A new study suggests galaxies in the early universe appear much larger and brighter than expected, precisely as predicted by modified Newtonian dynamics, or MOND.

The standard model for how galaxies formed in the early universe predicted that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would see dim signals from small, primitive galaxies. But data are not confirming the popular hypothesis that invisible dark matter helped the earliest stars and galaxies clump together.

Dark matter is an essential element of galaxy formation and physics, according to the standard theory of how the universe formed, but a new study suggests that might not be the case.