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Could a new, fifth force of nature provide some answers to our biggest questions about dark matter and dark energy? We\u2019re working on it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Standard Model is, for all intents and purposes, the supreme accomplishment of modern physics. It describes four forces of nature, a zoo of particles, and how they all interact. It is perhaps the most successful scientific theory of all time.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s fantastically incomplete.<\/p>\n It turns out that the Standard Model is able to account for less than 5% of all the matter and energy in the cosmos. Another 25% or so is Dark Matter, an unknown kind of matter that is for all intents and purposes invisible. The rest is known as Dark Energy, a mysterious entity that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.<\/p>\n One of the first things astronomers noticed when they first discovered dark matter and dark energy was their apparent similarity. Why in the world are the two dark components of our universe roughly the same strength? I know, 25% and 70% don\u2019t sound very similar, but when it comes to astronomy \u2013 and especially cosmology \u2013 they\u2019re basically the exact same number.<\/p>\n \n