0:00:00.000,0:00:00.770
Supported By:
0:00:00.770,0:00:02.636
Supported By:[br]Protocol Labs
0:00:02.636,0:00:02.936
Protocol Labs
0:00:02.936,0:00:04.621
Protocol Labs[br]What does our future hold?
0:00:06.147,0:00:10.336
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence...[br]
0:00:10.336,0:00:13.386
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence...[br]- Helen Keller
0:00:14.610,0:00:18.177
What does the future look like?
0:00:18.687,0:00:22.133
How will the universe meet its end?
0:00:22.677,0:00:25.577
We may never be truly certain.
0:00:26.428,0:00:30.578
But science has begun to paint a stunning picture of how the future might unfold.
0:00:31.559,0:00:34.513
Let's take a journey to the end of time.
0:00:34.813,0:00:38.620
We will travel through time exponentially, doubling our speed every 5 seconds.
0:00:38.902,0:00:44.634
The vision of the future will surely evolve[br]as we probe for more clues. But one thing is clear:
0:00:44.814,0:00:46.536
The universe has only just begun.
0:00:46.536,0:00:47.536
2019[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:47.536,0:00:48.541
2020[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:48.541,0:00:48.791
2021[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:48.791,0:00:49.175
2021[br]The Holocene has ended.[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:49.175,0:00:49.560
2021[br]The Holocene has ended.[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:49.560,0:00:50.583
2022[br]The Holocene has ended.[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:50.583,0:00:51.319
2023[br]The Holocene has ended.[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:51.319,0:00:51.569
2023[br][Anthrpocene era]
0:00:51.972,0:00:52.234
What we do now,
0:00:52.234,0:00:52.484
What we do now,
0:00:52.484,0:00:52.974
What we do now,
0:00:52.974,0:00:53.344
What we do now,
0:00:53.715,0:00:55.245
and in the next few years,
0:00:56.245,0:00:58.241
will profoundly affect
0:00:58.241,0:01:01.516
the next few thousand years.
0:01:03.928,0:01:06.250
The only conditions modern humans
0:01:06.250,0:01:09.740
have ever known so far, are changing.
0:01:10.080,0:01:11.349
And changing fast.
0:01:13.161,0:01:15.782
Nothing stays the same on this planet.
0:01:15.782,0:01:17.702
Everything changes.
0:01:17.941,0:01:18.671
The Earth is going into one of these jumps
0:01:18.671,0:01:20.231
The Earth is going into one of these jumps
0:01:20.231,0:01:21.254
and you don't know what is going
0:01:21.254,0:01:23.236
to be on the other side of those jumps.
0:01:24.313,0:01:25.746
The Earth is always jumping.[br][Earth's magnetic field flips]
0:01:25.746,0:01:25.996
[Earth's magnetic field flips]
0:01:26.546,0:01:30.389
[Comet Hale-Bopp returns]
0:01:32.140,0:01:32.775
[Drastic sea level rise]
0:01:32.775,0:01:34.715
Things move on this planet[br][Drastic sea level rise]
0:01:35.220,0:01:36.677
Things are not still!
0:01:37.237,0:01:38.641
Everything is turning.[br][30 meter asteroid impact]
0:01:38.641,0:01:39.380
[30 meter asteroid impact][br]
0:01:39.380,0:01:41.203
[Antares goes supernova]
0:01:42.723,0:01:44.509
[Sahara becomes tropical]
0:01:46.359,0:01:48.511
[Constellations begin to wander]
0:01:50.121,0:01:51.768
[Voyager I passes nearby star]
0:01:53.818,0:01:55.493
[Interglacial period ends]
0:01:57.608,0:02:00.138
[Supervolcano eruption]
0:02:05.444,0:02:07.501
[New Hawaiian island appears]
0:02:08.049,0:02:09.571
[New island chains]
0:02:13.555,0:02:15.495
[Apollo footprints fade]
0:02:17.535,0:02:18.601
[Betelgeuse goes supernova]
0:02:21.578,0:02:24.433
[Stone monuments erode]
0:02:29.525,0:02:31.485
[Deadly gamma ray burst]
0:02:32.635,0:02:35.274
[Mars moon becomes a ring]
0:02:37.674,0:02:39.264
[Saturn's rings vanish]
0:02:41.688,0:02:43.497
[Antarctica melts]
0:02:44.828,0:02:46.237
[Major asteroid impact]
0:02:50.833,0:02:55.953
[New supercontinent]
0:02:57.733,0:02:58.793
[Sun increases luminosity][br]
0:02:58.793,0:02:59.752
As it begins to run out of fuel,[br][Sun increases luminosity]
0:02:59.752,0:03:01.037
As it begins to run out of fuel,[br][Photosynthesis ceases]
0:03:01.037,0:03:02.737
the sun won't simply fade away to nothing.[br][Photosynthesis ceases]
0:03:02.737,0:03:03.957
the sun won't simply fade away to nothing.[br][All plant life dies]
0:03:03.957,0:03:05.413
[All plant life dies][br]
0:03:05.413,0:03:05.883
[Oceans evaporate][br]
0:03:05.883,0:03:07.678
Its core will collapse,[br][Oceans evaporate]
0:03:07.678,0:03:07.928
[Oceans evaporate][br]
0:03:07.928,0:03:10.007
and the extra heat this generates[br][Oceans evaporate]
0:03:10.007,0:03:11.908
will cause its outer layers to expand.[br][Oceans evaporate]
0:03:11.908,0:03:12.620
will cause its outer layers to expand.[br][All life dies]
0:03:12.620,0:03:13.183
[All life dies][br]
0:03:13.183,0:03:16.777
[Sun expands]
0:03:16.777,0:03:18.737
[Sun becomes red giant]
0:03:18.737,0:03:21.093
[Earth destroyed by the dying Sun]
0:03:21.093,0:03:22.182
[Sun becomes a White Dwarf][br]
0:03:22.182,0:03:24.605
The sun is now dead.[br][Sun becomes a White Dwarf]
0:03:24.605,0:03:26.767
Its remains slowly cooling[br][Sun becomes a White Dwarf]
0:03:26.767,0:03:30.242
in the freezing temperatures of deep space.
0:03:39.952,0:03:43.771
The fate of the sun is the same as for all stars.
0:03:44.381,0:03:47.711
One day, they must all eventually die,
0:03:47.711,0:03:49.650
and the cosmos will be plunged
0:03:49.650,0:03:52.410
into eternal night.
0:03:54.133,0:03:57.509
All stars eventually will run out of fuel.[br][Stars begin to die off]
0:03:57.509,0:03:58.299
[Stars begin to die off][br]
0:03:58.299,0:03:59.939
The temperature of the universe drops.[br][Stars begin to die off]
0:03:59.939,0:04:00.189
[Stars begin to die off]
0:04:00.939,0:04:02.499
Stars, one by one,
0:04:02.499,0:04:04.257
in the night sky,
0:04:04.257,0:04:06.226
will turn off.
0:04:07.982,0:04:10.234
And there will be no more new stars
0:04:10.234,0:04:11.674
created.
0:04:13.005,0:04:14.778
And so the universe will end
0:04:14.948,0:04:16.238
not with a bang,
0:04:16.238,0:04:18.488
but with the whimper.
0:04:21.364,0:04:23.130
And not in fire,[br][Last Red Dwarf stars die]
0:04:23.130,0:04:23.380
[Last Red Dwarf stars die]
0:04:23.380,0:04:26.240
but in ice.[br][Last Red Dwarf stars die]
0:04:26.240,0:04:27.742
[Last Red Dwarf stars die]
0:04:29.694,0:04:37.594
[Degenerate era][br]"With the death of the last sun, the age of starlight comes to an end."
0:04:37.594,0:04:39.801
[Degenerate era]
0:04:39.801,0:04:40.879
[Degenerate era][br]"The universe becomes a cosmic boneyard, strewn with remnants of dead stars."
0:04:40.879,0:04:47.566
"The universe becomes a cosmic boneyard, strewn with remnants of dead stars."
0:04:50.259,0:04:56.649
"Our Sun becomes a White Dwarf - a hot, dense, shrunken stellar corpse."
0:05:01.502,0:05:03.592
With no fuel left to burn,
0:05:03.672,0:05:05.742
a white dwarf's faint glow
0:05:05.852,0:05:08.492
comes from the last residual heat
0:05:08.492,0:05:10.472
from its extinguished furnace.
0:05:15.513,0:05:18.273
Looking at it from where the earth is now,
0:05:18.273,0:05:20.933
it would only generate the same amount of light
0:05:20.933,0:05:22.603
as the full moon
0:05:22.643,0:05:25.571
on a clear night.
0:05:28.960,0:05:31.500
The faint glow of white dwarfs
0:05:31.500,0:05:34.230
will provide the only illumination
0:05:34.230,0:05:36.503
in a dark and empty void
0:05:36.933,0:05:39.490
littered with dead stars
0:05:39.490,0:05:41.890
and black holes.
0:05:50.491,0:05:52.926
In some ways it's kind of a ghost universe
0:05:52.926,0:05:54.044
it's the corpses,
0:05:54.044,0:05:55.164
the zombie stars,
0:05:55.226,0:05:56.686
that will take us into the future.
0:06:06.742,0:06:13.152
"Over time, gravity ejects dead stars and planets from their galaxies, sending them out into the freezing void."
0:06:18.105,0:06:22.955
"By chance, some Brown Dwarfs collide and form accidental new stars."
0:06:27.621,0:06:31.560
"Colliding neutron stars puncture the darkness with ultra bright supernova."
0:06:31.560,0:06:32.880
[Neutron star collision][br]Colliding neutron stars puncture the darkness with ultra bright supernova."
0:06:32.880,0:06:35.530
[Neutron star collision]
0:06:51.215,0:06:58.015
"Any surviving life forms may find refuge around aging White Dwarfs."
0:07:05.750,0:07:11.620
"But in time, even the White Dwarfs will fade and die."
0:07:13.238,0:07:17.238
A black dwarf will be the final fate of those last stars[br][Stars become Black Dwarfs]
0:07:17.238,0:07:19.751
White dwarfs that have become so cold,[br][Stars become Black Dwarfs]
0:07:19.751,0:07:23.491
that they barely emit any more heat or light.
0:07:27.513,0:07:29.234
Black dwarfs are dark,
0:07:29.234,0:07:30.249
dense,
0:07:30.249,0:07:34.094
decaying balls of degenerate matter.
0:07:34.274,0:07:37.223
Little more than the ashes of stars,
0:07:38.243,0:07:41.983
their constituent atoms are so severely crushed
0:07:41.983,0:07:44.523
that black dwarfs are a million times
0:07:44.523,0:07:48.263
denser than our sun.
0:07:54.505,0:07:57.178
Stars take so long to reach this point
0:07:57.455,0:07:59.125
we believe there are currently
0:07:59.125,0:08:02.705
no black dwarfs in the universe.
0:08:10.876,0:08:16.996
"Any matter that fails to escape its galaxy [br]is sucked into a supermassive black hole at the center."
0:08:17.036,0:08:26.344
[Black holes swallow stray matter]
0:08:26.344,0:08:31.497
[Black holes swallow stray matter][br]"Long dormant black holes flare up in a blaze of glory."
0:08:51.678,0:08:59.498
[Degenerate era][br]"The rotational energy of black holes becomes the last reliable source of power for any exotic future civilizations."
0:09:05.261,0:09:07.211
We have a pace of life that's based
0:09:07.211,0:09:09.246
on the energy available to us now.
0:09:10.492,0:09:12.252
You could imagine living,
0:09:12.252,0:09:13.742
conscious systems,
0:09:13.742,0:09:15.842
which have a very different pace and therefore,
0:09:15.952,0:09:17.602
can extend out, at least,
0:09:17.602,0:09:19.916
a lot farther than you'd imagine otherwise.
0:09:21.511,0:09:23.689
You could have a living system where if,
0:09:23.689,0:09:26.419
it had a thought every 10 trillion years,
0:09:26.419,0:09:27.924
that would seem normal.
0:09:30.759,0:09:31.507
Ever if
0:09:31.507,0:09:34.557
our life dies out, one could imagine
0:09:34.847,0:09:37.737
at some time arbitrarily far in the future,
0:09:37.737,0:09:41.147
a fluctuation occurs which allows intelligent life
0:09:41.147,0:09:43.227
to exist again, for a little while.
0:09:44.491,0:09:47.501
So you might have islands in time of intelligence.
0:09:56.346,0:10:04.156
"As the expansion of the universe accelerates, it [br]begins to spread matter apart faster than the speed of light."[br][Expansion of spacetime]
0:10:04.156,0:10:05.505
[Expansion of spacetime]
0:10:05.505,0:10:07.230
"By this point, distant galaxies and stars are receding do fast that their light has become undetectable."[br][Expansion of spacetime]
0:10:07.230,0:10:13.159
"By this point, distant galaxies and stars are receding do fast that their light has become undetectable."
0:10:14.510,0:10:21.860
"The secrets of the cosmos are locked away forever."
0:10:25.266,0:10:28.250
"Current theories predict that atoms themselves will begin to decay, destroying all remaining matter in the universe."
0:10:28.250,0:10:33.080
[Proton decay][br]"Current theories predict that atoms themselves will begin to decay, destroying all remaining matter in the universe."
0:10:33.080,0:10:33.380
[Proton decay]
0:10:34.538,0:10:37.268
A proton, one of the fundamental building blocks
0:10:37.268,0:10:39.758
of atomic matter, what makes us up,
0:10:39.778,0:10:42.158
can just spontaneously fall apart.
0:10:44.256,0:10:47.236
Any material that evades the pull of a black hole
0:10:47.266,0:10:51.186
eventually dies away as its protons disintegrate.
0:10:58.419,0:11:06.789
"Proton decay is still unproven - and so this chapter of the future could look very different in light of new discoveries."
0:11:17.985,0:11:20.497
The matter inside black dwarf's,
0:11:20.527,0:11:22.767
the last matter in the universe,
0:11:23.248,0:11:25.782
will eventually evaporate away,
0:11:25.822,0:11:29.478
and be carried off into the void as radiation
0:11:29.508,0:11:34.608
leaving absolutely nothing behind.
0:11:34.641,0:11:42.234
[Black hole era]
0:11:42.234,0:11:44.554
With the black dwarfs gone,[br][Black hole era]
0:11:44.554,0:11:48.244
there won't be a single atom of matter left.[br][Black hole era]
0:11:48.244,0:11:48.494
[Black hole era]
0:11:51.729,0:11:55.219
All that will remain of our once-rich cosmos
0:11:55.269,0:11:58.619
will be particles of light and black holes.
0:12:06.861,0:12:09.751
"The Black Hole Era begins."
0:12:11.870,0:12:16.990
"No planets, no stars, no lingering stellar remnants for life to cling to."
0:12:20.530,0:12:26.240
"Yet even now, time has only begun to tick."
0:12:28.610,0:12:31.750
"On the scale of a human lifetime, the universe has just emerged from the womb."
0:12:35.972,0:12:42.492
"Cold, dark, and empty - this is how the cosmos will spend most of its life."
0:12:47.114,0:12:56.354
"Our universe gives life only a brief moment to shine - a haven in time, safe from its fiery birth and icy death."
0:12:56.748,0:12:59.988
The arrow of time creates a bright window
0:12:59.988,0:13:02.258
in the universe's adolescence
0:13:02.258,0:13:04.468
during which life is possible.
0:13:08.008,0:13:11.238
But it's a window that doesn't stay open for long.
0:13:14.999,0:13:18.759
As a fraction of the lifespan of the universe,
0:13:18.759,0:13:20.759
as measured from its beginning
0:13:20.759,0:13:23.479
to the evaporation of the last black hole,
0:13:23.759,0:13:24.745
life,
0:13:24.745,0:13:25.729
life, as we know it,
0:13:25.729,0:13:27.349
life, as we know it, is only possible for
0:13:27.349,0:13:27.749
one[br](10^(0))
0:13:27.749,0:13:28.756
one thousandth[br](10^(-3))
0:13:28.756,0:13:29.226
one thousandth of a[br](10^(-3))
0:13:29.226,0:13:29.716
one thousandth of a billion[br](10^(-12))
0:13:29.716,0:13:30.186
one thousandth of a billion billion[br](10^(-21))
0:13:30.186,0:13:30.746
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth[br](10^(-30))
0:13:30.746,0:13:31.256
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion[br](10^(-39))
0:13:31.256,0:13:31.756
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion[br](10^(-48))
0:13:31.756,0:13:32.320
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion billionth[br](10^(-57))
0:13:32.320,0:13:32.750
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion billionth billion[br](10^(-66))
0:13:32.750,0:13:33.522
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion billionth billion billion[br](10^(-75))
0:13:33.522,0:13:34.632
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion billion billion billion billionth,[br](10^(-84))
0:13:34.632,0:13:36.476
one thousandth of a billion billion billionth,[br]billion billion billion billion billion billionth, of a percent.[br](10^(-84)%)
0:13:44.766,0:13:45.766
Black holes become
0:13:45.766,0:13:48.256
the fundamental building block of the universe.
0:13:52.517,0:13:53.987
A galaxy will basically be
0:13:53.987,0:13:55.777
a supermassive black hole in the center,
0:13:55.777,0:13:57.787
with smaller black holes orbiting it.
0:14:01.743,0:14:06.763
Zombie galaxies filled with black holes continue to evolve.
0:14:10.263,0:14:11.784
They'll eat each other, and they'll get bigger,
0:14:11.784,0:14:12.764
and maybe they'll fall into
0:14:12.764,0:14:14.964
the supermassive black hole and it'll get bigger.
0:14:15.014,0:14:17.754
The universe will still be an exciting, dynamic place.
0:14:17.754,0:14:20.254
it's just that the time scales we're talking about
0:14:20.254,0:14:22.024
are now trillions of years,
0:14:22.024,0:14:24.504
instead of thousands or millions of years.
0:14:29.891,0:14:35.951
[Black home mergers][br]"In this far flung age, black hole mergers become the main event."
0:14:38.602,0:14:45.282
"Some grow to enormous sizes, possibly trillions of times the mass of our sun."
0:14:49.395,0:14:55.475
"When they merge, they send out powerful gravity waves that resonate throughout the universe."
0:14:56.243,0:15:01.500
Black holes can bang on space-time like mallets on a drum.
0:15:08.761,0:15:11.501
And have a very characteristic song,
0:15:17.737,0:15:21.037
Imagine two black holes that have lived a long life together
0:15:22.009,0:15:24.505
At the end of their lives they're going around each other,
0:15:24.505,0:15:28.275
crossing thousands of kilometers in a fraction of a second.
0:15:32.232,0:15:33.202
As they do so,
0:15:33.202,0:15:36.522
they leave behind in their wake a ringing of space
0:15:36.522,0:15:38.762
an actual wave on space-time.
0:15:53.256,0:15:56.496
Space squeezes and stretches as it emanates out
0:15:56.496,0:15:59.006
from these black holes banging on the universe.
0:16:02.988,0:16:04.918
Those are the gravitational waves
0:16:04.918,0:16:07.518
and are literally the sounds of space ringing
0:16:07.518,0:16:09.478
and they will travel out from these black holes
0:16:09.478,0:16:13.758
at the speed of light as they ring down and coalesce into one,
0:16:13.758,0:16:16.358
spinning, quiet, black hole.
0:16:20.993,0:16:22.983
If you were standing near enough,
0:16:23.013,0:16:24.953
your ear would resonate
0:16:25.163,0:16:27.503
with the squeezing and stretching of space,
0:16:27.533,0:16:29.743
you would literally hear the sound.
0:16:38.994,0:16:41.224
Imagine a lighter black hole
0:16:41.224,0:16:43.114
falling into a very heavy black hole.
0:16:43.224,0:16:44.954
The sound you're hearing
0:16:44.954,0:16:46.984
is a light black hole banging
0:16:46.984,0:16:49.584
on space each time it gets close.
0:16:58.007,0:17:01.497
As it falls in, it gets faster, and it gets louder.
0:17:22.745,0:17:25.745
Scientists used to think black holes were immortal,
0:17:25.765,0:17:28.225
but even these will one day die.
0:17:29.270,0:17:32.990
Now we're talking about time scales of unimaginable length
0:17:32.990,0:17:35.230
quadrillions of years into the future.
0:17:35.977,0:17:36.997
On that time scale,
0:17:36.997,0:17:40.237
even the black holes begin to evaporate.
0:17:44.355,0:17:46.509
[Hawking radiation]
0:17:47.245,0:17:49.515
[Hawking radiation]
0:17:50.018,0:17:52.008
[Hawking radiation]
0:17:52.008,0:17:52.258
[Hawking radiation][br]According to quantum mechanics,
0:17:52.258,0:17:53.388
According to quantum mechanics,
0:17:53.388,0:17:54.488
[Hawking radiation][br]According to quantum mechanics,
0:17:54.488,0:17:54.978
space is filled with virtual particles
0:17:54.978,0:17:56.748
[Hawking radiation][br]space is filled with virtual particles
0:17:56.748,0:17:57.498
space is filled with virtual particles
0:17:57.498,0:17:59.754
[Hawking radiation][br]and antiparticles that are constantly materializing in pairs,
0:17:59.754,0:18:01.238
and antiparticles that are constantly materializing in pairs,
0:18:01.238,0:18:02.718
[Hawking radiation][br]and antiparticles that are constantly materializing in pairs,
0:18:02.718,0:18:03.498
[Hawking radiation][br]separating, coming together again,
0:18:03.498,0:18:04.744
separating, coming together again,
0:18:04.744,0:18:06.164
[Hawking radiation][br]separating, coming together again,
0:18:06.164,0:18:06.741
[Hawking radiation][br]and annihilating each other.
0:18:06.741,0:18:07.281
and annihilating each other.
0:18:07.281,0:18:08.281
[Hawking radiation][br]and annihilating each other.
0:18:09.508,0:18:11.228
[Hawking radiation]
0:18:12.986,0:18:15.506
[Hawking radiation][br]In the presence of a black hole,
0:18:15.766,0:18:16.636
one member of a pair of
0:18:16.636,0:18:17.437
[Hawking radiation][br]one member of a pair of
0:18:17.437,0:18:18.746
[Hawking radiation][br]virtual particles may fall into the hole,
0:18:18.746,0:18:19.756
virtual particles may fall into the hole,
0:18:19.756,0:18:20.246
[Hawking radiation][br]virtual particles may fall into the hole,
0:18:20.246,0:18:20.496
virtual particles may fall into the hole,
0:18:20.985,0:18:22.376
leaving the other member
0:18:22.376,0:18:24.009
without a partner with which to annihilate.
0:18:24.009,0:18:24.499
[Hawking radiation][br]without a partner with which to annihilate.
0:18:24.499,0:18:25.499
without a partner with which to annihilate.
0:18:27.264,0:18:27.744
[Hawking radiation][br]The forsaken particle appears to be radiation
0:18:27.744,0:18:29.994
The forsaken particle appears to be radiation
0:18:29.994,0:18:30.504
[Hawking radiation][br]The forsaken particle appears to be radiation
0:18:30.504,0:18:31.274
The forsaken particle appears to be radiation
0:18:31.274,0:18:32.974
emitted by the black hole.
0:18:32.974,0:18:33.514
[Hawking radiation][br]emitted by the black hole.
0:18:34.278,0:18:34.758
[Hawking radiation]
0:18:35.241,0:18:35.778
[Hawking radiation]
0:18:36.503,0:18:37.493
And so, black holes are not eternal.
0:18:37.493,0:18:41.033
And so, black holes are not eternal.[br][Black hole evaporation]
0:18:43.233,0:18:47.233
They evaporate away at an increasing rate,
0:18:47.233,0:18:51.523
until they vanish in a gigantic explosion.
0:18:57.500,0:19:01.747
Quantum mechanics has allowed particles and radiation[br][Black holes begin to die]
0:19:01.747,0:19:04.758
to escape from the ultimate prison -
0:19:04.918,0:19:06.498
A black hole.
0:19:06.871,0:19:13.091
"Black holes begin to evaporate away, erasing the last large-scale structures in the universe."
0:19:14.754,0:19:18.754
"As they die, they light up the darkness one by one."
0:20:00.057,0:20:00.307
"As the black holes slowly die off, the universe continues to expand, driven by a mysterious force we don't yet understand."
0:20:00.307,0:20:08.767
[Dark Energy inflates the universe][br]"As the black holes slowly die off, the universe continues to expand, driven by a mysterious force we don't yet understand."
0:20:11.896,0:20:17.726
"This is the frontier of human knowledge - a frontier ripe for exploration and discovery."
0:20:17.726,0:20:20.044
Philosophers and poets have asked the question,
0:20:20.044,0:20:22.254
"Will the world end in fire or ice?"
0:20:23.487,0:20:26.247
We can now give an answer.
0:20:28.233,0:20:30.733
The latest evidence shows that the universe
0:20:30.733,0:20:31.753
is not slowing down,
0:20:31.753,0:20:34.273
but it's speeding up out of control.
0:20:35.242,0:20:38.022
And the universe, we think, will die in ice
0:20:38.996,0:20:41.516
trillions upon trillions of years from now.
0:20:45.273,0:20:47.753
Empty space itself has energy.
0:20:47.753,0:20:50.013
In every little cubic centimeter of space,
0:20:50.013,0:20:51.503
whether or not there's stuff,
0:20:51.503,0:20:52.755
whether or not there's particles,
0:20:52.755,0:20:54.255
matter, radiation, whatever...
0:20:54.255,0:20:57.255
there is still energy, even in the space itself.
0:21:00.484,0:21:02.424
And this energy, according to Einstein,
0:21:02.424,0:21:04.724
exerts a push on the universe.
0:21:07.009,0:21:09.959
What is the weird stuff that's accelerating the universe?
0:21:10.499,0:21:12.489
We call it 'Dark energy'.
0:21:14.749,0:21:18.219
And this stuff is the dominant stuff of the universe
0:21:18.259,0:21:20.989
almost 3/4 of the matter-energy content
0:21:20.989,0:21:23.499
of the universe is this dark energy
0:21:23.529,0:21:25.749
and we don't know what it is.
0:21:29.718,0:21:32.194
Dark energy, unlike matter or radiation,
0:21:32.234,0:21:35.214
does not dilute away, as the universe expands.
0:21:36.504,0:21:38.724
This has crucial implications
0:21:38.754,0:21:41.733
for what the universe is going to do in the future.
0:21:43.253,0:21:45.473
So, what will be the future of the universe?
0:21:47.753,0:21:51.023
Well, if the dark energy remains dominant and repulsive,
0:21:52.233,0:21:54.783
the universe will expand forever.
0:22:00.508,0:22:03.508
Faster and faster and faster with time -
0:22:04.233,0:22:06.233
A runaway universe.
0:22:08.268,0:22:11.018
70% of the energy of the universe
0:22:11.078,0:22:15.738
resides in empty space and we don't understand why.
0:22:17.511,0:22:19.751
But we do know what will happen.
0:22:21.254,0:22:23.754
If that energy continues to be there,
0:22:23.814,0:22:27.244
the universe will become cold and dark and empty.
0:22:30.002,0:22:32.021
That's the future as it might be.
0:22:33.006,0:22:34.496
We don't know because
0:22:34.536,0:22:37.246
we don't yet understand the nature of dark energy.
0:22:37.276,0:22:37.967
until we do,
0:22:38.017,0:22:39.517
we won't know the future,
0:22:39.557,0:22:41.737
we won't even understand our own origins
0:22:41.778,0:22:43.247
and that's why we want to know
0:22:43.247,0:22:45.237
and study this subject.
0:22:47.096,0:22:54.226
"Discovering the true nature of dark energy could change our vision of the future dramatically."
0:22:55.889,0:23:02.899
"If it somehow weakens over time, the universe could collapse under gravity - a 'big crunch'."
0:23:04.098,0:23:10.228
"Given a boost, it could tear the universe apart at the seams - a 'big rip'."
0:23:12.487,0:23:22.017
[Black hole era][br]"Physicists increasingly suspect that there may be multiple universes beyond our own, each with their own unique laws of physics."
0:23:25.074,0:23:33.744
"Some would harbor the right conditions for life. Others could collapse or be ripped apart."
0:23:35.372,0:23:41.592
"Others sill could be far more exotic than anything we could imagine."
0:23:46.065,0:23:51.875
"New pieces to this puzzle are out there somewhere, waiting to be found."
0:23:52.584,0:23:54.474
The forecast does seem to be for
0:23:54.474,0:23:58.274
an ever-colder, ever-emptier universe.
0:24:02.980,0:24:04.720
But then of course we have to ask,
0:24:04.720,0:24:08.000
"Could that end lead to a new beginning?"
0:24:10.488,0:24:13.488
And there are ideas, whereby what actually is the end
0:24:13.488,0:24:15.328
of our universe, could in some sense,
0:24:15.328,0:24:17.488
lead to the beginning of a new one.
0:24:23.088,0:24:29.628
"Some speculate that there may be a way to escape our universe before entropy erases everything."
0:24:32.064,0:24:38.054
"We could create simulated virtual universes, or with enough energy, create another one just like our own."
0:24:43.507,0:24:44.967
We've worked out the mathematics,
0:24:44.967,0:24:45.747
the equations,
0:24:45.747,0:24:46.739
they seem to say that
0:24:46.739,0:24:48.759
if you have an atom smasher,
0:24:48.759,0:24:50.749
that can constrict tremendous
0:24:50.749,0:24:52.994
amounts of energy at a single point,
0:24:52.994,0:24:55.514
you can perhaps open up a gateway -
0:24:55.514,0:24:56.574
A 'Baby universe'
0:25:02.740,0:25:06.250
Facing the death of everything there is
0:25:06.250,0:25:09.970
this perhaps is their only possibility of escape.
0:25:11.727,0:25:15.007
And this also raises a very intriguing possibility,
0:25:15.007,0:25:16.777
sheer pure speculation of course,
0:25:17.017,0:25:20.767
that perhaps any universe that has intelligent life in it,
0:25:20.847,0:25:23.742
will create baby universes, will create 'Lifeboats',
0:25:23.792,0:25:25.940
and will proliferate child universes.
0:25:25.940,0:25:27.600
and will proliferate child universes.[br][Last Black Hole evaporates]
0:25:27.600,0:25:29.742
[Last Black Hole evaporates]
0:25:29.742,0:25:33.502
So an evolution may take place among universes,[br][Last Black Hole evaporates]
0:25:33.502,0:25:34.502
in the multiverse.[br][Last Black Hole evaporates]
0:25:34.762,0:25:38.732
Survival of the fittest may take place.
0:25:38.732,0:25:42.252
So those universes which do not have intelligent life are 'Infertile',
0:25:42.252,0:25:43.472
they have no children.
0:25:43.752,0:25:45.392
But those universes that have
0:25:45.392,0:25:47.772
mild temperatures, stars like ours,
0:25:47.772,0:25:50.982
would create civilizations that could open up child universes
0:25:50.982,0:25:54.242
and they would then proliferate.
0:25:59.249,0:26:05.819
"If there is no way to escape the universe, then entropy will march on, destroying the last remaining supermassive black holes."
0:26:08.969,0:26:13.319
"As the last one explodes and dies, it bathes the universe in light one last time."
0:26:13.319,0:26:15.789
[Black Hole era][br]"As the last one explodes and dies, it bathes the universe in light one last time."
0:26:15.789,0:26:16.629
[Last Black Hole evaporates][br]"As the last one explodes and dies, it bathes the universe in light one last time."
0:27:11.492,0:27:11.523
THE END.
0:27:24.476,0:27:27.746
After an unimaginable length of time,
0:27:27.831,0:27:30.966
even the black holes will have evaporated,
0:27:31.036,0:27:32.762
and the universe will be
0:27:32.832,0:27:35.976
nothing but a sea of photons
0:27:36.056,0:27:38.996
gradually tending towards the same temperature
0:27:39.056,0:27:41.878
as the expansion of the universe cools them
0:27:41.918,0:27:43.488
towards absolute zero.
0:27:57.489,0:27:59.249
Once the very last remnants
0:27:59.289,0:28:01.239
of the very last stars
0:28:01.289,0:28:04.239
have finally decayed away to nothing,
0:28:04.289,0:28:07.169
and everything reaches the same temperature,
0:28:07.239,0:28:11.495
the story of the universe finally comes to an end.
0:28:12.365,0:28:14.885
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:14.885,0:28:16.955
For the first time in its life,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:16.955,0:28:20.505
the universe will be permanent and unchanging.[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:20.505,0:28:21.305
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:21.305,0:28:24.055
Entropy finally stops increasing, [br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:24.055,0:28:27.975
because the cosmos cannot get any more disordered.[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:27.975,0:28:28.655
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:28.655,0:28:28.780
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS"
0:28:28.780,0:28:28.905
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS
0:28:28.905,0:28:29.030
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS,
0:28:29.030,0:28:29.155
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS,
0:28:29.155,0:28:29.280
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, F
0:28:29.280,0:28:29.405
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FO
0:28:29.405,0:28:29.530
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOR
0:28:29.530,0:28:29.655
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FORE
0:28:29.655,0:28:29.780
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREV
0:28:29.780,0:28:29.905
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVE
0:28:29.905,0:28:30.030
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER
0:28:30.030,0:28:30.405
Nothing happens,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER.
0:28:30.405,0:28:32.115
and it keeps not happening,[br]"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER.
0:28:32.115,0:28:33.005
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER.
0:28:33.005,0:28:33.785
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER."
0:28:33.785,0:28:35.304
"TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS, FOREVER."
0:28:37.234,0:28:45.084
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence...[br]...and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."[br]- Helen Keller
0:28:47.792,0:28:51.962
CRAFTED BY MELODYSHEEP
0:28:53.360,0:28:53.974
Supported by:
0:28:53.974,0:28:55.909
Supported by:[br]Protocol Labs
0:28:55.909,0:28:56.333
Protocol Labs[br]
0:28:56.333,0:28:56.893
Protocol Labs[br]What will you discover?[br]
0:28:56.893,0:28:58.602
Protocol Labs[br]What will you discover?[br]How will you change the future?
0:28:58.602,0:28:58.992
What will you discover?[br]How will you change the future?
0:28:59.504,0:29:00.504
Featuring the voices of:
0:29:00.504,0:29:00.754
Featuring the voices of:[br]David Attenborough
0:29:00.754,0:29:01.004
Featuring the voices of:[br]Craig Childs
0:29:01.004,0:29:01.254
Featuring the voices of:[br]Brian Cox
0:29:01.254,0:29:01.504
Featuring the voices of:[br]Neil Degrasse Tyson
0:29:01.504,0:29:01.754
Featuring the voices of:[br]Michelle Thaller
0:29:01.754,0:29:02.004
Featuring the voices of:[br]Lawrence Krauss
0:29:02.004,0:29:02.254
Featuring the voices of:[br]Michio Kaku
0:29:02.254,0:29:02.504
Featuring the voices of:[br]Mike Rowe
0:29:02.504,0:29:02.754
Featuring the voices of:[br]Phil Plait
0:29:02.754,0:29:03.004
Featuring the voices of:[br]Janna Levin
0:29:03.004,0:29:03.254
Featuring the voices of:[br]Stephen Hawking
0:29:03.254,0:29:03.504
Featuring the voices of:[br]Sean Carroll
0:29:03.504,0:29:03.754
Featuring the voices of:[br]Alex Filippenko
0:29:03.754,0:29:04.544
Featuring the voices of:[br]Martin Rees
0:29:05.599,0:29:09.629
Thanks to:[br]Juan Benet & my supporters on Patreon[br]Patreon.com/melodysheep
0:29:11.082,0:29:13.612
MELODYSHEEP.COM | @MUSICALSCIENCE
0:29:15.061,0:29:16.456
For Ash