Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets” — Leonardo da Vinci

How Will the World Really End?

Predictions about the end of the world have been around since...well, the beginning of the world. But setting aside the warnings of apocalyptic prophets, technophobes, and assorted other Chicken Littles, what are the most plausible scenarios for humanity's demise? How will Earth, and the universe, die out? And how soon? In a special series this week, Big Think asks a paleontologist, an astrophysicist, a nuclear terrorism expert, and other distinguished guests what doomsday might actually be like.

Part 1 of 10

A Supernova Could Nuke Us

Edward Sion

Astronomer and Astrophysicist, Villanova University

A nearby star system may “go supernova” in 10 million years—far sooner than scientists once predicted. The resulting explosion would “outshine the galaxy,” not to mention kill life on Earth.

In Future, Science & Tech, Environment, Life & Death

Featured Blogs

Politeia

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March 12, 2010 — 4:50 PM

Dancing Is for Straight Couples Only

Robert de Neufville

Itawamba Agricultural High School would rather cancel the prom than let a lesbian couple attend. More than a month ago, Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at the Mississippi school, asked school officials if she would be allowed to bring her girlfriend, who is also a student at the school. She was told that they wouldn't be allowed to go the prom together. Even if the two came separately, she was told, they would be thrown out if they danced with each other or made other students "uncomfortable." Read more

Think, See, Feel

Niall
March 12, 2010 — 1:26 PM

Niall Ferguson Channels Jay-Z

Lea Carpenter

Ferguson’s piece in the new Foreign Affairs, “Complexity and Collapse: Empires on the Edge of Chaos,” considers the question of how history moves, and whether the conventional assumptions concerning, as it were, the Rhythm of Empires, are dead wrong. His elegant overturning of received wisdom is not exactly Gladwellian in that the end result might be mild terror, rather than revelation. He even quotes Jay-Z. Read more

Focal Point

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March 12, 2010 — 12:16 PM

Pelosi Calls Stupak's Bluff on Abortion

Lindsay Beyerstein

Anti-choice zealot Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) overplayed his hand. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced today that the House Democrats will move forward without a deal on abortion coverage.  Read more

The View From Europe

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March 12, 2010 — 9:49 AM

Remembering (or Forgetting) Copenhagen

Carrie Battan

Three months after the Copenhagen Climate Conference’s failure to reach a legally binding global emissions-reduction deal, there hasn’t been much talk of what the next step will be. But the Europeans, for whom Copenhagen was the ultimate disappointment, are now trying to get back on track – with or without the rest of the world. Read more

Mind Matters

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March 12, 2010 — 7:53 AM

To Green Your Electrons, Green Your Mind

David Berreby

Solar panels aren't born green. Their manufacture uses power, often generated in plants that burn coal or oil, and releases pollutants (including greenhouse gases) into the environment. The extent of this original sin depends on the kind of solar technology involved, but it's not trivial. According to Peter Owen of Linde Electronics, four years pass before the U.S. industry's typical solar panel has generated enough electricity to make up for the power used to make it. Read more

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