# Brian Schmidt on Reddit (u/Schmidt_and_Francis)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/brian-schmidt

Brian Schmidt: Astrophysicist, 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

- Reddit account: [u/Schmidt_and_Francis](https://www.reddit.com/user/Schmidt_and_Francis/) (Shared account; Shared with fellow astronomer Paul Francis for their 2015 r/askscience AMA. Only Schmidt's own answers are quoted.)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2015 r/askscience AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3u3ijv/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/askscience (69)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2015 to 2015
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Schmidt

## Moments

### u/Schmidt_and_Francis in r/askscience, Nov 24, 2015 · Behind the scenes

Replying to a redditor:

> Hi, Thanks for doing this AMA.. Brain, What led you and your team to discover Dark Energy? And how has that helped understanding what's happening in the universe?

> We were trying to measure how the Universe was slowing down (its expansion - where everything in the Universe moves away from everything else) over time - Predicted by General Relativity - instead we found the Universe was speeding up - that is - things were moving apart more and more quickly over time. Einstein, in 1917 realised that if there was energy that was spread through out space - it could cause the Universe to accelerate. It is still our best (and only viable) explanation of the Universe's acceleration.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3u3ijv/comment/cxbut5l/ · 13 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/Schmidt_and_Francis in r/askscience, Nov 24, 2015 · Behind the scenes

Replying to a redditor:

> Which supernovas are cooler, type Ia or type II? edit: I don't mean temperature-wise

> I love both - Ia's gave me Nobel Prize, and Type II's gave me my PhD thesis.
> Ia's are the more spectacular explosions - but type IIs make the Carbon and Oxygen that allow us to exist...

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3u3ijv/comment/cxbxj63/ · 5 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/Schmidt_and_Francis in r/askscience, Nov 24, 2015 · Personal story

Replying to a redditor:

> How far back, if at all, did the bush fire which gutted the telescopes at Mt. Stromlow Observatory set back your work?

> So we burned to the ground on 18 January 2003 - See for example http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/0405/images/0405feature4.jpg
> Paul and I were part of a project to map the southern sky - (we started on 1 January 2013) - We would have completed the survey in 2008 -
> We are starting the survey again (started last year) - and while it will be better than what we were going to do back then - we are 10 years behind.
> So I think I lost several years equivalent of my scientific career - but that which does not destroy you makes you stronger!

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3u3ijv/comment/cxbvy1x/ · 5 points as of Nov 7, 2026