Wait, has JWST SOLVED the 'crisis in cosmology'?! #shorts #astronomy #science

At a meeting of the American Physical Society last Saturday there was a *very* interesting talk from Wendy Freedman - the lead researcher of a group using JWST to investigate the "crisis in cosmology" aka the Hubble Tension. This is one of the biggest problems in modern astrophysics, where our two main methods for calculating the expansion rate of the Universe don't agree. But now, this collaboration are claiming that with their JWST data, the two values DO agree and they've solved the Hubble Tension. That's despite the fact that we've heard from one JWST research group already who claimed that their JWST data made the crisis in cosmology WORSE. So what is going on?! Long video to follow this week... #astrophysics #cosmology #hubbletension

👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.

[nicholascmcneill]

Does this mean that there is now crisis in the crisis of cosmology?

[balaclavabob]

JWST : The cause of and solution to all our problems 😊

[KrunoslavSaho]

I can't wait for your longer video. Hopefully there is a clear conclusion on this matter.

[Moscatinka]

Is anyone else secretly hoping that when both papers are peer reviewed, both will be found to be correct? Now that would be a proper crisis! :D

[TheOtherSteel]

Astronomer 1 - The crisis in cosmology is huge!

Astronomer 2 - It's just a flesh wound.

[jameslee]

part of true science is FIXING previous

[JohnnyComelately-ebzv]

Becky, I'm really looking forward to your longer video on the subject. Please do a deep dive of at least forty five minutes or half an hour on this one topic.

[annakinderman]

I was at this talk! From DESI to JWST, it was an interesting April APS conference

[bobbygetsbanned]

8.2 sigma for the original JWST answer right? Sounds like the new findings have a pretty high hurdle to pass. I won't hold my breath.

[johndd]

This is why I try to ignore all other space videos (well, a couple of others are trustworthy), until I hear it from Dr Becky 😀

[DarrylAdams]

Freezing on that facial expression is comedy gold. I do like you are doing a react video on your own video....

[patreekotime]

Very cool... but of course with all of these conflicting results its going to take time and many more followup studies before consensus. But it would be pretty wild if the Hubble Tension turns out to just be the accumulation of errors due to optical or sensor resolution.

[philurbaniak]

👍👍 I always appreciate your reports, no matter what's in them

[VictorAntares]

those who make bold claims must present bold evidence. can't wait to hear what you think of their findings

[joen]

Homework for tonight. Rewatch all of Dr Becky’s previous videos on crisis in cosmology so I am prepared for Thursday video.

[josh]

Thanks, look forward to your next video. Is there somewhere public where we can watch the talk?

[erikjrn]

When cosmologists can't agree on whether they have a crisis, exactly what the crisis is, what size it is, or whether it's getting better or worse, there's definitely at least one crisis in cosmology. The question is, at what end of the telescope is it found? In front, behind, in between, or some combination thereof?

[rickb]

Are we just pretending that the Axis of evil hasn't been independently confirmed and validated MULTIPLE times?....

[wanderandquestion]

Can't wait for your video! Thank you for these.

[JamesYale]

Thank you so much for updating us I was looking everywhere.