In what sounds like the plot of a forgotten ’90s sci-fi movie, scientists say the universe may be headed toward a “big crunch” due to the apparent weakening of dark energy.
The Guardian reports that a new survey by the dark energy spectroscopic instrument team aka Desi found that dark energy, the term used to describe the force causing the continued expansion of the universe, has slowed its rate of acceleration.
If that is indeed the case, that could mean that the ultimate fate of the universe is to collapse into itself in the aforementioned big crunch, like an opposite big bang.
“What we are seeing is deeply intriguing,” says University of California, Santa Cruz, professor and Desi spokesperson Alexie Leauthaud-Harnett. “It is exciting to think that we may be on the cusp of a major discovery about dark energy and the fundamental nature of our universe.”
That the universe may end in a big crunch maybe sounds more terrifying than exciting, but the alternative isn’t much better. The long-held theory about dark matter was that it was constantly expanding the universe, resulting in a “big freeze,” where galaxies are so far apart that light won’t reach them.
Either way, it sounds like we’re all doomed in the long run, so you might as well have that extra slice of pizza.