The icy fate of the universe

Scienceline

Have you ever wondered how the universe will end? Chances are that the answer is “yes”; humans tend to have an innate curiosity when it comes to morbid questions. Scientists, of course, are no different. Cosmologists have pondered the ultimate fate of the universe, and many have converged on a theory: the “heat death of the universe,” also known as the “Big Freeze.” The Big Freeze theory suggests that, one day, all the energy in the universe will become evenly distributed, preventing any further action from occurring. In other words, the entire universe will essentially “freeze” into place. To learn more about this theory and the science behind it, Scienceline’s Daniel Leonard sat down with a postdoctoral researcher in cosmology (plus another special guest). Listen to what he discovered below. Read more at Scienceline.org: https://scienceline.org/2022/02/the-icy-fate-of-the-universe/ Music: Solstice by Ross Budgen | CC by 4.0 Art of Silence by Uniq | CC by 4.0 Sound Effects: Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice,” read for Librivox by Alan Davis Drake | Public Domain Mark 1.0 Gong: Under the Home | CC0 1.0 Splash: lwdickens | CC0 1.0 Wind: Sound Effect Database | CC by 4.0