The Big Rip

WolfWithoutAClause writes "It's been known for decades that the universe is expanding. The current evidence points to this rate of expansion increasing, and if so, there's no obvious reason why the expansion rate couldn't continue to increase ever faster. A physicist, Simon Caldwell, has taken this to inevitable conclusion and suggested the expansion will eventually reach a point where the expansion rate is so high that any surviving people will ripped apart, followed a millisecond later by the destruction of all the atoms in the universe. Ouch. New Scientist says we may only have 22 billion years left. Almost enough time for a quick game of Everquest then."

Comments

Don't Panic!

[Lemmeoutada Collecti]

Given that humans have been on Earth only a few million(?) years, is this even something woth worrying about at this point?

Given that as a scientific line of inquiry it is interesting, it is nothing more at this point than another pet theory based on abservations made of a (very) limited part of the universe, so I take it like all such with a grain of salt.

Shot in the dark

[Darkstorm]

What I find so amazing is that half the theories are created on so little real fact. Just recently scientist have acknowledged that dark matter/energy exsist. But they have no clue what it is...or how it works...or how to include it in thier equasions. So they guess, start dropping it into the mathmatical grinder and presto...instant theory of the univers ripping to pieces.

I wish they would wait at least long enough to get some decent information on new discoveries before twisting them into imaginary shapes and trying hard to get recognized.