Guardian Science Weekly

The fight over the Hubble constant

Loading player...
When it comes to the expansion rate of the universe, trying to get a straight answer isn’t easy. That’s because the two best ways of measuring what’s known as the Hubble constant are giving different results. As each method becomes increasingly accurate, the gap between widens. Is one of them wrong? Or is it time to rejig the Standard Model of Cosmology? Madeleine Finlay investigates the so-called ‘Hubble tension’ with Prof Erminia Calabrese. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
6 Aug 2020 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

Was Iran really building a nuclear weapon?

Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to developing an atomic weapon? Ian Sample hears from Kelsey Davenport, the director of non-proliferation policy…
10 Mar 16 min

Will China own the green energy future?

The conflict in the Middle East has sent energy prices soaring, and for countries that import a high proportion of their fuel, it’s a reminder of the perils of energy dependence. As the recipient of almost 90% of Iran’s crude oil, China knows this only too well. Which partly explains…
5 Mar 17 min

Does Trump want to wage an AI-powered war?

In the past three months, Donald Trump’s White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change – once in its capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and more recently to help plan the strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The most recent strikes coincided with…
3 Mar 16 min

Can degrowth save the climate?

Since the 1960s, global GDP has been rapidly rising and living standards have reached record highs. But something else has been rocketing up too – carbon emissions. For years, scientists and economists have been asking: is it possible to grow without heating and polluting the Earth? And as the climate…
26 Feb 18 min
All episodes