The expansion of the universe may be slowing down rather than accelerating, according to a new study that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning theory of dark energy.

“If confirmed, this would have profound implications for the fate of the universe,” said The Guardian . The study raises the possibility that “rather than expanding for ever, the universe could ultimately enter a reverse Big Bang scenario known as the Big Crunch”.

What is happening?

Dark energy is already “mysterious and baffling” and the new findings from a team at Yonsei University in South Korea suggest that this force “may not be driving galaxies apart at an accelerating rate any more”, said Space.com . Instead, researchers propose, it is weakening over time.

In the 1990s, astronomers made the first estimates of the

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