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We Found a Loophole to Survive the End of the Universe

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell | January 13, 2026



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Sources & further reading:
https://sites.google.com/view/sources-surviveheatdeath/

Can we survive the heat death of the universe? One day, the last star will die, galaxies will dissolve, and black holes will evaporate. The universe becomes a cold, empty void where nothing happens.
Forever. But there might be a loophole that lets life keep going.

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Comments

This post currently has 28 comments.

  1. @memphisovard

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    Imagine this is already happening and we wiped memories and relive different lives forever because eternity with one set of memories gets boring as you experience all life has to offer

  2. @RaveNinja1401

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    So in summary, it's like the thought experiment of the infinite journey which helps explain asymptotes, in which the traveler within a set amount of time cuts the distance to his destination by half, but by doing so will never actually reach their destination, same with the aliens with uploaded brains slowing down time for themselves and cooling down their computers approaching absolute zero to infinitelly save energy from their Dyson battery.

  3. @Liz-d1g

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    I really like the multi bigbang theory and the theory that when everything's end it will start again but that's neither here nor there not something I have to worry about

  4. @UnDeaDCyBorg

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    Assuming life is an extension of the laws of the universe to be agents of entropy and use up extra energy, spreading that extra energy as long as possible so they can really use up every last shred of it seems like the ultimate and logical endpoint of this concept. The true meaning of life.

  5. @ThymeofGhost

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    0:42 ah you mean like soma? Okay dont need to watch then :p ill pass it wont actually be your consciousness its just a computerized copy that it will be extremely unlikely that theyll develop the technology to be able to actually take youre consciousness. Its like paper, the copy is like the original but it is not you, just like a clone of you is not you.

  6. @altravolf

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    6:19 Remind me of life cycle of Lord Brahma in Sanatan Dharma. Every life and death. Soul doesn't change but body does. Parallels are everywhere. Even Matrix movie is inspired by Sanatan Dharma.

  7. @dankillian160

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    I'm pretty sure the heat death of fhe universe means ALL heat, ALL energy, is gone. You cant just create a massive energy battery. The matter in that battery has a particular half life and that battery wont last forever.

    Honestly yeah thats the real issue, is how do we ensure that a matter battery persists forever? It doesnt, even if you're using less and less energy over time

  8. @FelineFelon42

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    Highlighting a different part of this thought experiment: while we, humanity, don’t know what would eventually happen to the Noxians after unfathomable eons (Planck temperature or quantum decay or whatever else was mentioned in the video), the Noxians themselves, crucially, do.
    Part of the premise at the start of the video was that they had existed for trillions of years, enough time to, in their words, “solve” physics. Even though none of them would be able to physically see the heat death of the universe, they’d still be able to use mathematics to calculate exactly how it’s going to end, or at least the probabilities of each scenario occurring, whether that be them finally reaching a Planck temperature threshold or the chances all their protons blink out of existence, etc.
    Thus, it’s fair to assume they’d know whether their bid for eternal life was truly possible, and possibly even if there’s something that happens after, such as the birth of a new universe.
    But if it turns out that their existence is finite, that there is a limit before the laws of physics themselves pulls them all from digital godhood straight down to Hades, it begs the question; why live forever if forever has an end?
    Presumably they’d have the medical technology to have lived for millions, if not billions of years already while still flesh and blood, add on trillions, quadrillions, quintillions in the digital freezer, but they all know that one day it’ll just randomly stop. At that point, is there even a point to prolonging existence?
    If you’re wondering, I’m personally fine and quite enjoy being not dead, so no need to worry about my mental health, but it’s currently just a fact of life that we all die eventually, what you believe comes after is personal preference, but that’s besides the point. I guess what I’m trying to ask is, if the Noxians ran the numbers and knew their bid for immortality was doomed to failure, would they choose to simply go peacefully and gracefully with the rest of creation, rather than fighting and clawing for the last scraps of energy in the corpse of existence?
    I dunno, what do you all think?

  9. @LoLaSn

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    Those are some next-gen batteries. 0 charge lost over trillions of years. Not to mention that something has to reactivate them every now and then from their hibernation
    Let alone the decay of material components due to time, radiation or anything else
    Insane sci-fi reach

  10. @Parasmunt

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    This was a really impressive episode. You gave us a solid sci fi story with a really cool premise and also wove philosophical ideas into it. Would you really not mind if your thoughts slowed down so long as your environment slowed with you?

  11. @alimohammed4709

    January 13, 2026 at 3:18 pm

    Ok but if a thought takes a trillion years it doesn’t matter if they live that trillion years. They will only experience one second of it. Doesn’t that render the whole thing pointless? Your adding all sorts of complexity for what is essentially the same “lived” time

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