Fate of Universe revealed by galactic lens

A "galactic lens" has revealed that the Universe will probably expand forever.

Astronomers used the way that light from distant stars was distorted by a huge galactic cluster known as Abell 1689 to work out the amount of dark energy in the cosmos.


www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by union_jack


"Eventually it will become a cold, dead wasteland with a temperature approaching what scientists term "absolute zero"."
So this is the fate of the universe? I think there are forces at work that we don't understand, dark matter for instance, that will add elements to the equation that have not been accounted for. It's like approaching quantum physics with Newtonian laws.
Interesting stuff, thanks for posting.

energy is eternal, isnt it ?
it just transforms.

Originally posted by icepack
energy is eternal, isnt it ?
it just transforms.

I think it's "Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it only changes form."

With the expansion of the Universe continuing on to infinity, the distance between particles will become so great that energy of any form cannot be conducted to another particle thus resulting in the eventual big freeze. Eventually, the size of the Universe and its rate of expansion will be so great that it will be impossible for photons of any energy level to be observable from any other point in the Universe.

[edit on 8/19/2010 by abecedarian]

I just laugh at stuff like this, I don't underestimate the science, but we didn't even know what a telescope was 300 years ago.

Originally posted by serbsta
I just laugh at stuff like this, I don't underestimate the science, but we didn't even know what a telescope was 300 years ago.

Actually, telescopes were 'discovered' in the early 17th century and used by Galileo (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642)... so that would be the 1600's so like 400 years ago, right? I'm sure magnifying glasses were in use prior to that too... yep (from here):

The earliest evidence of "a magnifying device, a convex lens forming a magnified image," dates back to 424 BC Aristophanes "lens" is a glass globe filled with water.(Seneca says that it can be used to read letters no matter how small or dim), Roger Bacon described the properties of magnifying glass in 13th-century England, followed by the development of eyeglasses in 13th-century Italy.

So who's to say what they did with them?

Just a fact check.

Anyhow, what does your comment have to do with the topic?

[edit on 8/19/2010 by abecedarian]

reply to post by abecedarian


Sorry. 400 years... its besides the point.

Originally posted by abecedarian

Anyhow, what does your comment have to do with the topic?

[edit on 8/19/2010 by abecedarian]

Here we are on this little planet, we don't even know what lies at the very bottom of our own oceans and we're deciding the 'fate' of the universe?

Laughable.