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dark energy
particle physics
A Deepening Crisis Forces Physicists to Rethink Structure of Nature’s Laws
Physicists are reexamining a longstanding assumption: that big stuff consists of smaller stuff.
Q&A
In Search of Cracks in Albert Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
Celia Escamilla-Rivera is combining large data sets with supercomputers to test general relativity against its little-known competitors.
cosmology
Cosmologists Parry Attacks on the Vaunted Cosmological Principle
A central pillar of cosmology — the universe is the same everywhere and in all directions — is surviving a storm of possible evidence against it.
Hidden Structure
The Cosmologist Who Dreams in the Universe’s Dark Threads
Cora Dvorkin discovered new possibilities for what dark matter could be. Now she’s devising unorthodox ways to identify it.
Q&A
The Physicist Who Slayed Gravity’s Ghosts
Claudia de Rham showed how theories of “massive gravity” could potentially get rid of the need for dark energy.
Q&A
This Cosmologist Knows How It’s All Going to End
The astrophysicist and social media phenom Katie Mack is ready to tell you about the fate of the universe.
Abstractions blog
What Might Be Speeding Up the Universe’s Expansion?
Physicists have proposed extra cosmic ingredients that could explain the faster-than-expected expansion of space.
Abstractions blog
How Ancient Light Reveals the Universe’s Contents
A photograph of the infant cosmos reveals the precise amounts of dark matter and dark energy in the universe, leaving precious little room for argument.
Abstractions blog
No Dark Energy? No Chance, Cosmologists Contend
A study challenged the evidence for the mysterious antigravitational force known as dark energy. Then cosmologists shot back.