Counterintuitive Facts (99): If Time Stops, What Remains?

I. What is time? Time is the measure of change. Atoms vibrate, planets rotate, rivers flow. These changes are time's markers. If there's no change. No particle motion. No energy flow. Time doesn't exist. Time isn't a background stage. Time is change itself.

II. In the distant future. All stars burn out. All black holes evaporate. All atoms decay. The universe reaches thermodynamic equilibrium. Uniform, cold, undifferentiated. No events can happen. Then, time will end. Not because something "blocked" time. But because time loses meaning. No change can be measured.

III. What comes after that moment? Eternity. But we must be careful understanding this word. Many people understand eternity as "very very long time." No. Eternity is Timelessness. Eternity isn't time infinitely extended. Eternity