The universe is currently expanding at an accelerating rate, but new data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) indicates that this acceleration may have been weakening over the last 4 to 5 billion years. This challenges the notion of dark energy as a constant force, suggesting it may evolve. If true, various outcomes could arise for the universe's fate, including the potential for it to stop expanding or even contract back into a 'Big Crunch.' Scientists acknowledge the unpredictable nature of dark energy, emphasizing the critical role it plays in cosmic evolution.
This result brings to the table, again, the possibility that the universe may not continue to expand forever. One of the possibilities now is that, in some theories, the universe could stop expanding, and re-contract into a Big Crunch.
We can't foretell what dark energy will do in the future. If that mysterious energy field decays, matter and gravity could become the dominant factors.
In that case, the ultimate fate hinges on a knife's edge. Depending on how space is curved, a collapse is possible.
Current data suggests that dark energy may not be a 'cosmological constant,' but could evolve over time.
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