Did Dark Energy Just Disappear? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios

Did all of dark energy just vanish? A team of scientists have just analyzed new data and claim that we need to completely rethink its existence. This episode is supported by The Great Courses Plus. Go to to start your free one month trial. Get your own Space Time t­shirt at Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com Comment on Reddit: Help translate our videos! Why are we talking about dark energy again? Because another team has just announced a new analysis of updated supernova data. They claim that the data are consistent with there being NO dark energy – no accelerating expansion. They suggest that the universe may just be expanding at a constant rate – never speeding up, but also not slowing down. In this episode, Matt discusses this controversial claim, and whether or not we should throw away nearly twenty years of work on dark energy. Links to Sources Marginal Evidence for Cosmic Acceleration from Type Ia Supernovae J. T. Nielsen, A. Guffanti & S. Sarkar (2016) Statistical hypothesis testing Wolfram error analysis tutorial Previous Space Time Episode Written and hosted by Matt O’Dowd Produced by Rusty Ward Graphics by Grayson Blackmon Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com) Comments Answered by Matt ThunderboltTangerine QED Teboski78