# all the stars have burned out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482 "2012-04-21T04:47:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![christenings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@christenings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/christenings)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/1 "2012-04-21T04:47:49Z")
Hey all. I’m trying to find a science fiction story I read a long time ago about how several people had asked their computers over the centuries what would happen when all the stars burned out. The computer kept working on this problem long after the human race was gone and finally figured it out and created light. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/2 "2012-04-21T04:49:55Z")
“[The Last Question](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html)” by Isaac Asimov ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/3 "2012-04-21T04:50:33Z")
It’s _The Last Question_, by Isaac Asimov. You can read it [here](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/4 "2012-04-21T05:36:41Z")
Asimov once commented that this story was one of his best, that people remembered, but paired with the least memorable title, so that they would always ask him its name, in terms much like the OP. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/5 "2012-04-21T08:00:44Z")
Anyone else think this was going to be _The Nine Billion Names of God_? In which Some people use a computer to answer a question, and in the end, all the stars go out… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/6 "2012-04-21T11:57:36Z")
About books?-----Cafe Society. Moved from GQ **samclem** , Moderator ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/7 "2012-04-21T12:19:56Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Anyone else think this was going to be _The Nine Billion Names of God_? > > In which > > Some people use a computer to answer a question, and in the end, all the stars go out… The way the question was worded, yes. Especially since the punch lines to the two stories are complete opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/8 "2012-04-21T21:35:45Z")
INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER (c’mon, someone had to do it) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/9 "2012-04-21T22:30:07Z")
It would mean that Davros’s reality bomb was actually succesful ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/10 "2012-04-21T23:21:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER > > (c’mon, someone had to do it) Okay, I’m missing some perfectly obvious reference here, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/11 "2012-04-21T23:45:00Z")
> [@chronos](#): > > insufficient data for meaningful answer > > (c’mon, someone had to do it) OUT OF CHEESE ERROR. REDO FROM START.a. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/12 "2012-04-22T05:38:50Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Okay, I’m missing some perfectly obvious reference here, aren’t I? Only if you’ve read the story. It’s a recurring line. I’ve twice seen this story dramatized as a planitarium show. It works really well in that medium. (The cheese error is a Pratchett reference.) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/13 "2012-04-22T07:34:06Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Okay, I’m missing some perfectly obvious reference here, aren’t I? Check out the linked story (about a ten-minute read, and well worth it). ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/14 "2012-04-22T09:07:52Z")
Okay, that story was a bit dated, but badass. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/15 "2012-04-22T16:52:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > OUT OF CHEESE ERROR. REDO FROM START.a. Looks like someone removed the FTB Enabler file ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/16 "2012-04-22T17:28:28Z")
Geez, if you look at it one way that may be the most depressing story ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/17 "2012-04-22T17:29:18Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Anyone else think this was going to be _The Nine Billion Names of God_? > > In which > > Some people use a computer to answer a question, and in the end, all the stars go out… That was going to be my guess from the mouseover; then I read the entire OP and realised it was The Last Question. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/18 "2012-04-22T19:23:28Z")
> [@](#): > > OUT OF CHEESE ERROR. REDO FROM START. Personally, I prefer “Error: Divide by cucumber. Please reinstall Universe.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/19 "2012-04-23T02:12:18Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Anyone else think this was going to be _The Nine Billion Names of God_? > > In which > > Some people use a computer to answer a question, and in the end, all the stars go out… Yup. “Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.” Best last line of a story EVER. > [@Chronos](#): > > INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER > > (c’mon, someone had to do it) The answer is 42 - duh. 🙂 Hey, speaking of which, I won a mug and a pen last week guessing the answer to something as 42. It really IS the answer to everything! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-stars-have-burned-out/619482/20 "2012-04-23T02:37:27Z")
[And one of my early questions from the dawn of this board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=73555)