A new study from the University of Ottawa is shaking up our understanding of the universe. Professor Rajendra Gupta suggests that dark matter and dark energy might not exist at all — instead, the forces of nature themselves are slowly weakening as the universe expands.

This idea could explain cosmic mysteries — like why galaxies spin so fast or why the universe is expanding so rapidly — without invoking any unknown particles. Published in Galaxies, the research even suggests the universe may be nearly twice as old as we thought.

If true, this theory could mean that decades of dark matter searches have been chasing a mirage — and that the key to the cosmos lies in the changing fabric of physics itself.