The end of time?

I guess most people don't find this stuff interesting but I love it!

A recent model of the universe is giving a 50% chance that time will end within the next 3.7 billion years, according to a group of physicists rebelling against the implications of a flat, open universe, which appears to be established as the actual shape of the universe. Apparently, a flat, open universe will expand forever. And, also apparently, a universe that expands forever is infinite and eternal. For me, the most fascinating implication is that, in an infinite and eternal universe, anything that can happen will happen. An infinite number of times! This group of rebels just can't swallow this because they say the laws of physics don't work in an infinitely expanding universe. Therefore, the universe must have an end and they have crunched the numbers and came up with the 50% chance. Well, that's kind of depressing! But just to cheer us up they point out that we won't see it coming. You see, that would violate cause and effect principles, I think. So catastrophe will be on us before we recognize it.

On the other hand... last month Roger Penrose, a well known physicist, and others announced tentative evidence (in the form of concentric circles in the cosmic background radiation - the echoes of the big bang) that hinted at collisions with other universes. They say this is exactly what you would expect if the universe were eternally cyclical. Meaning an endless cycle of big bangs and expansion. Of course, they've been jumped on pretty hard by their peers who say that's pretty far-fetched. We have a space probe named Planck that I think is now making precision measurements of the cosmic background radiation and that may settle the argument in a year or so. At least for the time being.

I find the thought of an eternal universe somewhat comforting. Even if a big bang wipes the slate clean every now and then and starts it all over, I'm okay with that. Last I heard our destiny looked a lot gloomier. Dark energy is pushing all the galaxies farther apart in an ever speedier expansion and at some point we would be alone, and at some later point all the stars would exhaust their fuel and go out, leaving them adrift in eternal darkness. Doesn't sound like much fun.