I’ll Never Teach THIS the Same Way Again
Dear Magicians,
For twenty years, I taught dark energy as cosmic certainty. The universe is accelerating. Lambda is constant. Case closed.
Then DESI happened.
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument just mapped 11 billion years of cosmic history. Six million galaxies. The largest 3D map ever created. And buried in that data? A whisper that dark energy might not be constant after all. It might be evolving.
Evolving.
I hosted Eric Weinstein last week, and something clicked. We’ve been teaching cosmology like it’s settled science. Like we understand 95% of the universe we can’t even see. The hubris is staggering.
Think about what we tell students: “In 1998, we discovered the universe is accelerating. Therefore, dark energy exists.” We draw neat diagrams. We write equations. We pretend we understand something that comprises 68% of everything.
But DESI’s preliminary data suggests dark energy might be weakening over time. If confirmed, this doesn’t just tweak our models — it shatters them. The cosmological constant isn’t constant. Einstein’s “greatest blunder” might need another revision.
Here’s what I’m changing: I’ll teach uncertainty as a feature, not a bug. When students ask about dark energy, I’ll say, “We don’t know.” Not “we’re still learning” or “it’s complicated.” Just: we don’t know.
Because admitting ignorance is where real science begins.
Weinstein talks about “official science” versus actual discovery. Official science says dark energy is lambda. Actual discovery says: hold on, let’s look at these error bars again. Let’s question everything.
My students deserve better than false certainty. They deserve the thrill of standing at the edge of knowledge, staring into the void, knowing that the biggest discoveries come from admitting what we don’t understand.
Dark energy isn’t a answered question. It’s an invitation to revolution. And I’ll teach it that way.
The universe is stranger than we imagine.
Thank God. It means I’ll have full employment for life!
Until next time, have a M.A.G.I.C. Week,
Brian
Appearance
New artwork and new music for our new recognition! Into the Impossible was just ranked one of the Top 25 Physics Podcasts on the web by MillionPodcasts.
Their list is the most comprehensive ranking of physics shows online — and they say we’re among the best.
Read the full list here: millionpodcasts.com/physics-podcasts .
P.S. we have a new theme song for the Judging Books by their Covers section. Listen here.
Genius
A superhuman vision upgrade that’s totally genius. Scientists have developed wearable contact lenses that enable humans to see near-infrared (NIR) light — a spectrum normally invisible to the naked eye. These upconversion contact lenses (UCLs) are flexible, transparent, and biocompatible.
In tests, both mice and humans wearing UCLs could perceive spatial and temporal patterns in NIR, enabling decision-making based on infrared cues. Most remarkably, trichromatic UCLs (tUCLs) allowed humans to distinguish different NIR wavelengths as color, effectively creating a form of infrared color vision. This breakthrough opens the door to non-invasive NIR perception, with potential applications in communication, augmented reality, and human sensory enhancement.
Would you wear them?
Image
A new trans-Neptunian object, 2017 OF201, has been discovered at the solar system’s edge by Sihao Cheng and colleagues. With an extreme orbit taking 25,000 years to complete and a possible diameter of 700 km, it may qualify as a dwarf planet, like Pluto.
Found using archived data and advanced algorithms, it challenges assumptions about the Kuiper Belt’s emptiness and may reshape theories about Planet Nine and solar system structure. Pair this with my conversation with the discoverer of the original 3 dwarfs, Prof Mike Brown.
Conversation
In this explosive UCSD 2025 lecture, Eric unveils a radical update to his “Geometric Unity” theory — a bold attempt to solve the biggest mysteries in physics, from dark energy to the cosmological constant.
Why have decades of scientific effort failed to crack the code of reality? Are we marooned by old ideas, or poised at the edge of a revolutionary breakthrough?
Get the transcript and AI interactive content from this episode here
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By popular demand, and for my mental health 😳, I am starting a paid “Office Hours” where you all can connect with me for the low price of $19.99 per hour. This coming Friday 5/30 is the next installment!
I get a lot of requests for coffee, to meet with folks one on one, to read people’s Theories of Everything etc. Due to extreme work overload, I’m only able to engage directly with supporters who show an ongoing commitment to dialogue — which is why I host a monthly Zoom session exclusively for patrons in the $19.99/month tier.
It’s also available for paid Members of my Youtube channel at the Cosmic Office Hours level (also $19.99/month). Join here and see you in my office hours!
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By popular demand, and for my mental health 😳, I am starting a paid “Office Hours” where you all can connect with me for the low price of $19.99 per hour. This coming Friday 5/30 is the next installment!
I get a lot of requests for coffee, to meet with folks one on one, to read people’s Theories of Everything etc. Due to extreme work overload, I’m only able to engage directly with supporters who show an ongoing commitment to dialogue — which is why I host a monthly Zoom session exclusively for patrons in the $19.99/month tier.
It’s also available for paid Members of my Youtube channel at the Cosmic Office Hours level (also $19.99/month). Join here and see you in my office hours!
Upcoming Episode
Upcoming guest Adam Becker will be on The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast soon. He’s the author of What Is Real?, a brilliant exploration of the quantum foundations debate — and one of the most articulate defenders of the view that science is more than just equations. He’s also a physicist and philosopher who isn’t afraid to challenge orthodoxy. What would you like me to ask him?
