Quote:
Originally Posted by
KenJackson
You scanned the list too quickly.
I understand most astronomers and cosmologists agree that number 1, "Red giant expansion of our Sun burns up the Earth", will happen no more than 5 billion years from now. The physical earth will be toasted, torn apart and absorbed.
Also, number 7, "The Big Crunch", probably refers to the expansion of the universe ending and then collapsing to the opposite of the big bang. I understand most believe this will not happen. But if it did, the physical earth would end up being compressed into the singularity.
And the last one, "Scientists trying to simulate a black hole will succeed", silly as it is, would physically destroy the earth.
I think #1 is out, as the Earth's orbit will widen as the sun starts to expand and will most likely survive. The impact theory has a much higher chance of causing the earth to dive into the sun, but a greater chance of being ejected completely from the solar system.
If you take the latest (supported) theories, then #7 is basically out (due to acceleration). There is a proponent of the "Variable Speed of Light" (Magueijo), which I think results in a non-accelerating universe. If this is true, then the "great crunch" may be possible. There is one thought which is similar to #7... if you believe in the concept of "branes", we could be "collapsed" into non-existence via two branes colliding, resulting in another "Big Bang"... not really a crunch, more like the "Great Collision", like being smacked up side the head with a bat or banging your head against a wall ...
ha ha
The last one is also out as the size of the Black hole created by the LHC results in an almost instantaneous evaporation via Hawkings Radiation.
All seriousness aside... good poll, make a person smile inside... (for those Darwinist among us
)