The expiration date for the universe is now sooner than experts previously thought, new research suggests. But don’t cancel your summer vacation, because it’s still trillions of years in the future.
Experts had previously put the lifespan of the universe at 10 to the power of 1,100 years (the number would be 1 followed by 1,100 zeroes). But researchers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, have new calculations suggesting the universe is decaying much faster than previously thought.
Their findings, published May 12 in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, put the universe’s end at 10 to the power of 78 years (a 1 with 78 zeros) – that’s more than a vigintillion years (1 followed by 68 zeroes) but less than a Googol years (1 with 100 zeroes).
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“So the ultimate end of the universe comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” said lead author Heino Falcke, a black hole expert, in a description of the research on the Radboud University website.
He and fellow researchers at the university – quantum physicist Michael Wondrak and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom – based their calculations on a reinterpretation of a theorem derived by the late physicist Stephen Hawking. Within the theory of “Hawking radiation,” particles and radiation could escape from a black hole, which would eventually lead to the black hole’s decay. That’s in opposition to Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which held that black holes could only grow.
Scientists calculate ‘upper limit’ for universe lifespan
Taking Hawking radiation into account, the researchers said they based their universal end date on how long it would take for the decay of a white dwarf star, considered the most persistent of celestial bodies. “This sets a general upper limit for the lifetime of matter in the universe,” they wrote in the journal article.
Here on Earth, we will be unlikely to match that upper timeline as Hawking himself theorized that the Earth’s population will consume enough energy to engulf the planet in a “ball of fire” within 600 years.
If that doesn’t come to pass, our sun will cook the Earth within a billion years anyway.
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For the rest of the universe, recent research suggests the dark energy that’s led to the expansion of the universe could be decelerating – a possible sign the universe could begin to decay or collapse on itself in what some scientists have called the “big crunch.”
“Now, there is the possibility that everything comes to an end,” said University of Texas at Dallas cosmologist Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki, a collaborator on the dark energy research, told CBS News. “Would we consider that a good or bad thing? I don’t know.”
Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY’s Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The universe is decaying faster than scientists previously thought