New Data Suggests Universe May End in Big Crunch

New Data Suggests Universe May End in Big Crunch

Feb 16, 2026, 3:26 AM en 7 views

TL;DR

A Cornell physicist's calculations indicate the universe might collapse in a 'big crunch' in about 20 billion years. This challenges previous beliefs that the universe would expand indefinitely.

Professor Henry Tye from Cornell University has used new data from dark energy observatories to propose that the universe might collapse in a 'big crunch'. This theory is based on updated models suggesting the cosmological constant might be negative. Recent observations from the Dark Energy Survey in Chile and the DESI in Arizona support this hypothesis. These findings question the long-held belief that the universe will expand forever due to a positive cosmological constant. Ongoing projects like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory may provide more insights in future.

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