Scientists Discover That the Universe Is Getting Worse and Worse

"In new research that gauged several vital signs of the cosmos, a team of 175 astronomers found that our universe is already well past its prime, creaking its way into a dismal future in which fewer and fewer stars will be born, until the process eventually stops entirely. There's no light at the end of the tunnel - just the inevitable revenge of darkness."

""The universe will just get colder and deader from now on," lamented Douglas Scott, a cosmologist at the University of British Columbia and a coauthor of the resulting yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study, in a statement. Scott and an army of astronomers analyzed a trove of optical data collected by the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope and its Herschel satellite, which probed far-infrared wavelengths. Combined, the observatories' measurements formed the largest sample of galaxies so far: 2.6 million, the researchers said."

""In the past, researchers wouldn't have a large enough sample, or might be missing key populations of cold or hot galaxies," lead author and UBC researcher Ryley Hill explained in the statement. "Since Euclid is so comprehensive, you can really measure dust temperatures in a way you can't argue with." Dust temperatures are a key barometer of a galaxy's health. Astronomers have observed that galaxies with higher star formation also tend to have hotter dust on average."

A team of 175 astronomers analyzed optical and far-infrared data from ESA's Euclid telescope and Herschel satellite, compiling the largest galaxy sample to date (2.6 million). Measurements of dust temperatures and other galaxy properties indicate that cosmic star formation is in long-term decline. Hotter dust correlates with active star formation and massive stars, while colder dust signals reduced stellar birth. The dataset's breadth captured populations previously under-sampled, enabling robust temperature measures across galaxy types. The trend implies fewer new stars will form over cosmic time, leading to a progressively colder, darker universe where star formation eventually halts.

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