End of the universe might come sooner than we thought, Scientists warn

July 27, 2025 by News Desk

A new study based on data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) suggests that the universe may stop expanding and collapse much sooner than previously thought.

Scientists analyzing this fresh data propose that dark energy, the force responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe, might not be constant, as previously believed. Instead, it could be changing over time.

The implications of this shift are profound. Researchers say the universe might not expand forever but could instead reverse course and head towards a “Big Crunch”, a collapse of all matter back into a dense, hot state.

The theory, which is still awaiting peer review, posits that the universe’s current expansion is temporary, driven largely by a mysterious field of particles called axions.

These axions are hypothetical ultralight particles that rarely interact with ordinary matter. According to the study, they could be responsible for much of the observed acceleration in cosmic expansion.

Over time, however, their influence may weaken. As the axion field fades, a negative cosmological constant—a term from Einstein’s equations describing the fabric of space-time, could dominate, slowing the universe’s expansion and eventually reversing it.

This process could begin in around 10 billion years, with the complete collapse of the universe occurring about 33 billion years from now. That may sound distant, but it’s significantly sooner than what many previous models predicted.

The study introduces a dual-component model for dark energy, challenging long-standing beliefs in physics and offering a potential new direction for cosmology. If confirmed, these findings could fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe’s fate.