Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice, but scientists are more sure than ever before as to what that answer might be. In the grand theater of existence, the curtain has only just risen on our species, yet already we find ourselves drawn to the ultimate question: how will it all end?
From the slow death of our sun to the violent shattering of galaxies, from drifting planets cast loose into endless night to theories of bouncing universes, cosmologists have traced paths through time that lead to dazzling and terrifying possibilities. Some conclusions are grounded in the laws of physics, others in speculative frontiers of theory, but all reveal a universe that is far from static, and far from safe.
So, whether you find comfort in the slow fade of a cosmic freeze or terror in the chaos of a fiery demise, click through this gallery to see how our universe may or may not see its end.