our universe weds
by Martina Matijević
the Hawking radiation
final cul-de-sac
Researchers from Radboud University now believe the universe will decay faster than previously thought, due to Hawking radiation. White dwarfs and black holes will evaporate in about 10⁷⁸ years, much sooner than the older estimate of 10¹¹⁰⁰ years. Surprisingly, black holes and neutron stars will disappear around the same time.
Further reading:
‘Universe decays faster than thought, but still takes a long time’, 2025, Radboud University Nijmegen, available: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/05/250512105214.htm
‘An upper limit to the lifetime of stellar remnants from gravitational pair production’, 2025, Falcke, H., Wondrak, M.F. & van Suijlekom, W.D., Submitted to arXiv, available: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2410.14734
Author bio:
Martina Matijević has orbited the Sun 23 times, making her 23 years old in Earth’s timekeeping system. A science enthusiast and poet, her work has appeared in 5-7-5 Haiku Journal, Dadakuku, Haiku Commentary, and others. You can discover more of her poetry here: https://tinamatijev.wixsite.com/martina-matijevi