The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. Many possible fates are predicted by rival scientific theories, including futures of both finite and infinite duration.
Once the notion that the universe started with a rapid inflation nicknamed the Big Bang became accepted by the majority of scientists, the ultimate fate of the universe became a valid cosmological question, one depending upon the physical properties of the mass/energy in the universe, its average density, and the rate of expansion.
Read more about Ultimate Fate Of The Universe: Role of The Shape of The Universe, Theories About The End of The Universe, Observational Constraints On Theories, Life in A Mortal Universe, In Science Fiction
Famous quotes containing the words ultimate, fate and/or universe:
“By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an eidolon, named Night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule—
From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of space—out of time.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“Oh, how sweet it is to pity the fate of an enemy who can no longer threaten us!”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
“The universe constantly and obediently answers to our conceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives in conceiving then. The poet or the artist never yet had so fair and noble a design but some of his posterity at least could accomplish it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)