![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AD_176059973-8bc4.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe universe could end in a violent mass of star collisions like the one shown here in a NASA animation (Picture: NASA)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe universe could end in a violent mass of star collisions like the one shown here in a NASA animation (Picture: NASA)<\/p>\n
Imagine a future where Earth becomes unshackled from the Sun\u2019s gravitational pull and flies off into the void.<\/p>\n
And around three months later, it is violently torn apart in the space of a few minutes, leaving a cloud of atoms which then disintegrate in a tiny fraction of a second.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the fate that some physicists believe could befall our planet \u2013 along with all other celestial bodies in the universe at roughly the same time.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s known as the \u2018Big Rip\u2019 theory of the end of the universe.<\/p>\n
It used to be a fringe theory, but has gained some currency as a means to explain the strange behaviour of dark energy, which was discovered in the late 90s.<\/p>\n
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Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n Dark energy is widely accepted as the explanation for evidence from telescopes that the universe is expanding faster and faster, rather than slowing down.<\/p>\n \t\t Until recently, the vast majority of cosmologists agreed that the universe will continue to expand in this way forever.<\/p>\n Eventually, stars would run out of fuel and galaxies would fall dark and frozen.<\/p>\n But surprising results from an Arizona telescope instrument in March has sparked a major shake-up.<\/p>\n The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (Desi) delivered data suggesting the universe\u2019s acceleration has gone up and down since the start of the universe.<\/p>\n If it turns out to have increased overall, there must be an additional mysterious force \u2013 which has been coined \u2018phantom dark energy\u2019 \u2013 which could one day gain enough pace to cause a \u2018Big Rip\u2019.<\/p>\n Last month, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) published research from a South Korean team indicating that this acceleration has, in fact, slowed down overall.<\/p>\n If it were to continue weakening, it could suggest that dark energy will one day become so weak that it no longer exceeds the force of gravity.<\/p>\n The galaxies would then begin to pull together into a \u2018Big Crunch\u2019 in which stars would collide into each other and the leftover debris would collapse in on itself.<\/p>\n Prof Young Wook Lee, who led the Korean team, told the BBC<\/a>: \u2018The fate of the Universe will change. If dark energy is not constant and it\u2019s getting weakened, this will change the whole paradigm of modern cosmology.<\/p>\n \u2018Which outcome wins, depends on the true nature of dark energy, for which we still do not know the answer.\u2019<\/p>\n Whether the Big Rip or Big Crunch wins out \u2018depends on the true nature of dark energy, for which we still do not know the answer\u2019, he added.<\/p>\n While the study has been peer-reviewed and published in a respected journal, its conclusions have not yet widely caught on. <\/p>\n This is partly because some experts think they were drawn too hastily.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s mostly because more independent research confirming the results is needed for it to be accepted.<\/p>\n However, Prof Young added: \u2018The statistical significance is roughly one-in-a-trillion chance of being a fluke.<\/p>\n \u2018So, I strongly feel that already our research is very, very significant.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Magnificent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_279165845-d3e8.jpg\")
\n\t\tScientists are racing to understand surprising new data on the universe\u2019s expansion over time (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
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