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according to a theory known as the Big

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Crunch what's happening with the Big

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Crunch scenario is that all of the

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matter in the universal the energy the

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galaxies the stars in them are all

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moving back towards each other and the

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universe is shrinking things are getting

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closer and closer together our universe

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right now on the other hand is expanding

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each day there is more and more space as

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galaxies get further and further apart

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the opposite happens during a Big Crunch

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the space between things is shrinking

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and that's rather like filling up this

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hallway with people when there are more

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more people the space between them then

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is getting smaller and smaller they bump

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into each other they're trying to dodge

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out of each other's way and so

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everything is heating up and getting

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more more energetic as more and more

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things happen in the small space exactly

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the same thing would happen in a Big

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Crunch scenario where various particles

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that make everything up are bumping into

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each other more more frequently

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the galaxy than the stars that are

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getting closer to each other to start

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distorting each other and so the whole

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thing's beginning to heat up just like a

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crowded room would heat up the process

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continues with the temperature of the

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universe getting higher and higher to

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the point that the atoms themselves

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begin to fall apart

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finally our vast universe collapses into

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a microscopic point we'll end up with

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this soot of matter which is made of

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fundamental particles which are milling

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around at high energy high temperature

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life as we know it has no escape

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however the universe may not ultimately

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ignite into an all-consuming Hellfire

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there are two basic paradigms for the

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end of the world

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first the universe is going to end in

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fire that's the Christian theory of

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Armageddon fire and brimstone and the

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second coming but the Norse also had

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their legends they had the legend of

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Ragnarok twilight of the Gods where

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there would be this monstrous snowstorm

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that would engulf the entire universe

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there would be this great battle in

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heaven and even Odin and even Thor on

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all the great gods would slowly die one

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by

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one and we would all die in a great

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freeze when even the gods themselves are

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frozen whereas the Big Crunch fits the

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Christian vision of the end of days

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science also has a different theory that

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it may instead all end in ice ultimately

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it depends on whether the momentum of

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the expansion of the universe can

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overcome the collapsing attraction of

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gravity imagine that the moment of

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contact between bat and ball is the

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initial explosion of the Big Bang

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everything's being thrown outward and

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the issue is will it wreak elapsed upon

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itself or will it continue to expand and

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those two possibilities are very similar

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to what happens when you launch a ball

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into the air and launch it upwards and

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if gravity is strong enough compared to

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how much energy I put into that initial

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launch it'll pull it back down and

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that's like the universe expanding out

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for a while

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crunching back in but the big crunch

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doesn't have to be the end of everything

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if the universe collapses what might

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such what we follow is another Big Bang

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another expansion event and that might

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expand for a while and then rika lapse

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so you can imagine the possibility that

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actually the universe is just cyclic and

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so it expands and then contracts each

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bounce is another big bang but what if

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there isn't enough gravity to reign in

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the universe I launched it upwards with

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enough energy that it completely escapes

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there's not enough mass in the universe

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to make it reca lapse and so it

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continues to expand eventually though

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this expansion ought to slow shockingly

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scientific observations reveal something

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completely different it's getting faster

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the universe seems to be careening out

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of control this expansion is

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accelerating it's kicking in once again

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we are undergoing an inflationary

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expansion so the universe we now know is

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expanding with this extra acceleration

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that is beyond what you would have

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thought was just due to the initial

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explosion

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not only does the ball escape but it's

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as though a little rocket engine was on

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the ball and it accelerates away from

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the earth even faster this is a

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possibility that was somewhat unexpected

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the volume of space in the universe

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seems destined to increase forever what

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this means is that distant galaxies are

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gonna go zooming away from us and will

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eventually become invisible because

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they'll be too far away to see and

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without seeing galaxies rushing away

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from each other future civilizations

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will lose all sense of history they

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won't know that there was ever a big

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bang so you will think that the only

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structure within the universe is the

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Milky Way galaxy and that the rest of

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the universe is effectively empty devoid

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of stars

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another scientific theory proposes that

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this expansion will balloon even faster

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if this does happen and a violent end

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awaits our cosmos suppose the amount of

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repulsive energy increases with time per

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unit volume it'll eventually grow strong

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enough to cause clusters of galaxies to

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get ripped apart and then galaxies

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themselves will get ripped apart the

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Stars will start flying away from one

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another no longer held together by

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gravity and then planetary systems like

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our solar system will get ripped apart

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and then stars and planets will get

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ripped apart and then humans and get

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ripped apart and then the very atoms of

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which we are made will get ripped apart

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that's called the big rip and it's a

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really scary possibility but don't worry

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most of us don't think it's gonna happen

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but even if the rate of expansion never

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reaches this tipping point the future of

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our universe still isn't promising it's

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temperature decreases it's getting

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colder and colder and darker and darker

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because the feeble light emitted by

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stars is going into a progressively

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larger volume so the universe is going

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to get really cold and really dark

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basically a pretty gloomy place

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the universe itself

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we now believe will die in ice rather

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than fire we think the universe will die

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in a great freeze just like the Norse

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legends foretell rather than this

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Armageddon of a big

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if the universe continues on its present

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course we're destined for a cosmic Ice

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Age where sunlight itself goes extinct

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by the Year 100 trillion AD the last

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remnants of human civilization

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may be forced to settle here in this

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distant dark corner of our galaxy

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they'll be huddled around the last

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burning star in the sky but sadly it too

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will soon die our Milky Way so named for

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its shimmering band of sparkling stars

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will be unrecognizable faint glowing

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embers of dark stellar husks will be all

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that remained of what was once a

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brilliant night vision

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what happened to all of the stars how

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did we arrive at such a dismal scenario

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science decrees that as our universe

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expands and ages it will cool inevitably

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the future for life as we know it will

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grow ever more hostile we are headed for

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a time when one day the universe itself

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will freeze to death and all life with

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it and that's a law when we scientists

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look at the evolution of the universe

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some critics say that's crazy we can

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barely predict tomorrow's headlines and

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here you are predicting what's gonna be

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happening billions and billions of years

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from now how do you do it among the

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tools available to scientists pondering

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the future are the venerable laws of

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thermodynamics the first law says that

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total matter and energy are conserved in

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other words you can't get something for

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nothing there's no free lunch so it

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turns out that the total amount of

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matter and energy in a system can be

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neither created nor destroyed the matter

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and energy can change forms and they can

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turn into one another but the total

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remains the same so for example in this

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rolled-up newspaper there's a lot of

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energy stored in the chemical bonds of

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the paper but if I ignite the paper I

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can activate those bonds and I can start

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breaking them and that releases energy

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in the form of light and heat which you

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can see and feel the total energy

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content is still the same but it's being

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dissipated out into space and a lot of

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particulate matter goes off as well and

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smoke goes off but if I were to add up

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all the smoke in the

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matter and all the energy that's given

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off and everything total I would get

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exactly the same amount of mass and

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energy total as I had to begin with they

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simply changed forms if the total amount

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of mass and energy remained constant

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this seems to imply the universe will

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always have energy and should last

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forever but the second law of

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thermodynamics crushes this notion the

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second law of thermodynamics is the most

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curious of all it says that total amount

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of disorder or entropy always increases

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in the universe in other words things

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rust things decay everything gets old

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and eventually falls apart and rots in

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some sense the second law is a death

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warrant a death warrant for the universe

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second law says all things must pass the

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ever-present supply of energy in the

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universe inevitably becomes more

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dispersed more chaotic and more unusable

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each star burning in the sky just like

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each brick head of this charcoal must

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one day face its fate

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this piece of charcoal is fuel and has a

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lot of energy concentrated into this

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small little packet here the energy goes

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from being in the chemical bonds of the

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charcoal briquette to being liberated in

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the form of heat and light

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now estar does a similar thing it

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doesn't burn in a chemical sense instead

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in a star its nuclear energy the nuclei

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of atoms are being forced together

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fusing them creating new nuclei and in

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the process transforming some of that

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matter some of that mass into the

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radiated energy that we see and we feel

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and the same process is going on in all

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the active stars in the universe

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now as this charcoal is burning the fuel

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is getting used up and you can actually

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see that it's turning into a gray color

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it's turning into ashes in a similar way

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stars use up their fuel they fuse

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hydrogen into helium and so with time

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there's less and less hydrogen to fuse

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and the ashes have less energy content

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and thus are either harder to burn or

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release less energy during the burning

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process

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this is the eventual fate of our own Sun

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as it ages it bloats and heats the earth

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we'll be fried to an arrest

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oceans will boil away all plants and

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animals will die rocks will start

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00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:54,379
vaporizing because the Sun will be

1
00:13:51,509 --> 00:13:59,250
producing so much light so much energy

1
00:13:54,379 --> 00:14:03,299
that'll be a pretty gruesome death for

1
00:13:59,250 --> 00:14:06,179
the earth all through the universe stars

1
00:14:03,299 --> 00:14:08,069
that are like the Sun are gonna be

1
00:14:06,179 --> 00:14:09,838
facing the same challenges that our own

1
00:14:08,070 --> 00:14:12,750
star will face they're running out of

1
00:14:09,839 --> 00:14:15,029
fuel or swelling up and they're causing

1
00:14:12,750 --> 00:14:17,820
problems for the planets that orbit them

1
00:14:15,028 --> 00:14:20,129
so it's not hard to imagine there are

1
00:14:17,820 --> 00:14:22,889
many locations where life has evolved

1
00:14:20,129 --> 00:14:25,639
and flourished and is now being

1
00:14:22,889 --> 00:14:25,639
extinguished

1
00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:31,220
just as each star suffers the effects of

1
00:14:28,519 --> 00:14:35,120
entropy so too will the rest of the

1
00:14:31,220 --> 00:14:37,699
universe but stars naturally increase

1
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:40,970
the entropy of the universe by giving

1
00:14:37,698 --> 00:14:44,088
off light and heat just like this fire

1
00:14:40,970 --> 00:14:47,060
of burning charcoal naturally increases

1
00:14:44,089 --> 00:14:49,220
the entropy of the universe right now

1
00:14:47,059 --> 00:14:51,500
we're kind of in a steady period in the

1
00:14:49,220 --> 00:14:54,050
universe where stars are born live out

1
00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:55,549
their lives die give some of that gas

1
00:14:54,049 --> 00:14:57,649
back to the next generation then you

1
00:14:55,549 --> 00:15:00,679
have another generation of stars but

1
00:14:57,649 --> 00:15:05,120
that rate of star formation is gradually

1
00:15:00,679 --> 00:15:07,278
decreasing with time and as stars use up

1
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:10,310
their fuel and burn out there aren't

1
00:15:07,278 --> 00:15:10,879
enough new stars being formed to replace

1
00:15:10,309 --> 00:15:12,919
them

1
00:15:10,879 --> 00:15:15,769
it's a moment we've run out of gas to

1
00:15:12,919 --> 00:15:19,009
make new stars waste for every dead star

1
00:15:15,769 --> 00:15:20,948
in the roles and ranks there's not a

1
00:15:19,009 --> 00:15:22,928
star to replace it

1
00:15:20,948 --> 00:15:24,269
and so that's a bad situation to be in

1
00:15:22,928 --> 00:15:27,879
the day that happens

1
00:15:24,269 --> 00:15:29,948
so effectively galaxies giant

1
00:15:27,879 --> 00:15:32,230
collections of stars are growing

1
00:15:29,948 --> 00:15:34,988
progressively dimmer with time on

1
00:15:32,230 --> 00:15:37,389
average and eventually when the universe

1
00:15:34,989 --> 00:15:40,298
is something like a hundred trillion

1
00:15:37,389 --> 00:15:43,839
years old there will be essentially no

1
00:15:40,298 --> 00:15:46,740
stars still shining the universe will be

1
00:15:43,839 --> 00:15:49,740
cold and dark in the

1
00:15:46,740 --> 00:15:51,870
any life that depends on sunlight will

1
00:15:49,740 --> 00:15:54,029
rapidly go extinct as the universe

1
00:15:51,870 --> 00:15:57,480
continues to age and as there are fewer

1
00:15:54,029 --> 00:16:01,169
fewer sources of life providing energy

1
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:03,180
from a host star you might think the

1
00:16:01,169 --> 00:16:05,909
most massive stars the ones with the

1
00:16:03,179 --> 00:16:09,599
most fuel will last the longest

1
00:16:05,909 --> 00:16:11,959
in reality the more fuel a star carries

1
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,970
the faster it burns through it

1
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:17,490
the final rays of sunlight left in the

1
00:16:14,970 --> 00:16:21,509
universe will come from stars known as

1
00:16:17,490 --> 00:16:24,570
red dwarfs these miniature stars ten

1
00:16:21,509 --> 00:16:28,319
times less massive than our own Sun burn

1
00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:30,480
thousands of degrees cooler red dwarf

1
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,400
stars are much more miserly with their

1
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:35,159
fuel consumption so even though they

1
00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:39,289
have West's fuel to begin with they last

1
00:16:35,159 --> 00:16:39,289
much much longer than our Sun a last

1
00:16:39,309 --> 00:16:46,059
a typical Red Dwarf can live for as long

1
00:16:41,980 --> 00:16:48,310
as 14 trillion years that's a thousand

1
00:16:46,059 --> 00:16:51,309
times longer than the current age of our

1
00:16:48,309 --> 00:16:54,369
universe eventually though

1
00:16:51,309 --> 00:16:57,699
even these stingy little Suns will begin

1
00:16:54,370 --> 00:16:59,519
to die off so when our Milky Way galaxy

1
00:16:57,700 --> 00:17:02,320
is tens of trillions of years old

1
00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:05,139
there's only a few red dwarfs remaining

1
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:07,420
you might imagine that any surviving

1
00:17:05,140 --> 00:17:09,640
civilizations will realize that the end

1
00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:12,000
is nigh and they will start crowding

1
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:16,270
around these few sources of energy

1
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:19,180
trying to scrape out an existence red

1
00:17:16,269 --> 00:17:23,220
dwarfs could be owaisi's of life in the

1
00:17:19,180 --> 00:17:26,350
vast inhospitable desert of the universe

1
00:17:23,220 --> 00:17:29,440
but for a planet to receive as much heat

1
00:17:26,349 --> 00:17:32,949
and energy from its red dwarf hosts as

1
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:35,920
our earth does from the Sun it would

1
00:17:32,950 --> 00:17:40,580
need to orbit so closely that one full

1
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:43,340
year would last just six earth days

1
00:17:40,579 --> 00:17:47,000
the sky would be much more sort of

1
00:17:43,339 --> 00:17:49,039
whitish red than our blue skies here on

1
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,230
earth because the red dwarf puts out so

1
00:17:49,039 --> 00:17:53,599
little blue light you wouldn't be able

1
00:17:51,230 --> 00:17:57,349
to have the kind of nice blue skies that

1
00:17:53,599 --> 00:18:00,909
we have here now however nothing left in

1
00:17:57,349 --> 00:18:03,019
the universe would be hotter or brighter

1
00:18:00,910 --> 00:18:07,250
so there will be a time in our galaxy

1
00:18:03,019 --> 00:18:10,009
when there's just a few red dwarfs still

1
00:18:07,250 --> 00:18:11,450
glowing and maybe just then three and

1
00:18:10,009 --> 00:18:16,069
two and one

1
00:18:11,450 --> 00:18:18,710
as they blink out and gosh when there's

1
00:18:16,069 --> 00:18:21,379
one red dwarf left and suppose I'm on

1
00:18:18,710 --> 00:18:23,660
the planet circling it I'll think man oh

1
00:18:21,380 --> 00:18:28,850
man what a lonely place the universe is

1
00:18:23,660 --> 00:18:32,090
what a depressing future it holds what

1
00:18:28,849 --> 00:18:39,529
happens after the last red dwarf blinks

1
00:18:32,089 --> 00:18:42,289
out of existence life in the 21st

1
00:18:39,529 --> 00:18:44,210
century on earth thrives within a

1
00:18:42,289 --> 00:18:47,389
universe that has existed for about

1
00:18:44,210 --> 00:18:50,350
fourteen billion years since the spark

1
00:18:47,390 --> 00:18:50,350
of the big day

1
00:18:50,749 --> 00:18:56,999
but that's no time at all in the grand

1
00:18:53,729 --> 00:19:00,090
scheme of the cosmos if the universe is

1
00:18:56,999 --> 00:19:05,629
comparable to a human lifespan we are

1
00:19:00,089 --> 00:19:05,628
still in the infancy of the universe

1
00:19:05,868 --> 00:19:11,189
getting a grasp of the time that is

1
00:19:08,398 --> 00:19:14,608
already elapsed and the timespan still

1
00:19:11,190 --> 00:19:16,919
to come can boggle the mind to gain a

1
00:19:14,608 --> 00:19:17,699
perspective of the vast timescales of

1
00:19:16,919 --> 00:19:20,099
the universe

1
00:19:17,700 --> 00:19:22,308
let's compress the roughly fourteen

1
00:19:20,098 --> 00:19:26,548
billion year history of the university

1
00:19:22,308 --> 00:19:29,779
into one normal calendar year but we'll

1
00:19:26,548 --> 00:19:31,910
call this a cosmic calendar

1
00:19:29,779 --> 00:19:36,980
so the Big Bang occurred on New Year's

1
00:19:31,910 --> 00:19:39,050
in January first on that scale our Milky

1
00:19:36,980 --> 00:19:43,069
Way galaxy formed near the end of

1
00:19:39,049 --> 00:19:45,470
January and our solar system formed

1
00:19:43,069 --> 00:19:47,480
around the beginning of August or so

1
00:19:45,470 --> 00:19:51,380
about two-thirds of the way through the

1
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:54,140
year life formed sometime a little bit

1
00:19:51,380 --> 00:19:57,470
later in August but humans formed less

1
00:19:54,140 --> 00:20:02,420
than a day ago so on December 31st

1
00:19:57,470 --> 00:20:05,900
sometime humans finally arose we can

1
00:20:02,420 --> 00:20:09,769
also look into the future on the same

1
00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:13,250
cosmic calendar timescale near the end

1
00:20:09,769 --> 00:20:16,549
of January of this coming year our earth

1
00:20:13,250 --> 00:20:20,210
will become quite inhospitable by around

1
00:20:16,549 --> 00:20:22,009
May or son our son will have died but

1
00:20:20,210 --> 00:20:24,289
there are some other stars the low mass

1
00:20:22,009 --> 00:20:28,099
stars which will live for much much

1
00:20:24,289 --> 00:20:33,200
longer up to 10,000 of these cosmic

1
00:20:28,099 --> 00:20:35,509
years that's ten thousand times longer

1
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:38,630
than the entire history of the universe

1
00:20:35,509 --> 00:20:41,629
before these final longest living red

1
00:20:38,630 --> 00:20:43,110
dwarf stars die offs but then what

1
00:20:41,630 --> 00:20:45,600
happens

1
00:20:43,109 --> 00:20:48,538
when we talk about the extremely distant

1
00:20:45,599 --> 00:20:51,418
future we're talking about immense spans

1
00:20:48,538 --> 00:20:54,509
of time time measured in quadrillions of

1
00:20:51,419 --> 00:20:57,419
years and septillion zuv years and it

1
00:20:54,509 --> 00:20:59,519
becomes so overwhelming that we need to

1
00:20:57,419 --> 00:21:01,528
evolve another concept to really deal

1
00:20:59,519 --> 00:21:06,298
with it so we came up with the idea of

1
00:21:01,528 --> 00:21:09,058
cosmological decades a cosmological

1
00:21:06,298 --> 00:21:10,829
decade each decade is 10 times longer

1
00:21:09,058 --> 00:21:13,109
all the time

1
00:21:10,829 --> 00:21:15,990
that happened prior to the start of the

1
00:21:13,109 --> 00:21:19,678
decade and one way to think about this

1
00:21:15,990 --> 00:21:22,470
this is like a staircase not a ordinary

1
00:21:19,679 --> 00:21:25,950
staircase like this one but one in which

1
00:21:22,470 --> 00:21:28,319
each step is 10 times higher than the

1
00:21:25,950 --> 00:21:32,490
step before so you can imagine this

1
00:21:28,319 --> 00:21:35,849
staircase going up to higher higher

1
00:21:32,490 --> 00:21:41,240
cosmological decades right now we're

1
00:21:35,849 --> 00:21:41,240
living in the 10th cosmological decade

1
00:21:41,779 --> 00:21:47,029
on this scale the 10th cosmological

1
00:21:44,059 --> 00:21:49,819
decade is ten times longer than the

1
00:21:47,029 --> 00:21:55,519
previous nine decades combined that have

1
00:21:49,819 --> 00:21:57,500
passed since the Big Bang the hallmark

1
00:21:55,519 --> 00:21:59,539
of the 10th cosmological decade is the

1
00:21:57,500 --> 00:22:03,200
fact that stars are burning brightly in

1
00:21:59,539 --> 00:22:05,269
the night sky and also that the planets

1
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:07,430
are beginning to develop life and

1
00:22:05,269 --> 00:22:10,609
intelligence on their surfaces

1
00:22:07,430 --> 00:22:14,690
another interesting hallmark of the 10th

1
00:22:10,609 --> 00:22:17,750
cosmological decade is the beginning of

1
00:22:14,690 --> 00:22:21,920
the acceleration of the expansion of the

1
00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:24,230
universe as our cosmological decade

1
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:27,050
continues all of the other galaxies

1
00:22:24,230 --> 00:22:30,799
disappear from view and stars begin to

1
00:22:27,049 --> 00:22:32,930
die off without being replaced during

1
00:22:30,799 --> 00:22:36,349
the latter part of this era there will

1
00:22:32,930 --> 00:22:39,140
always be about 50 stars shining in the

1
00:22:36,349 --> 00:22:42,289
galaxy at any one time and that'll be

1
00:22:39,140 --> 00:22:44,240
the last sort of gasp of the kind of

1
00:22:42,289 --> 00:22:47,599
world the kind of planets same kind of

1
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:50,359
environments that are familiar to us

1
00:22:47,599 --> 00:22:53,779
as we move through the succeeding

1
00:22:50,359 --> 00:23:00,139
cosmological decades and after the last

1
00:22:53,779 --> 00:23:02,808
star dies we enter a new alien age so up

1
00:23:00,140 --> 00:23:07,100
here we're in the cosmological decade 20

1
00:23:02,808 --> 00:23:09,649
through 30 and if we look out at the

1
00:23:07,099 --> 00:23:12,918
night sky it's absolutely utterly

1
00:23:09,650 --> 00:23:16,038
completely black but if we were able to

1
00:23:12,919 --> 00:23:17,840
look in light that's far too red for the

1
00:23:16,038 --> 00:23:20,210
human eye to see then we would actually

1
00:23:17,839 --> 00:23:27,439
see it the sky is speckled with dead

1
00:23:20,210 --> 00:23:29,659
stars this is the degenerate era in the

1
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:33,590
degenerate era the most massive dead

1
00:23:29,659 --> 00:23:36,140
stars have collapsed into black holes

1
00:23:33,589 --> 00:23:39,139
but punctuating the total blackness of

1
00:23:36,140 --> 00:23:44,528
space the leftover ashes of once bright

1
00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:47,240
stars are still being energy these ashes

1
00:23:44,528 --> 00:23:48,380
are called a white dwarf now they're

1
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,259
really weird because you've got

1
00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:53,659
something like half the mass of our Sun

1
00:23:50,259 --> 00:23:56,569
roughly 160,000 times the mass of our

1
00:23:53,659 --> 00:23:58,640
earth compressed into a volume just the

1
00:23:56,569 --> 00:24:01,460
size of the earth so it's very dense

1
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:05,960
stuff it's weird ashes that's for sure

1
00:24:01,460 --> 00:24:06,620
so it'll be like the dying ember after a

1
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,288
fire

1
00:24:06,619 --> 00:24:13,788
it'll be generating no new energy of its

1
00:24:09,288 --> 00:24:16,158
own through nuclear fusion but as the

1
00:24:13,788 --> 00:24:19,808
dying embers of a white dwarf cooled

1
00:24:16,159 --> 00:24:23,870
they still emit many megawatts of power

1
00:24:19,808 --> 00:24:25,819
but that is vastly billions trillions of

1
00:24:23,869 --> 00:24:28,769
times less energy than the Sun is

1
00:24:25,819 --> 00:24:31,139
producing right now

1
00:24:28,769 --> 00:24:33,900
and so we think you have an energy

1
00:24:31,140 --> 00:24:36,000
crisis now the energy crisis in the

1
00:24:33,900 --> 00:24:42,360
degenerate era will be far more severe

1
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:44,069
and far more profound even so the energy

1
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:47,009
emanating from these ancient star

1
00:24:44,069 --> 00:24:50,419
remnants is still greater than that

1
00:24:47,009 --> 00:24:52,890
consumed today by all human civilization

1
00:24:50,420 --> 00:24:55,950
if we were to imagine that somehow a

1
00:24:52,890 --> 00:24:58,679
human civilization were to persist into

1
00:24:55,950 --> 00:25:01,350
the degenerate era they might be tapping

1
00:24:58,679 --> 00:25:04,350
the energy that's emerging from the

1
00:25:01,349 --> 00:25:06,359
white dwarf however humans wouldn't be

1
00:25:04,349 --> 00:25:09,689
able to establish an energy gathering

1
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:12,808
outpost on its surface such as an oil

1
00:25:09,690 --> 00:25:15,330
rig anchored to the ocean floor the

1
00:25:12,808 --> 00:25:17,279
surface gravity is incredibly strong you

1
00:25:15,329 --> 00:25:20,178
had basically been crushed if you tried

1
00:25:17,279 --> 00:25:22,019
to stand on the surface of a white dwarf

1
00:25:20,179 --> 00:25:24,120
to survive

1
00:25:22,019 --> 00:25:27,450
future civilizations would need to

1
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:29,489
establish an orbiting colony they would

1
00:25:27,450 --> 00:25:31,710
probably tap that energy that's coming

1
00:25:29,490 --> 00:25:33,720
from the white dwarf by having some sort

1
00:25:31,710 --> 00:25:35,190
of absorbing panels that are also in

1
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,230
orbit around the white dwarf

1
00:25:35,190 --> 00:25:39,630
so the energy that's emanating up from

1
00:25:37,230 --> 00:25:44,339
below would be captured and trapped and

1
00:25:39,630 --> 00:25:46,260
used still light in this white dwarf

1
00:25:44,339 --> 00:25:48,899
orbiting future would have to be

1
00:25:46,259 --> 00:25:51,089
generated artificially

1
00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:54,200
there's no stars shining in the sky

1
00:25:51,089 --> 00:25:57,779
there's no moonlight there's no sunlight

1
00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:04,590
you're simply orbiting and gigantic dead

1
00:25:57,779 --> 00:26:07,470
black mass unfortunately dead black

1
00:26:04,589 --> 00:26:12,149
masses will make up the bulk of galaxies

1
00:26:07,470 --> 00:26:14,670
during the degenerate era so to go into

1
00:26:12,150 --> 00:26:17,640
the degenerate era we'll have roughly a

1
00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:21,529
hundred billion dead stars orbiting each

1
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:25,020
other and a giant elliptical

1
00:26:21,529 --> 00:26:26,970
configuration occasionally they'll

1
00:26:25,019 --> 00:26:29,730
interact with one another and one will

1
00:26:26,970 --> 00:26:32,100
get flung out of the galaxy causing the

1
00:26:29,730 --> 00:26:34,679
galaxy to lose mass the galaxy in a

1
00:26:32,099 --> 00:26:39,209
sense will evaporate slowly with time as

1
00:26:34,679 --> 00:26:41,670
these things are flung out white dwarfs

1
00:26:39,210 --> 00:26:46,200
and remaining galactic material fall

1
00:26:41,670 --> 00:26:48,960
prey to black holes so gradually with

1
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:51,808
time what will happen is the galaxy will

1
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,519
have fewer and fewer objects in it and a

1
00:26:51,808 --> 00:26:56,859
greater and greater fraction of them

1
00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:58,720
will be black holes

1
00:26:56,859 --> 00:27:00,819
and whatever isn't seized by the

1
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:05,038
millions of black holes roaming the

1
00:27:00,819 --> 00:27:07,599
universe begins to decay with old age

1
00:27:05,038 --> 00:27:10,538
and this is another example of the

1
00:27:07,599 --> 00:27:12,639
general process by which the total

1
00:27:10,538 --> 00:27:14,158
amount of randomness increases in the

1
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,730
universe the second law of

1
00:27:14,159 --> 00:27:21,159
thermodynamics is once again at work and

1
00:27:17,730 --> 00:27:25,149
all the structures all these stars are

1
00:27:21,159 --> 00:27:28,090
basically evaporating into nothing so by

1
00:27:25,148 --> 00:27:30,668
about cosmological decade 40 most of the

1
00:27:28,089 --> 00:27:33,730
stuff that's been built the planets and

1
00:27:30,669 --> 00:27:36,220
stars are all gone and the degenerate

1
00:27:33,730 --> 00:27:40,480
era which is stretched for a huge

1
00:27:36,220 --> 00:27:43,089
amounts of time is coming to an end with

1
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:47,519
nothing left in their way black holes

1
00:27:43,089 --> 00:27:47,519
stand poised to rule the universe

1
00:27:50,079 --> 00:27:57,028
this may be the grim future of the

1
00:27:52,569 --> 00:27:59,829
cosmos the planets decay and dissolves

1
00:27:57,028 --> 00:28:03,669
dark galactic remnants scattered across

1
00:27:59,829 --> 00:28:07,629
a bloated universe and even light is

1
00:28:03,669 --> 00:28:09,850
just a faint distant memory

1
00:28:07,630 --> 00:28:11,760
as we continue through the vast

1
00:28:09,849 --> 00:28:15,399
stretches of time measured in

1
00:28:11,759 --> 00:28:17,950
cosmological decades massive black holes

1
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:21,390
survive as the only recognizable

1
00:28:17,950 --> 00:28:24,100
features of our once brilliant night sky

1
00:28:21,390 --> 00:28:30,060
we're up to about cosmological decades

1
00:28:24,099 --> 00:28:33,399
60s and we look out at the night sky

1
00:28:30,059 --> 00:28:36,119
it's incredibly cold it's incredibly

1
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:40,390
black and there's only the faintest

1
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:43,179
crackle of radio waves and gravitational

1
00:28:40,390 --> 00:28:49,690
radiation echoing through the empty

1
00:28:43,180 --> 00:28:52,180
skies this is the black hole era the

1
00:28:49,690 --> 00:28:55,809
continuous expansion of the universe has

1
00:28:52,180 --> 00:28:59,470
taken its toll the unimaginable cold

1
00:28:55,809 --> 00:29:03,490
saps energy and constricts movement time

1
00:28:59,470 --> 00:29:06,009
itself seems to lose meaning in the

1
00:29:03,490 --> 00:29:08,170
midst of the black hole era even the

1
00:29:06,009 --> 00:29:12,339
degenerate era looks like the first

1
00:29:08,170 --> 00:29:15,269
sliver of time after the Big Bang does

1
00:29:12,339 --> 00:29:17,799
life have a chance in this environment

1
00:29:15,269 --> 00:29:20,859
humans won't exist at that time because

1
00:29:17,799 --> 00:29:24,240
protons won't exist but it's possible to

1
00:29:20,859 --> 00:29:28,319
imagine some kind of entity which is

1
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:31,390
living in an extraordinarily slow rate

1
00:29:28,319 --> 00:29:36,609
if it lives slowly enough perhaps

1
00:29:31,390 --> 00:29:39,790
strange life could emerge a thought

1
00:29:36,609 --> 00:29:41,740
would take trillions of years and may

1
00:29:39,789 --> 00:29:43,659
take a trillion years for you to decide

1
00:29:41,740 --> 00:29:46,809
what to have for lunch because

1
00:29:43,660 --> 00:29:49,500
everything is so slow everything is near

1
00:29:46,809 --> 00:29:49,500
absolute zero

1
00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:55,109
the creeping timescale of the black hole

1
00:29:52,739 --> 00:29:58,788
era can be compared to the growth of

1
00:29:55,108 --> 00:30:02,579
vegetation from a human perspective

1
00:29:58,788 --> 00:30:07,739
involving minutes hours and days plant

1
00:30:02,579 --> 00:30:10,678
life can seem frozen in time absolutely

1
00:30:07,739 --> 00:30:13,579
nothing seems to be happening it appears

1
00:30:10,679 --> 00:30:18,210
to be completely dead completely static

1
00:30:13,579 --> 00:30:22,949
but if we speed up the clock then we see

1
00:30:18,210 --> 00:30:25,019
the activity the plant grows plant moves

1
00:30:22,950 --> 00:30:27,629
its leaves in response to where the Sun

1
00:30:25,019 --> 00:30:30,419
is plant is continuously in motion it's

1
00:30:27,628 --> 00:30:32,548
continuously doing things but that whole

1
00:30:30,419 --> 00:30:35,009
scale of existence is on a time frame

1
00:30:32,548 --> 00:30:38,058
that's longer than what our experience

1
00:30:35,009 --> 00:30:38,058
is used to dealing with

1
00:30:41,619 --> 00:30:48,569
the real action in the black hole era

1
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,569
occurs when two black holes meet

1
00:30:49,308 --> 00:30:55,128
although invisible to human eyes a

1
00:30:51,849 --> 00:30:58,129
collision between these two beasts sends

1
00:30:55,128 --> 00:31:00,740
a shudder through space-time

1
00:30:58,130 --> 00:31:04,550
this event can be imagined in a sheet of

1
00:31:00,740 --> 00:31:07,299
perfectly still calm water it's a bit

1
00:31:04,549 --> 00:31:11,139
like suddenly dropping a gigantic rock

1
00:31:07,299 --> 00:31:11,139
into that calm water

1
00:31:11,269 --> 00:31:16,639
sending out a huge series of ripples and

1
00:31:14,079 --> 00:31:18,529
you have a lot of action for a little

1
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:22,160
bit of time but then that dissipates the

1
00:31:18,529 --> 00:31:26,599
ripples die away and you're back to that

1
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:28,490
smooth glass-like sheet of water but

1
00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:33,289
even for these kings of the black hole

1
00:31:28,490 --> 00:31:35,839
era time is running out and you might

1
00:31:33,289 --> 00:31:38,440
think oh they'll last forever but even

1
00:31:35,839 --> 00:31:42,879
they don't last forever because they

1
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:45,558
evaporate very very slowly with time

1
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:48,020
black holes in today's universe grow

1
00:31:45,558 --> 00:31:52,009
larger as they gobble up surrounding

1
00:31:48,019 --> 00:31:54,650
matter but eventually far in the future

1
00:31:52,009 --> 00:31:57,410
there will be some little material to

1
00:31:54,650 --> 00:31:59,240
swallow that the evaporation rate will

1
00:31:57,410 --> 00:32:01,220
start dominating over the rate at which

1
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,940
they swallow material from their

1
00:32:01,220 --> 00:32:07,250
surroundings so the evaporation rate

1
00:32:03,940 --> 00:32:11,750
proceeds more quickly when the universe

1
00:32:07,250 --> 00:32:13,940
is very very old an evaporating black

1
00:32:11,750 --> 00:32:16,789
hole does not go out with a whimper like

1
00:32:13,940 --> 00:32:20,170
the planets do when they die but rather

1
00:32:16,789 --> 00:32:20,170
with a bang

1
00:32:20,279 --> 00:32:24,779
that's because it behaves

1
00:32:22,079 --> 00:32:27,689
counter-intuitively as it runs out of

1
00:32:24,779 --> 00:32:30,779
fuel there's basically two strategies

1
00:32:27,690 --> 00:32:33,150
that you can adopt one is to sort of

1
00:32:30,779 --> 00:32:35,279
ease up on the gas pedal and try to

1
00:32:33,150 --> 00:32:37,410
conserve your energy and basically try

1
00:32:35,279 --> 00:32:40,920
to roll into the next gas station on

1
00:32:37,410 --> 00:32:43,650
here the other strategy is to become

1
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,630
impatient and floor the accelerator and

1
00:32:43,650 --> 00:32:47,730
try to drive to the gas station as fast

1
00:32:45,630 --> 00:32:49,680
as you can in hopes of getting to the

1
00:32:47,730 --> 00:32:51,599
gas station before your guest runs out

1
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,690
and the black hole will say definitely

1
00:32:51,599 --> 00:32:57,299
taking the second route

1
00:32:53,690 --> 00:33:01,970
unlike a car when a black hole finally

1
00:32:57,299 --> 00:33:01,970
runs out of fuel it explodes

1
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:08,849
and in the last second at the black hole

1
00:33:05,279 --> 00:33:13,859
when you're releasing megatons and

1
00:33:08,849 --> 00:33:16,769
megatons worth of TNT equivalent a huge

1
00:33:13,859 --> 00:33:19,109
variety of particles that haven't been

1
00:33:16,769 --> 00:33:21,750
seen for many cosmological decades come

1
00:33:19,109 --> 00:33:22,469
spewing into existence and kind of flick

1
00:33:21,750 --> 00:33:25,259
her away

1
00:33:22,470 --> 00:33:29,549
you know last fireworks like burst after

1
00:33:25,259 --> 00:33:31,319
the black hole is gone so after about a

1
00:33:29,549 --> 00:33:33,240
googol years or so and the most

1
00:33:31,319 --> 00:33:36,629
supermassive black holes have evaporated

1
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:40,019
away what you've got left is a vast

1
00:33:36,630 --> 00:33:44,970
universe that is really almost entirely

1
00:33:40,019 --> 00:33:50,250
empty next the universe enters the dark

1
00:33:44,970 --> 00:33:53,069
era now we're out beyond cosmological

1
00:33:50,250 --> 00:33:57,299
decade 100 we're in the middle of the

1
00:33:53,069 --> 00:34:00,210
dark era the dark era everything that we

1
00:33:57,299 --> 00:34:02,250
have now that is familiar to us it's

1
00:34:00,210 --> 00:34:06,329
gone you know that expression angels

1
00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:08,639
fear to tread that's the dark era the

1
00:34:06,329 --> 00:34:12,449
darky era you never want to go to

1
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:14,639
because everything has crumbled not just

1
00:34:12,449 --> 00:34:17,819
the sands and monuments to man's folly

1
00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:20,279
but even the atoms themselves have begun

1
00:34:17,820 --> 00:34:23,680
to crumble even black holes are not

1
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:26,600
possible in the dark era

1
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:29,119
if the universe continues to expand

1
00:34:26,599 --> 00:34:32,960
forever it may be that only a cosmic

1
00:34:29,119 --> 00:34:35,539
mush of random particles remains but a

1
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:41,960
few surprises may yet rise out of these

1
00:34:35,539 --> 00:34:45,710
ashes if in the distant future chaos

1
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:48,470
does rule over order our once glowing

1
00:34:45,710 --> 00:34:54,559
hot universe will descend into a

1
00:34:48,469 --> 00:34:57,469
chilling galactic Ice Age but it may

1
00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:59,509
still Harbor some potential at least

1
00:34:57,469 --> 00:35:01,730
according to quantum theory which

1
00:34:59,510 --> 00:35:05,600
examines physics at its most primal

1
00:35:01,730 --> 00:35:07,519
level in quantum physics even the vacuum

1
00:35:05,599 --> 00:35:09,409
of space that thing that we think of as

1
00:35:07,519 --> 00:35:12,289
being empty with nothing in it it's not

1
00:35:09,409 --> 00:35:15,489
actually empty quantum physics allows

1
00:35:12,289 --> 00:35:20,449
for everything to happen with some

1
00:35:15,489 --> 00:35:23,149
probability in other words the universe

1
00:35:20,449 --> 00:35:25,819
is playing a risky game of chance and

1
00:35:23,150 --> 00:35:28,340
quantum theory seeks to explain the

1
00:35:25,820 --> 00:35:31,780
behavior of particles in a universe

1
00:35:28,340 --> 00:35:31,780
where anything is possible

1
00:35:32,599 --> 00:35:37,750
it's as if the universe were a card

1
00:35:34,940 --> 00:35:40,429
dealer continuously shuffling a deck

1
00:35:37,750 --> 00:35:44,840
containing the very building blocks of

1
00:35:40,429 --> 00:35:47,269
our reality so if you have a bunch of

1
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,980
particles in a quantum field theory what

1
00:35:47,269 --> 00:35:50,780
happens is they're gonna just rearrange

1
00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:53,150
themselves over and over and over again

1
00:35:50,780 --> 00:35:58,910
and what looks to us like a random set

1
00:35:53,150 --> 00:36:01,630
of fluctuations quantum theory can't

1
00:35:58,909 --> 00:36:04,699
predict the result of a particle shuffle

1
00:36:01,630 --> 00:36:07,730
but it can reveal the probability of

1
00:36:04,699 --> 00:36:09,889
each outcome you have something it

1
00:36:07,730 --> 00:36:12,619
happens forever an infinite number of

1
00:36:09,889 --> 00:36:15,889
times even very very unlikely things

1
00:36:12,619 --> 00:36:18,859
will eventually happen ordinarily when

1
00:36:15,889 --> 00:36:22,969
shuffling a deck of cards the result is

1
00:36:18,860 --> 00:36:25,309
a random sequence likewise particles

1
00:36:22,969 --> 00:36:29,299
churning on a quantum level don't

1
00:36:25,309 --> 00:36:32,349
usually create anything orderly however

1
00:36:29,300 --> 00:36:36,250
with enough time any kind of quantum

1
00:36:32,349 --> 00:36:40,730
fluctuation can form even one that seems

1
00:36:36,250 --> 00:36:42,559
impossible if you're in a universe that

1
00:36:40,730 --> 00:36:44,300
lasts forever because you have a card

1
00:36:42,559 --> 00:36:46,909
dealer that is shuffling cards forever

1
00:36:44,300 --> 00:36:49,990
and ever even unlikely events like that

1
00:36:46,909 --> 00:36:49,989
will occasionally happen

1
00:36:51,409 --> 00:36:56,000
one of these unique and improbable

1
00:36:53,420 --> 00:37:01,940
random fluctuations can change the

1
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:04,400
fabric of space itself empty space is

1
00:37:01,940 --> 00:37:07,700
kind of like water in the sense that it

1
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:11,900
can appear in different phases could be

1
00:37:07,699 --> 00:37:16,189
hot to be vapor it could be solid like

1
00:37:11,900 --> 00:37:17,869
an ice cube or it could be liquid the

1
00:37:16,190 --> 00:37:19,880
space around us right now is in a

1
00:37:17,869 --> 00:37:21,410
certain physical state but a phase

1
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,150
transition can happen where that

1
00:37:21,409 --> 00:37:26,989
physical state changes into something

1
00:37:23,150 --> 00:37:30,048
else the wrong kind of random

1
00:37:26,989 --> 00:37:33,318
fluctuation can induce a devastating

1
00:37:30,048 --> 00:37:35,989
phase transition the way that would

1
00:37:33,318 --> 00:37:38,210
occur is that some region of space some

1
00:37:35,989 --> 00:37:40,189
point would witness the formation of a

1
00:37:38,210 --> 00:37:42,500
bubble and that bubble would spread

1
00:37:40,190 --> 00:37:47,710
throughout the space around it just like

1
00:37:42,500 --> 00:37:50,268
this ink would spread through the glass

1
00:37:47,710 --> 00:37:53,500
just as the ink changes the nature of

1
00:37:50,268 --> 00:37:57,699
the water so could a phase transition

1
00:37:53,500 --> 00:37:57,699
transform the nature of the cosmos

1
00:37:58,789 --> 00:38:03,739
the laws of physics would be different

1
00:38:01,068 --> 00:38:05,298
in the weight of this bubble passing the

1
00:38:03,739 --> 00:38:07,429
masses of different particles would

1
00:38:05,298 --> 00:38:10,009
change the charge of different particles

1
00:38:07,429 --> 00:38:11,809
would change all of chemistry as we know

1
00:38:10,009 --> 00:38:13,998
it would be completely different after

1
00:38:11,809 --> 00:38:16,039
this phase transition occurred what that

1
00:38:13,998 --> 00:38:18,588
means is that suddenly there are new

1
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:20,869
ways to arrange all the particles that

1
00:38:18,588 --> 00:38:23,088
were made of and it's sort of like

1
00:38:20,869 --> 00:38:26,449
everything in the universe becomes an

1
00:38:23,088 --> 00:38:28,728
atomic bomb it would just rearrange

1
00:38:26,449 --> 00:38:31,099
itself releasing energy and literally

1
00:38:28,728 --> 00:38:35,498
every particle every atom every

1
00:38:31,099 --> 00:38:35,499
structure in the universe would explode

1
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:42,588
so no complicated structure can possibly

1
00:38:39,918 --> 00:38:45,978
survive that sort of transition will be

1
00:38:42,588 --> 00:38:47,659
left is just a mess nothing but a gas of

1
00:38:45,978 --> 00:38:53,418
particles bumping randomly into each

1
00:38:47,659 --> 00:38:58,038
other but a random quantum fluctuation

1
00:38:53,418 --> 00:39:00,259
can also spark a bubble of hope some

1
00:38:58,039 --> 00:39:02,778
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
00:39:00,259 --> 00:39:06,650
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
00:39:02,778 --> 00:39:09,679
can give rise to almost detached

1
00:39:06,650 --> 00:39:13,278
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:17,048
of branch off from ours into a new

1
00:39:13,278 --> 00:39:19,880
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
00:39:17,048 --> 00:39:23,050
sparked the Big Bang and gave rise to

1
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:24,970
our own universe

1
00:39:23,050 --> 00:39:27,100
you can imagine that a universe like

1
00:39:24,969 --> 00:39:30,039
ours even though it's ten billion light

1
00:39:27,099 --> 00:39:32,319
years across is actually a baby universe

1
00:39:30,039 --> 00:39:36,309
that arose by pinching off from some

1
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:38,380
much bigger universe we can picture the

1
00:39:36,309 --> 00:39:41,559
birth of a baby universe with this

1
00:39:38,380 --> 00:39:46,059
bottle representing an old dying chaotic

1
00:39:41,559 --> 00:39:48,429
universe my breath is like quantum

1
00:39:46,059 --> 00:39:53,320
fluctuations creating new universes that

1
00:39:48,429 --> 00:39:55,389
look like bubbles and each one of those

1
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:57,130
bubbles is a separate universe all of

1
00:39:55,389 --> 00:39:58,889
its own there is the possibility that

1
00:39:57,130 --> 00:40:01,750
there are other universes out there

1
00:39:58,889 --> 00:40:04,690
perhaps but it off from our University

1
00:40:01,750 --> 00:40:07,059
and they may have their own fate either

1
00:40:04,690 --> 00:40:11,710
eternal expansion or ultimate

1
00:40:07,059 --> 00:40:14,679
re-collapse if other universes exist

1
00:40:11,710 --> 00:40:18,880
that perhaps future civilizations may

1
00:40:14,679 --> 00:40:21,858
not face revocable death sentence

1
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:24,048
so I would suspect that trillions

1
00:40:21,858 --> 00:40:26,389
quadrillions of years from now when the

1
00:40:24,048 --> 00:40:29,119
universe gets really cold and the

1
00:40:26,389 --> 00:40:31,489
universe is near death intelligent

1
00:40:29,119 --> 00:40:34,309
beings will be so powerful then that

1
00:40:31,489 --> 00:40:37,519
they may be tempted to assemble enough

1
00:40:34,309 --> 00:40:40,759
energy at one point to open up bubbles

1
00:40:37,518 --> 00:40:43,278
little soap bubbles gateways to another

1
00:40:40,759 --> 00:40:47,409
universe where it's a lot warmer and

1
00:40:43,278 --> 00:40:47,409
they can start all over again

1
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:52,059
whether or not our descendants muster

1
00:40:50,050 --> 00:40:54,700
the technology to leave this universe

1
00:40:52,059 --> 00:41:01,420
there's no avoiding the fact that like

1
00:40:54,699 --> 00:41:03,730
all things it will come to an end while

1
00:41:01,420 --> 00:41:06,970
science wrestles with questions of how

1
00:41:03,730 --> 00:41:11,579
the universe will die humanity is left

1
00:41:06,969 --> 00:41:11,578
to do the same with how it will live

1
00:41:17,750 --> 00:41:19,809
you

1
00:41:39,610 --> 00:41:44,079
imagine that somehow a human

1
00:41:41,409 --> 00:41:47,379
civilization were to persist into the

1
00:41:44,079 --> 00:41:49,509
degenerate era they might be tapping the

1
00:41:47,380 --> 00:41:52,720
energy that's emerging from the white

1
00:41:49,510 --> 00:41:55,120
dwarf however humans wouldn't be able to

1
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:58,629
establish an energy gathering outpost on

1
00:41:55,119 --> 00:42:01,449
its surface such as an oil rig anchored

1
00:41:58,630 --> 00:42:03,789
to the ocean floor the surface gravity

1
00:42:01,449 --> 00:42:05,889
is incredibly strong you had basically

1
00:42:03,789 --> 00:42:10,029
been crushed if you tried to stand on

1
00:42:05,889 --> 00:42:12,129
the surface of a white dwarf to survive

1
00:42:10,030 --> 00:42:15,460
future civilizations would need to

1
00:42:12,130 --> 00:42:17,650
establish an orbiting colony they would

1
00:42:15,460 --> 00:42:19,720
probably tap that energy that's coming

1
00:42:17,650 --> 00:42:21,730
from the white dwarf by having some sort

1
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:23,199
of absorbing panels that are also in

1
00:42:21,730 --> 00:42:25,240
orbit around the white dwarf

1
00:42:23,199 --> 00:42:27,639
so the energy that's emanating up from

1
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:32,349
below would be captured and trapped and

1
00:42:27,639 --> 00:42:34,239
used still light in this white dwarf

1
00:42:32,349 --> 00:42:38,049
orbiting future would have to be

1
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:40,389
generated artificially there's no star

1
00:42:38,050 --> 00:42:43,570
shining in the sky there's no moon light

1
00:42:40,389 --> 00:42:49,259
there's no sunlight you're simply

1
00:42:43,570 --> 00:42:49,260
orbiting in gigantic dead black mass

1
00:42:50,340 --> 00:42:55,480
unfortunately dead black masses will

1
00:42:53,500 --> 00:42:59,079
make up the bulk of galaxies

1
00:42:55,480 --> 00:43:02,170
during the degenerate era so as we go

1
00:42:59,079 --> 00:43:04,590
into the degenerate era we'll have

1
00:43:02,170 --> 00:43:07,389
roughly a hundred billion dead stars

1
00:43:04,590 --> 00:43:12,850
orbiting each other and a giant

1
00:43:07,389 --> 00:43:14,349
elliptical configuration occasionally

1
00:43:12,849 --> 00:43:17,110
they'll interact with one another and

1
00:43:14,349 --> 00:43:19,509
one will get flung out of the galaxy

1
00:43:17,110 --> 00:43:20,860
causing the galaxy to lose mass the

1
00:43:19,510 --> 00:43:23,560
galaxies in a sense will evaporate

1
00:43:20,860 --> 00:43:25,650
slowly with time as these things are

1
00:43:23,559 --> 00:43:28,599
flung out

1
00:43:25,650 --> 00:43:33,369
white dwarfs and remaining galactic

1
00:43:28,599 --> 00:43:35,440
material fall prey to black holes so

1
00:43:33,369 --> 00:43:37,869
gradually with time what will happen is

1
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:40,360
the galaxy will have fewer and fewer

1
00:43:37,869 --> 00:43:44,839
objects in it and a greater and greater

1
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:46,730
fraction of them will be black holes

1
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,829
and whatever isn't seized by the

1
00:43:46,730 --> 00:43:52,929
millions of black holes roaming the

1
00:43:48,829 --> 00:43:55,610
universe begins to decay with old age

1
00:43:52,929 --> 00:43:58,699
and this is another example of the

1
00:43:55,610 --> 00:44:00,620
general process by which the total

1
00:43:58,699 --> 00:44:02,169
amount of randomness increases in the

1
00:44:00,619 --> 00:44:05,739
universe the second law of

1
00:44:02,170 --> 00:44:09,320
thermodynamics is once again at work and

1
00:44:05,739 --> 00:44:13,129
all the structures all these stars are

1
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:16,100
basically evaporating into nothing so by

1
00:44:13,130 --> 00:44:18,650
about cosmological decade 40 most of the

1
00:44:16,099 --> 00:44:21,739
stuff that's been built the planets and

1
00:44:18,650 --> 00:44:24,530
stars are all gone and the degenerate

1
00:44:21,739 --> 00:44:28,969
era which is stretched or a huge amount

1
00:44:24,530 --> 00:44:31,550
of time is coming to an end with nothing

1
00:44:28,969 --> 00:44:35,529
left in their way black holes stand

1
00:44:31,550 --> 00:44:35,530
poised to rule the universe

1
00:44:38,099 --> 00:44:48,420
this may be the grim fuel in contract

1
00:44:40,829 --> 00:44:50,009
see each bounce is another big bang but

1
00:44:48,420 --> 00:44:53,670
what if there isn't enough gravity to

1
00:44:50,009 --> 00:44:56,849
rein in the universe I launch it upwards

1
00:44:53,670 --> 00:44:58,650
with enough energy that it completely

1
00:44:56,849 --> 00:45:01,650
escapes there's not enough mass in the

1
00:44:58,650 --> 00:45:06,329
universe to make it reca lats and so it

1
00:45:01,650 --> 00:45:08,869
continues to expand eventually though

1
00:45:06,329 --> 00:45:11,670
this expansion ought to slow shockingly

1
00:45:08,869 --> 00:45:14,789
scientific observations reveal something

1
00:45:11,670 --> 00:45:17,608
completely different it's getting it

1
00:45:14,789 --> 00:45:20,309
faster the universe seems to be

1
00:45:17,608 --> 00:45:22,889
careening out of control this expansion

1
00:45:20,309 --> 00:45:25,619
is accelerating it's kicking in once

1
00:45:22,889 --> 00:45:28,650
again we are undergoing an inflationary

1
00:45:25,619 --> 00:45:30,229
expansion so the universe we now know is

1
00:45:28,650 --> 00:45:32,940
expanding with this extra acceleration

1
00:45:30,228 --> 00:45:34,978
that is beyond what you would have

1
00:45:32,940 --> 00:45:37,429
thought was just due to the initial

1
00:45:34,978 --> 00:45:37,429
explosion

1
00:45:40,309 --> 00:45:46,259
not only does the ball escape but it's

1
00:45:43,679 --> 00:45:48,719
as though a little rocket engine was on

1
00:45:46,260 --> 00:45:52,140
the ball and it accelerates away from

1
00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:56,389
the earth even faster this is a

1
00:45:52,139 --> 00:45:58,949
possibility that was somewhat unexpected

1
00:45:56,389 --> 00:46:03,150
the volume of space in the universe

1
00:45:58,949 --> 00:46:05,849
seems destined to increase forever what

1
00:46:03,150 --> 00:46:07,980
this means is that distant galaxies are

1
00:46:05,849 --> 00:46:10,079
gonna go zooming away from us and will

1
00:46:07,980 --> 00:46:13,369
eventually become invisible because

1
00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:15,989
they'll be too far away to see and

1
00:46:13,369 --> 00:46:18,900
without seeing galaxies rushing away

1
00:46:15,989 --> 00:46:21,750
from each other future civilizations

1
00:46:18,900 --> 00:46:23,910
will lose all sense of history they

1
00:46:21,750 --> 00:46:27,840
won't know that there was ever a big

1
00:46:23,909 --> 00:46:30,960
bang so you will think that the only

1
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:33,120
structure within the universe is the

1
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:36,449
Milky Way galaxy and that the rest of

1
00:46:33,119 --> 00:46:39,049
the universe is effectively empty devoid

1
00:46:36,449 --> 00:46:39,049
of stars

1
00:46:39,380 --> 00:46:45,090
another scientific theory proposes that

1
00:46:42,239 --> 00:46:48,389
this expansion will balloon even faster

1
00:46:45,090 --> 00:46:52,260
if this does happen and a violent end

1
00:46:48,389 --> 00:46:55,139
awaits our cosmos suppose the amount of

1
00:46:52,260 --> 00:46:58,619
repulsive energy increases with time per

1
00:46:55,139 --> 00:47:01,829
unit volume it'll eventually grow strong

1
00:46:58,619 --> 00:47:04,619
enough to cause clusters of galaxies to

1
00:47:01,829 --> 00:47:06,420
get ripped apart and then galaxies

1
00:47:04,619 --> 00:47:08,250
themselves will get ripped apart the

1
00:47:06,420 --> 00:47:09,960
Stars will start flying away from one

1
00:47:08,250 --> 00:47:12,960
another no longer held together by

1
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:14,490
gravity and then planetary systems like

1
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:17,369
our solar system will get ripped apart

1
00:47:14,489 --> 00:47:19,889
and then stars and planets will get

1
00:47:17,369 --> 00:47:22,440
ripped apart and then humans get ripped

1
00:47:19,889 --> 00:47:25,319
apart and then the very atoms of which

1
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:27,929
we are made will get ripped apart that's

1
00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:30,960
called the big rip and it's a really

1
00:47:27,929 --> 00:47:34,339
scary possibility but don't worry most

1
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:36,869
of us don't think it's gonna happen but

1
00:47:34,340 --> 00:47:40,200
even if the rate of expansion never

1
00:47:36,869 --> 00:47:44,519
reaches this tipping point the future is

1
00:47:40,199 --> 00:47:47,069
things are flung out white dwarfs and

1
00:47:44,519 --> 00:47:51,840
remaining galactic material fall prey to

1
00:47:47,070 --> 00:47:54,119
black holes so gradually with time what

1
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:56,820
will happen is the galaxy will have

1
00:47:54,119 --> 00:47:58,500
fewer and fewer objects in it and a

1
00:47:56,820 --> 00:48:01,838
greater and greater fraction of them

1
00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:03,728
will be black holes

1
00:48:01,838 --> 00:48:05,828
and whatever isn't seized by the

1
00:48:03,728 --> 00:48:09,929
millions of black holes roaming the

1
00:48:05,829 --> 00:48:12,609
universe begins to decay with old age

1
00:48:09,929 --> 00:48:15,518
and this is another example of the

1
00:48:12,608 --> 00:48:17,619
general process by which the total

1
00:48:15,518 --> 00:48:19,139
amount of randomness increases in the

1
00:48:17,619 --> 00:48:22,739
universe the second law of

1
00:48:19,139 --> 00:48:26,348
thermodynamics is once again at work and

1
00:48:22,739 --> 00:48:30,130
all the structures all these stars are

1
00:48:26,349 --> 00:48:33,099
basically evaporating into nothing so by

1
00:48:30,130 --> 00:48:35,650
about cosmological decade 40 most of the

1
00:48:33,099 --> 00:48:38,739
stuff that's been built the planets and

1
00:48:35,650 --> 00:48:41,199
stars are all gone and the degenerate

1
00:48:38,739 --> 00:48:45,489
era which is stretched for a huge

1
00:48:41,199 --> 00:48:48,099
amounts of time is coming to an end with

1
00:48:45,489 --> 00:48:52,528
nothing left in their way black holes

1
00:48:48,099 --> 00:48:52,528
stand poised to rule the universe

1
00:48:55,088 --> 00:49:02,038
this may be the grim future of the

1
00:48:57,579 --> 00:49:04,839
cosmos the planets decay and dissolves

1
00:49:02,039 --> 00:49:08,680
dark galactic remnants scattered across

1
00:49:04,838 --> 00:49:12,630
a bloated universe and even light is

1
00:49:08,679 --> 00:49:14,849
just a faint distant memory

1
00:49:12,630 --> 00:49:16,760
as we continue through the vast

1
00:49:14,849 --> 00:49:20,400
stretches of time measured in

1
00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:23,070
cosmological decades massive black holes

1
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:26,389
survive as the only recognizable

1
00:49:23,070 --> 00:49:29,100
features of our once brilliant night sky

1
00:49:26,389 --> 00:49:34,969
we're up to about cosmological decades

1
00:49:29,099 --> 00:49:34,969
60s and we look out at the night sky

1
00:49:35,059 --> 00:49:41,119
it's incredibly cold it's incredibly

1
00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:45,389
black and there's only the faintest

1
00:49:41,119 --> 00:49:48,179
crackle of radio waves and gravitational

1
00:49:45,389 --> 00:49:54,690
radiation echoing through the empty

1
00:49:48,179 --> 00:49:57,179
skies this is the black hole era the

1
00:49:54,690 --> 00:50:00,809
continuous expansion of the universe has

1
00:49:57,179 --> 00:50:04,469
taken its toll the unimaginable cold

1
00:50:00,809 --> 00:50:08,489
saps energy and constricts movement time

1
00:50:04,469 --> 00:50:11,039
itself seems to lose meaning in the

1
00:50:08,489 --> 00:50:13,229
midst of the black hole era even the

1
00:50:11,039 --> 00:50:16,469
degenerate era looks like the first

1
00:50:13,230 --> 00:50:18,960
sliver of time after the Big Bang

1
00:50:16,469 --> 00:50:22,139
does life have a chance in this

1
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:24,840
environment humans won't exist at that

1
00:50:22,139 --> 00:50:27,299
time because protons won't exist but

1
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:30,690
it's possible to imagine some kind of

1
00:50:27,300 --> 00:50:34,800
entity which is living in an

1
00:50:30,690 --> 00:50:38,070
extraordinarily slow rate if it lives

1
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:41,609
slowly enough perhaps strange life could

1
00:50:38,070 --> 00:50:43,619
emerge galaxies themselves will get

1
00:50:41,608 --> 00:50:45,598
ripped apart the stars will start flying

1
00:50:43,619 --> 00:50:48,269
away from one another no longer held

1
00:50:45,599 --> 00:50:50,130
together by gravity and then planetary

1
00:50:48,269 --> 00:50:53,099
systems like our solar system will get

1
00:50:50,130 --> 00:50:55,440
ripped apart and then stars and planets

1
00:50:53,099 --> 00:50:57,780
will get ripped apart and then humans

1
00:50:55,440 --> 00:51:00,059
get ripped apart and then the very atoms

1
00:50:57,780 --> 00:51:03,480
of which we are made will get ripped

1
00:51:00,059 --> 00:51:05,670
apart that's called the big rip and it's

1
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:07,980
a really scary possibility but don't

1
00:51:05,670 --> 00:51:12,210
worry most of us don't think it's gonna

1
00:51:07,980 --> 00:51:15,510
happen but even if the rate of expansion

1
00:51:12,210 --> 00:51:18,059
never reaches this tipping point the

1
00:51:15,510 --> 00:51:22,050
future of our universe still isn't

1
00:51:18,059 --> 00:51:24,900
promising its temperature decreases it's

1
00:51:22,050 --> 00:51:27,359
getting colder and colder and darker and

1
00:51:24,900 --> 00:51:30,150
darker because the feeble light emitted

1
00:51:27,358 --> 00:51:33,029
by stars is going into a progressively

1
00:51:30,150 --> 00:51:35,369
larger volume so the universe is going

1
00:51:33,030 --> 00:51:39,470
to get really cold and really dark

1
00:51:35,369 --> 00:51:39,470
basically a pretty gloomy place

1
00:51:40,650 --> 00:51:46,300
the universe itself

1
00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:48,700
we now believe will die in ice rather

1
00:51:46,300 --> 00:51:51,610
than fire we think the universe will die

1
00:51:48,699 --> 00:51:55,299
in a great freeze just like the Norse

1
00:51:51,610 --> 00:51:58,860
legends foretell rather than this

1
00:51:55,300 --> 00:51:58,860
Armageddon of a big

1
00:52:00,130 --> 00:52:06,019
if the universe continues on its present

1
00:52:03,260 --> 00:52:12,099
course we're destined for a cosmic Ice

1
00:52:06,019 --> 00:52:12,099
Age where sunlight itself goes extinct

1
00:52:12,579 --> 00:52:19,280
by the Year 100 trillion AD the last

1
00:52:16,880 --> 00:52:22,460
remnants of human civilization

1
00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:25,540
may be forced to settle here in this

1
00:52:22,460 --> 00:52:27,980
distant dark corner of our galaxy

1
00:52:25,539 --> 00:52:31,579
they'll be huddled around the last

1
00:52:27,980 --> 00:52:36,740
burning star in the sky but sadly yet

1
00:52:31,579 --> 00:52:38,960
two will soon die our Milky Way so named

1
00:52:36,739 --> 00:52:42,289
for its shimmering band of sparkling

1
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:44,389
stars will be unrecognizable faint

1
00:52:42,289 --> 00:52:47,630
glowing embers of dark stellar husks

1
00:52:44,389 --> 00:52:51,670
will be all that remain of what was once

1
00:52:47,630 --> 00:52:51,670
a brilliant night vision

1
00:52:52,739 --> 00:53:01,759
what happened to all of the stars how

1
00:52:56,699 --> 00:53:01,759
did we arrive at such a dismal scenario

1
00:53:03,590 --> 00:53:12,210
science decrees that as our universe

1
00:53:06,739 --> 00:53:14,819
expands and ages it will cool inevitably

1
00:53:12,210 --> 00:53:18,329
the future for life as we know it will

1
00:53:14,820 --> 00:53:21,269
grow ever more hostile we are headed for

1
00:53:18,329 --> 00:53:24,420
a time when one day the universe itself

1
00:53:21,269 --> 00:53:28,889
will freeze to death and all life with

1
00:53:24,420 --> 00:53:30,260
it and that's a law when we scientists

1
00:53:28,889 --> 00:53:33,779
look at the evolution of the universe

1
00:53:30,260 --> 00:53:35,730
some critics say that's crazy we can

1
00:53:33,780 --> 00:53:37,860
barely predict tomorrow's headlines and

1
00:53:35,730 --> 00:53:39,599
here you are predicting what's going to

1
00:53:37,860 --> 00:53:42,269
be happening billions and billions of

1
00:53:39,599 --> 00:53:45,989
years from fluctuation can induce a

1
00:53:42,269 --> 00:53:48,210
devastating phase transition the way

1
00:53:45,989 --> 00:53:50,399
that would occur is that some region of

1
00:53:48,210 --> 00:53:52,559
space at some point would witness the

1
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:54,420
formation of a bubble and that bubble

1
00:53:52,559 --> 00:53:58,409
would spread throughout the space around

1
00:53:54,420 --> 00:54:02,220
it just like this ink would spread

1
00:53:58,409 --> 00:54:05,670
through the glass just as the ink

1
00:54:02,219 --> 00:54:08,099
changes the nature of the water so could

1
00:54:05,670 --> 00:54:10,730
a face transition transform the nature

1
00:54:08,099 --> 00:54:10,730
of the cosmos

1
00:54:11,809 --> 00:54:16,759
the laws of physics would be different

1
00:54:14,090 --> 00:54:18,320
in the weight of this bubble passing the

1
00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:20,450
masses of different particles would

1
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:23,030
change the charge of different particles

1
00:54:20,449 --> 00:54:24,829
would change all of chemistry as we know

1
00:54:23,030 --> 00:54:27,019
it would be completely different after

1
00:54:24,829 --> 00:54:29,059
this phase transition occurred what that

1
00:54:27,019 --> 00:54:31,579
means is that suddenly there are new

1
00:54:29,059 --> 00:54:33,920
ways to arrange all the particles that

1
00:54:31,579 --> 00:54:36,079
were made of and that's sort of like

1
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:39,470
everything in the universe becomes an

1
00:54:36,079 --> 00:54:41,750
atomic bomb it would just rearrange

1
00:54:39,469 --> 00:54:44,329
itself releasing energy and literally

1
00:54:41,750 --> 00:54:48,519
every particle every atom every

1
00:54:44,329 --> 00:54:48,519
structure in the universe would explode

1
00:54:49,420 --> 00:54:55,610
so no complicated structure can possibly

1
00:54:52,940 --> 00:54:58,970
survive that sort of transition will be

1
00:54:55,610 --> 00:55:00,680
left is just a mess nothing but a gas of

1
00:54:58,969 --> 00:55:06,439
particles bumping randomly into each

1
00:55:00,679 --> 00:55:11,029
other but a random quantum fluctuation

1
00:55:06,440 --> 00:55:13,280
can also spark a bubble of hope some

1
00:55:11,030 --> 00:55:15,769
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:19,670
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
00:55:15,769 --> 00:55:22,699
can give rise to almost detached

1
00:55:19,670 --> 00:55:26,300
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
00:55:22,699 --> 00:55:30,069
of branch off from ours into a new

1
00:55:26,300 --> 00:55:33,440
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
00:55:30,070 --> 00:55:36,048
sparked a big bang and gave rise to our

1
00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:37,999
own universe

1
00:55:36,048 --> 00:55:40,099
you can imagine that a universe like

1
00:55:37,998 --> 00:55:43,038
ours even though it's ten billion light

1
00:55:40,099 --> 00:55:45,349
years across is actually a baby universe

1
00:55:43,039 --> 00:55:49,339
that arose by pinching off from some

1
00:55:45,349 --> 00:55:51,380
much bigger universe we can picture the

1
00:55:49,338 --> 00:55:54,558
birth of a baby universe with this

1
00:55:51,380 --> 00:55:59,059
bottle representing an old dying chaotic

1
00:55:54,559 --> 00:56:01,429
universe my breath is like quantum

1
00:55:59,059 --> 00:56:06,319
fluctuations creating new universes that

1
00:56:01,429 --> 00:56:08,389
look like bubbles and each one of those

1
00:56:06,318 --> 00:56:10,159
bubbles is a separate universe all of

1
00:56:08,389 --> 00:56:11,889
its own there is the possibility that

1
00:56:10,159 --> 00:56:14,778
there are other universes out there

1
00:56:11,889 --> 00:56:17,688
perhaps but it off from our universe and

1
00:56:14,778 --> 00:56:20,088
they may have their own fate either

1
00:56:17,688 --> 00:56:24,739
eternal expansion or ultimate

1
00:56:20,088 --> 00:56:27,679
re-collapse if other universes exist

1
00:56:24,739 --> 00:56:32,139
that perhaps future civilizations may

1
00:56:27,679 --> 00:56:32,139
not face inevitable death sentence

1
00:56:32,309 --> 00:56:37,049
so I would suspect that trillions

1
00:56:34,860 --> 00:56:39,390
quadrillions of years from now when the

1
00:56:37,050 --> 00:56:41,610
universe gets really cold and the

1
00:56:39,389 --> 00:56:43,129
universe is randomness increases in the

1
00:56:41,610 --> 00:56:46,700
universe the second law of

1
00:56:43,130 --> 00:56:50,340
thermodynamics is once again at work and

1
00:56:46,699 --> 00:56:53,309
all the structures all these stars are

1
00:56:50,340 --> 00:56:56,820
basically evaporating into nothing and

1
00:56:53,309 --> 00:56:58,980
so by about cosmological decade 40 most

1
00:56:56,820 --> 00:57:02,370
of the stuff that's been built the

1
00:56:58,980 --> 00:57:04,889
planets and stars are all gone and the

1
00:57:02,369 --> 00:57:08,449
degenerate era which is stretched for a

1
00:57:04,889 --> 00:57:11,759
huge amounts of time is coming to an end

1
00:57:08,449 --> 00:57:16,519
with nothing left in their way black

1
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:16,520
holes stand poised to rule the universe

1
00:57:19,079 --> 00:57:26,028
this may be the grim future of the

1
00:57:21,568 --> 00:57:28,829
cosmos the planets decay and dissolves

1
00:57:26,028 --> 00:57:32,670
dark galactic remnants scattered across

1
00:57:28,829 --> 00:57:36,630
a bloated universe and even light is

1
00:57:32,670 --> 00:57:38,820
just a faint distant memory

1
00:57:36,630 --> 00:57:40,760
as we continue through the vast

1
00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:44,400
stretches of time measured in

1
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:46,560
cosmological decades massive black holes

1
00:57:44,400 --> 00:57:50,360
survived is the only recognizable

1
00:57:46,559 --> 00:57:53,099
features of our once brilliant night sky

1
00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:58,970
we're up to about cosmological decades

1
00:57:53,099 --> 00:57:58,969
60s and we look out at the night sky

1
00:57:59,059 --> 00:58:05,090
it's incredibly cold it's incredibly

1
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:06,420
black and there's only the faintest

1
00:58:05,090 --> 00:58:09,390
crackle

1
00:58:06,420 --> 00:58:12,180
of radio waves and gravitational

1
00:58:09,389 --> 00:58:18,690
radiation echoing through the empty

1
00:58:12,179 --> 00:58:21,179
skies this is the black hole era the

1
00:58:18,690 --> 00:58:24,780
continuous expansion of the universe has

1
00:58:21,179 --> 00:58:28,440
taken its toll the unimaginable cold

1
00:58:24,780 --> 00:58:32,490
saps energy and constricts movement time

1
00:58:28,440 --> 00:58:35,010
itself seems to lose meaning in the

1
00:58:32,489 --> 00:58:37,229
midst of the black hole era even the

1
00:58:35,010 --> 00:58:41,340
degenerate era looks like the first

1
00:58:37,230 --> 00:58:44,269
sliver of time after the Big Bang does

1
00:58:41,340 --> 00:58:46,829
life have a chance in this environment

1
00:58:44,269 --> 00:58:49,710
humans won't exist at that time because

1
00:58:46,829 --> 00:58:53,420
protons won't exist but it's possible to

1
00:58:49,710 --> 00:58:57,289
imagine some kind of entity which is

1
00:58:53,420 --> 00:59:00,389
living at an extraordinarily slow rate

1
00:58:57,289 --> 00:59:05,610
if it lives slowly enough perhaps

1
00:59:00,389 --> 00:59:08,759
strange life could emerge a thought

1
00:59:05,610 --> 00:59:10,740
would take trillions of years and may

1
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:12,660
take a trillion years for you to decide

1
00:59:10,739 --> 00:59:15,779
what to have for lunch because

1
00:59:12,659 --> 00:59:18,500
everything is so slow everything is near

1
00:59:15,780 --> 00:59:18,500
absolute zero

1
00:59:18,690 --> 00:59:24,099
the creeping timescale of the black hole

1
00:59:21,730 --> 00:59:27,780
era can be compared to the growth of

1
00:59:24,099 --> 00:59:31,569
vegetation from a human perspective

1
00:59:27,780 --> 00:59:36,730
involving minutes hours and days plant

1
00:59:31,570 --> 00:59:39,670
life can seem frozen in time absolutely

1
00:59:36,730 --> 00:59:40,000
nothing seems to be happening it appears

1
00:59:39,670 --> 00:59:42,490
to be

1
00:59:40,000 --> 00:59:44,519
it may take a trillion years for you to

1
00:59:42,489 --> 00:59:47,769
decide what to have for lunch because

1
00:59:44,519 --> 00:59:52,929
everything is so slow everything is near

1
00:59:47,769 --> 00:59:55,570
absolute zero the creeping timescale of

1
00:59:52,929 --> 00:59:59,500
the black hole era can be compared to

1
00:59:55,570 --> 01:00:02,019
the growth of vegetation from a human

1
00:59:59,500 --> 01:00:07,500
perspective involving minutes hours and

1
01:00:02,019 --> 01:00:07,500
days plant life can seem frozen in time

1
01:00:07,710 --> 01:00:12,760
absolutely nothing seems to be happening

1
01:00:10,320 --> 01:00:16,570
it appears to be completely dead

1
01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:22,030
completely static but if we speed up the

1
01:00:16,570 --> 01:00:24,730
clock then we see the activity the plant

1
01:00:22,030 --> 01:00:27,160
grows plant and moves its leaves in

1
01:00:24,730 --> 01:00:29,289
response to where the Sun is plant is

1
01:00:27,159 --> 01:00:32,079
continuously in motion it's continuously

1
01:00:29,289 --> 01:00:34,059
doing things but that whole scale of

1
01:00:32,079 --> 01:00:36,429
existence is on a time frame that's

1
01:00:34,059 --> 01:00:39,029
longer than what our experience is used

1
01:00:36,429 --> 01:00:39,029
to dealing with

1
01:00:42,500 --> 01:00:49,550
the real action in the black hole era

1
01:00:45,150 --> 01:00:49,550
occurs when two black holes meet

1
01:00:50,309 --> 01:00:56,130
although invisible to human eyes a

1
01:00:52,829 --> 01:00:59,099
collision between these two beasts sends

1
01:00:56,130 --> 01:01:01,739
a shudder through space-time

1
01:00:59,099 --> 01:01:05,548
this event can be imagined in a sheet of

1
01:01:01,739 --> 01:01:08,269
perfectly still calm water it's a bit

1
01:01:05,548 --> 01:01:12,139
like suddenly dropping a gigantic rock

1
01:01:08,268 --> 01:01:12,139
into that calm water

1
01:01:12,250 --> 01:01:17,619
sending out huge series of ripples and

1
01:01:15,070 --> 01:01:19,510
you have a lot of action for a little

1
01:01:17,619 --> 01:01:22,990
bit of time but then that dissipates the

1
01:01:19,510 --> 01:01:26,580
ripples died away and you're back to

1
01:01:22,989 --> 01:01:29,229
that smooth glass-like sheet of water

1
01:01:26,579 --> 01:01:34,150
but even for these kings of the black

1
01:01:29,230 --> 01:01:36,519
hole era time is running out and you

1
01:01:34,150 --> 01:01:38,829
might think oh they'll last forever but

1
01:01:36,519 --> 01:01:41,949
even they don't last forever because

1
01:01:38,829 --> 01:01:46,179
they evaporate very very slowly with

1
01:01:41,949 --> 01:01:48,250
time black holes in today's universe

1
01:01:46,179 --> 01:01:52,449
grow larger as they gobble up

1
01:01:48,250 --> 01:01:54,820
surrounding matter but eventually far in

1
01:01:52,449 --> 01:01:57,549
the future there will be some little

1
01:01:54,820 --> 01:02:00,039
material to swallow that the evaporation

1
01:01:57,550 --> 01:02:02,080
rate will start dominating over the rate

1
01:02:00,039 --> 01:02:04,389
at which they swallow material from

1
01:02:02,079 --> 01:02:07,869
their surroundings so the evaporation

1
01:02:04,389 --> 01:02:11,098
rate proceeds more quickly when the

1
01:02:07,869 --> 01:02:11,099
universe is very very old

1
01:02:11,230 --> 01:02:16,179
an evaporating black hole does not go

1
01:02:13,840 --> 01:02:21,150
out with a whimper like the planets do

1
01:02:16,179 --> 01:02:21,149
when they die but rather with a bang

1
01:02:21,179 --> 01:02:25,779
that's because it behaves

1
01:02:23,260 --> 01:02:26,940
counter-intuitively as it runs out of

1
01:02:25,780 --> 01:02:29,470
fuel

1
01:02:26,940 --> 01:02:32,530
there's basically two strategies and

1
01:02:29,469 --> 01:02:34,899
even adopt one is to sort of ease up on

1
01:02:32,530 --> 01:02:37,060
the gas pedal and try to conserve your

1
01:02:34,900 --> 01:02:40,019
energy and basically try to roll into

1
01:02:37,059 --> 01:02:42,759
the next gas station on here the others

1
01:02:40,019 --> 01:02:44,440
so it's not hard to imagine that there

1
01:02:42,760 --> 01:02:47,859
are many locations where light has

1
01:02:44,440 --> 01:02:50,608
evolved and flourished and is now being

1
01:02:47,858 --> 01:02:50,608
extinguished

1
01:02:50,690 --> 01:02:56,210
just as each star suffers the effects of

1
01:02:53,510 --> 01:03:00,109
entropy so too will the rest of the

1
01:02:56,210 --> 01:03:02,690
universe but stars naturally increase

1
01:03:00,108 --> 01:03:05,960
the entropy of the universe by giving

1
01:03:02,690 --> 01:03:09,050
off light and heat just like this fire

1
01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:12,050
of burning charcoal naturally increases

1
01:03:09,050 --> 01:03:14,210
the entropy of the universe right now

1
01:03:12,050 --> 01:03:16,490
we're kind of in a steady period in the

1
01:03:14,210 --> 01:03:19,010
universe where stars are born live out

1
01:03:16,489 --> 01:03:20,539
their lives die give some of that gas

1
01:03:19,010 --> 01:03:22,640
back to the next generation then you

1
01:03:20,539 --> 01:03:25,670
have another generation of stars but

1
01:03:22,639 --> 01:03:30,108
that rate of star formation is gradually

1
01:03:25,670 --> 01:03:32,269
decreasing with time and as stars use up

1
01:03:30,108 --> 01:03:35,299
their fuel and burn out there aren't

1
01:03:32,269 --> 01:03:37,519
enough new stars being formed to replace

1
01:03:35,300 --> 01:03:40,190
them the moment we run out of gas

1
01:03:37,519 --> 01:03:43,789
to make new stars it means for every

1
01:03:40,190 --> 01:03:45,909
dead star in the rolls and ranks there's

1
01:03:43,789 --> 01:03:47,800
not a star to replace it

1
01:03:45,909 --> 01:03:49,230
and so that's a bad situation to be in

1
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:52,840
the day that happens

1
01:03:49,230 --> 01:03:54,940
so effectively galaxies giant

1
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:57,160
collections of stars are growing

1
01:03:54,940 --> 01:03:59,980
progressively dimmer with time on

1
01:03:57,159 --> 01:04:02,379
average and eventually when the universe

1
01:03:59,980 --> 01:04:05,289
is something like a hundred trillion

1
01:04:02,380 --> 01:04:08,890
years old there will be essentially no

1
01:04:05,289 --> 01:04:11,699
stars still shining the universe will be

1
01:04:08,889 --> 01:04:14,699
cold and dark indeed

1
01:04:11,699 --> 01:04:16,858
any life that depends on sunlight will

1
01:04:14,699 --> 01:04:18,989
rapidly go extinct as the universe

1
01:04:16,858 --> 01:04:22,440
continues to age as there are fewer

1
01:04:18,989 --> 01:04:26,129
fewer sources of life providing energy

1
01:04:22,440 --> 01:04:28,260
from a host star you might think the

1
01:04:26,130 --> 01:04:30,869
most massive stars the ones with the

1
01:04:28,260 --> 01:04:34,559
most fuel will last the longest

1
01:04:30,869 --> 01:04:36,950
in reality the more fuel a star carries

1
01:04:34,559 --> 01:04:39,930
the faster it burns through it

1
01:04:36,949 --> 01:04:42,419
the final rays of sunlight left in the

1
01:04:39,929 --> 01:04:46,469
universe will come from stars known as

1
01:04:42,420 --> 01:04:49,559
red dwarfs these miniature stars ten

1
01:04:46,469 --> 01:04:53,308
times less massive than our own Sun burn

1
01:04:49,559 --> 01:04:55,470
thousands of degrees cooler red dwarf

1
01:04:53,309 --> 01:04:57,390
stars are much more miserly with their

1
01:04:55,469 --> 01:05:00,118
fuel consumption so even though they

1
01:04:57,389 --> 01:05:04,368
have rust fuel to begin with they last

1
01:05:00,119 --> 01:05:06,960
much much longer than our Sun or last a

1
01:05:04,369 --> 01:05:11,039
typical red dwarf can live for as long

1
01:05:06,960 --> 01:05:13,289
as 14 trillion years that's a thousand

1
01:05:11,039 --> 01:05:16,920
times longer than the current age of our

1
01:05:13,289 --> 01:05:20,420
universe eventually though even these

1
01:05:16,920 --> 01:05:23,280
stingy little Suns will begin to die off

1
01:05:20,420 --> 01:05:25,769
so when our Milky Way galaxy is tens of

1
01:05:23,280 --> 01:05:28,048
trillions of years old there's only a

1
01:05:25,769 --> 01:05:30,929
few red dwarfs remaining you might

1
01:05:28,048 --> 01:05:33,239
imagine that any surviving civilizations

1
01:05:30,929 --> 01:05:35,250
will realize that the end is nigh and

1
01:05:33,239 --> 01:05:38,608
they will start crowding around these

1
01:05:35,250 --> 01:05:41,358
few sources of energy trying to scrape

1
01:05:38,608 --> 01:05:41,358
out an existence

1
01:05:41,369 --> 01:05:47,588
so no complicated structure can possibly

1
01:05:44,920 --> 01:05:50,950
survive that sort of transition will be

1
01:05:47,588 --> 01:05:52,659
left is just a mess nothing but a gas of

1
01:05:50,949 --> 01:05:58,419
particles bumping randomly into each

1
01:05:52,659 --> 01:06:03,009
other but a random quantum fluctuation

1
01:05:58,420 --> 01:06:05,230
can also spark a bubble of hope some

1
01:06:03,010 --> 01:06:07,750
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
01:06:05,230 --> 01:06:11,619
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
01:06:07,750 --> 01:06:14,650
can give rise to almost detached

1
01:06:11,619 --> 01:06:18,250
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
01:06:14,650 --> 01:06:22,019
of branch off from ours into a new

1
01:06:18,250 --> 01:06:25,539
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
01:06:22,018 --> 01:06:29,348
sparked a big bang and gave rise to our

1
01:06:25,539 --> 01:06:31,539
own universe you can imagine that a

1
01:06:29,349 --> 01:06:34,210
universe like ours even though it's 10

1
01:06:31,539 --> 01:06:36,640
billion light years across is actually a

1
01:06:34,210 --> 01:06:40,750
baby universe that arose by pinching off

1
01:06:36,639 --> 01:06:42,460
from some much bigger universe we can

1
01:06:40,750 --> 01:06:45,278
picture the birth of a baby universe

1
01:06:42,460 --> 01:06:50,380
with this bottle representing an old

1
01:06:45,278 --> 01:06:52,509
dying chaotic universe my breath is like

1
01:06:50,380 --> 01:06:57,039
quantum fluctuations creating new

1
01:06:52,509 --> 01:06:59,679
universes that look like bubbles and

1
01:06:57,039 --> 01:07:01,420
each one of those bubbles is a separate

1
01:06:59,679 --> 01:07:02,710
universe all of its own there is the

1
01:07:01,420 --> 01:07:05,588
possibility that there are other

1
01:07:02,710 --> 01:07:07,630
universes out there perhaps but it off

1
01:07:05,588 --> 01:07:11,108
from our University and they may have

1
01:07:07,630 --> 01:07:14,139
their own fate either eternal expansion

1
01:07:11,108 --> 01:07:17,808
or ultimate re-collapse

1
01:07:14,139 --> 01:07:20,568
if other universes exist that perhaps

1
01:07:17,809 --> 01:07:25,099
future civilizations may not face in

1
01:07:20,568 --> 01:07:27,798
revocable death sentence so I would

1
01:07:25,099 --> 01:07:29,689
suspect that trillions quadrillions of

1
01:07:27,798 --> 01:07:32,208
years from now when the universe gets

1
01:07:29,688 --> 01:07:34,998
really cold and the universe is near

1
01:07:32,208 --> 01:07:37,518
death intelligent beings will be so

1
01:07:34,998 --> 01:07:40,638
powerful then that they may be tempted

1
01:07:37,518 --> 01:07:44,148
to assemble enough energy at one point

1
01:07:40,639 --> 01:07:47,269
to open up bubbles little soap bubbles

1
01:07:44,148 --> 01:07:49,998
gateways to another universe where it's

1
01:07:47,268 --> 01:07:52,388
a lot warmer and they can start all over

1
01:07:49,998 --> 01:07:52,388
again

1
01:07:52,429 --> 01:07:57,739
whether or not our descendants muster

1
01:07:55,010 --> 01:08:00,020
the technology to leave this universe is

1
01:07:57,739 --> 01:08:06,379
no avoiding the fact that like all

1
01:08:00,019 --> 01:08:08,690
things it will come to an end while

1
01:08:06,380 --> 01:08:11,960
science wrestles with questions of how

1
01:08:08,690 --> 01:08:16,539
the universe will die humanity is left

1
01:08:11,960 --> 01:08:16,539
to do the same with how it will live

1
01:08:22,729 --> 01:08:24,789
you

1
01:08:39,838 --> 01:08:45,068
with the temperature of the universe

1
01:08:42,988 --> 01:08:47,649
getting higher and higher to the point

1
01:08:45,069 --> 01:08:49,739
that the atoms themselves begin to fall

1
01:08:47,649 --> 01:08:55,388
apart

1
01:08:49,738 --> 01:08:58,689
finally our vast universe collapses into

1
01:08:55,389 --> 01:09:01,920
a microscopic point we'll end up with

1
01:08:58,689 --> 01:09:04,689
this soot of matter which is made of

1
01:09:01,920 --> 01:09:08,548
fundamental particles which are milling

1
01:09:04,689 --> 01:09:14,169
around at high energy high temperature

1
01:09:08,548 --> 01:09:17,109
life as we know it has no escape however

1
01:09:14,170 --> 01:09:21,219
the universe may not ultimately ignite

1
01:09:17,109 --> 01:09:23,889
into an all-consuming Hellfire there are

1
01:09:21,219 --> 01:09:24,368
two basic paradigms for the end of the

1
01:09:23,889 --> 01:09:27,088
world

1
01:09:24,368 --> 01:09:29,588
first the universe is gonna end in fire

1
01:09:27,088 --> 01:09:32,738
that's the Christian theory of

1
01:09:29,588 --> 01:09:35,500
Armageddon fire and brimstone and the

1
01:09:32,738 --> 01:09:38,289
second coming but the Norris also had

1
01:09:35,500 --> 01:09:41,560
their legends they had the legend of

1
01:09:38,289 --> 01:09:43,960
Ragnarok twilight of the Gods where

1
01:09:41,560 --> 01:09:46,000
there would be this monstrous snowstorm

1
01:09:43,960 --> 01:09:47,948
that would engulf the entire universe

1
01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:50,588
there would be this great battle in

1
01:09:47,948 --> 01:09:52,899
heaven and even Odin and even Thor on

1
01:09:50,588 --> 01:09:55,868
all the great gods would slowly die one

1
01:09:52,899 --> 01:09:58,839
by one and we would all die in a great

1
01:09:55,868 --> 01:10:01,229
freeze when even the gods themselves are

1
01:09:58,840 --> 01:10:01,230
frozen

1
01:10:02,350 --> 01:10:08,140
whereas the Big Crunch fits the

1
01:10:04,970 --> 01:10:11,420
Christian vision of the end of days

1
01:10:08,140 --> 01:10:15,480
science also has a different theory that

1
01:10:11,420 --> 01:10:17,730
it may instead all end in ice

1
01:10:15,479 --> 01:10:19,349
ultimately it depends on whether the

1
01:10:17,729 --> 01:10:22,229
momentum of the expansion of the

1
01:10:19,350 --> 01:10:25,829
universe can overcome the collapsing

1
01:10:22,229 --> 01:10:28,279
attraction of gravity imagine that the

1
01:10:25,829 --> 01:10:33,229
moment of contact between bat and ball

1
01:10:28,279 --> 01:10:35,579
is the initial explosion of the Big Bang

1
01:10:33,229 --> 01:10:38,219
everything's being thrown outward and

1
01:10:35,579 --> 01:10:41,279
the issue is will it wreak elapsed upon

1
01:10:38,220 --> 01:10:43,230
itself or will it continue to expand and

1
01:10:41,279 --> 01:10:44,909
those two possibilities are very similar

1
01:10:43,229 --> 01:10:48,719
to what happens when you launch a ball

1
01:10:44,909 --> 01:10:51,359
into the air and launch it upwards and

1
01:10:48,720 --> 01:10:53,280
if gravity is strong enough compared to

1
01:10:51,359 --> 01:10:56,809
how much energy I put into that initial

1
01:10:53,279 --> 01:10:59,609
launch it'll pull it back down and

1
01:10:56,810 --> 01:11:02,460
that's like the universe expanding out

1
01:10:59,609 --> 01:11:05,880
for a while need to orbit so closely

1
01:11:02,460 --> 01:11:08,618
that one full year would last just six

1
01:11:05,880 --> 01:11:11,349
earth days

1
01:11:08,618 --> 01:11:14,979
the sky would be much more sort of

1
01:11:11,349 --> 01:11:17,020
whitish red than our blue skies here on

1
01:11:14,979 --> 01:11:19,388
earth because the red dwarf puts out so

1
01:11:17,020 --> 01:11:21,610
little blue light you wouldn't be able

1
01:11:19,389 --> 01:11:25,328
to have the kind of nice blue skies that

1
01:11:21,609 --> 01:11:28,920
we have here now however nothing left in

1
01:11:25,328 --> 01:11:31,000
the universe would be hotter or brighter

1
01:11:28,920 --> 01:11:35,230
so there will be a time in our galaxy

1
01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:38,020
when there's just a few red dwarfs still

1
01:11:35,229 --> 01:11:39,428
glowing and maybe just then three and

1
01:11:38,020 --> 01:11:44,050
two and one

1
01:11:39,429 --> 01:11:46,719
as they blink out and gosh when there's

1
01:11:44,050 --> 01:11:49,389
one red dwarf left and suppose I'm on

1
01:11:46,719 --> 01:11:51,639
the planet circling it I'll think man oh

1
01:11:49,389 --> 01:11:56,159
man what a lonely place the universe is

1
01:11:51,639 --> 01:11:59,220
what a depressing future it holds

1
01:11:56,159 --> 01:12:07,529
what happens after the last red dwarf

1
01:11:59,220 --> 01:12:10,289
blinks out of existence life in the 21st

1
01:12:07,529 --> 01:12:12,420
century on earth thrives within a

1
01:12:10,289 --> 01:12:15,390
universe that has existed for about

1
01:12:12,420 --> 01:12:18,350
fourteen billion years since the spark

1
01:12:15,390 --> 01:12:18,350
of the big day

1
01:12:18,729 --> 01:12:25,009
but that's no time at all in the grand

1
01:12:21,739 --> 01:12:28,069
scheme of the cosmos the universe is

1
01:12:25,010 --> 01:12:33,610
comparable to a human lifespan we are

1
01:12:28,069 --> 01:12:33,609
still in the infancy of the universe

1
01:12:33,789 --> 01:12:39,199
getting a grasp of the time that is

1
01:12:36,409 --> 01:12:42,619
already elapsed and the timespan still

1
01:12:39,199 --> 01:12:44,929
to come can boggle the mind to gain a

1
01:12:42,619 --> 01:12:45,680
perspective of the vast timescales of

1
01:12:44,930 --> 01:12:48,650
the universe

1
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:51,579
let's compress the roughly 14 billion

1
01:12:48,649 --> 01:12:54,920
year history of the university into one

1
01:12:51,579 --> 01:12:57,809
normal calendar year but we'll call this

1
01:12:54,920 --> 01:12:59,909
a cosmic calendar

1
01:12:57,810 --> 01:13:04,980
so the Big Bang occurred on New Year's

1
01:12:59,909 --> 01:13:07,050
in January first on that scale our Milky

1
01:13:04,979 --> 01:13:11,069
Way galaxy formed near the end of

1
01:13:07,050 --> 01:13:13,470
January and our solar system formed

1
01:13:11,069 --> 01:13:15,479
around the beginning of August or so

1
01:13:13,470 --> 01:13:19,380
about two-thirds of the way through the

1
01:13:15,479 --> 01:13:22,139
year life formed sometime a little bit

1
01:13:19,380 --> 01:13:25,470
later in August but humans formed less

1
01:13:22,140 --> 01:13:30,420
than a day ago so on December 31st

1
01:13:25,470 --> 01:13:33,900
sometime humans finally arose we can

1
01:13:30,420 --> 01:13:37,770
also look into the future on the same

1
01:13:33,899 --> 01:13:41,250
cosmic calendar timescale near the end

1
01:13:37,770 --> 01:13:44,490
of January of this coming year our earth

1
01:13:41,250 --> 01:13:48,180
will become quite inhospitable by around

1
01:13:44,489 --> 01:13:50,010
May or Sun our Sun will have died but

1
01:13:48,180 --> 01:13:52,289
there are some other stars the low mass

1
01:13:50,010 --> 01:13:56,100
stars which will live for much much

1
01:13:52,289 --> 01:14:04,319
longer up to 10,000 of these cosmic

1
01:13:56,100 --> 01:14:06,660
years that's 10,000 times levels and

1
01:14:04,319 --> 01:14:08,429
each one of those bubbles is a separate

1
01:14:06,659 --> 01:14:09,720
universe all of its own there is the

1
01:14:08,430 --> 01:14:12,570
possibility that there are other

1
01:14:09,720 --> 01:14:14,610
universes out there perhaps but it off

1
01:14:12,569 --> 01:14:18,090
from our universe and they may have

1
01:14:14,609 --> 01:14:21,409
their own fate either eternal expansion

1
01:14:18,090 --> 01:14:21,409
or ultimate re-collapse

1
01:14:21,670 --> 01:14:27,550
if other universes exist that perhaps

1
01:14:24,789 --> 01:14:32,079
future civilizations may not face an

1
01:14:27,550 --> 01:14:34,810
ethical death sentence so I would

1
01:14:32,079 --> 01:14:36,670
suspect that trillions quadrillions of

1
01:14:34,810 --> 01:14:39,220
years from now when the universe gets

1
01:14:36,670 --> 01:14:41,980
really cold and the universe is near

1
01:14:39,220 --> 01:14:44,530
death intelligent beings will be so

1
01:14:41,979 --> 01:14:47,649
powerful then that they may be tempted

1
01:14:44,529 --> 01:14:51,130
to assemble enough energy at one point

1
01:14:47,649 --> 01:14:54,279
to open up bubbles little soap bubbles

1
01:14:51,130 --> 01:14:56,980
gateways to another universe where it's

1
01:14:54,279 --> 01:14:59,369
a lot warmer and they can start all over

1
01:14:56,979 --> 01:14:59,369
again

1
01:14:59,420 --> 01:15:04,730
whether or not our descendants muster

1
01:15:02,000 --> 01:15:07,010
the technology to leave this universe is

1
01:15:04,729 --> 01:15:11,349
no avoiding the fact that like all

1
01:15:07,010 --> 01:15:11,350
things it will come to an end

1
01:15:12,810 --> 01:15:18,630
while science wrestles with questions of

1
01:15:15,510 --> 01:15:21,270
how the universe will die humanity is

1
01:15:18,630 --> 01:15:23,539
left to do the same with how it will

1
01:15:21,270 --> 01:15:23,540
live

1
01:15:29,698 --> 01:15:31,759
you

1
01:15:46,819 --> 01:15:52,289
with the temperature of the universe

1
01:15:50,000 --> 01:15:54,630
getting higher and higher to the point

1
01:15:52,289 --> 01:15:56,720
that the atoms themselves begin to fall

1
01:15:54,630 --> 01:16:02,369
apart

1
01:15:56,720 --> 01:16:05,670
finally our vast universe collapses into

1
01:16:02,369 --> 01:16:08,930
a microscopic point we'll end up with

1
01:16:05,670 --> 01:16:11,670
this soot of matter which is made of

1
01:16:08,930 --> 01:16:15,560
fundamental particles which are milling

1
01:16:11,670 --> 01:16:20,180
around at high energy high temperature

1
01:16:15,560 --> 01:16:23,220
life as we know it has no escape

1
01:16:20,180 --> 01:16:26,990
however the universe may not ultimately

1
01:16:23,220 --> 01:16:30,420
ignite into an all-consuming Hellfire

1
01:16:26,989 --> 01:16:31,439
there are two basic paradigms for the

1
01:16:30,420 --> 01:16:33,600
end of the world

1
01:16:31,439 --> 01:16:36,569
first the universe is going to end in

1
01:16:33,600 --> 01:16:39,720
fire that's the Christian theory of

1
01:16:36,569 --> 01:16:42,509
Armageddon fire and brimstone and the

1
01:16:39,720 --> 01:16:45,300
second coming but the Norris also had

1
01:16:42,510 --> 01:16:48,539
their legends they had the legend of

1
01:16:45,300 --> 01:16:50,940
Ragnarok twilight of the Gods where

1
01:16:48,539 --> 01:16:53,010
there would be this monstrous snowstorm

1
01:16:50,939 --> 01:16:54,960
that would engulf the entire universe

1
01:16:53,010 --> 01:16:57,600
there would be this fake battle in

1
01:16:54,960 --> 01:16:59,909
heaven and even Odin and even Thor on

1
01:16:57,600 --> 01:17:00,450
all the big gods would slowly die one by

1
01:16:59,909 --> 01:17:02,729
one

1
01:17:00,449 --> 01:17:04,920
we're gonna go zooming away from us and

1
01:17:02,729 --> 01:17:08,099
will eventually become invisible because

1
01:17:04,920 --> 01:17:10,980
they'll be too far away to see

1
01:17:08,100 --> 01:17:13,890
and without seeing galaxies rushing away

1
01:17:10,979 --> 01:17:16,739
from each other future civilizations

1
01:17:13,890 --> 01:17:18,900
will lose all sense of history they

1
01:17:16,739 --> 01:17:23,189
won't know that there was ever a big

1
01:17:18,899 --> 01:17:25,949
bang so you will think that the only

1
01:17:23,189 --> 01:17:28,169
structure within the universe is the

1
01:17:25,949 --> 01:17:31,470
Milky Way galaxy and that the rest of

1
01:17:28,170 --> 01:17:34,039
the universe is effectively empty devoid

1
01:17:31,470 --> 01:17:34,039
of stars

1
01:17:34,390 --> 01:17:40,100
another scientific theory proposes that

1
01:17:37,250 --> 01:17:44,090
this expansion will balloon even faster

1
01:17:40,100 --> 01:17:47,270
if this does happen a violent end awaits

1
01:17:44,090 --> 01:17:50,150
our cosmos suppose the amount of

1
01:17:47,270 --> 01:17:53,600
repulsive energy increases with time per

1
01:17:50,149 --> 01:17:56,839
unit volume it'll eventually grow strong

1
01:17:53,600 --> 01:17:59,600
enough to cause clusters of galaxies to

1
01:17:56,840 --> 01:18:01,400
get ripped apart and then galaxies

1
01:17:59,600 --> 01:18:03,260
themselves will get ripped apart the

1
01:18:01,399 --> 01:18:04,969
Stars will start flying away from one

1
01:18:03,260 --> 01:18:07,940
another no longer held together by

1
01:18:04,970 --> 01:18:09,470
gravity and then planetary systems like

1
01:18:07,939 --> 01:18:12,349
our solar system will get ripped apart

1
01:18:09,470 --> 01:18:14,869
and then stars and planets will get

1
01:18:12,350 --> 01:18:17,420
ripped apart and then humans get ripped

1
01:18:14,869 --> 01:18:20,300
apart and then the very atoms of which

1
01:18:17,420 --> 01:18:22,909
we are made will get ripped apart that's

1
01:18:20,300 --> 01:18:25,970
called the big rip and it's a really

1
01:18:22,909 --> 01:18:30,019
scary possibility but don't worry most

1
01:18:25,970 --> 01:18:31,880
of us don't think it's gonna happen but

1
01:18:30,020 --> 01:18:35,180
even if the rate of expansion never

1
01:18:31,880 --> 01:18:38,960
reaches this tipping point the future of

1
01:18:35,180 --> 01:18:41,270
our universe still isn't promising its

1
01:18:38,960 --> 01:18:44,119
temperature decreases it's getting

1
01:18:41,270 --> 01:18:46,490
colder and colder and darker and darker

1
01:18:44,119 --> 01:18:49,130
because the feeble light emitted by

1
01:18:46,489 --> 01:18:52,039
stars is going into a progressively

1
01:18:49,130 --> 01:18:54,489
larger volume so the universe is going

1
01:18:52,039 --> 01:18:58,449
to get really cold and really dark

1
01:18:54,489 --> 01:18:58,449
basically a pretty gloomy place

1
01:18:59,619 --> 01:19:05,300
the universe itself

1
01:19:02,329 --> 01:19:07,670
we now believe will die in ice rather

1
01:19:05,300 --> 01:19:10,579
than fire we think the universe will die

1
01:19:07,670 --> 01:19:14,270
in a great freeze just like the Norse

1
01:19:10,579 --> 01:19:17,829
legends foretell rather than this

1
01:19:14,270 --> 01:19:17,830
Armageddon of a big

1
01:19:19,329 --> 01:19:25,039
if the universe continues on its present

1
01:19:22,340 --> 01:19:31,090
course we're destined for a cosmic Ice

1
01:19:25,039 --> 01:19:31,090
Age where sunlight itself goes extinct

1
01:19:31,569 --> 01:19:38,179
by the Year 100 trillion AD the last

1
01:19:35,869 --> 01:19:41,449
remnants of human civilization

1
01:19:38,180 --> 01:19:44,500
may be forced to settle here in this

1
01:19:41,449 --> 01:19:46,970
distant dark corner of our galaxy

1
01:19:44,500 --> 01:19:50,869
they'll be huddled around the last

1
01:19:46,970 --> 01:19:56,030
burning star in the sky but sadly it too

1
01:19:50,869 --> 01:19:58,279
will soon die our Milky Way so named for

1
01:19:56,029 --> 01:20:02,539
its shimmering band of sparkling stars

1
01:19:58,279 --> 01:20:04,969
will be unrecognizable the mind to gain

1
01:20:02,539 --> 01:20:07,550
a perspective of the vast time scales of

1
01:20:04,970 --> 01:20:09,500
the universe let's compress the roughly

1
01:20:07,550 --> 01:20:13,520
14 billion year history of the

1
01:20:09,500 --> 01:20:17,760
University into one normal calendar year

1
01:20:13,520 --> 01:20:19,890
but we'll call this a cosmic calendar

1
01:20:17,760 --> 01:20:24,960
so the Big Bang occurred on New Year's

1
01:20:19,890 --> 01:20:27,060
in January first on that scale our Milky

1
01:20:24,960 --> 01:20:31,050
Way galaxy formed near the end of

1
01:20:27,060 --> 01:20:33,480
January and our solar system formed

1
01:20:31,050 --> 01:20:35,489
around the beginning of August or so

1
01:20:33,479 --> 01:20:39,359
about two-thirds of the way through the

1
01:20:35,488 --> 01:20:42,149
year life formed sometime a little bit

1
01:20:39,359 --> 01:20:45,479
later in August but humans formed less

1
01:20:42,149 --> 01:20:49,670
than a day ago so on December 31st

1
01:20:45,479 --> 01:20:53,599
sometime humans finally arose

1
01:20:49,670 --> 01:20:57,560
we can also look into the future on the

1
01:20:53,600 --> 01:21:00,950
same cosmic calendar timescale near the

1
01:20:57,560 --> 01:21:04,190
end of January of this coming year our

1
01:21:00,949 --> 01:21:07,210
earth will become quite inhospitable by

1
01:21:04,189 --> 01:21:09,439
around mayor son our son will have died

1
01:21:07,210 --> 01:21:12,079
but there are some other stars the

1
01:21:09,439 --> 01:21:15,169
low-mass stars which will live for much

1
01:21:12,079 --> 01:21:20,750
much longer up to ten thousand of these

1
01:21:15,170 --> 01:21:23,180
cosmic years that's ten thousand times

1
01:21:20,750 --> 01:21:25,970
longer than the entire history of the

1
01:21:23,180 --> 01:21:29,210
universe before these final longest

1
01:21:25,970 --> 01:21:31,150
living red dwarf stars die offs but then

1
01:21:29,210 --> 01:21:33,640
what happens

1
01:21:31,149 --> 01:21:36,519
when we talk about the extremely distant

1
01:21:33,640 --> 01:21:39,070
future we're talking about immense spans

1
01:21:36,520 --> 01:21:42,430
of time time measures and quadrillions

1
01:21:39,069 --> 01:21:45,429
of years and septillion of years and it

1
01:21:42,430 --> 01:21:47,500
becomes so overwhelming that we need to

1
01:21:45,430 --> 01:21:49,510
evolve another concept to really deal

1
01:21:47,500 --> 01:21:54,310
with it so we came up with the idea of

1
01:21:49,510 --> 01:21:57,010
cosmological decades a cosmological

1
01:21:54,310 --> 01:22:00,520
decade each decade is ten times longer

1
01:21:57,010 --> 01:22:03,400
all the time that happened prior to the

1
01:22:00,520 --> 01:22:06,910
start of the decade and one way to think

1
01:22:03,399 --> 01:22:09,909
about this this is like a staircase not

1
01:22:06,909 --> 01:22:12,819
a ordinary staircase like this one but

1
01:22:09,909 --> 01:22:15,729
one in which each step is ten times

1
01:22:12,819 --> 01:22:19,689
higher than the step before so you can

1
01:22:15,729 --> 01:22:22,959
imagine this staircase going up up up to

1
01:22:19,689 --> 01:22:25,569
higher higher cosmological decades right

1
01:22:22,960 --> 01:22:29,220
now we're living in the 10th

1
01:22:25,569 --> 01:22:29,219
cosmological decade

1
01:22:29,770 --> 01:22:35,020
on this scale the 10th cosmological

1
01:22:32,079 --> 01:22:37,809
decade is ten times longer than the

1
01:22:35,020 --> 01:22:43,510
previous nine decades combined that have

1
01:22:37,810 --> 01:22:45,490
passed since the Big Bang the hallmark

1
01:22:43,510 --> 01:22:47,530
of that 10th cosmological decade is the

1
01:22:45,489 --> 01:22:50,859
fact that stars are burning brightly in

1
01:22:47,529 --> 01:22:53,259
the night sky and also that the planets

1
01:22:50,859 --> 01:22:56,229
are beginning to develop life and

1
01:22:53,260 --> 01:22:58,600
intelligence on their surfaces another

1
01:22:56,229 --> 01:23:01,839
interesting hallmark of the 10th

1
01:22:58,600 --> 01:23:05,880
cosmological decade era of our universe

1
01:23:01,840 --> 01:23:08,110
still isn't promising its temperature

1
01:23:05,880 --> 01:23:11,680
decreases is getting colder and colder

1
01:23:08,109 --> 01:23:14,559
and darker and darker because the feeble

1
01:23:11,680 --> 01:23:17,320
light emitted by stars is going into a

1
01:23:14,560 --> 01:23:19,539
progressively larger volume so the

1
01:23:17,319 --> 01:23:22,269
universe is gonna get really cold and

1
01:23:19,539 --> 01:23:24,449
really dark basically a pretty gloomy

1
01:23:22,270 --> 01:23:24,450
place

1
01:23:25,639 --> 01:23:33,090
the universe itself we now believe will

1
01:23:29,579 --> 01:23:35,969
die in ice rather than fire we think the

1
01:23:33,090 --> 01:23:39,539
universe will die in a great freeze just

1
01:23:35,969 --> 01:23:46,350
like the Norse legends foretell rather

1
01:23:39,539 --> 01:23:48,329
than this Armageddon of a big crunch if

1
01:23:46,350 --> 01:23:51,060
the universe continues on its present

1
01:23:48,329 --> 01:23:57,109
course we're destined for a cosmic Ice

1
01:23:51,060 --> 01:23:57,110
Age where sunlight itself goes extinct

1
01:23:57,560 --> 01:24:04,530
by the Year 100 trillion AD the last

1
01:24:01,859 --> 01:24:08,189
remnants of human civilization may be

1
01:24:04,529 --> 01:24:10,519
forced to settle here in this distant

1
01:24:08,189 --> 01:24:12,960
dark corner of our galaxy

1
01:24:10,520 --> 01:24:16,560
they'll be huddled around the last

1
01:24:12,960 --> 01:24:19,510
burning star in the sky but sadly yet

1
01:24:16,560 --> 01:24:22,090
two will soon die

1
01:24:19,510 --> 01:24:25,030
our Milky Way so named for its

1
01:24:22,090 --> 01:24:28,090
shimmering band of sparkling stars will

1
01:24:25,029 --> 01:24:30,579
be unrecognizable faint glowing embers

1
01:24:28,090 --> 01:24:33,670
of dark stellar husks will be all that

1
01:24:30,579 --> 01:24:36,659
remain of what was once a brilliant

1
01:24:33,670 --> 01:24:36,659
night vision

1
01:24:37,720 --> 01:24:46,740
what happened to all of the stars how

1
01:24:41,710 --> 01:24:46,739
did we arrive at such a dismal scenario

1
01:24:48,569 --> 01:24:57,099
science decrees that as our universe

1
01:24:51,720 --> 01:24:59,800
expands and ages it will cool inevitably

1
01:24:57,100 --> 01:25:03,310
the future for life as we know it will

1
01:24:59,800 --> 01:25:06,250
grow ever more hostile we are headed for

1
01:25:03,310 --> 01:25:09,430
a time when one day the universe itself

1
01:25:06,250 --> 01:25:13,869
will freeze to death and all life with

1
01:25:09,430 --> 01:25:15,240
it and that's a law when we scientists

1
01:25:13,869 --> 01:25:18,760
look at the evolution of the universe

1
01:25:15,239 --> 01:25:20,739
some critics say that's crazy we can

1
01:25:18,760 --> 01:25:22,840
barely predict tomorrow's headlines and

1
01:25:20,739 --> 01:25:24,579
here you are predicting what's going to

1
01:25:22,840 --> 01:25:28,180
be happening billions and billions of

1
01:25:24,579 --> 01:25:29,920
years from now how do you do it among

1
01:25:28,180 --> 01:25:32,680
the tools available to scientists

1
01:25:29,920 --> 01:25:36,100
pondering the future are the venerable

1
01:25:32,680 --> 01:25:39,520
laws of thermodynamics the first law

1
01:25:36,100 --> 01:25:41,890
says that total matter and energy are

1
01:25:39,520 --> 01:25:44,080
conserved in other words you can't get

1
01:25:41,890 --> 01:25:46,869
something for nothing there's no free

1
01:25:44,079 --> 01:25:49,510
lunch so it turns out that the total

1
01:25:46,869 --> 01:25:52,750
amount of matter and energy in a system

1
01:25:49,510 --> 01:25:55,119
can be neither created nor destroyed the

1
01:25:52,750 --> 01:25:57,130
matter and energy can change forms and

1
01:25:55,119 --> 01:26:00,099
they can turn into one another but the

1
01:25:57,130 --> 01:26:02,109
total remains the same so for example in

1
01:26:00,100 --> 01:26:03,670
this rolled-up news and in the last

1
01:26:02,109 --> 01:26:08,159
second at the black hole when you're

1
01:26:03,670 --> 01:26:11,159
releasing megatons and megatons worth of

1
01:26:08,159 --> 01:26:14,579
TNT equivalent

1
01:26:11,159 --> 01:26:16,800
a huge variety of particles that haven't

1
01:26:14,579 --> 01:26:19,500
been seen for many cosmological decades

1
01:26:16,800 --> 01:26:20,460
come spewing into existence and kind of

1
01:26:19,500 --> 01:26:22,500
took her away

1
01:26:20,460 --> 01:26:27,270
you know last fireworks like bursts

1
01:26:22,500 --> 01:26:29,310
after the black hole is gone so after

1
01:26:27,270 --> 01:26:31,350
about a googol years or so and the most

1
01:26:29,310 --> 01:26:34,650
supermassive black holes have evaporated

1
01:26:31,350 --> 01:26:38,010
away what you've got left is a vast

1
01:26:34,649 --> 01:26:42,960
universe that is really almost entirely

1
01:26:38,010 --> 01:26:48,239
empty next the universe enters the dark

1
01:26:42,960 --> 01:26:51,060
era now we're out beyond cosmological

1
01:26:48,239 --> 01:26:55,289
decade 100 we're in the middle of the

1
01:26:51,060 --> 01:26:58,200
dark era the dark era everything that we

1
01:26:55,289 --> 01:27:00,269
have now that is familiar to us it's

1
01:26:58,199 --> 01:27:04,319
gone you know that expression angels

1
01:27:00,270 --> 01:27:06,660
fear to tread that's the dark era the

1
01:27:04,319 --> 01:27:10,439
darky era you never want to go to

1
01:27:06,659 --> 01:27:12,630
because everything has crumbled not just

1
01:27:10,439 --> 01:27:15,809
the sand that monuments to man's folly

1
01:27:12,630 --> 01:27:18,270
but even the atoms themselves have begun

1
01:27:15,810 --> 01:27:21,789
to crumble even black holes are not

1
01:27:18,270 --> 01:27:24,610
possible in the dark era

1
01:27:21,788 --> 01:27:27,130
if the universe continues to expand

1
01:27:24,609 --> 01:27:30,969
forever it may be that only a cosmic

1
01:27:27,130 --> 01:27:33,519
mush of random particles remains but a

1
01:27:30,969 --> 01:27:39,939
few surprises may yet rise out of these

1
01:27:33,519 --> 01:27:43,690
ashes if in the distant future chaos

1
01:27:39,939 --> 01:27:46,479
does rule over order our once glowing

1
01:27:43,689 --> 01:27:52,538
hot universe will descend into a

1
01:27:46,479 --> 01:27:55,479
chilling galactic Ice Age but it may

1
01:27:52,538 --> 01:27:57,518
still Harbor some potential at least

1
01:27:55,479 --> 01:27:59,618
according to quantum theory which

1
01:27:57,519 --> 01:28:03,579
examines physics at its most primal

1
01:27:59,618 --> 01:28:05,529
level in quantum physics even the vacuum

1
01:28:03,578 --> 01:28:07,479
of space that thing that we think of as

1
01:28:05,529 --> 01:28:09,908
being empty with nothing in it is not

1
01:28:07,479 --> 01:28:12,879
actually empty the quantum physics

1
01:28:09,908 --> 01:28:18,098
allows for everything to happen with

1
01:28:12,880 --> 01:28:20,440
some probability in other words the

1
01:28:18,099 --> 01:28:23,170
universe is playing a risky game of

1
01:28:20,439 --> 01:28:25,868
chance and quantum theory seeks to

1
01:28:23,170 --> 01:28:29,788
explain the behavior of particles in a

1
01:28:25,868 --> 01:28:29,788
universe where anything is possible

1
01:28:30,599 --> 01:28:35,750
it's as if the universe were a card

1
01:28:32,939 --> 01:28:38,428
dealer continuously shuffling a deck

1
01:28:35,750 --> 01:28:42,840
containing the very building blocks of

1
01:28:38,429 --> 01:28:45,270
our reality so if you have a bunch of

1
01:28:42,840 --> 01:28:46,980
particles in a quantum field theory what

1
01:28:45,270 --> 01:28:48,780
happens is they're gonna just rearrange

1
01:28:46,979 --> 01:28:51,149
themselves over and over and over again

1
01:28:48,779 --> 01:28:56,908
and what looks to us like a random set

1
01:28:51,149 --> 01:28:59,629
of fluctuations quantum theory can't

1
01:28:56,908 --> 01:29:03,929
predict the result of a particle shuffle

1
01:28:59,630 --> 01:29:06,328
but it can't lie formed sometime a

1
01:29:03,929 --> 01:29:09,868
little bit later in August but humans

1
01:29:06,328 --> 01:29:14,679
form less than a day ago so on December

1
01:29:09,868 --> 01:29:18,609
31st sometime humans finally arose

1
01:29:14,679 --> 01:29:22,569
we can also look into the future on the

1
01:29:18,609 --> 01:29:25,960
same cosmic calendar timescale near the

1
01:29:22,569 --> 01:29:29,198
end of January of this coming year our

1
01:29:25,960 --> 01:29:32,219
earth will become quite inhospitable by

1
01:29:29,198 --> 01:29:34,448
around mayor son our son will have died

1
01:29:32,219 --> 01:29:37,090
but there are some other stars the

1
01:29:34,448 --> 01:29:40,178
low-mass stars which will live for much

1
01:29:37,090 --> 01:29:45,699
much longer up to ten thousand of these

1
01:29:40,179 --> 01:29:48,190
cosmic years that's ten thousand times

1
01:29:45,698 --> 01:29:50,979
longer than the entire history of the

1
01:29:48,189 --> 01:29:54,189
universe before these final longest

1
01:29:50,979 --> 01:29:57,879
living red dwarf stars die off but then

1
01:29:54,189 --> 01:29:59,619
what happens when we talk about the

1
01:29:57,880 --> 01:30:02,949
extremely distant future we're talking

1
01:29:59,619 --> 01:30:05,019
about immense spans of time time

1
01:30:02,948 --> 01:30:08,919
measured and quadrillions of years and

1
01:30:05,020 --> 01:30:10,750
septillion of years and it becomes so

1
01:30:08,920 --> 01:30:12,760
overwhelming that we need to evolve

1
01:30:10,750 --> 01:30:14,529
another concept to really deal with it

1
01:30:12,760 --> 01:30:17,940
so we came up with the idea of

1
01:30:14,529 --> 01:30:17,939
cosmological decades

1
01:30:18,059 --> 01:30:24,689
a cosmological decade each decade is ten

1
01:30:21,269 --> 01:30:28,109
times longer all the time that happened

1
01:30:24,689 --> 01:30:29,519
prior to the start of the decade and one

1
01:30:28,109 --> 01:30:33,659
way to think about this this is like a

1
01:30:29,519 --> 01:30:37,109
staircase not a ordinary staircase like

1
01:30:33,658 --> 01:30:40,498
this one but one in which each step is

1
01:30:37,109 --> 01:30:42,439
ten times higher than the step before so

1
01:30:40,498 --> 01:30:46,349
you can imagine this staircase going up

1
01:30:42,439 --> 01:30:50,039
up up to higher higher cosmological

1
01:30:46,349 --> 01:30:54,229
decades right now we're living in the

1
01:30:50,038 --> 01:30:54,228
10th cosmological decade

1
01:30:54,769 --> 01:31:00,050
on this scale the 10th cosmological

1
01:30:57,050 --> 01:31:02,809
decade is ten times longer than the

1
01:31:00,050 --> 01:31:08,510
previous nine decades combined that have

1
01:31:02,809 --> 01:31:10,489
passed since the Big Bang the hallmark

1
01:31:08,510 --> 01:31:12,559
of the 10th cosmological decade is the

1
01:31:10,488 --> 01:31:16,218
fact that stars are burning brightly in

1
01:31:12,559 --> 01:31:18,260
the night sky and also that the planets

1
01:31:16,219 --> 01:31:20,448
are beginning to develop life and

1
01:31:18,260 --> 01:31:23,599
intelligence on their surfaces

1
01:31:20,448 --> 01:31:27,768
another interesting hallmark of the 10th

1
01:31:23,599 --> 01:31:30,710
cosmological decade is the beginning of

1
01:31:27,769 --> 01:31:34,940
the acceleration of the expansion of the

1
01:31:30,710 --> 01:31:37,248
universe as our cosmological decade

1
01:31:34,939 --> 01:31:40,189
continues all of the other galaxies

1
01:31:37,248 --> 01:31:43,998
disappear from view and stars begin to

1
01:31:40,189 --> 01:31:45,919
die off without being replaced during

1
01:31:43,998 --> 01:31:49,340
the latter part of this era there will

1
01:31:45,920 --> 01:31:52,130
always be about 50 stars shining in the

1
01:31:49,340 --> 01:31:55,309
galaxies at any one time and that'll be

1
01:31:52,130 --> 01:31:57,288
the last sort of gasp of the kind of

1
01:31:55,309 --> 01:32:00,880
world the kind of planets the in kind of

1
01:31:57,288 --> 01:32:00,880
environments that are familiar to us

1
01:32:01,719 --> 01:32:08,539
this event can be imagined in a sheet of

1
01:32:04,729 --> 01:32:11,289
perfectly still calm water it's a bit

1
01:32:08,539 --> 01:32:15,130
like suddenly dropping a gigantic rock

1
01:32:11,289 --> 01:32:15,130
into that calm water

1
01:32:15,260 --> 01:32:20,630
sending out a huge series of ripples and

1
01:32:18,079 --> 01:32:22,519
you have a lot of action for a little

1
01:32:20,630 --> 01:32:26,029
bit of time but then that dissipates the

1
01:32:22,520 --> 01:32:30,590
ripples die away and you're back to that

1
01:32:26,029 --> 01:32:32,479
smooth glass-like sheet of water but

1
01:32:30,590 --> 01:32:36,520
even for these kings of the black hole

1
01:32:32,479 --> 01:32:38,559
era time is running out

1
01:32:36,520 --> 01:32:40,990
and you might think oh they'll last

1
01:32:38,560 --> 01:32:44,620
forever but even they don't last forever

1
01:32:40,989 --> 01:32:48,670
because they evaporate very very slowly

1
01:32:44,619 --> 01:32:51,220
with time black holes in today's

1
01:32:48,670 --> 01:32:55,449
universe grow larger as they gobble up

1
01:32:51,220 --> 01:32:57,820
surrounding matter but eventually far in

1
01:32:55,449 --> 01:33:00,220
the future there will be some little

1
01:32:57,819 --> 01:33:03,039
material to swallow that the evaporation

1
01:33:00,220 --> 01:33:05,050
rate will start dominating over the rate

1
01:33:03,039 --> 01:33:07,390
at which they swallow material from

1
01:33:05,050 --> 01:33:10,869
their surroundings so the evaporation

1
01:33:07,390 --> 01:33:15,520
rate proceeds more quickly when the

1
01:33:10,869 --> 01:33:17,260
universe is very very old an evaporating

1
01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:17,890
black hole does not go out with a

1
01:33:17,260 --> 01:33:20,739
whimper

1
01:33:17,890 --> 01:33:25,930
like the planets do when they die but

1
01:33:20,739 --> 01:33:28,479
rather with a bang that's because it

1
01:33:25,930 --> 01:33:31,630
behaves counter-intuitively as it runs

1
01:33:28,479 --> 01:33:34,479
out of fuel there's basically two

1
01:33:31,630 --> 01:33:37,090
strategies that you can adopt one is to

1
01:33:34,479 --> 01:33:38,979
sort of ease up on the gas pedal and try

1
01:33:37,090 --> 01:33:41,409
to conserve your energy and basically

1
01:33:38,979 --> 01:33:44,199
try to roll into the next gas station on

1
01:33:41,409 --> 01:33:46,539
here the other strategy is

1
01:33:44,199 --> 01:33:48,729
becoming patient and floor the

1
01:33:46,539 --> 01:33:51,220
accelerator and try to drive to the gas

1
01:33:48,729 --> 01:33:52,929
station as fast as you can in hopes of

1
01:33:51,220 --> 01:33:55,180
getting to the gas station before your

1
01:33:52,930 --> 01:33:57,690
guest runs out and the black hole will

1
01:33:55,180 --> 01:34:01,300
say definitely taking the second route

1
01:33:57,689 --> 01:34:05,969
unlike a car when a black hole finally

1
01:34:01,300 --> 01:34:05,970
runs out of fuel it explodes

1
01:34:06,849 --> 01:34:12,819
and in the last second at the black hole

1
01:34:09,310 --> 01:34:17,860
when you're releasing megatons and

1
01:34:12,819 --> 01:34:20,769
megatons worth of TNT equivalent a huge

1
01:34:17,859 --> 01:34:23,139
variety of particles that haven't been

1
01:34:20,770 --> 01:34:25,719
seen for many cosmological decades comes

1
01:34:23,139 --> 01:34:26,469
spewing into existence and kind of took

1
01:34:25,719 --> 01:34:28,510
her away

1
01:34:26,469 --> 01:34:33,250
you know last fireworks like bursts

1
01:34:28,510 --> 01:34:35,289
after the black hole is gone so after

1
01:34:33,250 --> 01:34:37,238
about a googol years or so and the most

1
01:34:35,289 --> 01:34:40,630
supermassive black holes have evaporated

1
01:34:37,238 --> 01:34:44,019
away what you've got left is a vast

1
01:34:40,630 --> 01:34:48,969
universe that is really almost entirely

1
01:34:44,020 --> 01:34:54,699
empty next the universe enters the dark

1
01:34:48,969 --> 01:34:57,908
era hour out beyond cosmological decade

1
01:34:54,698 --> 01:35:01,928
100 we're in the middle of the dark era

1
01:34:57,908 --> 01:35:04,509
the dark era everything asked much much

1
01:35:01,929 --> 01:35:07,960
longer than our Sun a last

1
01:35:04,510 --> 01:35:12,039
a typical Red Dwarf can live for as long

1
01:35:07,960 --> 01:35:14,319
as 14 trillion years that's a thousand

1
01:35:12,038 --> 01:35:17,288
times longer than the current age of our

1
01:35:14,319 --> 01:35:20,349
universe eventually though

1
01:35:17,288 --> 01:35:23,170
even these stingy little Suns will begin

1
01:35:20,349 --> 01:35:25,529
to die off so when our Milky Way galaxy

1
01:35:23,170 --> 01:35:28,300
is tens of trillions of years old

1
01:35:25,529 --> 01:35:31,118
there's only a few red dwarfs remaining

1
01:35:28,300 --> 01:35:33,400
you might imagine that any surviving

1
01:35:31,118 --> 01:35:35,439
civilizations will realize that the end

1
01:35:33,399 --> 01:35:37,920
is nigh and they will start crowding

1
01:35:35,439 --> 01:35:43,750
around these few sources of energy

1
01:35:37,920 --> 01:35:45,908
trying to scrape out an existence so no

1
01:35:43,750 --> 01:35:48,578
complicated structure can possibly

1
01:35:45,908 --> 01:35:51,969
survive that sort of transition will be

1
01:35:48,578 --> 01:35:53,649
left is just a mess nothing but a gas of

1
01:35:51,969 --> 01:35:55,859
particles bumping randomly into each

1
01:35:53,649 --> 01:35:55,859
other

1
01:35:56,739 --> 01:36:04,010
but a random quantum fluctuation can

1
01:35:59,840 --> 01:36:06,260
also spark a bubble of hope some

1
01:36:04,010 --> 01:36:08,750
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
01:36:06,260 --> 01:36:12,650
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
01:36:08,750 --> 01:36:15,680
can give rise to almost detached

1
01:36:12,649 --> 01:36:19,279
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
01:36:15,680 --> 01:36:23,050
of branch off from ours into a new

1
01:36:19,279 --> 01:36:26,420
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
01:36:23,050 --> 01:36:30,350
sparked a big bang and gave rise to our

1
01:36:26,420 --> 01:36:32,539
own universe you can imagine that a

1
01:36:30,350 --> 01:36:35,210
universe like ours even though it's 10

1
01:36:32,539 --> 01:36:37,640
billion light years across is actually a

1
01:36:35,210 --> 01:36:41,779
baby universe that arose by pinching off

1
01:36:37,640 --> 01:36:43,640
from some much bigger universe we can

1
01:36:41,779 --> 01:36:46,279
picture the birth of a baby universe

1
01:36:43,640 --> 01:36:51,380
with this bottle representing an old

1
01:36:46,279 --> 01:36:53,509
dying chaotic universe my breath is like

1
01:36:51,380 --> 01:36:58,069
quantum fluctuations creating new

1
01:36:53,510 --> 01:37:00,680
universes that look like bubbles and

1
01:36:58,069 --> 01:37:02,449
each one of those bubbles is a separate

1
01:37:00,680 --> 01:37:03,710
universe all of its own there is the

1
01:37:02,449 --> 01:37:06,590
possibility that there are other

1
01:37:03,710 --> 01:37:08,960
universes out there perhaps but it off

1
01:37:06,590 --> 01:37:11,539
from our universe and they may have

1
01:37:08,960 --> 01:37:15,430
their own fate either eternal expansion

1
01:37:11,539 --> 01:37:15,430
or ultimate re-collapse

1
01:37:15,668 --> 01:37:21,189
if other universes exist that perhaps

1
01:37:18,819 --> 01:37:26,109
future civilizations may not face

1
01:37:21,189 --> 01:37:28,809
inevitable death sentence so I would

1
01:37:26,109 --> 01:37:30,698
suspect that trillions quadrillions of

1
01:37:28,809 --> 01:37:33,219
years from now when the universe gets

1
01:37:30,698 --> 01:37:36,009
really cold and the universe is near

1
01:37:33,219 --> 01:37:38,529
death intelligent beings will be so

1
01:37:36,010 --> 01:37:41,649
powerful then that they may be tempted

1
01:37:38,529 --> 01:37:45,158
to assemble enough energy at one point

1
01:37:41,649 --> 01:37:48,280
to open up bubbles little soap bubbles

1
01:37:45,158 --> 01:37:51,009
gateways to another universe where it's

1
01:37:48,279 --> 01:37:53,398
a lot warmer and they can start all over

1
01:37:51,010 --> 01:37:53,399
again

1
01:37:53,469 --> 01:37:58,750
whether or not our descendants muster

1
01:37:56,020 --> 01:38:01,000
the technology to leave this universe is

1
01:37:58,750 --> 01:38:04,000
no avoiding the fact that light are

1
01:38:01,000 --> 01:38:06,488
brighter so there will be a time in our

1
01:38:04,000 --> 01:38:10,300
galaxy when there's just a few red

1
01:38:06,488 --> 01:38:12,459
dwarfs still glowing and maybe just then

1
01:38:10,300 --> 01:38:17,050
three and two and one

1
01:38:12,460 --> 01:38:19,719
as they blink out and gosh when there's

1
01:38:17,050 --> 01:38:22,390
one red dwarf left and suppose I'm on

1
01:38:19,719 --> 01:38:24,670
the planet circling it I'll think man oh

1
01:38:22,390 --> 01:38:29,829
man what a lonely place the universe is

1
01:38:24,670 --> 01:38:33,100
what a depressing future it holds what

1
01:38:29,829 --> 01:38:40,539
happens after the last red dwarf blinks

1
01:38:33,100 --> 01:38:43,300
out of existence life in the 21st

1
01:38:40,539 --> 01:38:45,430
century on earth thrives within a

1
01:38:43,300 --> 01:38:48,400
universe that has existed for about

1
01:38:45,430 --> 01:38:51,360
fourteen billion years since the spark

1
01:38:48,399 --> 01:38:51,359
of the big day

1
01:38:51,739 --> 01:38:58,010
but that's no time at all in the grand

1
01:38:54,710 --> 01:39:01,069
scheme of the cosmos the universe is

1
01:38:58,010 --> 01:39:06,610
comparable to a human lifespan we are

1
01:39:01,069 --> 01:39:06,609
still in the infancy of the universe

1
01:39:06,789 --> 01:39:12,199
getting a grasp of the time that is

1
01:39:09,409 --> 01:39:15,619
already elapsed and the timespan still

1
01:39:12,199 --> 01:39:17,929
to come can boggle the mind to gain a

1
01:39:15,619 --> 01:39:18,710
perspective of the vast timescales of

1
01:39:17,930 --> 01:39:21,470
the universe

1
01:39:18,710 --> 01:39:24,590
let's compress the roughly 14 billion

1
01:39:21,470 --> 01:39:27,920
year history of the university into one

1
01:39:24,590 --> 01:39:30,779
normal calendar year but we'll call this

1
01:39:27,920 --> 01:39:32,909
a cosmic calendar

1
01:39:30,779 --> 01:39:37,979
so the Big Bang occurred on New Year's

1
01:39:32,909 --> 01:39:40,079
January first on that scale our Milky

1
01:39:37,979 --> 01:39:43,859
Way galaxy formed near the end of

1
01:39:40,079 --> 01:39:46,500
January and our solar system formed

1
01:39:43,859 --> 01:39:48,479
around the beginning of August or Sun

1
01:39:46,500 --> 01:39:52,380
about two-thirds of the way through the

1
01:39:48,479 --> 01:39:55,139
year life formed sometime a little bit

1
01:39:52,380 --> 01:39:58,470
later in August but humans formed less

1
01:39:55,140 --> 01:40:03,420
than a day ago so on December 31st

1
01:39:58,470 --> 01:40:06,900
sometime humans finally arose we can

1
01:40:03,420 --> 01:40:10,770
also look into the future on the same

1
01:40:06,899 --> 01:40:14,250
cosmic calendar timescale near the end

1
01:40:10,770 --> 01:40:17,580
of January of this coming year our earth

1
01:40:14,250 --> 01:40:21,210
will become quite inhospitable by around

1
01:40:17,579 --> 01:40:23,010
Mayer Sun our Sun will have died but

1
01:40:21,210 --> 01:40:25,289
there are some other stars the low mass

1
01:40:23,010 --> 01:40:29,100
stars which will live for much much

1
01:40:25,289 --> 01:40:34,199
longer up to 10,000 of these cosmic

1
01:40:29,100 --> 01:40:36,539
years that's ten thousand times longer

1
01:40:34,199 --> 01:40:39,630
than the entire history of the universe

1
01:40:36,539 --> 01:40:42,630
before these final longest living red

1
01:40:39,630 --> 01:40:44,159
dwarf stars die offs but then what

1
01:40:42,630 --> 01:40:46,590
happens

1
01:40:44,158 --> 01:40:49,529
when we talk about the extremely distant

1
01:40:46,590 --> 01:40:52,079
future we're talking about immense spans

1
01:40:49,529 --> 01:40:55,469
of time time measures and quadrillions

1
01:40:52,079 --> 01:40:58,439
of years and septillion of years and it

1
01:40:55,469 --> 01:41:00,510
becomes so overwhelming that we need to

1
01:40:58,439 --> 01:41:03,689
evolve another concept to really deal

1
01:41:00,510 --> 01:41:06,300
with it but if we're able to look in

1
01:41:03,689 --> 01:41:08,309
light that's far too red for the human

1
01:41:06,300 --> 01:41:13,230
eye to see then we would actually see if

1
01:41:08,310 --> 01:41:18,210
the sky is speckled with dead stars this

1
01:41:13,229 --> 01:41:20,488
is the degenerate in the degenerate era

1
01:41:18,210 --> 01:41:24,179
the most massive dead stars have

1
01:41:20,488 --> 01:41:26,218
collapsed into black holes but

1
01:41:24,179 --> 01:41:29,550
punctuating the total blackness of space

1
01:41:26,219 --> 01:41:35,520
the leftover ashes of once bright stars

1
01:41:29,550 --> 01:41:37,500
are still a big energy these ashes are

1
01:41:35,520 --> 01:41:38,790
called a white dwarf now they're really

1
01:41:37,500 --> 01:41:42,719
weird because you've got something like

1
01:41:38,789 --> 01:41:45,179
half the mass of our Sun roughly 160,000

1
01:41:42,719 --> 01:41:47,310
times the mass of our earth compressed

1
01:41:45,179 --> 01:41:50,130
into a volume just the size of the earth

1
01:41:47,310 --> 01:41:53,340
so it's very dense stuff it's weird

1
01:41:50,130 --> 01:41:57,090
ashes that's for sure so it'll be like

1
01:41:53,340 --> 01:41:59,550
the dying ember after a fire it'll be

1
01:41:57,090 --> 01:42:04,110
generating no new energy of its own

1
01:41:59,550 --> 01:42:06,179
through nuclear fusion but as the dying

1
01:42:04,109 --> 01:42:10,089
embers of a white dwarf cool

1
01:42:06,179 --> 01:42:13,868
they still emit many megawatts of power

1
01:42:10,090 --> 01:42:15,819
but that is vastly billions trillions of

1
01:42:13,868 --> 01:42:18,809
times less energy than the Sun is

1
01:42:15,819 --> 01:42:20,939
producing right now

1
01:42:18,810 --> 01:42:23,910
and so if we think we have an energy

1
01:42:20,939 --> 01:42:25,979
crisis now the energy crisis in the

1
01:42:23,909 --> 01:42:32,220
degenerate era will be far more severe

1
01:42:25,979 --> 01:42:34,049
and far more profound even so the energy

1
01:42:32,220 --> 01:42:37,020
emanating from these ancient star

1
01:42:34,050 --> 01:42:40,430
remnants is still greater than that

1
01:42:37,020 --> 01:42:42,900
consumed today by all human civilization

1
01:42:40,430 --> 01:42:45,960
if we were to imagine that somehow a

1
01:42:42,899 --> 01:42:48,659
human civilization were to persist into

1
01:42:45,960 --> 01:42:51,359
the degenerate era they might be tapping

1
01:42:48,659 --> 01:42:54,359
the energy that's emerging from the

1
01:42:51,359 --> 01:42:56,369
white dwarf however humans wouldn't be

1
01:42:54,359 --> 01:42:59,639
able to establish an energy gathering

1
01:42:56,369 --> 01:43:03,210
outpost on its surface such as an oil

1
01:42:59,640 --> 01:43:05,430
rig anchored to the ocean floor surface

1
01:43:03,210 --> 01:43:07,409
gravity is incredibly strong you had

1
01:43:05,430 --> 01:43:10,640
basically been crushed if you tried to

1
01:43:07,409 --> 01:43:12,029
stand on the surface of a white dwarf to

1
01:43:10,640 --> 01:43:14,100
survive

1
01:43:12,029 --> 01:43:17,460
future civilizations would need to

1
01:43:14,100 --> 01:43:19,500
establish an orbiting colony they would

1
01:43:17,460 --> 01:43:21,689
probably tap that energy that's coming

1
01:43:19,500 --> 01:43:23,729
from the white dwarf by having some sort

1
01:43:21,689 --> 01:43:25,349
of absorbing panels that are also in

1
01:43:23,729 --> 01:43:27,239
orbit around the white dwarf

1
01:43:25,350 --> 01:43:29,640
so the energy that's emanating up from

1
01:43:27,239 --> 01:43:34,349
below would be captured and trapped and

1
01:43:29,640 --> 01:43:36,240
used still light in this white dwarf

1
01:43:34,350 --> 01:43:38,969
orbiting future would have to be

1
01:43:36,239 --> 01:43:41,099
generated artificially

1
01:43:38,969 --> 01:43:44,180
there's no stars shining in the sky

1
01:43:41,100 --> 01:43:47,760
there's no moonlight there's no sunlight

1
01:43:44,180 --> 01:43:54,570
you're simply orbiting in gigantic dead

1
01:43:47,760 --> 01:43:57,480
black mass unfortunately dead black

1
01:43:54,569 --> 01:44:02,069
masses will make up the bulk of galaxies

1
01:43:57,479 --> 01:44:04,649
during the degenerate era so as we kept

1
01:44:02,069 --> 01:44:06,868
it would just rearrange itself releasing

1
01:44:04,649 --> 01:44:09,269
energy and literally every particle

1
01:44:06,868 --> 01:44:12,529
every atom every structure in the

1
01:44:09,270 --> 01:44:12,530
universe would explode

1
01:44:13,429 --> 01:44:19,618
so no complicated structure can possibly

1
01:44:16,948 --> 01:44:22,979
survive that sort of transition will be

1
01:44:19,618 --> 01:44:24,689
left is just a mess nothing but a gas of

1
01:44:22,979 --> 01:44:30,448
particles bumping randomly into each

1
01:44:24,689 --> 01:44:35,039
other but a random quantum fluctuation

1
01:44:30,448 --> 01:44:37,259
can also spark a bubble of hope some

1
01:44:35,039 --> 01:44:39,779
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
01:44:37,260 --> 01:44:43,679
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
01:44:39,779 --> 01:44:46,679
can give rise to almost detached

1
01:44:43,679 --> 01:44:50,310
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
01:44:46,679 --> 01:44:54,050
of branch off from ours into a new

1
01:44:50,310 --> 01:44:57,449
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
01:44:54,050 --> 01:45:01,380
sparked a big bang and gave rise to our

1
01:44:57,448 --> 01:45:03,569
own universe you can imagine that a

1
01:45:01,380 --> 01:45:06,239
universe like ours even though it's ten

1
01:45:03,569 --> 01:45:08,670
billion light years across is actually a

1
01:45:06,238 --> 01:45:12,319
baby universe that arose by pinching off

1
01:45:08,670 --> 01:45:12,319
from some much bigger universe

1
01:45:12,519 --> 01:45:16,960
we can picture the birth of a baby

1
01:45:14,078 --> 01:45:21,639
universe with this bottle representing

1
01:45:16,960 --> 01:45:24,399
an old dying chaotic universe my breath

1
01:45:21,639 --> 01:45:29,050
is like quantum fluctuations creating

1
01:45:24,399 --> 01:45:31,719
new universes that look like bubbles and

1
01:45:29,050 --> 01:45:32,949
each one of those bubbles is a separate

1
01:45:31,719 --> 01:45:34,569
universe all of its own

1
01:45:32,948 --> 01:45:37,448
there is the possibility that there are

1
01:45:34,569 --> 01:45:39,639
other universes out there perhaps but it

1
01:45:37,448 --> 01:45:42,460
off from our University and they may

1
01:45:39,639 --> 01:45:47,139
have their own fate either eternal

1
01:45:42,460 --> 01:45:49,840
expansion or ultimate re-collapse if

1
01:45:47,139 --> 01:45:52,630
other universes exist that perhaps

1
01:45:49,840 --> 01:45:57,130
future civilizations may not face and

1
01:45:52,630 --> 01:45:59,859
irrevocable death sentence so I would

1
01:45:57,130 --> 01:46:01,719
suspect that trillions quadrillions of

1
01:45:59,859 --> 01:46:04,238
years from now when the universe gets

1
01:46:01,719 --> 01:46:07,029
really cold and the universe is near

1
01:46:04,238 --> 01:46:09,578
death intelligent beings will be so

1
01:46:07,029 --> 01:46:12,670
powerful then that they may be tempted

1
01:46:09,578 --> 01:46:16,179
to assemble enough energy at one point

1
01:46:12,670 --> 01:46:19,328
to open up bubbles little soap bubbles

1
01:46:16,179 --> 01:46:20,670
gateways to another universe where it's

1
01:46:19,328 --> 01:46:24,409
a lot warmer

1
01:46:20,670 --> 01:46:24,409
and they can start all over again

1
01:46:24,488 --> 01:46:29,079
whether or not our descendants muster

1
01:46:27,069 --> 01:46:31,719
the technology to leave this universe

1
01:46:29,079 --> 01:46:36,390
there's no avoiding the fact that like

1
01:46:31,719 --> 01:46:36,390
all things it will come to an end

1
01:46:37,899 --> 01:46:43,689
while science wrestles with questions of

1
01:46:40,569 --> 01:46:46,299
how the universe will die humanity is

1
01:46:43,689 --> 01:46:48,569
left to do the same with how it will

1
01:46:46,300 --> 01:46:48,570
live

1
01:46:54,738 --> 01:46:56,799
you

1
01:47:00,590 --> 01:47:07,520
ten of them will be black holes and

1
01:47:04,479 --> 01:47:10,729
whatever isn't seized by the millions of

1
01:47:07,520 --> 01:47:14,390
black holes roaming the universe begins

1
01:47:10,729 --> 01:47:16,939
to decay with old age and this is

1
01:47:14,390 --> 01:47:19,550
another example of the general process

1
01:47:16,939 --> 01:47:21,979
by which the total amount of randomness

1
01:47:19,550 --> 01:47:24,230
increases in the universe the second law

1
01:47:21,979 --> 01:47:29,000
of thermodynamics is once again at work

1
01:47:24,229 --> 01:47:31,759
and all the structures all these stars

1
01:47:29,000 --> 01:47:35,810
are basically evaporating into nothing

1
01:47:31,760 --> 01:47:37,970
so by about cosmological decade 40 most

1
01:47:35,810 --> 01:47:41,120
of the stuff that's been built the

1
01:47:37,970 --> 01:47:43,880
planets and stars are all gone and the

1
01:47:41,119 --> 01:47:47,500
degenerate era which is stretched or a

1
01:47:43,880 --> 01:47:50,750
huge amount of time is coming to an end

1
01:47:47,500 --> 01:47:55,539
with nothing left in their way black

1
01:47:50,750 --> 01:47:55,539
holes stand poised to rule the universe

1
01:47:58,100 --> 01:48:05,020
this may be the grim future of the

1
01:48:00,590 --> 01:48:07,819
cosmos the planets decay and dissolves

1
01:48:05,020 --> 01:48:11,660
dark galactic remnants scattered across

1
01:48:07,819 --> 01:48:15,630
a bloated universe and even light is

1
01:48:11,659 --> 01:48:17,849
just a faint distant memory

1
01:48:15,630 --> 01:48:19,770
as we continue through the vast

1
01:48:17,850 --> 01:48:23,400
stretches of time measured in

1
01:48:19,770 --> 01:48:25,949
cosmological decades massive black holes

1
01:48:23,399 --> 01:48:29,359
survived is the only recognizable

1
01:48:25,948 --> 01:48:32,099
features of our once brilliant night sky

1
01:48:29,359 --> 01:48:37,969
we're up to about cosmological decades

1
01:48:32,100 --> 01:48:37,969
60s and we look out at the night sky

1
01:48:38,060 --> 01:48:44,120
it's incredibly cold it's incredibly

1
01:48:41,399 --> 01:48:45,420
black and there's only the faintest

1
01:48:44,119 --> 01:48:48,420
crackle

1
01:48:45,420 --> 01:48:51,179
of radio waves and gravitational

1
01:48:48,420 --> 01:48:57,690
radiation echoing through the empty

1
01:48:51,179 --> 01:49:00,149
skies this is the black hole era the

1
01:48:57,689 --> 01:49:03,809
continuous expansion of the universe has

1
01:49:00,149 --> 01:49:07,439
taken its toll the unimaginable cold

1
01:49:03,810 --> 01:49:11,489
saps energy and constricts movement time

1
01:49:07,439 --> 01:49:14,009
itself seems to lose meaning in the

1
01:49:11,488 --> 01:49:16,229
midst of the black hole era even the

1
01:49:14,010 --> 01:49:20,340
degenerate era looks like the first

1
01:49:16,229 --> 01:49:23,269
sliver of time after the Big Bang does

1
01:49:20,340 --> 01:49:25,800
life have a chance in this environment

1
01:49:23,270 --> 01:49:28,860
humans won't exist at that time this

1
01:49:25,800 --> 01:49:32,420
protons won't exist but it's possible to

1
01:49:28,859 --> 01:49:36,289
imagine some kind of entity which is

1
01:49:32,420 --> 01:49:39,389
living in an extraordinarily slow rate

1
01:49:36,289 --> 01:49:43,619
if it lives slowly enough perhaps

1
01:49:39,389 --> 01:49:45,510
strange life could emerge galaxies

1
01:49:43,619 --> 01:49:47,250
themselves will get ripped apart the

1
01:49:45,510 --> 01:49:48,989
stars will start flying away from one

1
01:49:47,250 --> 01:49:49,920
another no longer held together by

1
01:49:48,988 --> 01:49:52,139
gravity

1
01:49:49,920 --> 01:49:54,149
and then planetary systems like our

1
01:49:52,140 --> 01:49:56,430
solar system will get ripped apart and

1
01:49:54,149 --> 01:49:58,889
then stars and planets will get ripped

1
01:49:56,430 --> 01:50:03,020
apart and then humans we get ripped

1
01:49:58,890 --> 01:50:03,020
apart and then the very atom

1
01:50:03,590 --> 01:50:08,090
imagine that somehow a human

1
01:50:05,420 --> 01:50:11,390
civilization were to persist into the

1
01:50:08,090 --> 01:50:13,520
degenerate era they might be tapping the

1
01:50:11,390 --> 01:50:16,760
energy that's emerging from the white

1
01:50:13,520 --> 01:50:19,130
dwarf however humans wouldn't be able to

1
01:50:16,760 --> 01:50:22,640
establish an energy gathering outpost on

1
01:50:19,130 --> 01:50:25,460
its surface such as an oil rig anchored

1
01:50:22,640 --> 01:50:27,590
to the ocean floor the surface gravity

1
01:50:25,460 --> 01:50:29,899
is incredibly strong you had basically

1
01:50:27,590 --> 01:50:33,680
been crushed if you tried to stand on

1
01:50:29,899 --> 01:50:36,139
the surface of a white dwarf - survives

1
01:50:33,680 --> 01:50:39,470
future civilizations would need to

1
01:50:36,140 --> 01:50:41,510
establish an orbiting colony they would

1
01:50:39,470 --> 01:50:43,730
probably tap that energy that's coming

1
01:50:41,510 --> 01:50:45,739
from the white dwarf by having some sort

1
01:50:43,729 --> 01:50:47,359
of absorbing panels that are also in

1
01:50:45,739 --> 01:50:49,250
orbit around the white dwarf

1
01:50:47,359 --> 01:50:51,649
so the energy that's emanating up from

1
01:50:49,250 --> 01:50:56,359
below would be captured and trapped and

1
01:50:51,649 --> 01:50:58,250
used still light in this white dwarf

1
01:50:56,359 --> 01:51:00,960
orbiting future would have to be

1
01:50:58,250 --> 01:51:03,090
generated artificially

1
01:51:00,960 --> 01:51:06,199
there's no stars shining in the sky

1
01:51:03,090 --> 01:51:09,810
there's no moonlight there's no sunlight

1
01:51:06,199 --> 01:51:16,590
you're simply orbiting a gigantic dead

1
01:51:09,810 --> 01:51:19,500
black mass unfortunately dead black

1
01:51:16,590 --> 01:51:23,100
masses will make up the bulk of galaxies

1
01:51:19,500 --> 01:51:26,189
during the degenerate era so as we go

1
01:51:23,100 --> 01:51:28,579
into the degenerate era we'll have

1
01:51:26,189 --> 01:51:31,409
roughly a hundred billion dead stars

1
01:51:28,579 --> 01:51:36,869
orbiting each other in a giant

1
01:51:31,409 --> 01:51:38,399
elliptical configuration occasionally

1
01:51:36,869 --> 01:51:41,130
they'll interact with one another and

1
01:51:38,399 --> 01:51:43,500
one will get flung out of the galaxy

1
01:51:41,130 --> 01:51:44,880
causing the galaxy to lose mass the

1
01:51:43,500 --> 01:51:47,579
galaxies in a sense will evaporate

1
01:51:44,880 --> 01:51:52,079
slowly with time as these things are

1
01:51:47,579 --> 01:51:54,689
flung out white dwarfs and remaining

1
01:51:52,079 --> 01:51:58,949
galactic material fall prey to black

1
01:51:54,689 --> 01:52:01,619
holes so gradually with time what will

1
01:51:58,949 --> 01:52:04,319
happen is the galaxy will have fewer and

1
01:52:01,619 --> 01:52:06,930
fewer objects in it and a greater and

1
01:52:04,319 --> 01:52:08,849
greater fraction of them will be black

1
01:52:06,930 --> 01:52:10,740
holes

1
01:52:08,850 --> 01:52:12,840
and whatever isn't seized by the

1
01:52:10,739 --> 01:52:16,939
millions of black holes roaming the

1
01:52:12,840 --> 01:52:19,619
universe begins to decay with old age

1
01:52:16,939 --> 01:52:22,710
and this is another example of the

1
01:52:19,619 --> 01:52:24,659
general process by which the total

1
01:52:22,710 --> 01:52:26,180
amount of randomness increases in the

1
01:52:24,659 --> 01:52:29,750
universe the second law of

1
01:52:26,180 --> 01:52:33,180
thermodynamics is once again at work and

1
01:52:29,750 --> 01:52:37,170
all the structures all these stars are

1
01:52:33,180 --> 01:52:40,110
basically evaporating into nothing so by

1
01:52:37,170 --> 01:52:42,690
about cosmological decade 40 most of the

1
01:52:40,109 --> 01:52:45,750
stuff that's been built the planets and

1
01:52:42,689 --> 01:52:48,539
stars are all gone and the degenerate

1
01:52:45,750 --> 01:52:52,770
era which is stretched of a huge amount

1
01:52:48,539 --> 01:52:54,180
of time is coming to an end with nothing

1
01:52:52,770 --> 01:52:57,510
left in their way

1
01:52:54,180 --> 01:52:59,539
black holes stand poised to rule the

1
01:52:57,510 --> 01:52:59,539
universe

1
01:53:00,739 --> 01:53:07,829
atoms are being forced together fusing

1
01:53:04,949 --> 01:53:11,250
them creating new nuclei and in the

1
01:53:07,829 --> 01:53:15,059
process transforming some of that matter

1
01:53:11,250 --> 01:53:18,100
some of that mass into the radiated

1
01:53:15,060 --> 01:53:21,670
energy that we see and we feel

1
01:53:18,100 --> 01:53:23,590
the same processes going on in all the

1
01:53:21,670 --> 01:53:27,100
active stars in the universe

1
01:53:23,590 --> 01:53:28,600
now as this charcoal is burning the fuel

1
01:53:27,100 --> 01:53:31,060
is getting used up and you can actually

1
01:53:28,600 --> 01:53:34,620
see that it's turning into a gray color

1
01:53:31,060 --> 01:53:39,400
it's turning into ashes in a similar way

1
01:53:34,619 --> 01:53:42,309
stars use up their fuel they fuse

1
01:53:39,399 --> 01:53:44,829
hydrogen into helium and so with time

1
01:53:42,310 --> 01:53:48,430
there's less and less hydrogen to fuse

1
01:53:44,829 --> 01:53:52,059
and the ashes have less energy content

1
01:53:48,430 --> 01:53:55,600
and thus are either harder to burn or

1
01:53:52,060 --> 01:54:01,120
release less energy during the burning

1
01:53:55,600 --> 01:54:06,420
process this is the eventual fate of our

1
01:54:01,119 --> 01:54:10,229
own Sun as it ages it bloats and heats

1
01:54:06,420 --> 01:54:13,060
the earth we'll be fried to a new recipe

1
01:54:10,229 --> 01:54:15,339
oceans will boil away all plants and

1
01:54:13,060 --> 01:54:18,400
animals will die rocks will start

1
01:54:15,340 --> 01:54:21,360
vaporizing because the Sun will be

1
01:54:18,399 --> 01:54:26,229
producing so much light so much energy

1
01:54:21,359 --> 01:54:30,279
that'll be a pretty gruesome death for

1
01:54:26,229 --> 01:54:33,189
the earth all through the universe stars

1
01:54:30,279 --> 01:54:35,050
that are like the Sun are gonna be

1
01:54:33,189 --> 01:54:36,849
facing the same challenges that our own

1
01:54:35,050 --> 01:54:39,730
star will face they're running out of

1
01:54:36,850 --> 01:54:42,070
fuel or swelling up and they're causing

1
01:54:39,729 --> 01:54:44,829
problems for the planets that orbit them

1
01:54:42,069 --> 01:54:47,738
so it's not hard to imagine there are

1
01:54:44,829 --> 01:54:49,930
many locations where life has evolved

1
01:54:47,738 --> 01:54:52,409
and flourished and is now being

1
01:54:49,930 --> 01:54:52,409
extinguished

1
01:54:52,689 --> 01:54:58,210
just as each star suffers the effects of

1
01:54:55,510 --> 01:55:02,110
entropy so too will the rest of the

1
01:54:58,210 --> 01:55:04,689
universe but stars naturally increase

1
01:55:02,109 --> 01:55:07,960
the entropy of the universe by giving

1
01:55:04,689 --> 01:55:11,079
off light and heat just like this fire

1
01:55:07,960 --> 01:55:14,079
of burning charcoal naturally increases

1
01:55:11,079 --> 01:55:16,210
the entropy of the universe right now

1
01:55:14,079 --> 01:55:18,488
we're kind of in a steady period in the

1
01:55:16,210 --> 01:55:21,039
universe where stars are born live out

1
01:55:18,488 --> 01:55:22,539
their lives die give some of that gas

1
01:55:21,039 --> 01:55:24,640
back to the next generation then you

1
01:55:22,539 --> 01:55:27,670
have another generation of stars but

1
01:55:24,640 --> 01:55:32,110
that rate of star formation is gradually

1
01:55:27,670 --> 01:55:34,270
decreasing with time and as stars use up

1
01:55:32,109 --> 01:55:37,299
their fuel and burn out there aren't

1
01:55:34,270 --> 01:55:39,489
enough new stars being formed to replace

1
01:55:37,300 --> 01:55:42,219
them at the moment we've run out of gas

1
01:55:39,488 --> 01:55:45,789
to make new stars it means for every

1
01:55:42,219 --> 01:55:47,920
dead star in the rolls and ranks there's

1
01:55:45,789 --> 01:55:49,899
not a star to replace it

1
01:55:47,920 --> 01:55:51,239
and so that's a bad situation of being

1
01:55:49,899 --> 01:55:54,849
the day that happens

1
01:55:51,239 --> 01:55:56,949
so effectively galaxies giant

1
01:55:54,850 --> 01:55:59,230
collections of stars are growing

1
01:55:56,949 --> 01:56:01,630
progressively dimmer with time on

1
01:55:59,229 --> 01:56:03,729
average an event should this bubble

1
01:56:01,630 --> 01:56:05,739
passing the masses of different

1
01:56:03,729 --> 01:56:07,689
particles would change the charge of

1
01:56:05,739 --> 01:56:09,460
different particles would change all of

1
01:56:07,689 --> 01:56:11,169
chemistry as we know it would be

1
01:56:09,460 --> 01:56:13,480
completely different after this phase

1
01:56:11,170 --> 01:56:15,609
transition occurred what that means is

1
01:56:13,479 --> 01:56:18,039
that suddenly there are new ways to

1
01:56:15,609 --> 01:56:20,829
arrange all the particles that were made

1
01:56:18,039 --> 01:56:24,640
of and it's sort of like everything in

1
01:56:20,829 --> 01:56:26,619
the universe becomes an atomic bomb it

1
01:56:24,640 --> 01:56:28,840
would just rearrange itself releasing

1
01:56:26,619 --> 01:56:31,269
energy and literally every particle

1
01:56:28,840 --> 01:56:37,690
every atom every structure in the

1
01:56:31,270 --> 01:56:40,210
universe would explode so no complicated

1
01:56:37,689 --> 01:56:42,339
structure can possibly survive that sort

1
01:56:40,210 --> 01:56:45,010
of transition will be left is just a

1
01:56:42,340 --> 01:56:48,869
mess nothing but a gas of particles

1
01:56:45,010 --> 01:56:48,869
bumping randomly into each other

1
01:56:49,739 --> 01:56:57,039
but a random quantum fluctuation can

1
01:56:52,869 --> 01:56:59,260
also spark a bubble of hope some

1
01:56:57,039 --> 01:57:01,779
theoretical physicists suggest that some

1
01:56:59,260 --> 01:57:05,650
of these quantum fluctuations actually

1
01:57:01,779 --> 01:57:08,679
can give rise to almost detached

1
01:57:05,649 --> 01:57:12,279
portions of space dimensions that sort

1
01:57:08,680 --> 01:57:16,050
of branch off from ours into a new

1
01:57:12,279 --> 01:57:19,569
universe perhaps a quantum fluctuation

1
01:57:16,050 --> 01:57:23,380
sparked a big bang and gave rise to our

1
01:57:19,569 --> 01:57:25,569
own universe you can imagine that a

1
01:57:23,380 --> 01:57:28,239
universe like ours even though it's 10

1
01:57:25,569 --> 01:57:30,670
billion light years across is actually a

1
01:57:28,239 --> 01:57:34,779
baby universe that arose by pinching off

1
01:57:30,670 --> 01:57:36,640
from some much bigger universe we can

1
01:57:34,779 --> 01:57:39,309
picture the birth of a baby universe

1
01:57:36,640 --> 01:57:44,410
with this bottle representing an old

1
01:57:39,310 --> 01:57:46,539
dying chaotic universe my breath is like

1
01:57:44,409 --> 01:57:51,099
quantum fluctuations creating new

1
01:57:46,539 --> 01:57:53,710
universes that look like bubbles and

1
01:57:51,100 --> 01:57:55,450
each one of those bubbles is a separate

1
01:57:53,710 --> 01:57:56,739
universe all of its own there is the

1
01:57:55,449 --> 01:57:59,619
possibility that there are other

1
01:57:56,739 --> 01:58:01,960
universes out there perhaps but it off

1
01:57:59,619 --> 01:58:04,569
from our University and they may have

1
01:58:01,960 --> 01:58:08,460
their own fate either eternal expansion

1
01:58:04,569 --> 01:58:08,460
or ultimate re-collapse

1
01:58:08,680 --> 01:58:14,200
if other universes exist that perhaps

1
01:58:11,829 --> 01:58:19,119
future civilizations may not face

1
01:58:14,199 --> 01:58:21,849
irrevocable death sentence so I would

1
01:58:19,119 --> 01:58:23,710
suspect that trillions quadrillions of

1
01:58:21,850 --> 01:58:25,990
years from now when the universe gets

1
01:58:23,710 --> 01:58:28,480
really cold and the universe is

1
01:58:25,989 --> 01:58:30,489
randomness increases in the universe the

1
01:58:28,479 --> 01:58:35,289
second law of thermodynamics is once

1
01:58:30,489 --> 01:58:37,539
again at work and all the structures all

1
01:58:35,289 --> 01:58:38,949
these stars are basically evaporating

1
01:58:37,539 --> 01:58:42,069
into nothing

1
01:58:38,949 --> 01:58:44,979
and so by about cosmological decade 40

1
01:58:42,069 --> 01:58:48,369
most of the stuff that's been built the

1
01:58:44,979 --> 01:58:50,889
planets and stars are all gone and the

1
01:58:48,369 --> 01:58:54,479
degenerate era which is stretched for a

1
01:58:50,890 --> 01:58:57,760
huge amounts of time is coming to an end

1
01:58:54,479 --> 01:59:02,519
with nothing left in their way black

1
01:58:57,760 --> 01:59:02,520
holes stand poised to rule the universe

eInfo HQ

Saturday, November 25, 2017

National Geographic Video - Cosmic Collisions

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