By Ihechi Enyinnaya
The world is ending on Friday, November 13, 2026. At least, that was the startling prediction made by three scientists more than six decades ago, who warned that unchecked population growth could push humanity towards a mathematical doomsday.
In a paper published in the prestigious journal Science on November 4, 1960, Austrian-American physicist Heinz von Foerster and two colleagues presented a study with the alarming title: “Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, AD 2026”.
The researchers predicted that if the rate of global population growth continued along the trajectory observed at the time, the world’s population would eventually rise to infinity on that particular date.
“Our great-great-grandchildren will not starve,” the scientists wrote. “They will be squeezed to death.”
Their projections were based on historical population estimates stretching from about 400 BC to 1958. They observed that the time required for the human population to double appeared to be getting progressively shorter and developed a mathematical equation to describe the trend.
Using that formula, they estimated that the world’s population would exceed 25 billion by 2020.
However, the scientists did not establish when humanity would run out of food, land or energy. Rather, their mathematical model suggested that population growth would become infinite at some point in 2026, rendering the equation meaningless.
The prediction generated considerable controversy when it was published, attracting attention from major international publications, including Time and The New York Times. It also became the subject of several Pogo comic strips.
According to Alan MacEachern, a history professor at Western University in Ontario, Canada, the paper caused an immediate stir, with some commentators interpreting it as a tongue-in-cheek contribution to growing anxieties about population explosion.
Nevertheless, the prediction was subsequently invoked in political and economic arguments. In 1963, a representative of the chemical industry cited it before a Canadian parliamentary committee as justification for the use of chemical pesticides, arguing that they would be necessary to feed the rapidly expanding global population.
It was also referenced during a 1971 United States Supreme Court abortion case that preceded the landmark Roe v. Wade judgment, as part of an argument against government policies favouring population growth.
But the prediction had its critics from the beginning.
Demographers questioned the assumptions behind the study, arguing that population growth could not continue accelerating indefinitely. One critic, Harold F. Dorn, writing in Science in 1962, dismissed the projection and suggested that it would soon be exposed as unreliable.
Other experts pointed out that the researchers had overlooked important biological limitations, including the minimum nine-month period required for human reproduction.
The prediction, however, continued to attract attention for decades, partly because its mathematical projections initially appeared consistent with population trends.
That changed around 1993, when global population growth began falling behind the figures forecast by the scientists.
Today, the global birth rate is less than half its 1960 level, reflecting significant changes in fertility patterns across different parts of the world.
Consequently, the prediction that humanity would reach mathematical infinity on Friday, November 13, 2026, is not considered a credible scientific forecast.
Rather than signalling the end of civilisation, the date serves as a reminder of the limitations of mathematical projections when they fail to account for changing human behaviour, technological developments and demographic realities.
What the Bible Says About the End of the World
The Bible teaches that the world, as humanity knows it, will eventually come to an end, but it does not identify a specific date or time for the event. Rather, it describes the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
In Matthew 24, Jesus identified several signs that would precede the end, including wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, religious deception and increasing wickedness. He also said the Gospel would be preached throughout the world before the end comes.
However, Jesus issued a clear warning against attempts to predict the exact date.
Matthew 24:36 states: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
The Bible further describes Christ’s return, when the dead in Christ will rise and believers still alive will be gathered to meet Him, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
In 2 Peter 3:10, Scripture describes the Day of the Lord as coming unexpectedly, with the heavens passing away and the earth undergoing dramatic transformation.
Revelation 20 also speaks of the final judgment, when humanity will stand before God. However, the biblical account does not end with destruction.
Revelation 21:1-4 promises a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain.
Consequently, claims that the world will end on a particular Friday or any other specific date have no established biblical basis.
The central Christian message is that people should remain spiritually prepared, live righteously and place their faith in God rather than surrender to fear and speculation.
For now, humanity can expect to wake up to an ordinary Friday, despite the dramatic doomsday prediction made in 1960.