2011 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess for discovering that the universe's expansion is accelerating. Using telescopes to observe distant supernovae, they found that these explosions appeared dimmer than expected, indicating the universe is expanding faster over time. This surprising finding led to the concept of dark energy—a mysterious force driving cosmic acceleration. Their work fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe's fate, highlighting that most of its content is made up of this unknown energy.