short of sainthood.
Since we’ve already been in “the Millennium” for about 2,000 years, the New Heaven and New Earth can appear at any time.
I hope you’re joking... this doesn’t look like the Millennium to me....
... or Kansas, either.
Crap! Which politician do I need to give all my money to so the world will last longer now?
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