Civilizations by the time 'time' ends will probably find a way to create new stars. I could be wrong though.

Can't just arbitrarily create stars without something to make them from, highly unlikely future civilizations will be able to break physics. 

Can't just arbitrarily create stars without something to make them from, highly unlikely future civilizations will be able to break physics. 

When the Universe 'ends' would there be hydrogen and elements floating about future civilizations could collect? 

When the Universe 'ends' would there be hydrogen and elements floating about future civilizations could collect?

No, kinda how heat death works

Perhaps a future civilization can reverse the entropy.
That is, perhaps they can convert heat (= energy) into matter.

 can reverse the entropy

No. That's the fascinating thing. The increase in entropy is inexorable. Is not just an observation, it's not even a physical law. In the end is sort of a mathematical fact about how the probabilities generate what we see

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I recently had a chat touching on these subjects with a few friends just over the weekend and the general consensus is that if there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe (at the "able to travel from star to star" space-faring stage), they likely have decided to not make contact with us given the current state that humanity is in (I'll leave it at this and not break this down further as I don't want to offend anyone).

As far as where we'll be in the future, I can see the potential for colonizing other planets, however it's going to take massive advances in 3d printing technology for basic structures to be put together for research stations and basic outposts to determine if planets have all of the basic materials (and in mass quantities) to allow for expanded colonization. The hardest part (I believe) is being able to produce more food than is consumed, allowing for sustainable life to be established at first and ensuring that colonists/those first setting foot on the planet don't begin reproducing until long-term viability has been confirmed/established - concern for this is specific to the g-forces required upon exiting/entering a planet's atmosphere.

Lastly as for leaving the solar system, the best hope for now is for NASA to confirm the EM drive via actual space tests (I haven't spotted any updates/press releases on this recently) and to push forward the research behind it to increase power outputs, etc. I can only hope that FTL solutions come sooner rather than later. The dream of experiencing another planet or solar system firsthand would simply be breath-taking.

Banana, it is less about greed and more about you being made of things it can put to better use.  AI will be dangerous.

Is there anyway to program it to value life much more than this (not just human life but all kinds of life.)

When the Universe 'ends' would there be hydrogen and elements floating about future civilizations could collect?

No, kinda how heat death works

But will heat death actually happen? Do you remember that theory from a few years ago, about the universe coming back empty?  That is, a cyclic universe would actually work by creating a new universe from a higher entropy state.

 can reverse the entropy

No. That's the fascinating thing. The increase in entropy is inexorable. Is not just an observation, it's not even a physical law. In the end is sort of a mathematical fact about how the probabilities generate what we see

Oscillating universe theory can still work as long as a new universe is created from the death of the old via increased entropy, this is how "the universe can come back empty."

One day, far into the future, a race of beings outfitted with artificial intelligence will be called upon by humans to solve all problems. They will respond by promptly killing everyone. 

Later on, these beings will forget humans and their technological origins. They will consider themselves regular biological organisms. Soon, they will create their own form of AI. This second generation will solve all of their ancestors' problems by killing everyone.  

Eventually, this new race will follow the path of their predecessors and create another AI population. 

And so the cycle continues.

the same could be true of us

a cyclic universe would actually work by creating a new universe from a higher entropy state.

If this is the case it would be so far into the future that any civilizations would have long since run out of usable energy. 

a cyclic universe would actually work by creating a new universe from a higher entropy state.

If this is the case it would be so far into the future that any civilizations would have long since run out of usable energy. 

You're right, and it only applies if the value of W is negative if I remember correctly.  Basically, dark energy would be what allows the universe to "come back empty."
There is also the connected question of whether our universe is the result of a previously contracting one.

We're more than 99.7% sure that w is between -1.2 and -0.8.  And something like 99.9 and about 90 more 9's percent sure that it is less than zero.  Basically, a negative w means the energy density is diluted more slowly than what you would expect for the increase in volume with the expanding universe.  w = -1 means the energy density is constant as the universe expands, which is the simplest model for dark energy and most consistent with observations.


Heat death is just what happens if the expansion goes on forever, which applies to any open or flat universe model.  So I think the cyclic universe model with dark energy must have some more complicated requirement than just w being negative -- i.e. some more exotic form of dynamical dark energy.