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
Facebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetime
Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com
Comment on Reddit:
Support us on Patreon!
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