1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: You're basically telling me that the universe could end tomorrow, right, Um, 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: it's very unlikely because it didn't end yesterday. Into the 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: possibility that the laws of physics won't change is small. Yes, exactly. Hi, 4 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: I'm Jorge and I'm Daniel, and this is Daniel and 5 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: Jorge explain the universe, the entire god forsaken universe and 6 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: everything in it. That's right, even the parts we can't see, 7 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: even the parts we will never see. We're going to 8 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: explain them all to you today on the program The 9 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: End of the Universe. How will the universe end? Will 10 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: it end? What's it going to be like? And what 11 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: should you order in order to prepare? Do we have 12 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: a spoiler alert at the top of the episode? Well, 13 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: do you know the fate of the universe. I'm curious 14 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: to hear. Do you have me at the edge of 15 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: my seat now, or hey, spoil it for me. I'm 16 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: desperate to know how will the universe end? Mostly I 17 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: just have Internet rumors. I think you know some plot 18 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: points of Leaked Well, you know, the Internet is always right, 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: It's wisdom of the crowd thing, right, So this is 20 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: an interesting question. So, Daniel, assuming that we survived the 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: next couple of years. Why is this an important question? 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: Why is an important question? Why do we want to 23 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: know how the universe ends? Well, you had me just 24 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: a minute ago in the edge of my seat because 25 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: I thought you were going to tell me the answer. 26 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: I think it's a it's a basic human curiosity. You know, 27 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: there's this desire to understand where we came from, why 28 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: we're here, how this all works, what's the point of existence, basically, 29 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: what's the context? And I think people want to know 30 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: how the universe is going to end because it's part 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: of that framing. You know, it's like as interesting as 32 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: knowing how the universe began, yeah, or like how are 33 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: you going to die? Yeah, exactly, Or if you're gonna die, 34 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: if you're gonna get uploaded to the cloud or downloaded 35 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: into a robot, or I'm actually talking to you from 36 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: the cloud Tenniel, Well you're talking to a robot. So 37 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: I think that there's this sort of the large scale 38 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: human curiosity answer, like you know, what is the answer 39 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: of life, the universe and everything? And then there's also 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: the short term like are we going to survive the 41 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: next couple of years? Are our kids going to have 42 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: a place to live. You know, why do we care 43 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: about the environment, why do we care about human survival 44 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: of human society? Because we want to be around. So 45 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: when you say we, you mean like us as a species. No, 46 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: I mean we as and me and my direct genetic offspring. 47 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: And oh I see, I see nobody else matters. You 48 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 1: can cut off all of the other parts of the 49 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: evolutionary tree. Well, this is a deep question, And as usual, 50 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: we went out and asked people how they thought the 51 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: universe would end. And here's what people on the street 52 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: had to say. How do you think the universe is 53 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: going to end? Um? I've heard a lot of theories 54 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: about this sudden reaches the end of its life cycle 55 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: and like I was just combusting in this huge qual 56 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 1: of fire the universe. Um, well, there isn't a big 57 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 1: bang eventually predicted. It will initial collapse upon itself. I 58 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: feel like it's going to end up collapsing on itself basically, 59 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: sort of just like snuffing out the light in a 60 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: certain way to take everything in using the forest action 61 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: in order to be able to pull into a different dimension, 62 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: though we don't know of all. Right, Well, first, I 63 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: like how people were not very optimistic, Like, nobody said 64 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: the universe is going to end. I thought it was 65 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: going to go on forever in this amazing uh state 66 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: of euphoria. And everyone's like, I don't think we're gonna 67 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: survive the next ten years, yeah, or we're gonna get 68 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: swallowed by the sun or something. Everybody had a pretty 69 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: dark view of the future. But I thought it was fascinating. 70 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: I had a little bit of trouble getting people to 71 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: actually answer the question, or maybe to hear the question. 72 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: Most of the people, have you noticed, answered the question 73 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: what's going to be the fate of the Earth or humans? 74 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: If I pushed them, I reminded them I said no, no, no, 75 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: the whole universe. Then they would maybe think as far 76 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: as the Solar system. But I think very few people 77 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: have thought about the universe as a whole coming to 78 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: an end. Maybe no would even imagines that's a possibility 79 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: that it would end, or that it would even kind 80 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: of matter to the human species, right, like, maybe we're 81 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: just this tiny little blip in the history of the universe. Yeah. Absolutely. 82 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: I think people are not very confident that the the humanity 83 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: is gonna last a long time. But I suspect that 84 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: there's this underlying confidence that the universe is going to 85 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: be here forever. I mean, think about how big it is, 86 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: how vast, how much stuff there is, Like, how would 87 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: you even get rid of it all? You know, if 88 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: your job, Jorge was to end the universe, that would 89 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: take a long time, right, going around hoovering up all 90 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: these stars and planets that have been created and throwing 91 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: it in a in a trash compact or something otherwise 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: known as a black hole. Yet, well, it's interesting to 93 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: think about the universe even anything, like you said it, like, 94 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: it's so vast, it's so huge. What would it even 95 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: mean for it to end? You know, likes to get 96 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: thrown out somewhere, Does it explode, does it turn into 97 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: something else? Like if it turned into something else, isn't 98 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: it still the universe? That's right? And it's a perfect 99 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: reflection of the other really deep question, which is how 100 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: did the universe begin? Right? You ask these questions what 101 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: would it mean for the universe to end? What would 102 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: be after that? It's the same as asking what came 103 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: before the universe started? How did it begin? But we 104 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: think now the universe did have a beginning, right, it 105 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: has an age. Right, he started a certain moment fourteen 106 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: billion years ago, the Big Bang. In the Big Bang, 107 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: it's actually pretty natural to think that it might also 108 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: have an end point, right, I mean at a starting point, 109 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: why not an end point if it could go from 110 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: nothing to something. Yeah, everything that has the beginning has 111 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: an end, except for things that haven't ended. But yes, um, 112 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: such as the universe and this podcast, which is you know, 113 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: still going on. Do you think it's more natural to 114 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: think of since the universe we think at a beginning 115 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: the Big Bang, you think it's natural that it might 116 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: have an end. It can't just be an open and 117 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: the thing it could be. But it's also could be 118 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: something that has a finite life. I mean, it had 119 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: a specific beginning, so we could also have a specific end, 120 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: and what happens after that we'll just be could be 121 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: something else we don't really call the universe because it's 122 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: so alien and different. The way before the universe began, 123 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: we think of there being no space and no time. 124 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: I mean maybe there was something you know, inflatons or 125 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: pre inflationary matter, whatever, but not anything recognizable, not anything 126 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: that followed the laws of physics as we know them, 127 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: or anything that would make any sense to us. I mean, 128 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: what does it even mean to not have any space 129 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 1: or time? Right? Right? Right? And it's also amazing that 130 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: we can even consider this question, right, Like, we are 131 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: standing here fourteen billion years after the Big Bang, and 132 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: possibly the end of the universe is not for another 133 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: like trillion years, but we like here in this moment 134 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: in time, can think about can look around us and 135 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: be like, all right, this is where things are headed. Yeah, yeah, 136 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: And I love that feeling, like we don't know if 137 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: we're halfway through the lifetime of the universe, were like 138 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: one one trillion of the way through the universe. Imagine 139 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: if we had been if there was life, you know, 140 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand years after the universe began in that 141 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: hot plasma, they would figure, wow, look the universe is 142 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: pretty old. It's already a hundred thousand years old, right, 143 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: but you know, so much was left to happen. They 144 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: didn't even have stars or planets or black holes or 145 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,679 Speaker 1: anything exciting. Right, Maybe we're still in those first initial blip. 146 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: That's just the first slice of time, and most of 147 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: the history of the universe is deep ahead of us. 148 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: It could go on for ten to the one thousand years, 149 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: like we could be in the universe's pre pubescent years, 150 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: like this is the awkward tween years, or it could 151 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: be the birth Busicists in a trillion years could classify 152 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: this whole part as the Big Bang. They're like, oh, 153 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: that was just you know, the first part of the 154 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: Big Bang, and the second part of the Big Bang, 155 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: and then the last dregs the Big Bang before we 156 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: really got started, like this is the Empire strikes back 157 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: of the Big Bank, the relg So yeah, so we 158 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: could be like, uh, this could be like just the 159 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: universe getting started, or it could be like maybe the 160 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: fading years, like this is this is it like we've plateaued, 161 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: or it could be like, um, we are under the 162 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: decline of the universe. So I think we figured it out. 163 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: We need to know whether the universe will end so 164 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: that we know whether it should have a midlife crisis, right, 165 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: and they don't want to miss your midlife crisis, your 166 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: opportunity to drive fast cars and buy some buy some 167 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: new galaxies. Maybe those galaxies are way too young for you, Universe. 168 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: That's disgusting. So we don't know where we are in 169 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: the lifetime of the universe, like we could be at 170 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: the youth, or we could be in the middle age 171 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: of the universe. We don't know. Um, so what what 172 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: I guess what do we know from looking around us 173 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: about the lifetime or the age of the universe. Well, 174 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: basically nothing, but basically nothing. We have no concrete evidence 175 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: of the universe will ever end. I mean as far 176 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: as we know. But we were extrapolating from, as you say, 177 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: a very small amount of information only for teen billion 178 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:02,839 Speaker 1: years of history, and now we're trying to extrapolate into 179 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,959 Speaker 1: billions and trillions and gazillions of years. Right, So, currently 180 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: we know and if you listen to our podcast episode 181 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: about dark energy, you know the universe is expanding and 182 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: that that expansion is accelerating. So things are moving away 183 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: from each other, and every year that movement happens faster 184 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: and faster. Things are spreading out right. Yeah, the universe 185 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: is getting bigger and things are getting more spacious. Yeah, 186 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: So we have to think carefully about what we mean 187 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: for the universe to end. For a while, people thought 188 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: the universe's expansion might stop and slow down, and it 189 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: might even be that there was enough gravity to pull 190 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: everything back in to collapse it back into a dot 191 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: and the sort of the way the universe started. A 192 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: nice symmetry there. Yeah, the big crunch, Yeah, the big crunch. 193 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: And in theories where you have a big bang and 194 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: then expansion and then a big crunch which starts another 195 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 1: big bang, you don't think of that big crunch is 196 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: a big crunch. You call it the big bounce because 197 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: it's sort of like the universe has these cycles. We 198 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: have bang and crunch and bang and crunch and sort 199 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: of more like a bunch of bounces where the universe 200 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 1: expands and contracts. It's kind of like when you when 201 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: you're like hyperventilating and you grab a paper bag and 202 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: you're like breathing into it and out of it, into 203 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: it and out of it. That's kind of like the 204 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,839 Speaker 1: view of the universe, right, like it's expanding and then 205 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: it collapses compands exactly, and then you get into some 206 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: semantic distinctions, like if the universe expands and then collapses 207 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: back down to a singularity or something really small and 208 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: dense again, is that really the end of the universe 209 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: and the start of a new universe or is it 210 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: really just you know, another cycle in the lifetime of universe. 211 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: In which case the universe could have been going on forever, 212 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: bouncing and bouncing and bouncing along merrily as we as 213 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: we live and breathe, you know. Or or it could 214 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: be that between bounces it could be very different. It's 215 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: like the same energy would be the same energy, but 216 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: maybe not the same particles, right, because like when they 217 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: get compressed at a small they just kind of turned 218 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: into pure energy, and then then when it expands again, 219 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: it becomes other particles. Right. Yeah, if you're like naming 220 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,680 Speaker 1: this electron, then an individual electron name read no longer 221 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: exists in the next universe. Fred E fred e exactly. 222 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: And uh, it's anti particle, anti freddy and um, just 223 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: like pasta and anti pasta. But the energy is of 224 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: course the same and so and even the rules of 225 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: physics would probably be the same, So it's not like 226 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: you get a dramatically different universe. Although you know, the 227 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: quantum fluctuations in those blobs could give you all sorts 228 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: of weird things and weird different structure in future universes. 229 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: So that's one possibility, is that the expansion could turn 230 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: around and crunch. I have so many questions for you, 231 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: But before we dive in let's take a short break before. 232 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: We only need about gravity and scars and matter. And 233 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: we assumed that gravity, at some point it's just gonna 234 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: bring everything because if you put a bunch of like, um, 235 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: those particles out in space, the gravity will pull them together. Right, 236 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: that's right. Gravity is really weak, but it's got a 237 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 1: lot of time, and so eventually it will gather it 238 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: all together and crunch it down into a planet or 239 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: an asteroid, or a star or a black hole, depending 240 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:11,680 Speaker 1: on how much stuff there is. And that's what people thought. 241 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: People thought, like all those all the stars and galaxies 242 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: eventually would slow down and get pulled together into one 243 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: ginormous black hole thing. Point. Yeah, that was one idea 244 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: people had. And then you know, we discovered dark energy. 245 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: We discovered that the universe is expanding faster and faster 246 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: every year right now. So then for a long time, 247 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: this idea of a big crunch was crossed off the list, 248 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: but I think prematurely. Oh you mean, like, so we've 249 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: we discovered dark energy, meaning that there's some kind of 250 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: energy permeating the whole universe that's making it expand faster 251 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: and faster. And so we said, um, it's not going 252 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,679 Speaker 1: to crunch back in guys like this. Dark energy is 253 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: a big deal. It's pushing everything further away faster and faster. 254 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: We're never going to come back together again. Yeah, that 255 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: was sort of the new prevailing wisdom as about twenty 256 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: years ago. But I think that's premature because we don't know, Like, 257 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: we don't know what dark energy is. We don't know 258 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: how it works. We don't know what it's going to 259 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: do in the future. We do know that it has 260 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: some time dependence, like it turned on five billion years ago. 261 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: Is going to keep going? Is it going to accelerate more? 262 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: Is it going to stop? I mean to extrapolate from 263 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: the last few billion years into the next trillion requires 264 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: a lot of confidence, and we can't do that extrapolation. 265 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: Like dark energy could flame out or something right or 266 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: flip flip exactly. It could turn around and make a 267 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: massive crunch. It might even like bring everything back together 268 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: or something. Yeah, nobody can predict what it's going to 269 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: do because we don't understand it at all. We're just 270 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: watching it happen. Dark energy is the observation that the 271 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: universe expansion is accelerating recently, but it's not really a 272 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: solid prediction, what's going to happen. So most of the 273 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: prevailing wisdom these days about the future universe assumes dark 274 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: energy is going to continue, but there's no guarantee there, 275 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: and you know, there could be new things in waiting 276 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: in the future. For us, dark energy only came around 277 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: five billion years ago. There could be like a dark 278 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: error energy that comes on in five more billion years 279 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 1: and and it totally drowns out dark energy and dominates it, 280 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: right our er energy, Oh my god, exactly. And then 281 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: the sequel that the third part of the trilogy, Darkest Energy, 282 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: fifty Shades of dark Energy exactly. That's the erotic version 283 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: of the children. So what are the like, what are 284 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: the scenarios that side of physicists are considering if dark 285 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: energy doesn't change. Yeah, so if dark energy doesn't change, 286 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: then it continues pulling the universe apart, meaning creating new 287 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: space between us and other galaxies, and doing that faster 288 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: and faster every year. So this scenario is sometimes called 289 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: the big Rip because essentially feels like somebody's taking the universe. 290 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: Something shouldn't anthropomorphize. Something is taking the universe and pushing 291 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: it apart, ripping it to shreds. Things get farther and 292 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: farther apart every year, and if you look up in 293 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: the night sky, things start to disappear because they move 294 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: outside of our observable horizon, and so things get further 295 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: and further in space apart. Well, now, is that is 296 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: that like the same franchise, like The Big Rip, the 297 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: Big Crunch, the Big Bang? Is it all like copyrighted 298 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: by physicists? That's right, Yeah, it's all owned by the 299 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: same agents somewhere in Hollywood who we now have to 300 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: pay royalties to, um if we want to option this. Yeah, exactly, 301 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: And there's lots of fascinating scenarios there. You know, if 302 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: things just continue to spread out, then things get more 303 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: and more dilute, right, and things um things, because everything 304 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: gets further and further apart, and then you can just 305 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: sort of let the laws of physics play out and like, 306 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: what's going to happen to our galaxy? For example, Well, 307 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: we know that in a few billion years, our galaxy 308 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: is probably gonna collide with a nearby galaxy, Andromeda. And 309 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: that's going to be less dramatic than it sounds, because 310 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: it's mostly just gonna mean the stars shifting around a 311 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: little bit, and you know, we might get some new 312 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: asteroids passing through our solar system. But galaxies are mostly 313 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: really diffuse, right, They don't when when they hit each other. 314 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: They don't the stars don't actually collide and smash into 315 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: each other and create enormous cosmic explosions, but they sort 316 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: of affect each other, right, Like we might get a 317 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: giant star flying eros and disrupt their whole orbit. Maybe, yeah, absolutely, Yeah, 318 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: So it's like if two whirlpools join, if you ever 319 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: see that happen in a pool, they sort of join, 320 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: emerge in their combined spin forms one new spinning blob. 321 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: And so for the individual stars, you know, they might 322 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: get a little disrupted here and there, and in some 323 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: cases maybe by a lot in rare circumstances um, but 324 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: mostly we just form a big combined galaxy. But you know, 325 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: then fast forward another few zillion years and eventually the 326 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: stars burn out, right, So at some point we keep 327 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: fast forwarding, the stars are gonna snuff out, like they're 328 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: just going to become embers and then eventually just kind 329 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: of like hot stones and then just rocks, then just rocks. Yeah, 330 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: and we've already gone through several cycles. I mean, the 331 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: first stars that were in the universe are no longer around. 332 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 1: We can't even see their light. Kidding, several cycles of 333 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: stars that have already happened. The first stars were all 334 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: hydrogen and they formed and they burned and they imploded 335 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: and they exploded, right, and then those materials gathered together 336 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,159 Speaker 1: make new stars, And that's happened, I'm not sure how 337 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: many times, several times where several cycles deep, which is 338 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: why we have such interesting atoms like gold and heavy 339 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: stuff lying around. Right. We aren't there new stars being 340 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: formed right now out of hydrogen, none of but none 341 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: of them are hydrogen stars. There are still new stars 342 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: being formed, but there's being formed out of a mix 343 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: of hydrogen and heavier stuff. So like stars one point, Oh, 344 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: nobody knows what that looks like. Yeah, yeah, I think 345 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: recently people's found some light they think comes from the 346 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: first stars, but it's still still very preliminary stuff. Yeah. 347 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: So the stars get heavier and heavier and eventually run 348 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: out of stuff that burns, and then the universe goes dark. 349 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: Right then, it's just like the era of stars is over. 350 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: And it could be that the era of stars is 351 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,120 Speaker 1: just like a little blip in the history of the universe, 352 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: and then it goes on for like another gazillion years 353 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: before anything interesting. Complete darkness, of complete darkness or other 354 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: things that bread burn right, aren't aren't like quasars and 355 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: black holes in those amid radiation and light. Yeah, some 356 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: of them amid some sort of radiation, but nothing as 357 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: powerful as stars. So what we're facing is a pretty 358 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: dark time. You know, this could be like the only 359 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: bright period in the universe, Yes, exactly. Um. You know, 360 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: in the way I think about the very early universe, 361 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: is this hot plasma that only lasted a brief period 362 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: of time, you know, three or four hundred thousand years, 363 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: and then it was over. And from the point of 364 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: view of that hot plasma, the universe now is very 365 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: dark and quiet and cold. But we could be looking 366 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: forward to another period which is even darker, even quieter, 367 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: even colder. Right. It's just these rocks floating around, bumping 368 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: into each other in the dark. Yeah, and then black 369 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: holes take over. What it means take over, like things 370 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: just keep bumping into each other in the dark and 371 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: forming black holes. Yeah, because eventually gravity coalesces these things together. Um, 372 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: And you know we're talking about two different forces at 373 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: the same time. Dark energy is pulling galaxies apart, but again, 374 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: we think probably gravity has enough power to locally hold 375 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: a clump of stuff together. It's a dark energy can't 376 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 1: rip a black hole apart, for example, or rip a 377 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: star apart. It has enough energy to push away between things, 378 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: but probably not to shred those things themselves. So gravitationally 379 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: bound group of matter will probably survive even the dark 380 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: energy is pushing it away from things, and it will 381 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: gather together and form a black hole. But this is 382 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: still the same fate that we would get if you 383 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: didn't have dark energy, right, Like, eventually the stars would 384 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: also go out and things would form into black holes. 385 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: It's kind of like what happens after that that depends 386 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: on dark energy. Yeah, that's right. Dark energy just tells you, 387 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: essentially how closely grouped these things are. We're gonna do 388 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: this all by ourselves and all the other galaxies are 389 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: going to be invisibly far away, or are we're gonna 390 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: be able to watch the same thing happened to Andromeda 391 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: that's happening to us. That's sort of the question. But yeah, 392 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: you're right. On a local scale, I think it's going 393 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: to be the same. One scenario is that, you know, 394 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: black holes take over and then we have a period 395 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: of the universe where it's just basically only black holes, 396 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: only black holes, nothing in between. Yeah, or black holes, um, 397 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: And that that makes a lot of sense to me. 398 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: You know, like what happens when gravity pushes stuff together, 399 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: Eventually it gets dense enough to form black holes. And 400 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: so give gravity enough time and it'll get that done, right. 401 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 1: But the problem is black holes. These black holes are 402 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: going to eventually evaporate, right, Yeah. Black holes do not 403 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: last forever. As powerful as they are. At some point 404 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,679 Speaker 1: they like disappear. Yeah, they evaporate because they have energy 405 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 1: to them. And everything that has energy gives off radiation, 406 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 1: even black holes. And if you're wondering how can a 407 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: black hole give off radiation, you know, think about a 408 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: little particle that's living right at the edge of the 409 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: event horizon in the black hole. These particles can split 410 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: into two other particles, you know, sometimes just briefly, and 411 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: this happens all the time. A photon that's flying through 412 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: the air in front of you splits into an electron 413 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 1: and a positron and then back into a photon. But 414 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: if that happens right at the edge of the black hole, 415 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: then um, one of them can get sucked into the 416 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: black hole and one of them can escape, and that's 417 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: what's called hawking radiation. So yeah, they can lose energy 418 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: by radiating these particles one at a time, just at 419 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: the surface of the event horizon, right, yeah, exactly at 420 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: the surface of the event horizon. And then things get 421 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: really uncertain, meaning so if we have these black holes, 422 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: they they're evaporating at the surface, and so they get 423 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: smaller and smaller or less massive and less massive. And 424 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: then but that radiation that gets admitted out, where does 425 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: that go? Doesn't I keep bouncing around the universe? Yeah, 426 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: and it can get grabbed up by other black holes 427 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: or conform new black holes, or you know, do other 428 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: interesting stuff. Or you know, if black holes have shredded 429 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: enough matter, then maybe you can start to get enough 430 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 1: simple matter around that you can make hydrogen and maybe 431 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: even make another star to um. This is where things 432 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: get really speculative because the time we don't understand black 433 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: holes very well. You know, our understanding black holes is 434 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: very primitive, and so like speculating about how long they 435 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: live and what happens to that radiation, how much radiation 436 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,360 Speaker 1: there is exactly. This is all still very theoretical. Um 437 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: and so then other theoretical questions start to come in, 438 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: like how stable is matter itself? You know, One question 439 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: we don't know the answer to is like how long 440 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: does a proton live? We don't know. We don't know. 441 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 1: We've never seen a proton decay. As far as we know, 442 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: protons are stable. Like that is, you have a proton 443 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: floating out in the middle of empty space, it will 444 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: stay there forever as far as we know. Meaning protons 445 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: are made out of quarks, and so these like the 446 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: three quarks inside of a pronon just like never ever 447 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: split off on their own. We've never seen it happen. Yeah, 448 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 1: And so we think that proton lives at least billions 449 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: of years, but you know, it could be that it's 450 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: lifetime is only a hundred billion years or five hundred 451 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: billion years, and then it decays. And so it could 452 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: be that all the protons in the universe eventually decay 453 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: and into quarks or smaller particles, yeah, exactly, into quarks 454 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: or other arrangements. There could be a new arrangement that 455 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: they decay into something else we haven't seen before. But 456 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: if everything was in a black hole, uh, and then 457 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: these holes evaporate from hawking radiation that hawking radiation. Does 458 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: that include like protons or is it only like, um, 459 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 1: you know, like photons and gamma rays and things like that. 460 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:14,360 Speaker 1: That's a good question. I'm pretty far outside my air 461 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: of expertise, but my understanding is that it conclude it 462 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: can include any kind of particle because black holes are 463 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:23,120 Speaker 1: very democratic when it comes to particle physics. They can 464 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: create any kind of particle because we're talking about the 465 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,959 Speaker 1: creation of virtual particles, which means it can any kind 466 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: of particle that can be created would be created, but 467 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: I think predominantly with the lighter particles because those are 468 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: those dominated for for these ERTI processes. Well, this is 469 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: a perfect point to take a break. So now that 470 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: we went from hot plasma, two stars and planets to 471 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: rocks floating around in the dark, two black holes. Now 472 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: all these black holes of evap braded and now we're 473 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,439 Speaker 1: like in the sea of particles. Yeah, exactly. We're well 474 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: out of our comfort range here because we're extrapolating our 475 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: knowledge into the zillion year future, and you know, we 476 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: don't have enough information to confidently say what happens to 477 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,160 Speaker 1: a black hole after it's been alive for a zillion years? 478 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: Or how long does a proton survive and can't really 479 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: decay into something else? And so we really don't know, um, 480 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: And that's a really fascinating question, is how long can 481 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: we apply the laws of physics for like are they stable? 482 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: You know? Do they are they the same forever? We 483 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 1: think they've been the same for the last few billion years, 484 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: but it could be that they change on the time 485 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: scale of a trillion years and we just haven't noticed. 486 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: So even like the rules of the game you're saying, 487 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: could change exactly. And there's one really fascinating, slightly scary 488 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,360 Speaker 1: scenario that I love that people thought about a lot 489 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: since the discovery of the Higgs boson, and that's that 490 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: all the rules of physics could change, and they could 491 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: change kind of suddenly. What do you mean, like the 492 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: rules that tell you how things are might suddenly change 493 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: for everywhere in the universe at the same time. It 494 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: wouldn't be all everywhere at the same time, but it 495 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,159 Speaker 1: could happen all of a sudden in one moment and 496 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: then spread. So let me tell you how that might happen. 497 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: Um the way the Higgs boson works, it gives mass 498 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: to other particles, and it does so by feeling the 499 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: whole universe with this thing called the Higgs field. And 500 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: if you want to know more about that, listen to 501 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,200 Speaker 1: our episode on the Higgs field. But the basic idea 502 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: is that the Higgs field has energy even an empty space, 503 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: right there's nothing there in it, no matter or nothing 504 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:31,640 Speaker 1: happening in a in a cube of space, but there's 505 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: still the Higgs field there has non zero energy, and 506 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: that's what gives things mass interacting with this this field 507 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: that has non zero energy even when it's empty. Okay, 508 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: But what we don't know is that field itself stable? 509 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: Like is it stuck in some local minimum, you know? 510 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: Is it like caught on a ledge somewhere and it 511 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: just got stuck and it's going to roll out and 512 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: find a more comfortable, relaxed configuration where it has zero energy. 513 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: Is that temporary that it has this amount of energy 514 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: stuck into it, or is it permanent? And there are 515 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 1: a lot of theories and particle physics that suggests that 516 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: it might be temporary, And then it might also be 517 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: kind of fragile, and then if it's the right thing happens, 518 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,360 Speaker 1: you could shatter that field or disturb it and perturb 519 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: it and break it, and so that it could collapse, 520 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: and that collapse could spread very rapidly. Oh my god. 521 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: And not that I'm saying that the large hage On 522 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: collider is going to destroy the whole universe. I'm not 523 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 1: saying that, people, I'm very definitely not saying that. But 524 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,440 Speaker 1: but there are some physics theories in which the Higgs vacuum, 525 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: this lowest energy state, is not stable and it could 526 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: collapse into a true vacuum, which would mean there's no 527 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: Higgs field, which means no particles have mass, which means 528 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,199 Speaker 1: everything changes. Right, The very laws of physics would be 529 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,679 Speaker 1: totally different if the Higgs field was different, and the 530 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: universe as we know it would like suddenly like turning 531 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: into something else. Turn into something else. Yeah, I mean 532 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: all of chemistry relies on the structure of the periodic table, 533 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: which lies on the masses of the particles that make 534 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: up the atoms, and that would all be different. And 535 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: the new universe within with the zero Higgs vacuum would 536 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: also probably be fascinating and beautiful. And interesting, but it 537 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: would be very different, and you know, your maserati would 538 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: no longer work, and your bank account would no longer 539 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: be relevant. We wouldn't work, exactly, We would not work. 540 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: But you're saying I feel like you're saying, like, hey, 541 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,880 Speaker 1: don't worry about us. We're just doing physics here. We're 542 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: not going to blow things up. But well, you know 543 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: you can always say that, or hey, you're just cartooning 544 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: in your garage, right, You're not intending to destroy the 545 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 1: universe with your cartoons. But but I might draw something 546 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: of such incredible beauty. Yes, it will collapsed the laws 547 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: of physics. You know, these theories about how the Higgs 548 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: vacuum might be unstable. These are just ideas people have 549 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: and it's fun to think about, and people write papers 550 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,640 Speaker 1: about how they might end the universe to be dramatic. Um, 551 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,360 Speaker 1: But I don't think anybody's serious. I'm certainly not worried 552 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,399 Speaker 1: at all that any cticle physics experiment is going to 553 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,640 Speaker 1: destroy the Higgs vacuum and change the universe, right right, 554 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: keep sending those checks exactly so everything next week to 555 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: download another podcast exactly. Well. It is sort of kind 556 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: of like knowing when you're going to die, Right, Like, 557 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 1: if you knew you were going to die in a week, 558 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,959 Speaker 1: you would live your life totally different, as opposed to 559 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: if you knew you were going to live till you're 560 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,719 Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty, calmly, peacefully in bed, surrounded by 561 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,880 Speaker 1: your loved ones, you would change the way you make 562 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: decisions every day. Right, That's right, And I think that's 563 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: what's reflecting in people's answers to our on the street 564 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: interviews that they were thinking more immediately, what is the 565 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: future of the human race, what's the future of my family? 566 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: How is this all going to affect us? Right? And 567 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: it is totally possible that, like my jeans, what makes 568 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: me who I am now? That might live on in 569 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: my kids, my ancestors, and trillions of years from now, 570 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: there could be a little piece of me like looking 571 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: out at the sky and and being like, why is 572 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: it so dark? That's right, it's possible the humans live 573 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: for a trillion years. It's absolutely possible, And so we 574 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: should be concerned about the fate of the universe, not 575 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: just because we're curious about how the story ends and 576 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: it's fascinating from a scientific point of view, but yeah, 577 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: because it could be our home for the next trillion 578 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: or two trillion years. Yea, if things go well, if 579 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: people listen to this podcast, that I put your minds 580 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: at ease or today unsettle you a little bit, a 581 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: little bit. I mean I thought that this was far 582 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: way into the future and I wouldn't have to worry 583 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: about it. But now like the universe could end tomorrow. Yeah, 584 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: so you know, organize your finances and get your stuff 585 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: in order, and it's a good idea anyway, appreciate the 586 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: bright period of the universe. That's right, Yes, this early, beautiful, glamorous, 587 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: star lit, starfield period of the universe. Yeah, all right, 588 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: thank you very much for joining us. This has been 589 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: Daniel and Jorge explained the universe and its end. If 590 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: you still have a question after listening to all these explanations, 591 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: please drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you. 592 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: You can find us at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at 593 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: Daniel and Jorge that's one word, or email us at 594 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com.