&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/87327?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=In+praise+of*+the+accelerating+universe%3AArticle%3A1643623&amp;ch=Comment+is+free&amp;c3=Guardian&amp;c4=World+news%2CAstronomy+%28Science%29%2CPhysics+%28Science%29%2CNobel+prizes+%28Science%29%2CScience+prizes%2CScience&amp;c5=Not+commercially+useful&amp;c6=Editorial&amp;c7=11-Oct-06&amp;c8=1643623&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Editorial&amp;c11=Comment+is+free&amp;c13=In+praise+of+...+%28editorial+series%29&amp;c25=Comment+is+free&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FAstronomy&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;standfirst&quot;&gt;The universe &ndash; far from disappearing &ndash; is accelerating, according to three scientists who have been awarded a prize by the Nobel Foundation&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Does it matter to us whether the universe will ultimately be squeezed to death, like a car in a scrapyard compactor, or whether it will end by shooting off in all directions, like a merry-go-round disintegrating? It matters to the Nobel Foundation, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/04/nobel-prize-physics-universe-accelerating&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;which yesterday awarded its prize for physics&lt;/a&gt; to three scientists who have found powerful evidence that the expansion of the universe, far from decelerating, as previously thought, is in fact accelerating. It matters to those scientists around the world who have been squabbling over the rival theories for many years, leading one wit to comment that the strongest force in the universe is not gravity but jealousy. It matters, one supposes, to matter, which will either entirely disappear or become so far flung as to entirely lose touch with itself. Or it would, if matter has thoughts &ndash; which is another thing we don&#039;t know. The extraordinary aspect of modern advances in physics and astronomy is that as our knowledge increases so does our ignorance. Words and numbers can scarcely bear the weight of such discoveries, while metaphor is powerless to express their meaning. The cosmology of our ancestors was also a system of thought which framed a mystery rather than solved it, yet it seems in retrospect much more comprehensible. At such moments there is balm in recalling Robert Frost&#039;s famous &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fire-and-ice/&quot; title=&quot;&quot;&gt;poem&lt;/a&gt; on whether the world would end in fire or ice. Frost knew enough, he wrote, &quot;To say that for destruction ice / Is also great / And would suffice.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/astronomy&quot;&gt;Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/physics&quot;&gt;Physics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/nobelprizes&quot;&gt;Nobel prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceprizes&quot;&gt;Science prizes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;