Back in December I linked to The End of the Universe by John Baez, which begins:

It’s interesting to ponder the end of the universe. And I’m not talking the short run, like how the Earth’s continents willcollide in 250 million years, or how the Andromeda galaxy will collide with the Milky Way in 3 billion years, shaking loose many planets in many solar systems, or how the Sun will become a white dwarf in 7.8 billion years. I’m talking about the long term future!

In short: the end of everything.

For a long time, the big question was whether there was enough matter in the universe to make it recollapse, or whether it would expand forever. But in the late 1990’s, astronomical observations began to suggest that the expansion of the universe is actually speeding up!

I have been interested in this for many years. So I read with interest that Deformed Galaxies Confirm Universe’s Acceleration.

The acceleration is governed by Einstein’s cosmological constant, which he introduced into General Relativity and later rejected, calling it his greatest mistake. Apparently calling it a mistake was a mistake itself.

More information at Vacuum Energy Density, or How Can Nothing Weigh Something?. You can see the full mathematical treatment at The Cosmological Constant.