Artwork by Sandbox Studio, Chicago

The contents of the universe

08/09/16

By Amanda Solliday

How do scientists know what percentages of the universe are made up of dark matter and dark energy?

Cosmologist Risa Wechsler of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology explains.

Have a burning question about particle physics? Let us know via email or Twitter (using the hashtag #AskSymmetry). We might answer you in a future video!

You can watch a playlist of the #AskSymmetry videos here. You can see Risa Wechsler's answers to readers' questions about dark matter and dark energy on Twitter here.

popular on symmetry

How to grow a universe – just add a supercomputer

07/18/12

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope nears final design phase

02/01/12

Calculating the universe

12/20/11

U.S. ships world’s largest digital camera to Chile

10/04/11

Astronomers win Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the accelerating expansion of the universe

05/01/11

Dark Energy Camera goes to Chile

Doing big science takes big effort and big cooperation.

04/16/11

Dark Energy Camera ready for shipping to Chile

02/01/11

The LSST's supersized sweep of the sky

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will plumb a bigger volume of the universe than any survey before it, isn't just a challenge for astronomers.

View full archive