The overall progression of matter goes from light to heavy through mass condensation.
This makes matter more radioactive, and therefore more readily fissionable. This in turn extends the life of stars. The gradual increase in radioactivity allows stars to function as electrical accelerators for longer.
However, the process of mass condensation can’t go on for ever. At some point, all elements will become radioactive. There will only be hydrogen left, all with enormous protons.
It seems unlikely that this is a sustainable state of matter. Such a situation begs for some correcting mechanism. My guess is that protons have an upper limit to their size, and that the proton itself becomes radioactive once that limit is breached.
Once protons start to collapse, a chain reaction ensues, and we get a massive burst of gamma-rays.
Bundled up with these gamma-rays, we find electrons and positrons that soon start the process of mass condensation all over again.
The process may also be subtle, with protons evaporating into low energy radiation that combine to form larger currents. The net result will be much the same. Large currents will emerge, from which mass condensation can start.
Quasars are in turn formed from these currents. They become galaxies. The galaxies develop regions of degenerate matter. The matter collapses into radiation, and the cycle repeats.
This continuous process of creation, growth and destruction of matter solves the problem of heat death through entropy. It allows for a universe that is eternal, with no beginning and no end.
Thank you. Very interesting. Are stars awake?
If you mean by “awake”, that they possess a “will” of sorts, and are therefore “alive”, I’m inclined to answer yes.
The reason for this is that we ourselves have a free will, and since we are a product of nature, our will must have come from nature itself. I discuss this at length in my post titled “Free Will in a Clockwork Universe”: https://www.universeofparticles.com/2021/03/10/free-will-in-a-clockwork-universe/