End of Eternity**

Big Picture Science

Nothing lasts forever. Even the universe has several possible endings. Will there be a dramatic Big Rip or a Big Chill­–also known as the heat death of the universe–in trillions of years? Or will vacuum decay, which could theoretically happen at any moment, do us in? Perhaps the death of a tiny particle – the proton – will bring about the end.

We contemplate big picture endings in this episode, and whether one could be brought about by our own machine creations.

Guests:

Anders Sandberg – Researcher at

the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford

Katie Mack – Assistant professor of physics at North Carolina State

University, and the author of “The End of Everything, Astrophysically

Speaking.”

Brian Greene – Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at

Columbia, and author of “Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our

Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe”

Originally aired May 3, 2021

Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake

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