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10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000 AD - The black hole era of the universe

Beyond 10¹⁰⁰ - The dark era of the universe

2500 AD

Mars has been terraformed

By the end of the 25th century, the Red Planet has been turned from a cold, dead world into a lush, Eden-like paradise. This monumental achievement has been the result of government, business and public collaboration on a planet-wide scale. It has created whole new industries, countless millions of jobs and undreamed of technologies.

Costing many trillions of dollars, the project was initiated in the early 22nd century. From the outset, it faced major hurdles. Aside from the sheer scale of geo-engineering an entire world, there were political, social and cultural issues too. Many of the early settlers on Mars actually wished for it to remain in its raw, primeval state. Some of them had an almost spiritual connection to the planet. Like certain environments on Earth, they believed it held an intrinsic worth and unique value that should never be replaced. To better it with manmade artificial processes would somehow make it less natural, less real.

These "Reds", as they came to be known, were a potent force during the establishment of the early Martian government.* They were a thorn in the side of planning authorities, who faced many protests and demonstrations, along with direct sabotaging of industrial activities from some of the more extreme individuals.

On the opposing side of this debate were the "Greens", mostly consisting of corporate interests.* They included a greater proportion of cyborgs and heavily upgraded humans - these became adapted to the environment of Mars at an earlier stage and were able to survive in lower air pressures.

Over time, the power and influence of the Greens began to dominate. Improved security measures were introduced, guarding much of the infrastructure and terraforming equipment from attack.

Giant solar mirrors were placed in orbit. Measuring several kilometres across, these reflected and focussed the Sun's rays onto the poles.

mars terraforming solar mirror reflector future
© Luca Oleastri | Dreamstime.com

Other projects included the seeding of bioengineered "extremophile" bacteria. These began converting CO² into oxygen. Vast swarms of nanobots were later introduced, accelerating this process and offering a greater degree of control, since they were fully programmable. They also helped to produce nitrogen, as well as regulating the overall composition of the atmosphere.

A series of enormous "heat factories" were constructed too. These belched out huge amounts of CO² - which of course was converted by the bacteria and nanobots - but also had the effect of raising air pressure.

To increase the volume of water on Mars, various comets and ice-rich asteroids were manoeuvred into orbit. These were made to slowly burn up as they descended, without impacting on the ground and causing damage.

This still left the problem of Mars' lack of a magnetosphere, which exposed the surface to harsh ultraviolet radiation. Giant superconducting rings were placed around the latitude lines - focussed mainly on the equator - and buried deep below ground. These were thousands of miles in length and took many decades to construct, but were sufficient to create an artificial magnetic field.

By the early 2200s, frozen lakes and ponds were beginning to form in some regions. This was followed decades later by successful growing of the first lichen and mosses. Entire seas and oceans began to appear in the 2300s, along with the first trees and other flora - plus certain insects too.

A series of chain reactions and positive feedback loops began to accelerate the process, fueled by even greater technological advancements. By the 2400s, a whole series of animals including birds, fish and mammals were being introduced. Eventually, it was declared safe for unaided humans to walk on the surface of Mars. Humanity had created a second Earth.

Flash animation by Will Fox, using images produced by Daein Ballard.

2600 AD

Plastics and other waste products are disappearing from Earth's biosphere

Most of the plastics, tin cans and other waste products from the 20th-21st centuries have decomposed by now. They caused significant harm to the environment during their time on Earth - injuring countless birds, fish and other animals.* Subsequent generations of these materials were produced in ways that minimised their impact.*

2750 AD

Venus has been terraformed

By now, Venus has been transformed into a habitable, Earthlike world. Unlike Mars, its entire orbit was shifted, bringing it closer to the "Goldilocks Zone" enjoyed by Earth, while its day-night cycle was accelerated from 117 days to 24 hours. This form of geo-engineering - effectively changing the movement of an entire planet - only recently became possible.

Comets were also redirected from the Oort Cloud. These were guided through the solar system and into the upper atmosphere of Venus, releasing vast quantities of water.

Other techniques involved the capturing and removal of CO² (achieved by "beaming" it away into space), as well as seeding the ground with nanobots, which absorbed and converted toxic gases into breathable oxygen.

With lush tropical oceans, Venus now has two large, dominant landmasses - Aphrodite and Ishtar - along with a number of smaller subcontinents and islands. The average surface temperature has stabilised at around 30°C.

3000 AD

Purely biological humans are typically 7ft tall now, with lifespans of 120+*

For centuries now, the technological singularity has produced enormous wealth and prosperity throughout the solar system. Across-the-board improvements in healthcare, education and living standards have led to humans evolving into a race of giants - 7ft tall, muscular and highly athletic, with lifespans of 120+.

Note that this lifespan refers to purely "natural", unaltered biological humans, who comprise a small minority by now. The vast majority of citizens have opted for genetic engineering and biotechnology treatments which extend their lives indefinitely.

3100 AD

Humanity is becoming a Type 2 civilisation on the Kardashev scale

The exponential growth of AI is allowing the manipulation of matter on scales barely dreamed of before. The largest structure now being built in space is a "Dyson Sphere".* This hollow shell is of such gargantuan proportions that its radius stretches from the Sun to beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

Under the direction of a Godlike superintelligence, vast swarms of automated, self-replicating ships are building it - using material from the asteroid field, Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.

The sphere's primary purpose it to harvest literally all of the energy output from the Sun: some 386 YJ (yottajoules) per second.* However, it also serves the function of shielding our inner solar system from gamma rays and other incoming hazards. Even the potential possibility of alien invasion has been taken into consideration during the sphere's design.

The interior walls have a gravitational field of 1G and are made from wholly new states of matter that were unknown to science in previous centuries. These can withstand the colossal tensile forces required to maintain structural integrity. This curved, impossibly large surface - equivalent to billions of Earths - is becoming a habitat for many sentient lifeforms, with portions being terraformed and given a stable atmosphere, oceans and landmass. A sizeable percentage of citizens are now migrating to these strange artificial worlds. This includes a diverse mix of biological humans, as well as transhumans, synthetics, clones, androids, sentient animals and other communities.

A series of additional Dyson Spheres are being constructed around neighbouring star systems - some even larger.

Having begun its journey to the stars in the 22nd century, humanity is reaching a landmark in its colonisation of space. A region nearly 1,000 light years in radius has now been explored (or about 2 percent of the total length of our galaxy). The light speed barrier has yet to be exceeded, however.

kardashev scale type 2 civilisation civilization solar system future 3000ad 4th millenium dyson sphere shell swarm

3500 AD

Construction of the Solar Ring has been completed

The first particle accelerators built by man were small, primitive, terrestrial-based devices. In the 20th and 21st centuries they were only a few dozen kilometres in circumference at most, resulting in energies of barely a few thousand giga-electronvolts (GeV).

By the middle of the 4th millenium, however, a particle accelerator covering the entire perimeter of our solar system has been constructed.

This becomes the largest scientific experiment in history - powerful enough to accelerate particles to a state known as the Grand Unification Energy. This allows the very earliest conditions of the observable Universe to be simulated. The electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear forces (three of the four fundamental forces in the Universe) can be observed for the first time at precisely the same strength: becoming effectively different aspects of a single force. Quarks and electrons, too, can be seen as essentially the same, achieving another unification.*

4000 AD

Computer science is reaching its ultimate potential

Humanity is gaining the knowledge required for the perfection of computer science.*

Physical hardware and software is becoming the absolute fastest, most efficient it can ever possibly be within the known laws of physics. Applications can now be generated instantly and automatically for almost any purpose (provided sufficient energy is available).

From this point onwards, computer science becomes obsolete as a field of study - the only "unknowns" left for scientists to discover will be in other areas of science.*

computer science ultimate future potential 4000 AD
Credit: Tiberiu Stan

9500 - 15000 AD

The hypernova of Eta Carinae is affecting our region of the galaxy

Eta Carinae is among the largest, most volatile stars in our galaxy. Its temperature is so high that it is unable to hold onto its own gas, with constant streams being ejected from the surface. It first came to attention in 1843 when it flared to magnitude -0.8, becoming the second brightest star in the night sky.

It subsequently died down, before brightening again in the late 1990s. This fluctuation continues - with periodic flaring and dimming - until one day the inevitable happens. Unable to maintain its cohesion, Eta Carinae erupts into one of the deadliest known forces in nature: a hypernova.

For a brief period, this colossal explosion outshines the entire galaxy. It is bright enough to be visible during daytime on Earth, while at night, it is similar to the full moon.*

Of much greater concern, however, are the lethal jets of gamma radiation released by the dying star. These begin to shoot outward, at such high energies that even systems thousands of light years away are affected. As a result, numerous planets in our region of the galaxy undergo mass extinctions during this time.*

eta carinae hypernova future gamma ray burst
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Dana Berry

296,000 AD

Voyager 2 is approaching Sirius

If the probe still survives today, it will have travelled over 25 trillion miles from Earth.*

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky when viewed from Earth.

voyager probe sirius nearest star reach future interstellar

1,000,000 AD

Planet-sized computers; AI running all governmental and other systems; the descendants of humanity are becoming a Type 3 civilisation on the Kardashev scale

Purely biological humans are exceedingly rare now. The very few which do remain comprise only a tiny fraction of a percentage of the total sentient minds in existence. Though free to come and go as they please, they have practically zero influence in any governmental systems on Earth or elsewhere, being regarded as wholly subordinate to the AIs and super entities. As a species, homo sapiens has continued to evolve over time, and this has led to a 100% increase in cranial size, a near-total absence of hair, a further elongation of limbs, and an average lifespan of several hundred years.

Those biological humans who do take advantage of the countless technologies available at this time (which is more than 99% of the population by now) can expect to live indefinitely if they opt for genetic engineering treatments - while non-biological treatments (i.e. such as mind uploading) offer a whole new realm of possibilities.

By this date, much of the Milky Way has been explored by the hybrid AI/transhumans and their sentient ships. Faster-than-light travel is now possible via warp bubble technologies, which effectively bypasses the laws of relativity. Even the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies are being explored now.

Planet-sized computers are being built everywhere, on a constant basis, with literally every available resource going towards their production. All of the "dead" worlds, comets, moons and asteroids considered uninhabitable are being converted to elementary particles for the creation of these Godlike machines, which are forming a vast network hundreds of thousands of light years across space. Each computer in the network is capable of instant communications with any other computer - no matter what the distance - and they can be used for a variety of purposes - including long-range telescopic observation, cataloguing of astronomical anomalies, gigantic scientific experiments, and even some limited manipulation of space-time.

Despite all this, no advanced alien intelligences have been contacted yet. However... ancient ruins have been uncovered on a number of worlds - indicating advanced civilisations at some point in the distant past; and there are hundreds of planets with rich ecosystems brimming with diverse plant and animal life. Most of the fauna being discovered is small and insect-like, but some is more developed, with intelligence comparable to higher mammals such as dolphins, monkeys and cats.

Most of the biological (non-cyborg) humans are steering clear of the galactic core, which is filled with extremely high concentrations of gamma radiation, blackholes and other hazards - dangerous even with the stunning technologies and protections available today.

galactic core
© Luca Oleastri | Dreamstime.com

1,400,000 AD

The Oort cloud is being disrupted by the approach of Gliese 710

The orange dwarf star, Gliese 710, is passing within 1.1 light years (70,000 AU) of the Sun. This is close enough to disrupt the Oort Cloud surrounding our solar system. A shower of comets is now heading in-system.

At its closest approach, Gliese 710 will be a first-magnitude star when viewed from Earth: one of the brightest in the night sky.

oort cloud gliese 710 future comet impacts

10,000,000 AD

T Pyxidis is threatening Earth with lethal levels of gamma radiation

T Pyxidis is a binary star system in the constellation Pyxis. It contains a sun-like star and a white dwarf. Because of the strong gravitational effect of the white dwarf, it draws matter from the other star which causes periodic thermonuclear explosions (so-called novae) to occur.

Around this time, it reaches the so-called Chandrasekhar Limit, causing it to undergo an instantaneous collapse that completely destroys the star in a Type 1a supernova. This catastrophic event releases 10 million times more energy than a typical nova explosion, or the equivalent of 20 billion, billion, billion megatons of TNT.*

The system is only 3,260 light years away - close enough to affect our solar system. Unless Earth is protected by advanced technology by now, waves of gamma radiation could destroy the ozone layer, leading to mass extinctions.

t-pyxidis

Triton’s decaying orbit has led to it breaking up around Neptune, forming a new ring system

That's assuming the moon still exists in a form we would recognise. The descendants of humanity may have converted its raw mass into artificial structures by now. Even Neptune itself may no longer exist – the planet’s hydrogen and helium may have been siphoned off for use in starships and industrial processes.

triton neptune decaying orbit collision future 10 million AD
© Diego Barucco | Dreamstime.com

50,000,000 AD

Africa collides with Europe, forming a new mountain range to rival the Himalayas

As a result of this, the Mediterranean no longer exists. The Red Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea have also disappeared. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Ocean has continued to widen, and North Amercia is being distorted with California sliding northward towards Alaska. Southeast Asia is beginning to merge with Australia.

pangaea future earth map tectonics geology geography 50 million AD
Plate tectonic maps and Continental drift animations by C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project (www.scotese.com)

100,000,000 AD

By now, contact has been made with an advanced alien civilisation of some kind

This occurs in a neighbouring cluster of galaxies, tens of millions of light years from Earth. Despite an exhaustive analysis of virtually every planet in the Milky Way, Andromeda, Triangulum and other nearby galaxies, no trace of alien civilisations was found in the Local Group, other than some ancient ruins from the distant past.

It was over a hundred million years before the first contact was made with living, breathing extraterrestrials of human-level sentience or greater. Advanced intelligence and sophisticated technology has therefore turned out to be exceedingly rare... in this part of the Universe, at least.

It should be noted that - in any case - the species homo sapiens has long since disappeared from existence as a civilisation, rendering any "first contact" impossible. Only a handful of human beings still exist in any physical form, and none of them are alive. The very few which remain today do so in the form of frozen specimens, museum exhibits, ancient science archives, and so on.

Their evolutionary descendants now occupy a substantial portion of the Virgo Supercluster. These neo-humans are entirely dependent on advanced biotechnology. To their distant ancestors, they would appear as limbless bodies with enormous pale heads, devoid of facial features and supported in pod-like machines enabling them to float or teleport at will.

These beings are vastly inferior to the AI, robots and other machinery of today, of course - forms of sentience which effectively exist on a different plane of consciousness, being untold trillions of times more powerful than any biological lifeforms.

225,000,000 AD

Sol completes one galactic year

By now, our Sun has completed another clockwise revolution around the galaxy - the 21st in its lifetime so far.

The Sun's orbit is roughly elliptical, with perturbations due to the galactic spiral arms and non-uniform mass distributions. In addition, the Sun oscillates up and down relative to the galactic plane, around 2.7 times per orbit.

The Sun's passage through the higher density spiral arms has coincided with mass extinctions on Earth, due to increased impact events.

The orbital speed of the Solar System around the center of the Galaxy is approximately 251 km/s.

galactic year galaxy revolution future sol orbit

250,000,000 AD

A supercontinent is forming on Earth

The next Pangea, "Pangea Ultima" is forming as a result of subduction of the ocean floor of the Atlantic, beneath eastern North America and South America. This supercontinent has a small ocean basin trapped at its center.

The Sun is becoming noticeably hotter and brighter, raising global temperatures by several degrees. Much of the planet is now covered by deserts.

Of course, this scenario assumes that the Earth hasn’t been altered in some way by the descendants of humanity - possibly including being moved to a new orbit, or converted to an artificial structure. Even the Sun itself may no longer exist in a form we would recognise.

Plate tectonic maps and Continental drift animations by C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project (www.scotese.com)

600,000,000 AD

Total solar eclipses are no longer possible on Earth

Due to tidal acceleration, the distance of the Moon from the Earth has been increasing by approximately 3.8cm each year. By 600 million AD, the distance has increased by nearly 23,000 km. At the same time, the Sun has been growing in size by a significant amount.

As a result, the Moon is no longer big enough in the sky to completely cover the Sun's disk, making total eclipses impossible. This is true even when the Moon is at perigee and the Earth is at aphelion.

The reduced gravitational influence of the Moon is affecting Earth's oceans - with smaller waves and less variation in tide heights.

1,000,000,000 AD

Earth is becoming too hot to support liquid water

The seas and oceans are evaporating. Even the coldest regions are seeing temperatures reach over 60°C. The Sun will soon be entering its red giant phase.

3,000,000,000 AD

The Andromeda Galaxy has begun to collide and merge with our own
Milky Way galaxy**

Stars and planets within each galaxy are unlikely to actually collide, as galaxies are in fact somewhat diffuse.

Such mergers are relatively common; Andromeda, for example, is believed to have collided with at least one other galaxy in the past.

andromeda milky way galaxy merger collision hybrid 3 billion future

5,000,000,000 AD

Sol is a red giant

The inner planets of the solar system have been destroyed and absorbed by the ballooning Sun.

12,000,000,000 AD

Sol has shrunk to become a black dwarf

Most of the Sun's mass has been ejected, forming a planetary nebula. Having ended its main sequence life, it now begins to cool and dim - changing from a dense white dwarf into a cold, inactive black dwarf.

1,000,000,000,000 AD

Star formation is declining in many galaxies*

By now, a significant percentage of galaxies throughout the universe are beginning to "burn out", having been depleted of the gas clouds needed to form stars.

2,000,000,000,000 AD

Galaxies beyond the Local Supercluster are no longer visible*

Dark energy has continued to drive the expansion of the universe at an accelerating rate. By now, the volume of the universe is so great - and the speed of acceleration so high - that only the nearest galaxies are still visible.

Even for the highest energy gamma rays, a redshift of 10⁵³ means their wavelength is stretched to greater than the physical diameter of the horizon.

Because of this, any remaining intelligent life today may no longer be able to obtain new empirical data on the state of large-scale structures on scales observed in the past.

20,000,000,000,000 AD

Red dwarf stars are dying*

By now, even most of the red dwarfs that were present in our galaxy during the 21st century have faded away - leaving behind only cold, dead "black dwarfs" emitting trace amounts of radiation. These include once famous stars such as Proxima Centauri, Barnard's Star and Wolf 359. The Milky Way galaxy is becoming a dark, empty place dominated by enormous blackholes.

100,000,000,000,000 AD

The end of the stellar era*

The last of the main sequence stars in our universe has withered away to nothing. The only stellar-mass objects now remaining are white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. Brown dwarfs also remain.

Planets everywhere have been dislodged from their previous orbits and left drifting as "rogues", with many ending up in black holes.

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 AD

The degenerate era of the universe*

In this era, practically the only energy being generated in the universe is through proton decay and particle annihilation. The only remaining objects are neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes. All of the planets, moons and other such bodies have become so old that they have decayed into their constituent atomic particles - or else been absorbed into stellar remnants.

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 AD

The black hole era of the universe*

Only black holes and subatomic particles remain. The universe has expanded so much that these individual particles may be separated from each other by truly enormous distances. Black holes themselves are now evaporating by Hawking radiation.

Beyond 10¹⁰⁰

The dark era of the universe*

The last remaining black hole has evaporated.

From this point onwards the universe is composed only of photons, neutrinos, electrons and positrons - with no way of interacting with each other.

The universe continues to expand forever... but is essentially dead.

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