Physicists have many delightful theories about how our universe might end, including one that suggests it isn’t in its most stable state. If it transitions to that state, we could all be squelched into quantum oblivion. Delightful, I know. But a new study suggests this haunting scenario may be less likely than feared—so there’s that, at least.

It’s known as false vacuum decay. In this hypothetical scenario, the universe appears stable to us, the local observer. But some calculations suggest that the universe isn’t in its most stable state, in which it has the minimum possible energy—a true vacuum. If the universe decides to tunnel into a more stable state, reality as we know it would be wiped out. This cosmic transition would create an apocalyptic quantum bubble that expands at nearly the speed of light—completely rewriting the rules of physics without warning.

However, a research team claims to have identified a mechanism by which the early universe’s rapid expansion triggered quantum effects that locked it into what the team calls a “cosmic lockdown.” So, even if the universe indeed exists in a false vacuum, it’s unlikely that it’ll decay into something else, as the team explains in a recent paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

“The result does not prove the universe’s current state will remain stable forever or determine the specific likelihood that the Higgs field [which gives elementary particles their mass] will eventually decay,” the researchers explained in a statement from Syracuse University, where co-author Gregory Kaplanek serves as a postdoctoral researcher.

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