Heat death of the universe

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

Watching the lovely Brian Cox and he was talking about heat death of the universe...as I understood it it means that at some point in time (billions and billions of years in the future) all the stars in the universe will have used up their fuel and will essentially go out. Every single star.

I can't explain why but this idea fills me with absolute horror, it actually makes me go cold. I don't know why, because it's so far in the future I certainly don't need to worry about it. But I can't stop thinking about it. And hoping it's not going to happen. I just can't imagine a 'dead' universe.

So what happens to the energy from the fuel used up? Is the universe just hot with no life?

Don't be daft OP. With climate change we've got far more immediate things to worry about. The human race won't be around to witness the end of the universe.

Can’t be bothered to worry about this.

Yep, filed under things I do not need to think about.

If you are concerned enough for action - and it sounds like you are - make small climate change steps in your life and join in things like beach clean ups.

That sounds interesting. What were you watching?

I thought stars are ‘born’ too? Won’t there be lots of new stars by then?

This isn't a climate change issue Cormoran - it's a fact of physics that eventually, the stars will burn out. As pps have said, humans and planet Earth will be long gone by the time it happens. But yes, it is a frightening thought - in the same way that it's frightening when you try to imagine concepts such as forever and infinity, which are almost impossible to grasp but terrifying to glimpse.

It is a frightening thought, I think, even though it will not affect us in the least. It’s like staring into the night sky and realising how insignificant humanity is in the greater scheme of things, or the possibility that we are the only life in the universe.

I think I must have watched something similar a few months ago.

It filled me with strange feelings. All life on earth is the shortest blip in the timings of the universe.

I expect that at the very end, as the remaining black hole sucks everything in it will result in another Big Bang and all will start again.

I expect the universe to be cyclic, even if it is beyond our comprehension in terms of time.

Any thoughts of the universe, us “being”, life and death scares the crap out of me

The "Big Freeze" outcome is only one of several theories. There is the "Big Rip" (the universe will expand too much and gravity won't be enough to keep stars or planets together so they will come apart) and the "Big Crunch" (the universe stops expanding, starts shrinking and gravity causes everything to collapse to a single point).

Physicists are not in agreement on which outcome is most likely.

I think it is normal to sometimes think about these things.

If it gets to the point where you are losing sleep or having difficulty functioning, then that sounds like a symptom of anxiety.

I feel a bit weird when I think too much about the fact that we (and everything around us, and the Earth) are almost completely (over 99%) made up of empty space. There's very little actual matter in our atoms, it's mostly intramolecular forces.

So I try not to think about it too much.

I get a bit stressed out thinking about the universe. How big is it? Is there nothing beyond it? How does the nothing go for ever?
I can’t process this and it makes me feel really weird.

"it makes me go cold" sure will, you'll be frozen solid!

So what happens to the energy from the fuel used up? Is the universe just hot with no life?

I think it gets completely evened out over the universe so it's all at the same temperature, which is an entropy of zero.

Very little matter in our atoms There seems to be quite a lot of matter in mine!!

I used to teach A level Philosophy of Religion and we used to talk about infinity. Gave me the shivers, the thought of the ever expanding universe around us. You can see why there is religious belief in an effort to make sense of that, as otherwise, what is the point of life; why do we abide by laws; are we really the only life about?

I now need chocolate.

I now need chocolate
Which is mostly empty space, so you can eat as much as you like.

Faircastle Have just started my Toblerone!!!

I think it gets completely evened out over the universe so it's all at the same temperature, which is an entropy of zero.

That's not zero entropy, it's maximum entropy.

I thought stars are ‘born’ too? Won’t there be lots of new stars by then?

When the universe formed, all the atoms were hydrogen. Stars convert that hydrogen into bigger atoms like carbon (we are made of stars) then scatter it as they nova.

The heat death of the universe means when all the hydrogen and helium is used up so new stars can't form.

Filed under things not to worry about here too. That said, the energy can't just be used up as energy can't be destroyed and so it has to be transferred to another form of energy. That energy will still be in the universe, it just won't be in the form that it is in now.

I wouldn't recommend this to the OP, but others who want more horror might "enjoy" this article.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future

Sample entry: 1.2 billion years from now = high estimate until all plant life on Earth dies out.

Sample entry: 1.2 billion years from now = high estimate until all plant life on Earth dies out.

Probably still outlive by human stupidity though.

Probably still outlive by human stupidity though.

Depends if the Labour Party have finally managed to make themselves electable by then. (I assume we'll have sorted Brexit)

This sort of thing put me off studying physics. As an atheist the thought of humanity or at least the stars and planets carrying on turning was a comfort when thinking about death. Everything stopping is mind blowing. I like to think that if there's something that started this universe off existing, there could be infinitely many still bubbling away where we can't see them. A something that notices and cares about this particular tiny speck of walking mould on the surface of this tiny planet was too much of a stretch though, hence the atheist bit.

Thinking big doesn't have to stop us thinking small. I like being alive. It's cool and weird and amazing that this little speck can enjoy a cuppa and a mince pie. I want my children and their children to be able to enjoy the same.

I find it quite comforting to think that we might be living in an eternal multiverse or some kind of simulation.