A new study suggests the universe and everything in it could end within the Earth's lifespan - less than 3.7 billion years from now - and we won't know it when it happens. But one expert says the result isn't valid.
最新一项研究结果表明，宇宙及宇宙万物寿命将短于地球寿命——在未来37亿年内毁灭——而且我们不知道这将在什么时候发生。不过，有专家称该结论并不可靠。
The universe began in a Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago and has been expanding at an ever accelerating rate ever since. According to standard cosmology models the most likely outcome for the universe is that it will expand forever. But a team of physicists led by Raphael Bousso from the University of California, Berkeley, claim their calculations show the universe will end.
宇宙形成于大约137亿年前的大爆炸，从此开始加速膨胀。根据标准的宇宙学模型，宇宙最有可能的结局是永远膨胀下去。然而，美国加州大学伯克利分校物理学家拉斐尔-布索领导的一个研究小组却宣称，根据他们的计算结果，宇宙终将走向灭亡。
资料图：宇宙
Bousso and colleagues say there's a "measure problem" in the cosmological theory of eternal inflation. Eternal inflation is a quantum cosmological model where inflationary bubbles can appear out of nothing. Some expand and go on forever, others collapse and disappear again. These bubbles, each being a universe, pop in and out of existence like bubbles in boiling water.
布索和同事称在宇宙永远膨胀理论中存在一个“计量问题”。永久膨胀是由量子宇宙学模型得出的结论，在这个模型中，膨胀的气泡可以随意出现和消失。有些气泡会膨胀并永远膨胀下去，而其他的则会破裂消失。每一个气泡好比一个宇宙，这些气泡像沸水中的水泡一样，都是在爆裂声后突然出现或突然消失。