---
title: "Bizarre New Data Suggests That Dark Energy Is Getting Stronger"
description: "Strange new observations from distant quasars suggest that dark energy could be getting stronger as the universe gets older."
date: "2019-01-31"
modified: "2019-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dark-energy-getting-stronger"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Black holes"
  - "dark energy"
  - "quasars"
  - "the digest"
---

# Bizarre New Data Suggests That Dark Energy Is Getting Stronger

![Strange new observations from distant quasars suggest that dark energy could be getting stronger as the universe gets older.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/bizarre-new-data-dark-energy-stronger.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Dark Energy

Physicists have long assumed that the mysterious force they call dark energy was a constant. But now, strange new observations from quasars suggest that it could be getting stronger over time.

"We observed quasars back to just a billion years after the Big Bang, and found that the universe's expansion rate up to the present day was faster than we expected," University of Florence researcher Guido Risaliti said in a [press release](<http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/19_releases/press_012919.html>). "This could mean dark energy is getting stronger as the cosmos grows older."

## Quasars From Afar

Risaliti and a colleague at Durham University laid out the provocative observations in a [new paper](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0657-z.epdf>) published in the prestigious journal *Nature Astronomy.* The duo examined x-ray and ultraviolet data from telescopes pointed at nearly two thousand quasars, which are huge black holes that spit out epic beams of energy.

What they found was surprising. The new readings indicate that objects in the universe aren't just moving farther apart, but are doing so at a quickening pace. According to the researchers, this suggests that dark energy is getting stronger as the universe ages.

## New Physics

Risaliti thinks the implications are profound — and could herald a new understanding of the physics that explain the universe.

"Some scientists suggested that new physics might be needed to explain this discrepancy, including the possibility that dark energy is growing in strength," Risaliti said in the same release. "Our new results agree with this suggestion."

**READ MORE:** [Dark Energy Gets Weirder: Mysterious Force May Vary Over Time](<https://www.space.com/43166-dark-energy-increasing-time-quasars.html>) \[*Space*\]

***More on the universe:*** [New Theory: The Universe Is a Bubble, Inflated by Dark Energy](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-theory-universe-bubble-inflated-dark-energy>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)