Overview

• Researchers report in Physical Review Letters on August 21 that a cosmologically coupled black hole model fits recent DESI observations alongside cosmic microwave background data.
• The model proposes that when stars collapse, black holes convert some infalling matter into dark energy, causing the dark energy density to evolve in step with the cosmic star‑formation history.
• Applying this framework to DESI results resolves a matter‑budget tension by restoring positive neutrino masses consistent with terrestrial measurements.
• DESI’s international, Department of Energy–managed survey of millions of galaxies supplied the precision large‑scale structure data needed to test the model.
• Authors describe the findings as promising but provisional and call for independent checks and future DESI data to validate or refute the hypothesis.