Astronomers and cosmologists are warning that humanity’s fate may rest in a chilling cosmic scenario: the **“Big Crunch,”** where the universe reverses its expansion and collapses into a super-dense singularity—a literal cosmic hell. Though unimaginably distant, researchers now believe this reversal could begin in around **11 billion years**, aligning with a growing reappraisal of the theory’s plausibility as recently explained by The Express and echoed by astrophysicists at Cornell and Harvard universities per the New York Post report.
Cornell physicist **Henry Tye** suggests the breakdown could begin in 11 billion years and span another 8.5 billion years to complete, culminating in catastrophic heating and compaction—enough to mirror the sun’s surface temperature across the cosmos, incinerating everything including Avi Loeb’s warning of cosmic inferno.
“Needless to say… all humans will burn up in the furnace of this cosmic hell.” – Avi Loeb
The theory has regained momentum after decades of being sidelined following observations of **dark energy** accelerating expansion. Updated models suggest acceleration may taper off, opening the door to eventual collapse as Mustapha Ishak‑Boushaki explains. Independent studies show collapse wouldn’t commence before **10 billion years**, with upper limits extending beyond 40 billion years based on dark energy behavior according to theoretical projections.
Few scientists dispute the inevitability of cosmic-scale endings—but timing matters. This shift repositioning the Big Crunch as a long-term existential risk underscores humanity’s need to explore **interplanetary migration** and preservation strategies—though scholars emphasize this collapse is not imminent on any human scale as reporting suggests.
Other grim projections also reinforce how fragile humanity’s future might be: artificial intelligence, supervolcanic eruptions, pandemics, runaway nanotech—or runaway nuclear war—and even ecological collapse are all flagged as risks that could strike within centuries or millennia, long before cosmic-scale doomsday according to existential risk estimates.
In *Our Final Hour*, **Sir Martin Rees** famously assigned a ~50% chance that civilization will collapse within this century, amplifying concerns rooted in technology and environmental collapse—dramatically closer in time than cosmic-scale threats as cited in his warning.
That context reminds us: while cosmic destruction may lie billions of years away, shorter-term threats like AI mismanagement, climate breakdown, or global conflict remain pressing. Sober voices remind us everyday existential risks deserve policy action now—even as stargazers ponder cosmic endings.
Ultimately, experts emphasize the Big Crunch is a far-future possibility—an awe-inspiring cosmic finale. But they caution that without planetary resilience strategies, mankind could succumb to nearer-term catastrophes. Whether we’re preparing for cosmic collapse—or just looking to survive next century—our focus may define how long we last.
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