Euclid’s tension
ESA’s Euclid, about to join JWST at L2 (1) may usher in a quantum jump in data that may provide higher insights into why the standard model is failing. But one has to ask if technology can really backfill the apparent lack of imagination. Astrophysics has been successful in enveloping observations with mathematics with a plethora of fudge factors and hand waving. Those less adept may wonder if we are on the right track. The most famous fudge factor of all, the cosmological constant, invented by Einstein to keep the universe flat, has come back to haunt humanity. Einstein did not need any technology to attempt something that cannot be invalidated by engineers and scientists for over a century using fancy technology.
Such is the power of imagination that mistakes add more value than reams of streaming data. Such is the power of abstract ideas that utility of engineering simply vanishes. Raw intellect trumps machines, empathy dominates policy, artists maximize what the scientists cannot optimize, experiments only succeed till replication is demanded, and knowledge fails to explain anything.
Then, there is dark matter and energy, unknowns that comprise 96% of the “known universe.” Peaking into deep space is useful, at least we get pretty pictures and more data. But is it likely to advance knowledge, it appears unlikely. But then some may say, Science is a process and not an outcome. Incrementalism is the bane of humanity. If something does not work, it is likely better to throw the theory out and start over rather than trying to fix it by using more data.
The tension is tangible. The larger question is whether the answer is knowable. I doubt it.