Ever had that feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day?
Well one day, there won’t be any hours in the day, or minutes, or even nano-seconds – because according to scientists, time will eventually, in billions of years, come to a standstill.
The rate at which it’s slowing, though, is imperceptible to humans.
The mind-bending theory, published in the Physical Review D journal, comes courtesy of researchers from the University of the Basque Country and the University of Salamanca, led by Professor Jose Senovilla.
Their theory, according to The Daily Telegraph, is an alternative explanation for observations from astronomers that the universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate.
The most widely accepted theory is that an unidentified force called ‘dark energy’ is forcing galaxies apart.
But Professor Senovilla claims dark energy just doesn’t exist.
He reckons that the acceleration is an illusion caused by time slowing down and making everything appear to move apart more and more quickly.
He said: “We do not say that the expansion of the universe itself is an illusion. What we say may be an illusion is the acceleration of this expansion - that is, the possibility that the expansion is, and has been, increasing its rate."
Eventually, time will simply stop, he argues.
He told New Scientist: “Then everything will be frozen, like a snapshot of one instant, forever. Our planet will be long gone by then."
The revelation has led to an ever-accelerating number of tweets appearing on Twitter, with users baffled and amused by the concept in equal measure (see the gallery below).