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The Death of A Universe

Posted by Hemos on from the and-i-feel-fine dept.

ninthwave writes "The Guardian is running an article on research into the visible effects of entropy in the Universe. Alan Heavens of The University of Edinburgh did the research also posted at The Royal Astronomical Society with this article" I dunno - expansion, heat death - it all reminds me of a teacher who said "I'm not a premillenialist, postmillenialist - I'm a pan-millenialist, as in it's all going to pan out in the end." Update: 08/18 16:36 GMT by S : Headline fixed.

15 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Now I'm worried by Mad-cat · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, if I'm alive in 5 billion years, I'll die in a fiery red version of our sun.

    1. Re:Now I'm worried by phthisic · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hahaha. That's funny. It's an old saw. I think Sagan mentioned it in one of his books. An astronomer is giving a lecture and he says the universe will end in 5 billion years. A guy stands up in sort of a panic and says, "How many years?" The astronomer repeats himself. The guy sits down, saying, "Oh, thank God. I thought you said 5 million."

      Just an aside, in one of his books, Sagan tells a story about how he was working at an observatory late one New Years Eve. A guy calls up and Sagan can hear the sounds of a party in the background. The guy, obviously drunk, says, "Let me talk to an ashtromener."

      Sagan says, "This is Carl Sagan. I'm an astronomer."

      The guy says, "Whatsh zat fuzzy thing up in the shky?"

      Sagan knows there's a comet visible so he tells the guy it's a coment.

      "Whatsha comet?" the guy asks.

      "Well," replies Sagan. "It's sort of like a dirty snowball."

      After a short pause the caller says, "I wanna shpeak to a real Shtromoner."

  2. U of E by GMontag · · Score: 5, Funny

    Doesn't this guy also go on to invent transparent aluminum then come back to the present and give away the formula to a fabricator in San Francisco?

    "Computer! Oh computer?"

    --
    Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
  3. W has decided: by burgburgburg · · Score: 3, Funny
    Entropy is the cause of the East Coast Blackout. Or as he put it, "enteropie".

    Oh, and Karl Rove has declared that entropy was created during the Clinton administration and a partisan Congress has prevented W from eliminating it.

  4. Job description by SnappingTurtle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just the other day I was told I couldn't put "minimize entropy" as my job description where I work. Now look what's happening. I'm going to take this article to my boss and say "I told you so!"

    --
    I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
  5. I think MC Steven Hawking Says it best... by DanThe1Man · · Score: 4, Funny

    You down with Entropy? Yeah, you know me! (mp3 link)

  6. Re:"An Universe"? by Goody · · Score: 5, Funny

    You must be new here...

    aaaahhh, forget it..

    I, for one, welcome our grammar-challenged Slashdot Editor overlords.

    --
    Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
  7. Re:"An Universe"? (with apologies to Monty Python) by TimTheFoolMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Announcer: "Today, in our studios, we have an Elk, I mean, an expert..."

    Anne Elk: "Not Anne Expert, Anne Elk!"

    Announcer: "Yes. Sorry. Today we have a-n expert, not a-n-n-e Expert on... the Universe..."

    Anne Elk: "That's right Chris, I am."

    Announcer: "An Expert?"

    Anne Elk: "No... Anne Elk"

    Tim

  8. um, sure... by cybermage · · Score: 3, Funny

    it all reminds me of a teacher who said "I'm not a premillenialist, postmillenialist - I'm a pan-millenialist, as in it's all going to pan out in the end."

    This guy must have been fun at parties.

    --
    Some people have a way with words, and some people, um, thingy.
  9. 'The lamps are going out all over the universe.' by *weasel · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... i thought the blackout was confined to new york, detroit and cleveland?

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  10. Re:"An Universe"? by TheShadow · · Score: 5, Funny

    "But language is an evolving invention of the people and not a set of rules defended by an elite crackerjack force of grammar gnomes."

    Tell that to the French.

    *rimshot*

    --

    --
    "What do you want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? Cause I'm married."
  11. Sad news, Universe dead at ~14 Gyr by Guano_Jim · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...just read some sad news in the Guardian - the Universe was found dead in its multidimensional home this morning. There weren't any more details yet. I'm sure we'll all miss it, even if you weren't a fan of its work there's no denying its contribution to popular culture. Truly a cosmological icon.

    --
    3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
  12. Re:Interesting, but I don't put much faith into it by jdgreen7 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm sure this document is very enlightening to those with the property background knowledge, but any paper with the phrase "according to conventional four-dimenional quantum field theory" (page 3) is a bit beyond my comprehension, and I'm not sure if it can be called easily digestable...

  13. The Death of An Career by doc_traig · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hemos,

    You have embarrassed we for the last time. Get an box and clean out you locker.

    Loves,

    Taco

    --
    So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
  14. Obligatory Rimshot by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...who won the Nobel prize in 1974 for his work in discovering quasars at Cambridge University...

    You'd think someone would have noticed before then. They were behind the couch the whole time.

    Ba-BOOM! Thanks, I'm here all evening.