Brian Schmidt, Australian astronomer and Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 2011, gave this lecture in April 2013. In this talk, Schmidt presents the fundamental discovery that cosmic expansion is not slowing down, but accelerating. Through the analysis of distant supernovae, he explains how astronomers deduced the existence of a dominant and invisible component—dark energy—which accounts for more than seventy percent of the observable universe. The lecture outlines the methods used, the challenges of calibrating such measurements on cosmological scales, and the implications for the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Finally, Schmidt reflects on how this discovery redefines our understanding of the universe and opens new frontiers for scientific research.
This lecture is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’, tackles the fundamental questions i
Brian Schmidt, Australian astronomer and Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 2011, gave this lecture in April 2013. In this talk, Schmidt presents the fundamental discovery that cosmic expansion is not slowing down, but accelerating. Through the analysis of distant supernovae, he explains how astronomers deduced the existence of a dominant and invisible component—dark energy—which accounts for more than seventy percent of the observable universe. The lecture outlines the methods used, the challenges of calibrating such measurements on cosmological scales, and the implications for the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Finally, Schmidt reflects on how this discovery redefines our understanding of the universe and opens new frontiers for scientific research.
This lecture is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’, tackles the fundamental questions in contemporary astrophysics. How many planets similar to Earth are orbiting other stars? The lectures in the second edition explore questions such as the search for life in other worlds, the expansion of the universe, neutron stars, and clusters of galaxies.
