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Italo Calvino felt it even before all the data were in. \u201cThe universe is a mirror,\u201d the science-curious novelist wrote in 1985\u2019s Mr. Palomar, \u201cin which we can contemplate only what we have learned to know in ourselves.\u201d Tell me about it, Italo.<\/p>\n This week the universe started looking a whole lot more mirrory\u2014at least for this middle-aged human\u2014with researchers reporting<\/a> that galaxies are getting colder while rates of star formation are slowing. In short, the universe is over the hill. As an individual on the downslope of life, I can relate.<\/p>\n A gaggle of scientists came to this mildly dispiriting conclusion after analyzing data from two European Space Agency telescopes tasked with compiling the most complete map of the universe ever assembled. They considered the volumes and temperatures of stardust from more than 2 million galaxies, and suggested that the universe\u2019s heyday\u2014as measured by the rate of new stars born\u2014may be about 10 billion years in the rearview. They published their findings in a preprint<\/a> that was submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics.<\/p>\n Read more: \u201c<\/strong>Before There Were Stars<\/strong><\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. University of British Columbia cosmologist and co-author of the study Douglas Scott broke the news thusly to the universe in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe Universe will just get colder and deader from now on,\u201d he said. \u201cThe amount of dust in galaxies and their dust temperatures have been decreasing for billions of years, which means we\u2019re past the epoch of maximum star formation.\u201d<\/p>\n I feel you, universe.<\/p>\n But let me remind you that we have a lot of good spacetime ahead of us. I too know that my epoch of maximum star (read: memory) formation is behind me, but I still have some great years ahead of me. And so do you. I fully anticipate sticking around for at least another 40-something years, and you can expect to persist for somewhere between 33 billion and 1 quivigintillion years, according<\/a> to some of the same scientists who just declared you to be elderly.<\/p>\n We\u2019re still expanding even if we may be slowing<\/a> our roll a bit. Here\u2019s to living out our remaining epochs with style, grace, and the occasional supernova. See you in the mirror! ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Enjoying \u00a0Nautilus<\/a>? Subscribe to our free\u00a0newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lead image: NASA; JAXA<\/p>\n
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