https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04 ... after-all/
Notice the “we will only be able to see” phrase? They are talking about a HUNDRED BILLION YEARS in the future. Does that really matter? Will learning what will happen then change ANYONE's life ... other than the few living the good life at the taxpayers' expense?Why it matters
The question of whether the dark energy density varies over time or remains constant is central to determining how our universe will end. If it's constant, the acceleration will continue indefinitely, and matter will grow farther and farther apart. Within a hundred billion years, we will only be able to see a few hundred galaxies, compared to the hundreds of billions we can see today—i.e., a slow, lingering death for the universe.
Again, they are talking about something happening FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR in the future. So this won't matter at all to us. In fact, the human race likely won’t even be around then. So does finding this out, right now, really justify taxpayers paying for all this fantasy? Do you know that the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument they're using cost US taxpayers over $75 million dollars to build back in 2015-19. And one reason that money was spent was to keep a $100 million dollar telescope *useful*. Never mind the millions in operation costs and salaries of all those using its data since then. It's sad that there isn't money to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (which really does matter) yet we can waste money on garbage like this. Just saying ...If the dark energy decreases, expansion could slow enough for the universe to recollapse in a Big Crunch. And if the dark energy increases its expansion rate over time, it could rip apart every galaxy, star, and atom within 100 billion years, a scenario dubbed “the Big Rip.”