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The entire universe could be in danger thanks to a 'self-destruct button' that could obliterate all of humanity in a short period of time, and there's no way of telling when it could be activated.
There are plenty of events that appear to threaten both our home planet and the universe at large, from city-destroying asteroids to 'killer' supermassive black holes capable of tearing through stars.
Perhaps the most terrifying dangers in space though are those that exist in the background - especially as scientists typically cannot control or observe them in action.
One such of these instances involve what some space experts have branded a 'self-destruct button' for the universe, and it is capable of ripping everything apart and leaving no trace in the aftermath.
As reported by the Daily Mail, scientists and physicists have identified a self-destruct button of sorts in what is called the 'false vacuum decay', which would be a doomsday scenario that would wipe out every single planet, star, and galaxy in existence.
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Currently, the universe is understood to be in a relatively unstable state known as a 'false vacuum', where items are technically stable and posses a low energy form, but could become incredibly dangerous if agitated.
Dr Louis Hamaide, of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Napes, explained to MailOnline that a false vacuum is comparable to that of a marble in a bowl on top of a stool.
"The marble cannot leave the bowl unless it is given some energy in the form of a push, and if it does it will fall all the way to the ground," Dr Hamaide illustrates.
The ground is the equivalent of a vacuum state - in this case the 'true vacuum' - whereas the bowl, while technically replicating the state of being on the ground, is merely a false vacuum.
Returning to the universe, if any part of the universe is pushed and transferred from a false vacuum to a true vacuum state, this could cause a bubble to expand throughout the universe and destroy everything in its path.
This would replicate a universe-ending domino effect that would be impossible to both predict and stop, and the scary part is that it could happen at any point if one single part is pushed out of its false state.
One particularly dangerous proposition is that the Higgs field - where the Higgs Boson or 'God particle' is made - represents a false vacuum, and therefore could be a ticking time bomb that would be capable of destroying the entire universe if it were to be toppled.
