Have you ever played a game where, halfway through, someone changes the rules — and suddenly everything makes sense?
Some scientists now wonder if our universe might be doing exactly that.
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by two invisible things called dark matter and dark energy. These mysterious forces supposedly make up 95% of everything — yet no one has ever seen or touched them. We only “know” they exist because galaxies spin too fast, and the universe keeps expanding faster and faster. But what if those strange effects aren’t caused by hidden stuff at all? What if the rules of the universe are slowly shifting over time?
That’s the bold idea from Dr. Rajendra Gupta at the University of Ottawa. His new model, called CCC + TL, suggests that the universe’s basic numbers — like the strength of gravity or the speed of light — might not be perfectly fixed. Maybe they’ve been quietly changing since the beginning of time.
In this model, these tiny changes create the same effects we’ve been blaming on dark matter and dark energy. Galaxies spin faster not because of invisible mass, but because the pull of gravity itself slightly changes depending on where you are. The universe speeds up in its expansion not because of a mysterious force, but because the “rules” governing light and space are evolving.
To test his idea, Dr. Gupta looked at how galaxies rotate. Normally, the stars at the edges of galaxies move so fast that they should fly away — unless something unseen (dark matter) is holding them in. But Gupta’s math shows that changing constants might naturally explain those fast rotations, without needing any invisible matter at all.
It’s a fascinating idea — but it raises some big questions.
1. How can the rules change if we’ve never noticed?
If the speed of light or gravity’s strength is shifting, even slightly, why haven’t scientists seen it? We’ve been measuring these constants with incredible precision. If they’re changing, it must be happening very, very slowly — almost too slow to detect.
2. Can this one idea explain everything dark matter and dark energy do?
The standard model of the universe fits not only galaxy motion but also cosmic background radiation, galaxy clusters, and how the universe formed. Gupta’s idea still needs to match all those details. It’s like solving one big mystery but leaving a few smaller ones hanging.
3. What about “tired light”?
Part of the theory suggests that light loses a tiny bit of energy as it travels across space — making faraway galaxies look redder and dimmer. But older versions of this idea didn’t match what we actually see in the universe. So the challenge is to make this version fit the facts without breaking others.
Whether the theory turns out to be right or wrong, it’s a powerful reminder of how science works. Even when we think we understand the rules, someone comes along and asks, “What if the rules themselves are changing?”
And that’s how discovery starts — with curiosity, courage, and a willingness to imagine the universe playing by different rules than we thought.
References
https://scitechdaily.com/dark-matter-and-dark-energy-dont-exist-new-study-claims/
