Scientists have revealed a new estimate for the end of the universe – and it’s coming much sooner than previously thought.
Researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands say the universe will go dark in one quinvigintillion years, or a 1 followed by 78 zeros, due to the gradual evaporation of stars.
This revised timeline is based on Hawking radiation-like processes not just in black holes, but also in neutron stars and white dwarfs.
While still unimaginably far off, the finding challenges long-held theories and sheds new light on the final fate of the cosmos.