A 1960 Physicist’s Doomsday Prediction Misses the Mark on Nov. 13, 2026

WHO:

Ars Technica - Physicist Heinz von Foerster and two colleagues made a prediction about population growth.

Newsweek - Physicist Heinz von Foerster and two unnamed colleagues made the prediction.

WHAT:

Ars Technica - Von Foerster’s prediction held that population would grow exponentially and “squeeze” people to death.

Newsweek - The scientists predicted that the world would end on Friday, November 13, 2026.

Newsweek - The article says the prediction was wrong.

WHEN:

Newsweek - The predicted date was “Friday, November 13, 2026.”

WHY:

Ars Technica - The prediction was based on the expectation that population would grow exponentially until it fatally compressed people.

(UPDATED November 13, 2026 16:05 UTC)

Physicist Heinz von Foerster and two colleagues predicted unchecked population growth would eventually crush humanity. Their model forecast the world ending Friday, November 13, 2026, as people were squeezed to death. That prediction was wrong, and the predicted day has now arrived.