Two weeks before his death, famed scientist Stephen
Hawking published a research article predicting parallel universes and along
with the end of our own.
Hawking and co-author Thomas Hertog published their
results in "A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation," outlining how
scientists may also be able to discover other universes using spaceships.
According to Hertog, Hawking completed the work on his deathbed, leaving a
legacy worthy of the Nobel Prize.
“He has often been nominated for the Nobel and
should have won it. Now he never can,” he told the Sunday Times.
Hawking uses the "no boundary theory" he
developed with physicist James Hartle to explain how the Earth rushed into
existence during the Big Bang. According to his view, the Big Bang phenomena
was accompanied by several "Big Bangs," so creating multiple worlds.
Although it is believed impossible to measure the
multiverse, Hawking's last study addressed how these worlds may be located
using a spaceship-borne probe. (Someone should tell Elon Musk.)
Hertog said that Hawking was motivated to write the
article because they both want to provide a "testable scientific
framework" for the notion of the multiverse. The inflation theory,
according to which the universe expanded exponentially after the Big Bang and
subsequently continued to grow at a slower pace, is still deemed untestable.
But Hawking's final publication presents a testable theory, making it a
revolutionary leap in how the notion of the multiverse might be treated.
But probably the most contentious component of
Hawking's work is his forecast of the end of the universe. Hawking said that
this cosmos would ultimately fade into darkness, similar to a star losing
energy. Some cosmologists dislike the theory, and it has garnered mixed
evaluations from its colleagues.
Despite this, Hawking never stopped warning people
about the doom of the cosmos. Hawking made a speech at the Starmus Festival in
June in which he urged people to find a means to leave Earth before it's too late.
“We are running out of space, and the only place we
can go to are other worlds,” Hawking said. “It is time to explore other solar
systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves.”
Reference: Research Paper, Sunday Times