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Becky Ferreira is a science reporter based in Ithaca, N.Y. She writes <a href="https://www.404media.co/author/becky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.404media.co/author/becky/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1740083778769000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3_mk31dNhas5lklZb38a6k">The Abstract</a>, a weekly science column for 404 Media. Her book First Contact, about the search for alien life, <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/becky-ferreira/first-contact/9781523527755/">is available now.</a>

Becky Ferreira

Sun over dying Earth. Illustration of the Sun, around 5 billion years in the future, heating a dying Earth. The oceans have evaporated, leaving salt-encrusted rocks. The Moon is seen passing in front of the massively swollen Sun. This stage of the Sun's life, known as its red giant stage, will begin when the Sun exhausts the hydrogen fuel in its core. It will then begin burning hydrogen in a shell surrounding the core, causing the Sun to expand. The expanding Sun will engulf the inner planets, and possibly the Earth. If the Earth survives this stage of the death of the Sun, it will freeze as the Sun collapses into a white dwarf star.

Science

Are You Team Fiery Sun Death Or Team Lifeless Husk?

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

26 March 2024, Baden-Württemberg, Rottweil: Cowslips grow in a wooded area near a stream near Rottweil. Photo: Silas Stein/dpa

What Is The Human Composting Industry Trying To Grow?

Barry Petchesky

Illustration of the giant impact hypothesis, with the hypothetical planet Theia colliding with Earth 4.5 billion years ago, created on July 19, 2015. This impact is suggested to be the source of material that created the Moon. (Illustration by Tobias Roetsch/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Curious Earth Lumps Might Be Leftovers From Another Planet It Ate

Title Earth glinting in the sun Released 17/07/2014 1:15 pm Copyright ESA/NASA Description Earth seen from space. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is sharing his incredible views from 400 km above on the International Space Station. Alexander will run over 100 experiments for all space agencies during his six-month Blue Dot mission.

Earth, The True GOAT, Breaks Longstanding Speed Record

Patrick Redford

TOPSHOT - A car drives past a crack in the road on Highway 178, south of Trona, after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit in Ridgecrest, California, on July 4, 2019. - Southern California was rocked by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake Thursday morning, the US Geological Survey said, with authorities warning that the temblor, the largest in two decades, might not be the day's last. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

earth

Are You Team Fiery Sun Death Or Team Lifeless Husk?

What Is The Human Composting Industry Trying To Grow?

Curious Earth Lumps Might Be Leftovers From Another Planet It Ate

Earth, The True GOAT, Breaks Longstanding Speed Record

What Earthquakes Can Teach Us In The Search For Extraterrestrial Life