New Theories of the Universe

Since the 1970s we have understood the world through the lens of the Standard Model and its account of the forces and particles that make up the universe. The theory correctly predicted the discovery of quarks, force particles and most recently the Higgs boson. But a series of deep puzzles have emerged. The theory does not explain gravity, dark energy or dark matter. The quest for supersymmettry and a theory of everything to simplify the Standard Model's random complexity has failed. And now, even more significantly, a new force has been discovered throwing the whole theory into question.

Can the Standard Model be modified to answer the increasing number of challenges it faces? Or is the Standard Model fatally flawed - and time for the next great paradigm shift to a radically different account of the universe? Alternatively, should we conclude that all theories have limitations and not worry about the flaws, however profound they might be?

CERN research scientist Sam Henry, author and theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder and philosopher of science Bjørn Ekeberg challenge each others new theories of the universe.