• Question: do y no when the world will end?

    Asked by iluvwilmas to Adam, Joanna, Marcus on 22 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by sophiecastillo123.
    • Photo: Marcus Wilson

      Marcus Wilson answered on 22 Nov 2012:

      Probably not december 2012! we have an idea of the lifetime of the sun, its about middle aged now, so will stick around in its current state for about another 4.5 billion years. Then as it usese up all its fule it will turn into a red giant. It probably will not get close enough to incinerate the earth, so we will just turn into a lifeless ball of rock.

      However before this the sun will start to get hotter and as soon (soon!) as 1 bllion years from now it may get too hot for water to saty a liquid. when this happens life on earth would be pretty tricky,. but its a while away yet so dont worry!!

    • Photo: Joanna Giles

      Joanna Giles answered on 22 Nov 2012:

      Hi! I wouldn’t worry about the world ending. I don’t think it will be in our live time as Marcus says!
      We are more of a threat to ourselves with wars and nuclear weapons than the world ending because of the Sun’s lifespan.

      So, nope, I don’t know when the world will end, but I’m not going to worry about it because it’s a long time away and we won’t be here!

    • Photo: Adam Paige

      Adam Paige answered on 22 Nov 2012:

      I gather there is a prediction the World will end next month? You might like to know that even during my short(-ish!) lifetime we have already had quite a few predictions of apocalypse. And each time we wake up the next morning still here! There was also a widespread belief that all computers would stop working on 1st Jan 2000, with planes falling from the skies, bank financial records having been completely lost, and even no signal to our televisions! To my knowledge that “millenium bug” did not cause a single incident of anything, anywhere in the world!

      Like a typical scientist I always want to see the evidence supporting a theory. And these kind of “end-of-world” predictions never have any evidence. The only scientifically supported end-date is the one Marcus explains for when our sun will explode and destroy the inner planets of the solar system – in 4.5 billion years (give or take).

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