A journey to the end of time with the 5 most likely ways the universe will be destroyed Watch our podcast on "How the universe will end" with astrophysicist Katie Mack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWekRJnv8QI You can get "The End Of The Universe" song on all platforms now Be sure to check out Katie Mack's book "The End Of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)" -------LYRICS--------- INTRO Welcome to the end of the universe. Please fasten your galactic seatbelts as we explore the 5 Most Likely Cosmic Apocalypses A...poca...lyp...si? Existential dread and Euphoria can be found Here and Here In the inconsiderate vastness of space Enjoy the ride BIG CRUNCH Universal Gravity Falling fruit from apple tree Though it is the weakest force It just might kill all of us Andromeda galaxy Hurling at amazing speeds The Milky Way pulling close Colliding in a brilliant burst But if you didn’t know This violent destruction has got nothing on The Big Crunch The Big Bang blew it all apart Flying fast and flying far But gravity in its infinite range Could lead to a directional change Collapsing in on itself Surfaces of stars igniting, ouch! Explosions tear through stellar space Hot plasma in your face It’s The Big Crunch Where nothing can survive Densities and temperatures beyond measure We’re going to die More intense than the Big Bang And if gravity doesn’t win The opposite will soon begin HEAT DEATH Oh it’s getting kinda cold Which is weird for a thing called a heat death But the entropy’s only increasing It’s gonna be slow devastation Cause it turns out the rate of expansion Is way faster than we once imagined Distance galaxies wander and fade away Darkness grows as we float ever isolated All thanks to the cosmological constant of dark energy Heat death, it’s a really cold Heat death, yeah we’re all alone Energy gradients fade away Particles of matter all decay It’s a Heat Death, the arrow of time is gone Heat Death, one giant cold heat BIG RIP Of course if dark energy is not constant we get 'phantom energy' Which means we have an accelerating expansion at an increasing rate Give us the Big Rip Where gravity can’t keep up Stars and planets are pulled apart Atomic forces no longer hold Molecules break apart Atoms break down Everything explodes into infinity away from everything else And the fabric of space is ripped apart VACUUM DECAY Ever heard of the Higgs Field? We’re talking Bosons getting revealed Giving mass to our particles Writing tons of articles Giving us stability Well this field seeks the lowest energy state Like a ball rolling down a hill can’t wait But if a lower potential exists Say goodbye to our constants Physics falls apart and we get Vacuum Decay We’re in a false vacuum A false vacuum The best data suggests we’re in a false vacuum Evaporation of a black hole Could trigger change that’s out of control Entering the true low vacuum state And a bubble it will make Spreading all across the universe But it’s impossible to see this moment coming At the speed of light it’s moving, you ain’t running The final apocalyptic cascade Nature fully rearranged Incinerating everything it’s Vacuum Decay We’re in a false vacuum A false vacuum The best data suggests we’re in a false vacuum Vacuum Decay We’re in a false vacuum A false vacuum The best data suggests we’re in a false vacuum BOUNCE There’s something awry here An error or two Either gravity’s broken Or another dimension’s leaked through Cause it’s weakness, the force It just doesn’t add up What if instead of just ours there are more? Universes out in spacetime galore Influencing, softly dancing Ready to bounce Ready to bounce Oh these parallel branes are expanding to start But then fate as it goes just can’t keep them apart We’re obliterated as the scalar fields swing Into radiation and restart the Big Bang So what’s the world without you? It ends but then it cycles on through The universe born again new So tell me what’s the world without you? If another one’s bouncing in soon Now I know some of you might be saying “Gosh Mitch! All these possible endings, It’s got me scared, should I be worried?” Awh, don’t worry Most of these are predicted to happen in billions of years, if ever And if that has you saying “Billions? But that makes me feel so small and insignificant” Well…that’s because you are. So what’s the world without you? It ends but then it cycles on through The universe born again new So tell me what’s the world without you? If another one’s bouncing in soon