Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Is dark energy changing or a constant? Is the standard model of cosmology wrong? New measurements by the DESI collaboration suggest that dark energy, the mystery entity causing the expansion of the universe to speed up, is more complicated than we think. But results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope disagree.
Cosmologists Niayesh Afshordi and Alice Chen take Zeeya Merali on a deep dive through the history of astronomy to work out what is going on.
Plus Timothy Behrens, editor-in-chief of the science journal eLife, tells Miriam Frankel about the journal's radical experiments with "post-publication peer review" and the consequences of losing the journal's impact factor.
Links to all topics discussed can be found on: qspace.fqxi.org/podcasts
The Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI catalyzes research and outreach primarily on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology. FQxI supports high-risk, high-reward science—in particular new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of physical reality that lie beyond the remit of conventional institutional support and funding. FQxI strives to make science more effective and equitable in all its efforts.
Donate to FQxI: fqxi.org
Image credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration; custom colormap package by cmastro
#cosmology #physics #sciencepodcast #darkenergy #DESI #astronomy #universe #eLife #biology #peerreview
Is dark energy changing or a constant? Is the standard model of cosmology wrong? New measurements by the DESI collaboration suggest that dark energy, the mystery entity causing the expansion of the universe to speed up, is more complicated than we think. But results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope disagree.
Cosmologists Niayesh Afshordi and Alice Chen take Zeeya Merali on a deep dive through the history of astronomy to work out what is going on.
Plus Timothy Behrens, editor-in-chief of the science journal eLife, tells Miriam Frankel about the journal's radical experiments with "post-publication peer review" and the consequences of losing the journal's impact factor.
Links to all topics discussed can be found on: qspace.fqxi.org/podcasts
The Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI catalyzes research and outreach primarily on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology. FQxI supports high-risk, high-reward science—in particular new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of physical reality that lie beyond the remit of conventional institutional support and funding. FQxI strives to make science more effective and equitable in all its efforts.
Donate to FQxI: fqxi.org
Image credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration; custom colormap package by cmastro
#cosmology #physics #sciencepodcast #darkenergy #DESI #astronomy #universe #eLife #biology #peerreview
