Date the world will be destroyed and universe ends calculated by scientists
SCIENTISTS have calculated the likely timeline for the end of the universe based on groundbreaking research. The findings come from experts at Cornell University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other academic institutions.
According to the study, which follows Stephen Hawking's disturbing end-of-world prediction backed by NASA, the universe will begin contracting after reaching its maximum expansion, ultimately collapsing back into a single point.
Dubbed the "Big Crunch," this phenomenon would essentially be the inverse of the Big Bang - the widely accepted theory that the universe emerged from a singular point, creating matter, space, and time as we know it. It comes as scientists warn humans could be in their final 10 years on Earth after a chilling new AI warning.
The team predicts the Big Crunch will occur in approximately 33.3 billion years.
Given that the universe is currently 13.8 billion years old, Earth and all other planets have roughly 20 billion years before complete annihilation, according to the findings.
The study builds on a theory that the universe will continue to stretch like a "rubber band" until the elastic force becomes stronger than the expansion itself, causing everything to snap back inward, reports the Daily Star.
Key to this theory is dark energy - a mysterious force that makes up about 70 per cent of the known universe.
For years, scientists have regarded it as the driving mechanism behind cosmic expansion.
However, recent discoveries have led some experts to suspect this force may not be constant after all. This indicates there's a limit to its expansion before it begins shrinking again.
According to a new theory proposed by scientists, the universe will continue to expand but at a progressively decreasing rate.
When it reaches its peak size - roughly 69% bigger than it is today - a gradual contraction will begin.
It's unlikely that Earth will still be around when the universe collapses back to its original point.
In 20 billion years, our sun will have burned out and our galaxy will have collided with neighbouring Andromeda, based on separate predictions.
