Gigglebit: Here are 3 ways the universe will most likely end

9 Feb 2015

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note.

When it comes to mankind’s place in the universe, our entire existence has been a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second in the overall scheme of things considering the estimated age of the universe is about 13.8bn years old.

So for all of us reading this piece, rest easy in the knowledge that by the time we’re all dead, the universe will still be trucking on, at least for another few billion years.

However, given what we know about astronomy and astrophysics, our planet’s top scientists are in agreement that the universe, given its rate of expansion, cannot last forever and will one day end in a pretty dramatic event.

But what exactly will happen in our universe’s final moments? Will it explode? Will it implode? Will it, as some have suggested, just be re-born again?

To answer this question, German video creators KurzGesagt attempt to give the best three explanations as to how it will most likely come to an end.

Spoiler alert: every option sounds like it would hurt a lot.

End of the universe image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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