Dark energy tagged posts

Dark energy might be changing and so is the Universe

Dark Energy Might Be Changing
A groundbreaking simulation study has revealed that dark energy, the mysterious force driving the Universe’s accelerated expansion, may not be constant after all. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com

Dark energy may be alive and changing, reshaping the cosmos in ways we’re only beginning to uncover. New supercomputer simulations hint that dark energy might be dynamic, not constant, subtly reshaping the Universe’s structure. The findings align with recent DESI observations, offering the strongest evidence yet for an evolving cosmic force.

Since the early 20th century, scientists have gathered convincing evidence that the Universe is expanding — and that this expansion is accelerating...

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Universe’s expansion ‘is now slowing, not speeding up’: Evidence mounts that dark energy weakens over time

Universe's expansion 'is now slowing, not speeding up'
DESI is a state-of-the-art instrument which maps distant objects to study dark energy. Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab

The universe’s expansion may actually have started to slow rather than accelerating at an ever-increasing rate as previously thought, a new study suggests.

“Remarkable” findings published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society cast doubt on the long-standing theory that a mysterious force known as ‘dark energy’ is driving distant galaxies away increasingly faster.

Instead, they show no evidence of an accelerating universe.

If the results are confirmed, it could open an entirely new chapter in scientists’ quest to uncover the true nature of dark energy, resolve the ‘Hubble tension,’ and understand the past and future of the universe.

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Dark Energy ‘Doesn’t Exist’ so Can’t be Pushing ‘Lumpy’ Universe Apart, Physicists Say

One of the biggest mysteries in science—dark energy—doesn’t actually exist, according to researchers looking to solve the riddle of how the universe is expanding.

Their analysis has been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.

For the past 100 years, physicists have generally assumed that the cosmos is growing equally in all directions. They employed the concept of dark energy as a placeholder to explain unknown physics they couldn’t understand, but the contentious theory has always had its problems.

Now a team of physicists and astronomers at the university of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand are challenging the status quo, using improved analysis of supernovae light curves to show that the universe is expanding in a mor...

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The Dark Energy Pushing our Universe Apart may not be what it seems, scientists say

The dark energy pushing our universe apart may not be what it seems, scientists say
This Dec. 14, 2023 image made available by NOIRLab shows meteors from the Geminid meteor shower streaking across the sky above the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, in Tucson, Ariz. Credit: NSF’s NOIRLab via AP

Distant, ancient galaxies are giving scientists more hints that a mysterious force called dark energy may not be what they thought.

Astronomers know that the universe is being pushed apart at an accelerating rate and they have puzzled for decades over what could possibly be speeding everything up. They theorize that a powerful, constant force is at play, one that fits nicely with the main mathematical model that describes how the universe behaves...

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