By Ron Cowen
Early in 1998, our perception of the universe got a jolt. Two independent teams of researchers studying distant supernovas found evidence that the cosmos is doing more than merely expanding. The teams discovered that it is expanding at an ever-faster rate (SN: 4/7/01, p. 218: A Dark Force in the Universe). Opposing the tug of gravity, there seems to be some mysterious force, dubbed dark energy, that stretches space-time and pushes galaxies apart.
Although the evidence is still under debate, scientists are beginning to explore the full consequences of living in a revved-up universe. And as several cosmologists have come to realize, antigravity has a downside.