**Dr. Licia Verde** explains what the large-scale universe consists of. Included in the discussion are dark matter and dark energy, the expansion of the universe and the acceleration of the expansion. Dr. Verde explains how astrophysicists are investigating these mysteries and how they do these investigations.
Dr. Licia Verde is an astrophysicist with interest in cosmology. Her research topics include theoretical cosmology, cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, galaxy clusters, statistical applications and data analysis. Dr. Verde is interested in the study of the large-scale structure of the Universe and in the analysis of galaxy surveys.