Astronomers Gear Up to Grapple with the High-Tension Cosmos

How fast is the universe growing? How much does it matter in our neighborhood? Different methods of answering these two questions are yielding different answers. The simplest explanation for these discrepancies is that our measurements are somehow incorrect, but researchers are increasingly entertaining another, more breathtaking possibility: These twin tensions between expectation and observation, between the early and late universe, may reflect some deep flaw in the standard model of cosmology. Finding and fixing that flaw could change our understanding of the universe.

Pursuing these tensions is a great way to learn about the universe.