The Last Three Minutes - Conjectures About The Ultimate Fate Of The Universe

Cutting-edge astrophysics that builds on Einstein's theories to find the unseen matter that fills the Universe.

This is an indispensable guide to physics that offers readers an overview of the most popular physics topics written in an accessible, irreverent, and engaging manner while still maintaining a tone of wry skepticism. Even the novice will be able to follow along, as the topics are addressed using plain English and (almost) no equations. Veterans of popular physics will also find their nagging questions addressed, like whether the universe can expand faster than light, and for that matter, what the universe is expanding into anyway.

• Gives a one-stop tour of all the big questions that capture the public imagination including string theory, quantum mechanics, parallel universes, and the beginning of time
• Explains serious science in an entertaining, conversational, and easy-to-understand way
• Includes dozens of delightfully groan-worthy cartoons that explain everything from special relativity to Dark Matter

May I introduce: the universe. Born 13.75 billion years ago. Constantly growing. Nearly empty. Electrically neutral. Poor in antimatter. Populated by 100 billion galaxies, including 130 sextillion stars with approximately just as many planets. 
Consisting of only 4 percent known forms of matter. The other 96 percent is made up of 23 percent dark matter and 73 percent dark energy. The home of black holes, giant stars, pulsars, quasars, galaxy clusters, and nebulas - as well as lifeforms such as humans.

Where did the universe come from? What were the conditions at its birth? What amazing processes have been taking place since then? When and how will it die? What science knows about these things has changed dramatically in recent years. Let yourself be taken away into a world that goes beyond everything imaginable – the universe in which you live.

With 31 images. Buyers of the ePub version may also receive for free the PDF version with additional, fascinating images that can be read on a computer (see imprint of the eBook). 

Table of contents:

Chapter 1. Presenting the Universe

Chapter 2. The Time Before Time
A world made from strings
Loop over loop
Reborn from nothing
Nothing but theories?

Chapter 3. The Big Bang
The 0 hour
The laws of physics begin
The world – a soccer ball
The first particles
All of the forces are already there
The next round of extinction

Chapter 4. The Clear Universe
The first beacons
They die young
A fascinating death
Group dynamics
Fragile spirals
Planets from the waste

Chapter 5. The Life and Death of Stars
Too small: brown dwarfs
The Joe Six-Pack of the universe: red dwarfs
The Sun’s relatives: main-sequence stars
The future of the Sun: white dwarf
Extremely dense: neutron stars
The odd balls: quark stars
Where space and time are meaningless: black holes
Even stranger: exotic stars
How large can stars be? The hyper-giants

Chapter 6. The Planets
Our home: The Solar System
Life-giving: the Sun
The closest to the Sun: Mercury
The most like Earth: Venus
The blue planet: Earth
The red planet: Mars
An unfinished work: the Asteroid Belt
Holding everything together: Jupiter
The lord of the Rings: Saturn
The icy one: Uranus
Another blue planet: Neptune
Way out there: the Kuiper Belt
The garbage dump: the Oort Cloud
The extraterrestrials: exoplanets
The mavericks: planemos

Chapter 7. The End of the Universe
Death by freezing
Death by tearing apart
Death by being crunched
Death by annihilation
Death by disintegration
Death by solidification
One cross each!
The future biography of the universe
Imprint

About the author: Matthias Matting, born 1966, is a physicist and journalist. For his eBook "Travel to Fukushima" he received the first german eBook price. In 2011, he was the official bestselling author at Amazon Germany. He's working in the science & technology department of the german news magazine FOCUS. Since five years he authors the weekly gadget review video series "Mattings Warentest" at FOCUS.de.

Imagine, if you can, the world in the year 2100.

In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku—the New York Times bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible—gives us a stunning, provocative, and exhilarating vision of the coming century based on interviews with over three hundred of the world’s top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs. The result is the most authoritative and scientifically accurate description of the revolutionary developments taking place in medicine, computers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy production, and astronautics.

In all likelihood, by 2100 we will control computers via tiny brain sensors and, like magicians, move objects around with the power of our minds. Artificial intelligence will be dispersed throughout the environment, and Internet-enabled contact lenses will allow us to access the world's information base or conjure up any image we desire in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, cars will drive themselves using GPS, and if room-temperature superconductors are discovered, vehicles will effortlessly fly on a cushion of air, coasting on powerful magnetic fields and ushering in the age of magnetism.

Using molecular medicine, scientists will be able to grow almost every organ of the body and cure genetic diseases. Millions of tiny DNA sensors and nanoparticles patrolling our blood cells will silently scan our bodies for the first sign of illness, while rapid advances in genetic research will enable us to slow down or maybe even reverse the aging process, allowing human life spans to increase dramatically.

In space, radically new ships—needle-sized vessels using laser propulsion—could replace the expensive chemical rockets of today and perhaps visit nearby stars. Advances in nanotechnology may lead to the fabled space elevator, which would propel humans hundreds of miles above the earth’s atmosphere at the push of a button.

But these astonishing revelations are only the tip of the iceberg. Kaku also discusses emotional robots, antimatter rockets, X-ray vision, and the ability to create new life-forms, and he considers the development of the world economy. He addresses the key questions: Who are the winner and losers of the future? Who will have jobs, and which nations will prosper?

All the while, Kaku illuminates the rigorous scientific principles, examining the rate at which certain technologies are likely to mature, how far they can advance, and what their ultimate limitations and hazards are. Synthesizing a vast amount of information to construct an exciting look at the years leading up to 2100, Physics of the Future is a thrilling, wondrous ride through the next 100 years of breathtaking scientific revolution.