New calculations have just been completed that show the rate of expansion for the universe. By zeroing in on the rate, the Hubble Constant, these calculations hammer another nail in the casket of a quirky little idea called Void Theory.
Image: Nasa STS-103
In the late ’90s, physicists noticed that distant supernovas were dimmer than they should have been. After some observation, some debate and a lot of thinking, they came up with a reason for this. The universe was expanding. The problem was, something had to be making it expand. This something was dubbed ‘dark energy’, and it sounded like a truckload of hooey. It was a mysterious force that was a little like gravity, only repulsive instead of attractive. It didn’t seem to fit into any coherent mathematical models. It just – was there, shoving the universe asunder. The farther apart two astronomical bodies were, the quicker they moved away from each other. [io9]