In the farthest reaches of space, a volatile battle is taking place
between two forces so great, they may eventually destroy the very
universe itself. Known as Dark Matter and Dark Energy, these opposing
forces have the capacity to rip apart the universe atom-by-atom. While
scientists have previously theorised about a “Big Crunch” where the
universe retracts (similar to a balloon losing its air) back to its
original size, the discovery of Dark Matter and Dark Energy has placed
that hypothesis on the backburner. Some astronomers now believe that if
Dark Matter offsets Dark Energy then as the universe slowly expands,
stars will gradually fade, running out of fuel and leading to a dark,
cold and lifeless universe. Others hypothesise a much more violent end
where Dark Energy continues to expand the universe at a greater and
greater speed. Stronger than gravity, Dark Energy would pull apart
everything down to the fundamental particles – the universe’s very
fibres. While the universe’s end may be 50 billion years away, great
leaps in science will continue to alter how we believe the universe was
formed – and how it will end.