In about one billion years, the Sun is expected to exhaust the hydrogen fuel in its core and expand into a red giant. As it swells, the intense heat would strip away Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Scientists believe the planet could eventually be engulfed.
Later, the Sun would collapse into a faint white dwarf, leaving the solar system cold and dim. Farther into the future, in about 100 trillion years, the universe is expected to stop producing new stars.
A new study argues that life on Earth may not have to end with those events. Instead of abandoning the planet, researchers outline a series of theoretical engineering projects designed to keep Earth habitable for trillions of years.
The proposals rely on technologies far beyond today’s capabilities and are intended to explore what physics may ultimately allow rather than what can be built now.
A giant sunshade could block the red giant
The first challenge would be protecting Earth from the expanding Sun. The study proposes placing a giant sunshade at Lagrange Point 1, where Earth’s and the Sun’s gravity balance.
A second design would reduce the shield’s size by using a heavy anchor connected to a 2 million-kilometer (1.2 million-mile) carbon tether. The sunshade itself would sit just beyond the Moon’s orbit. According to the proposal, material from the dwarf planet Ceres and a small fraction of the Moon could supply the raw materials needed to build the structure.
Fusion power could replace natural sunlight
Blocking sunlight would also remove Earth’s heat and light. To replace both, the researchers suggest harvesting hydrogen and helium from Jupiter, where fusion reactors could operate deep within the planet’s atmosphere. The energy would then be transmitted through a network of relays before being beamed back to Earth as artificial sunlight.
Could humanity keep Earth alive after the Sun dies?
A new study explores a bold idea: instead of leaving Earth, future civilizations could use giant sunshades, fusion power from Jupiter, orbital engineering and other planet-scale technologies to keep our world habitable. pic.twitter.com/zcqEHGr5Gg
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) August 4, 2026
Earth may need a wider orbit
Even with a sunshade, Earth would still need to move farther from the Sun. Rather than relying on repeated close passes by large asteroids, the study proposes firing a continuous stream of oxygen particles mined from Jupiter past Earth. The beam’s gravity would gradually push the planet into a wider orbit while avoiding the risks associated with asteroid flybys.
Earth’s interior would also cool over time, eventually slowing the tectonic activity that recycles nutrients and shapes the planet’s surface. To prevent that, the researchers propose delivering small amounts of antimatter to Earth’s core. The resulting energy release could provide enough heat to keep the planet’s geological processes active.
Protecting the solar system from future collisions
The study also considers threats beyond the solar system. As the Milky Way interacts with the Andromeda galaxy billions of years from now, passing stars or other massive objects could alter the solar system’s path.
The researchers suggest that a powerful hydrogen beam fired near the Sun could gradually shift the solar system’s orbit through gravitational effects, helping it avoid dangerous encounters over immense timescales.
Why staying on Earth could be the better option
The authors argue that preserving Earth could require far less energy than transporting humanity to another star system. They also suggest that improving infrastructure for space mining and planetary engineering could provide practical benefits long before such distant challenges arise.
While the proposals remain highly speculative, the study presents an ambitious vision of how advanced civilizations might extend Earth’s habitability. Rather than viewing the planet’s fate as inevitable, the researchers argue that the limits of survival may ultimately depend on the limits of engineering.
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