The observable universe began in a gigantic explosion about 13 billion years ago. This explosion created everything now known, including space which is currently in an accelerating phase of expansion.
About the major mass-energy components of the visible universe, the dark energy (approximately 70% of mass-energy) and dark matter (approximately 25% of mass-energy) we have little knowledge but some falsifiable theories. It is expected that we will know more about these things soon.
Our sun is about 4.5 billion years old and in 4-5 billion years from now will enter the red giant phase of its evolution. It is not clear at this point whether the earth will at that time become engulfed in the sun’s outer corona, dragged into the sun and subsequently vaporized, or whether the earth will stay outside of the sun and simply be burned to a cinder. Either way, the Earth will be sterilized at this point.
Even though we just arrived at the scene and thus only see a snapshot of the current Universe’s evolution, we now have the minimal confidence levels required to put some numbers on the long term evolution of things, as in the figure below.
The above picture shows time on a log scale with base 10, and ends at 10 to the power of 1000 years. That is a 10 with 1000 trailing zeros. At the end of the Universe’s evolution is the ‘heat death’, a state of maximum entropy that makes heat engines, such as you and me impossible.
Assuming the above description of the Universe’s evolution and ultimate death is correct (a big assumption), then what does all this mean for our everyday life? What kind of value system or philosophy can one have if everything ‘runs down’?
When you go on a roller-coaster ride you do not expect the ride to last forever. You like to have an exiting time and some fun with nobody getting hurt. That’s the universe, in a nutshell.
