Science Space Deep Space Scientists predict the universe will end in'big crunch' Starts with a bang, ends with a crunch. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Our vast universe might not be infinitely expanding after all. Some newly reviewed dark energy data may contradict the theory first posed in 1922 by the astronomer Alexander Friedmann. According to a study recently published in the, the cosmos will actually conclude with a "big crunch."

This means that galaxies had to be closer to each other in the past. In 1964, Wilson and Penzias discovered the cosmic background radiation, which is a like a fossil of radiation emitted during the beginning of the universe, when it was hot and dense. The cosmic background radiation is observable everywhere in the universe. The composition of the universe - that is, the the number of atoms of different elements - is consistent with the Big Bang Theory. So far, this theory is the only one that can explain why we observe an abundance of primordial elements in the universe.