Book Description | The End of Everything (From an Astrophysical Perspective) by Katie Mack ... The question of how the world will end has always been a subject of speculation and debate among poets and philosophers throughout history. Now, thanks to science, of course, we know the answer: it's fire. Fire, without a doubt. The sun, after about five billion years, will swell to the red giant phase, swallowing the orbit of Mercury, and possibly Venus, leaving Earth a charred, lifeless rock covered in molten lava. Even these barren, flaming remnants may eventually end up in the outer layers of the sun, scattering their particles in the dying star's deteriorating atmosphere. So: it is fire. That is settled. Frost was right the first time. But he wasn't thinking deeply enough. I am a scientist specializing in the universe. I study the universe as a whole, on the largest scale. From this perspective, the world is a tiny little dust particle lost in a vast and diverse universe. And what matters to me, both professionally and personally, is a bigger question: how will the world end? |