The Hunt for Dark Energy

This is actually a rather good overview in layman's language regarding what dark energy is and the hunt for it. It also does a public service by differentiating dark energy from dark matter at the very end. It is certainly less "taxing", but if one is more inclined to read about this in greater detail and still keep it at the pedestrian level, one would also try this review of dark energy and dark matter.

Zz.