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Letter: Is current theory of dark energy beyond salvation?

Published 28 May 2025

From Adrian Smith, Addingham, West Yorkshire, UK

I read “Time for a new model of the universe”, which reported findings on dark matter that throw our current cosmological model into doubt. Last year, I was at a meeting at the Royal Society. In summary, it found serious discrepancies in the theory of dark energy. This was a top-level meeting with many leading individuals in cosmology, from the past and present. It feels like the meeting never took place because the issues raised are being sidelined. Rather than deal with them, some cosmologists appear to be coming up with ever more ad hoc additions (new parameters, quintessence, thawing gravity, fifth force) to shore up a failing theory(10 May, p 8).

Issue no. 3545 published 31 May 2025

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