A New Cosmic Tension: The Universe Might Be Too Thin

A New Cosmic Tension: The Universe Might Be Too Thin

Charlie Wood

For a few years now, cosmologists have been troubled by a discrepancy in how fast the universe is expanding. They know how fast it should be going, based on ancient light from the early universe, but apparently the modern universe has picked up too much speed — a clue that scientists might have overlooked one of the universe’s fundamental ingredients, or some aspect of how those ingredients stir together.

Now a second crack in the so-called standard model of cosmology may be forming. In late July, scientists announced that the modern universe also looks unexpectedly thin. Galaxies and gas and other matter haven’t clumped together quite as much as they should have. A few earlier studies offered similar hints, but this new analysis of seven years of data represents the cleanest stand-alone indication of the anomaly yet.

Like most measurements of the large-scale structure of the present-day universe, the study is fraught with technical difficulties. It’s also possible, though unlikely, that the results are due to chance. Nevertheless, some researchers wonder if the trend toward increasingly funky measurements may foreshadow the discovery of a new cosmic agent.

“We’ve already got dark matter and dark energy,” Hudson said. “I hope we don’t need another dark thing.”

“We’ve already got dark matter and dark energy,” Hudson said. “I hope we don’t need another dark thing.”

Great quote.  Dancing closer and closer to real ignorance is a logical fear here.

Has dark matter and dark energy actually been found or is it still just something that makes theoretical sense?  In other words, did Hudson have the right to make such a certain statement?  My apologies for my ignorance but my science knowledge is way behind.

Has dark matter and dark energy actually been found or is it still just something that makes theoretical sense?  In other words, did Hudson have the right to make such a certain statement?  My apologies for my ignorance but my science knowledge is way behind.

I'm not aware of any actual detection/observation of these things. Certainly there are experiments set up in the hope of detecting dark matter, but I don't think they found anything, certainly not anything conclusive or unambiguous.

I continue to consider these things as a mere patch to try to mend a broken mathematical model.