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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		How astrophysicists explore the uncharted universe
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:04
	Publish Date:		2016-02-29 00:00:00
	Description:		In the last two decades, astrophysicist David Schlegel of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has explored the uncharted universe via space mapping. Using special imaging cameras, his team is creating the largest possible map of the sky to study a mysterious force called dark energy. "I like to call myself one of the world leading experts on dark energy, which is – it’s easy to be because we know so little about it. We’re not just mapping dark energy directly, but we’re really just mapping its effects on the size of the universe." Einstein’s theory of gravity suggests the universe’s expansion should gradually decelerate. But it seems that dark energy is beating out dark matter, a particle believed to slow this expansion. Schlegel’s team will use their map for the DESI project, or Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. "And what DESI will be doing is it will be taking these two-dimensional maps of the sky and then turning that into a three-dimensional map."
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