The Big Bang purportedly transpired 13.8 billion years ago, and even so, the universe continues to expand even today. But if that thought alone wasn’t impressive enough, scientists also believe that the universe’s expansion isn’t exhibiting any signs of slowing down or staying constant; rather, its expansion is accelerating. Curious indeed…
Scientists have been trying to make sense of this debacle for decades, and while much of Albert Einstein’s work helped pave the way for what we think we understand today, novel theories are beginning to shake things up more than ever before.
Explaining why the universe’s expansion continues to accelerate has proven to be quite the challenge, but if anything’s certain, it’s that the dark energy theory appears to be gaining traction in the scientific community. There’s just one problem though: we don’t entirely understand what dark energy is, nor has anyone been able to prove that it exists. That said, it’s still just a theory.
One potential explanation is that Albert Einstein may have been wrong about gravity, and that gravity actually has mass in the form of a graviton. If true, then this could potentially explain why the universe’s expansion isn’t being slowed down by gravity, as it wouldn’t as easily be able to propagate over long distances.
Could this theory explain the plethora of questions surrounding dark energy? It’s possible, but more science is needed to lay down the law, and unfortunately, the concept is still too young to fully understand, let alone validate.
