Current data suggest that the universe has a flat geometry (or very close to flat), and thus will not collapse in on itself after a finite time, and the infinite future allows for the occurrence of a number of massively improbable events, such as the formation of Boltzmann brains. Physicists expect that matter itself will eventually come under the influence of radioactive decay, as even the most stable materials break apart into subatomic particles. Close encounters between astronomical objects gravitationally fling planets from their star systems, and star systems from galaxies.
![a day is like a thousand years a day is like a thousand years](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41k7YFwO-9L.jpg)
This future development may be similar to the observed detection of MOA-2010-BLG-477L b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting its host white dwarf star MOA-2010-BLG-477L. Afterwards, the Sun would be reduced to the size of a white dwarf, and the outer planets and their moons would continue orbiting this diminutive solar remnant. The Sun will likely expand sufficiently to overwhelm many of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, possibly Earth), but not the giant planets, including Jupiter and Saturn. Stars will eventually exhaust their supply of hydrogen fuel and burn out. See also: Formation and evolution of the Solar SystemĪll projections of the future of Earth, the Solar System, and the universe must account for the second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy, or a loss of the energy available to do work, must rise over time. A number of alternative future events are listed to account for questions still unresolved, such as whether humans will become extinct, whether protons decay, and whether the Earth survives when the Sun expands to become a red giant.
![a day is like a thousand years a day is like a thousand years](https://dl0.creation.com/assets/products/10-2-606.jpg)
The timelines displayed here cover events from the beginning of the 4th millennium (which begins in 3001 CE) to the furthest reaches of future time. These fields include astrophysics, which studies how planets and stars form, interact, and die particle physics, which has revealed how matter behaves at the smallest scales evolutionary biology, which predicts how life will evolve over time plate tectonics, which shows how continents shift over millennia and sociology, which examines how human societies and cultures evolve. While the future cannot be predicted with certainty, present understanding in various scientific fields allows for the prediction of some far-future events, if only in the broadest outline. Artist's concept of the Earth several billion years from now, when the Sun is a red giant.