(ORDO NEWS) — People know surprisingly little about one of the biggest features of the cosmos, the giant ancient “voids” ( voids ).
If the universe were a brain cell , then the cosmic voids would be something like the space between neurons – and they are absolutely huge, sometimes hundreds of millions of light-years long.
Dark Energy Generator
From now on , a new hypothesis admits the possibility that these voids can explain one of the most annoying mysteries of cosmology.
Giant voids in space could be the source of dark energy , a hypothetical force that most cosmologists believe is causing the universe to expand faster and faster, according to new research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
In fact, a longstanding mystery in astrophysics is that, based on observations, the universe is expanding faster than our best models predict.
Based on this, scientists have long speculated that some unknown force called dark energy is responsible for this faster-than-predicted expansion.
Paul Sutter, professor of astrophysics at Stony Brook University, USA, explained that observed cosmic voids exert tremendous pressure on the matter surrounding them.
If the assumption of the authors of the new study is confirmed, then we will get an explanation for the fact that the Universe is expanding faster than it would with a more uniform distribution of matter.
Will the bold new hypothesis hold up? It’s hard to say. Scientists are in no hurry to make loud statements, cautiously calling voids a “possible source” of dark energy.
However, the stakes are incredibly high, because anyone who explains the great mystery of dark energy will undoubtedly occupy a special place in the history of world science.
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