My tattoo artist (because of course that’s where all great philosophical conversations happen) told me to listen to a podcast called StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
In one episode, a cosmologist explains something called the Hubble Crisis.

My first thought? Hubba Bubba gum.
And honestly, that’s not too far of because both gum and the universe expand.

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So… what’s this “crisis” about?

In simple terms: scientists are trying to figure out how fast the universe is expanding.
They’ve come up with two different answers and they don’t match.

Imagine checking your car’s speed:

• Your dashboard says 65 mph.
• A radar gun aimed at you says 70 mph.
  Now, imagine instead of your car, it’s the entire universe that’s speeding away and scientists can’t agree on how fast. That’s the Hubble Crisis.

There are two main ways they measure this “cosmic speed”:

1. Old Light Method (Early Universe): They look at ancient light left over from the Big Bang, the “baby photo” of the universe, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background.
2. New Light Method (Modern Universe): They study nearby galaxies and certain super bright stars (called standard candles) to see how fast space is stretching right now.

Both teams should’ve gotten the same number.
They didn’t.

The “early universe” team says one speed, the “modern universe” team says another. The difference? About 7%.

Seven percent! That’s like ordering a pizza and getting seven percent of it missing. Technically it’s “small,” but also…where’s my slice?

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Why is this a big deal?

Because the universe is supposed to be predictable. Our equations—Einstein’s, Newton’s, all the big cosmic math depend on it.
If the expansion rate is off, it could mean something’s missing in our understanding of how the universe even works.

That missing piece might be:

• A new kind of particle we’ve never discovered.
• Dark energy (that mysterious force pushing everything apart) not behaving the way we think.
• Or, let’s be honest, maybe the universe is just trolling us.

Scientists call this “new physics.”

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Why is this so fascinating?
Because it opens up entire new frontiers of research. If scientists can figure out what’s behind this tiny, but mighty discrepancy, it could mean we’ve just uncovered something entirely new about the universe. Maybe a new force, a new kind of particle, or even a new way to think about space and time itself.

And that’s what keeps me hooked: the idea that every mystery we solve doesn’t close a door—it cracks open a thousand more.

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The Cosmic Cheat Sheet (for when your brain starts floating away)

Hubble Constant:
The number that tells us how fast the universe is expanding. Think of it as the “cosmic speed limit.”

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB):
The afterglow of the Big Bang. Basically, baby pictures of the universe in fuzzy static form.

Standard Candles:
Stars so well understood that scientists use them as “light yardsticks” to measure distance…like cosmic tape measures that glow.

Dark Energy:
The invisible force that’s pushing galaxies apart faster and faster. No one knows what it is. Might be the universe’s version of caffeine.

^ This version of this song makes me feel like I’m floating out in deep space. Will you join me? ❤