The End of the Universe: What Comes Next? (String Theory)

And, of course, the eternal question of the fate of the universe is another question that a theory of everything would need to answer. (Cue up the song “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M.) Will our universe (and all the others) end in ice, expanding until heat dissipates out across the vastness of space? Will galaxies huddle together in dense clusters, like winter campers around a campfire? Will the universe contract together and perhaps eventually start the cycle of universal creation all over?
Chances are that these questions will be answered long after we’re gone, but there is hope that the beginnings of those answers may come within the next few years, as some aspects of string theory begin to enter the realm of experimental verification.