# Nobel Laureates Settle Dark Energy Debate: Universe's Expansion Is Still Accelerating

*2026-06-14 10:01 UTC · Science · 2 min read*

> Nobel laureates confirm the universe's accelerating expansion remains intact after an international team debunks a 2025 study claiming dark energy was weakening.

An international team of astrophysicists including Nobel laureates Adam Riess and Brian Schmidt has confirmed that the universe's expansion is still accelerating, settling a controversy that had cast doubt on one of cosmology's foundational discoveries. Their paper, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on June 10, identifies critical errors in a November 2025 South Korean study that claimed dark energy — the mysterious force driving cosmic acceleration — was weakening.

The challenge rested on an analysis of Type Ia supernovae, which cosmologists use as "standard candles" to measure cosmic distances. The South Korean team incorrectly assumed that a galaxy's age matched that of the exploding star inside it, and failed to account for host galaxy mass — a standard correction in supernova cosmology. Lead researcher Dr. Phil Wiseman of the University of Southampton stated: "The previous and well-accepted measurements were, in fact, fine and our current understanding of the fate of the universe remains robust."

The confirmation preserves the standard cosmological model in which dark energy makes up roughly 68% of the universe's total energy content and drives it to expand at an ever-faster rate. The finding eases fears of a "cosmological crisis" and reaffirms the work for which Riess and Schmidt shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

## Sources

- [phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cosmic-analysis-rebuts-slowdown.html)
- [sciencedaily.com](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260612032030.htm)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/1828-nobel-laureates-settle-dark-energy-debate-universe-s-expansion-is-still
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/1901-nositele-nobelovy-ceny-vyresili-spor-o-temnou-energii-vesmir-stale-zrychluje