Science advances by proposing ideas and then trying to prove them wrong. This process becomes especially challenging when dealing with the Universe on its largest scales. Dark energy and dark matter are among the most difficult concepts to test. Observations across vast regions of space clearly suggest that something is influencing gravity in ways Einstein's theory does not fully explain. Yet within our own solar system, everything appears to behave exactly as expected. A new study by Slava Turyshev, a physicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explores how researchers might address this mismatch. His work suggests that the key may lie in being extremely precise and selective in how experiments are designed to search for signs of dark energy and dark matter closer to home. The "Great Disconnect" Between Cosmic and Local Physics At the center of the problem is what scientists call the "Great Disconnect." The laws of physics seem to operate differently depending on the scale being observed.…