For 40 years, Wendy Freedman has been studying the secrets of the universe, specifically the expansion of the universe. She focuses on finding the value of the Hubble constant, which represents how fast the universe is accelerating in its expansion.
The concept of the expanding universe was discovered by astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1929. He found that objects farther away from us appeared to be moving away faster. However, accurately measuring the expansion requires precise astronomical distance measurements.
In the 1980s, digital photography revolutionized astronomy and allowed for more accurate measurements of the Hubble constant. This led to the development of the Hubble tension, where different methods of measuring the constant produce conflicting values.
However, Freedman’s newest results suggest that there may not actually be a problem with the measurements. This would invalidate decades of work exploring new physics to explain the discrepancy. Despite the potential controversy, Freedman is not afraid to challenge the current understanding.
