In Touch with the Unknown: When the Universe Doesn’t Add Up

Science advances not only when observations confirm what we expect, but also when nature appears to disagree with our theories. Some of the biggest discoveries in physics have begun with an unexpected measurement, an unexplained discrepancy or an observation that simply did not fit the prevailing picture.

From landmark discoveries at the LHC, including the Higgs boson, to the unexpected observation that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, physicists are probing the Universe across vastly different scales — and encountering questions that remain stubbornly unanswered. What is dark matter? What is driving the accelerated expansion of the Universe? Are there particles or forces still waiting to be discovered? And when an experiment produces an unexpected result, how do scientists decide whether they are seeing new physics, an imperfect theory, or simply a statistical fluctuation?

Particle physicist Harry Cliff, Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Brian Schmidt, and other experts come together to explore what happens when the Universe refuses to behave as expected. Moving from the smallest known particles to the largest structures in the cosmos, they will discuss the observations that have transformed our understanding of nature, the mysteries that remain, and the very human experience of working at the edge of knowledge — where uncertainty, doubt and surprise are not obstacles to science, but often the beginning of discovery.