SAEDNEWS: For as long as humans have gazed into the night sky, we've wondered how the universe began—and more chillingly, how and when it will end. Now, a team of researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands has shocked the scientific world by offering the most precise prediction yet of the universe’s ultimate fate.
According to SAEDNEWS, Traditionally, scientists believed the universe could last for an unimaginably long time—something in the range of 10^1100 years (a 1 followed by 1,100 zeros). But the new research dramatically shortens that timeline to around 1 quinvigintillion years, or 10^78 years. Still unfathomably distant from today, but in cosmological terms, that’s a big difference.
This updated estimate is based on a deeper understanding of a mysterious process known as Hawking radiation, which was first proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking in 1975. The groundbreaking idea suggests that black holes aren’t eternal—instead, they slowly evaporate by emitting tiny particles over time.
Until now, scientists thought Hawking radiation only applied to black holes. But the Radboud team has turned this idea on its head, showing that neutron stars and white dwarfs—the dense, burnt-out remnants of stars—can also evaporate over extremely long timescales through similar quantum effects.
When a massive star reaches the end of its life, it either collapses into a neutron star or, if it's smaller like our sun, fades into a white dwarf. These stellar corpses have long been considered the last lights of the universe, glowing faintly for trillions upon trillions of years.
But according to Professor Heino Falcke, a radio astronomy and particle astrophysics expert at Radboud University, even these stars are doomed to vanish. Over time, as they become unstable, they will either evaporate or explode, disappearing completely from the cosmic stage.
Knowing how long this process takes allows scientists to estimate the maximum lifespan of the universe—and that’s where the new timeline of 10^78 years comes from.
“Earlier models didn’t factor in the evaporation of these stellar remnants,” said Falcke. “But once you include them, the end of the universe happens a lot sooner. Thankfully, we still have plenty of time left.”
Back in the mid-70s, Stephen Hawking turned conventional physics on its head by suggesting that black holes emit radiation and can eventually disappear. His theory contradicted the prevailing belief that nothing—not even light—could escape a black hole’s gravitational pull.
Hawking proposed that pairs of virtual particles constantly pop in and out of existence near the edge of a black hole. Sometimes, one particle falls in while the other escapes, creating what we now call Hawking radiation. Over eons, this radiation drains the black hole of mass and energy until it evaporates entirely.
Falcke and his colleagues expanded this theory to apply to all compact objects with intense gravitational fields. Their earlier work, published in Physical Review Letters in 2023, laid the groundwork by demonstrating that any massive body with gravitational pull—not just black holes—should theoretically emit a similar type of radiation.
Their latest research takes this concept further and calculates how long neutron stars and white dwarfs would take to fully evaporate, drastically narrowing down the timeline of the universe's twilight years.
So, what does a universe without stars look like?
In this bleak scenario, all matter—planets, stars, black holes, even the leftovers like white dwarfs—would be gone. The universe would become a cold, empty void filled only with faint traces of radiation and the occasional subatomic particle. It’s a concept known as “heat death” or the big freeze, where entropy (disorder) reaches its maximum and no usable energy remains to sustain any form of structure or life.
While this sounds terrifying, it’s important to remember that this apocalyptic event is trillions upon trillions of years away—so far into the future that it's almost irrelevant to our current existence.
Although the universe’s end is eons away, research like this sharpens our understanding of fundamental physics and the fate of everything around us. It also challenges and refines theories that have shaped modern astrophysics.
Professor Walter van Suijlekom, a mathematician involved in the study, explained that exploring questions about cosmic endings helps us deepen our understanding of quantum gravity and thermodynamics. He said:
“By posing these questions, we aim to better understand Hawking’s theory—and maybe one day, solve its ultimate mystery.”
This discovery not only provides a fresh perspective on the life cycle of the cosmos but also reaffirms the brilliance of Hawking’s once-controversial ideas. It serves as a powerful reminder of how science constantly evolves, leading us to new truths about our universe—truths that are sometimes sobering, but always awe-inspiring.
