Has JWST SOLVED the crisis in cosmology?!

00:00 Introduction
03:17 AD Ground News
04:54 What is the Hubble Tension (aka the "crisis in cosmology")?
07:40 The possible explanations/solutions for the Hubble tension?
14:22 What Freedman et al. are claiming to have found with JWST
18:32 How does this compare to previous work on this with JWST?
20:30 What now? Is the “crisis in cosmology” really over?
22:57 Bloopers

Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV

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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!

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👩🏽‍💻 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.

[quillaja]

At this point, I feel like JWST is the driver of a family sedan and the scientific community is a pile of kids in the back asking "Are we there yet?!?" =)

[lukefuller]

18:52 "this isn't just cutting-edge science; this is like standing on the knife edge and staring into the void of confusion"
I am going to reuse this in my line of work at the first chance I get

[sadaksara]

Thank you for labeling the ads. This is what all channels should do.

[Xplodicon]

I LOVE the disclaimer. Thank you for being transparent and responsible when giving us non peer reviewed information. You rock Dr. B

[RockinRobbins]

Okay, I'm going to invoke Ian Hinchliffe's Rule, which technically only applies to particle physics, but can be extended to research papers of all types and now YouTube videos, _"if a research paper's title is in the form of a yes–no question, the answer to that question will be 'no'"_ But you may ask _"Is Hinchliffe's rule correct?"_ and cause a universe-rending paradox.

[maibetts]

Hey, It's Laura. It was so amazing getting to meet you. I really want to be a teacher, and I wanted to say you're going to be a massive inspiration teaching me all about expansive galaxies above. 😊

[timlockwood]

From watching the first Mercury launches on a black and white tv to seeing new JWST images and data is just incredible. Looking forward to new discoveries, especially those that blow the doors off of our current theories. Thanks Dr. Becky!

[tsuki_]

"standing on the knife edge and just staring into the void of confusion" is my new favourite sentence

[oldmankatan]

Your caveats and comments about peer review and paper status during the intro was amazing. It is how all reporting like this should be done, but in this age of hype you are a welcome exception.
THANK YOU!

[jimgraves]

JWST is expanding our knowledge and already proving itself, much like Hubble did when it finally got it's spectacles. Hubble showed the way, JWST is taking the ball and running with it. It's a phenomenal bit of engineering and it will inspire another generation to design better instruments to answer the questions JWST now has us asking. You will have to come back to this after peer review, doesn't matter if this is right or wrong, just take another look in a years time.

[ifscho]

As weird as that will sound, this is the best explanation of how all this was calculated all along. I mean, not like I was explicitly looking for a better explanation, but I never stumbled across one so clear. Thank you!

[betageek]

OMG, first time viewer, and I subscribed two minutes into the video because of your disclaimer regarding the preliminary nature of this research. What a breath of fresh air compared to the majority of hyped science content on YouTube. Thank you so much!

[vailpcs]

What I admire about science is that it is an applied methodology, based on what do we know, how do we know it and how certain are we about it? Being able to self-question and refine theory based on evolving data is great!

[classic_sci_fi]

The question is not one of reworking old data. The question is really about rethinking dogmatic assumptions on which those calculations are based.

[rachel_rexxx]

I find this pretty interesting. Its the astronomy analogue of debugging code or trying to design a dataset after a garbage-in-garbage-out problem. Cosmological bug hunting.

[duhmez]

It's never new physics. Except when it is new physics.

[CourtneyFowler-buiv]

Thank you for helping me appreciate how small we are and how very little time we have here. It helps me feel grateful for every breath I take. Thank you for the clear and thorough explanations with scientific transparency!

[SimonJM]

"In a galaxy far away ... there's a git with a really bright signal lamp, giggling to himself!" 😁

[charleshotchkiss]

Love the enthusiasm for the subject as well as the clarity of explanations.

[PhysicsNative]

Viewers should know Freedman has long been pushing for the lower Ho value, see her ApJ paper from 2021, “Measurements of the Hubble Constant, Tensions in Perspective.” Blind analysis techniques are somewhat gimmicky, not necessarily reducing bias. In fact, it can be more difficult to determine the source of systematic errors with such approaches, which can be misused as cover to propagate bias. The real problem in astrophysics is an influential group of people who want to double down on Lambda-CDM rather than admit there are flaws and look at alternatives/new physics.