Interesting article in The New Scientist regarding the ultimate fate of our universe: Will it keep it expanding? Or will it eventually begin to contract -- and coalesce into what's dubbed "The Big Crunch?"
No one really knows at this point (the universe is still expanding, and at a faster rate now than ever before), but if 'ya wanna read a terrific hard sci-fi yarn about how a handful of humans actually get to witness the ultimate fate, check out Poul Anderson's awesome Tau Zero.
For what is an interesting update of the idea of an eon-spanning sf novel that incorporates the latest in physics, try Stephen Baxter's "Ring," preceded by the important (but less well written) "Timelike Infinity"
Posted by: steve Newton at January 1, 2009 09:10 AM