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