Higgs Boson Points to End of Whole Universe

[GundamSentinel]

The idea of the universe dropping into a new quantum state isn't a new one. The discovery of Higgs bosons may have substatiated it a little more, but the theory has been around for years.

Isn't it implied that this is all kind of random? or does our universes current energy state disallow it? Or can some higher energy or bigger universe just decide to plop into our universe at any given moment?

It does indeed seem to be random. But even so, "billions of years" isn't really the timescale we should be thinking of. Hell, even quadrillions or quintillions of years would probably be woefully inaccurate. Something like 10^100 years seems to be more in the right direction. That's about the number of protons in the Milky Way * 1000 * the current age of the galaxy. By that time any normal matter will already have disappeared loooooong ago (in about 10^43 years IIRC) and there may just be some giant black holes lurking about, ever so slowly evaporation due to Hawking radiation. Good odds that literally nothing will be around to witness it.

Or it might happen tomorrow. Who knows.

 

[tehroc]

I don't have any type of degree, but doesn't this vacuum instability violate conservation of mass?

 

[FalloutJack]

*Blink*

Waaait a minute... Didn't something like this crop up in an episode of Earthworm Jim?

(The premise there was that each universe that existed was contained within a snowglobe, which was surrounded by a bigger universe that is also in a snowglobe, and so on. And-

*Hits self in shock*

There was a throw-away line I heard in Doctor Who a long time ago, about Russian dolls: "I wonder if they realize they were building a model of the universe."

EDIT:

I don't have any type of degree, but doesn't this vacuum instability violate conservation of mass?

If it is, then that makes things very interesting about what we actually know about the universe. However, if it's not a literal eraser but a transfer of energy on a level we just didn't realize, then everything's really status quo.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

"...knowing the mass of the Higgs allows for calculations that point to a cyclical universe of sorts..."

I always somehow knew my mass was linked to the universe's downfall...and I just shrugged it off as vanity.

Oh wait they probably just forgot the word boson...sorry for this I am tired and bat-shit crazy due to mid-term exams.

 

[XMark]

I gotta say, I like the idea of a new universe spontaneously appearing and overwriting the old universe.

The really depressing idea would be the universe expanding until everything dies and all the stars burn out, which I believe is currently the leading theory.

 

[Ascarus]

as someone mentioned on reddit yesterday, this discovery (if you will) instantly reminded me of isaac asimov's short story The Last Question.

http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm

well worth the read if anyone is interested. easily one of his best short stories ... and that is saying something.

 

[RaNDM G]

I don't buy it. I can understand an event obliterating all matter in the universe into little pieces, but there is no way matter can just stop existing. If a new universe expands in the middle of our own, it's not going to erase anything.

 

[Starik20X6]

... Huh. Cool. Wait, hold on, did we just answer the 'what existed before the Big Bang' question? I mean, if it's a small bubble that rapidly expands, creating a whole new universe... And it's cyclical... Perhaps before the Big Bang was another universe, and then this happened, squashed it all and started this universe!

 

[Mayamellissa]

Billions of Years from now Galactus will be birthed.

 

[nuba km]

who says that there isn't already another universe expanding just like ours and eventually the two will collide, with eventually I mean this Sunday, who wants tickets?

 

[Altefforr]

I found this interesting, I'll have to read the actual article. It reminded me of presumptions I made while on psychedelic mushrooms; with the Big-Bang happening, our universe/reality in its current form exists, our universes dark matter destroys us and then recreates a new one out of itself.

I wonder what inter-reality / inter-dimensional beings would think of something like this, and their understanding of it. I wonder if there really is a multiverse, seems like there is; Quantum Physics seems to think there is at least "Parallel" Realities.

The only (pseudo)science I know of stating that interdimensional, time-travel exists is the whole shebang with Psychedelics, Shamanism, Ancient Aliens, Religion, and Sacred Geometry. It's also a lot less pseudo than most would assume, this stuff just hasn't had a lot of clinical testing; because what corporate interest could there possibly be in unlimited energy, space-travel, and good-will?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yog-Sothoth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qliphoth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot

 

[xdiesp]

They come up with new data, but they just back up up very ancient ideas.

 

[Vorlayn]

Actually, this is much worse for us than a big crunch-that has some hope of us escaping it with technology. Now, if we escape, either we find the occupants of a previous universe with zillions of years of technological advantage or every previous race has destroyed themselves, which makes it VERY likely that will happen to us. Alternatively, it's not possible to escape and we're still boned.

 

[DasDestroyer]

The whole betting thing reminded me of something I think I read in one of Stephen Hawking's books. He bet his friend/colleague a journal subscription that one of his theories about black holes was wrong, so that if it turned out to be wrong, at least he'd have a free subscription to the science journal, and if his theory turned out to be right, then he wouldn't mind giving his friend a subscription.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Eh, I'm pretty sure mankind will be wiped out by a super volcano before we get anywhere near this end.

Still, it's amazing to think that our universe is possible just one of an infinite amount that keep forming on top of each other.

 

[Vorlayn]

Super volcano? We'll have a permanent extraterrestrial presence within a hundred years. Then no super volcano or meteor will be able to destroy humanity completely.

 

[Darks63]

Darn I liked it better when the universe ended in Entropy myself.

 

[Necrofudge]

Really makes you wonder if our universe is just another "bubble" that appeared and destroyed the universe before us. And that the previous universe also did this. And the one before that, and so on. Maybe this type of thing has been happening for much longer than any of our predictions about the beginning of time.