On this day in physics: On 13 January 1864, we celebrate the birthday of Wilhelm Wien, known for his work on blackbody radiation and the Wein Displacement Law which was his namesake. (More on this tomorrow. I was going to do black body radiation today but we're on a roll with the matter, dark matter, dark energy.)
Word of the Day: So now that we've covered Matter, and Dark Matter, we might as well finish up the puzzle with Dark Energy. The universe: 5% Dark Matter, 25% Dark Matter, 70% Dark Energy. So what the heck is it?? Again, we don't really know. But Dark Energy is what scientists currently attribute to be the cause of our expanding universe. Not only is the universe expanding, but it's expanding faster every day, which means the expansion is accelerating. Currently, the cause of this acceleration, Dark Energy. And we can't see it. And it makes up 70% of our universe. Go figure.
Killer Resource: Hyperphysics Article about Dark Energy If you want to dig a little deeper on dark energy, this is the place to start. Hyperphysics is so great.
Keywords: Dark Energy, Universe, Expansion, Black Body, Radiation.
