A very dark matter for life...

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
You and your sensationalist headlines! Anything that calls itself Scientific and asks me a question in the title is immediately ignored.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
You and your sensationalist headlines! Anything that calls itself Scientific and asks me a question in the title is immediately ignored.
They have to sell their article man! And besides, the source is not exacly National Enquirer... And as for sensationalism, mass extinction cataclysms are not exacly discreet events, are they?
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I don't see what is remotely controversial about the notion that there is cold matter in space that we can't see, because it isn't in or near a star. It seems intuitively obvious to me that is exactly what you would expect. Stars are a "rare" form of matter in the universe and most matter is just random dirt, aka dark matter.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
I don't see what is remotely controversial about the notion that there is cold matter in space that we can't see, because it isn't in or near a star. It seems intuitively obvious to me that is exactly what you would expect. Stars are a "rare" form of matter in the universe and most matter is just random dirt, aka dark matter.
A valid objection... except that the 85% of the matter in the universe that is "missing" is definitely not dirt, nor even gas... if it were, astronomers would've found it already a long time ago. No one knows yet what dark matter is, but there are several theories, ranging all the way from the natural energy density of space, to shape-shifting neutrinos.
Here's a very interesting article on the latest developments. And here's a different one regarding dark energy.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Sorry, I was way off. Dark matter is not thought to be "regular"matter at all, as I was ranting about. I guess we wouldn't know it if we saw it. o_O
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
My guess would be our theory of gravity is not correct and 'Dark' is just the current fudge factor to make it work, made from unbelievium an isotope of unobtainium.
 
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Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
My guess would be our theory of gravity is not correct and 'Dark' is just the current fudge factor to make it work made from unbelievium an isotope of unobtainium.
Good observation... I don't think we've seen all there is to know about gravity either. We only know its effects, but we do not know the why it does what it does. Now, if we could only find some understandium maybe we'd get a better grasp on this conundrum... Hell... I think I'll settle for a little beeranzite for the time being... ;)
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
There is an old book, a sci fi story, Neuton and the Quasi Apple. It talks about the fact that there could be other forms of matter that are stable, and would apparently violate the laws of physics as we now understand them. I've always suspected dark matter falls under this catagory.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
There is an old book, a sci fi story, Neuton and the Quasi Apple. It talks about the fact that there could be other forms of matter that are stable, and would apparently violate the laws of physics as we now understand them. I've always suspected dark matter falls under this catagory.
And if you like reading hard-core sci-fi, I'd suggest Ring by Stephen Baxter... it is well narrated, and explores the mind-blowing possibilities of dark matter.
Other excellent sci-fi books (though not related to dark matter) are Eon, by Greg Bear, and The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I've read out of 3 of those. I've finally gotten rid of my 40+ banker boxes of sci fi books, a 50 year collection.

Prachett has never been my cup of tea.
 

Glenn Holland

Joined Dec 26, 2014
703
I've read out of 3 of those. I've finally gotten rid of my 40+ banker boxes of sci fi books, a 50 year collection.

Prachett has never been my cup of tea.
Maybe you should have sold them on EBay.

50 year old books are probably worth something more than just their value for paper recycling.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
Good observation... I don't think we've seen all there is to know about gravity either. We only know its effects, but we do not know the why it does what it does. Now, if we could only find some understandium maybe we'd get a better grasp on this conundrum... Hell... I think I'll settle for a little beeranzite for the time being... ;)
The universe would be much more interesting if there was symmetrical (anti)gravity. Maybe what we think is additional 'Dark' mass is really the observed effect of a repulsive gravity effect on spacetime. We have the expansion of the universe as a positive and gravity as a negative. The universe is expanding and spacetime is not just empty nothing but is a quantum vacuum with antiparticles with possible opposite gravitational charge.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.3611v2.pdf
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
The universe would be much more interesting if there was symmetrical (anti)gravity. Maybe what we think is additional 'Dark' mass is really the observed effect of a repulsive gravity effect on spacetime. We have the expansion of the universe as a positive and gravity as a negative. The universe is expanding and spacetime is not just empty nothing but is a quantum vacuum with antiparticles with possible opposite gravitational charge.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.3611v2.pdf
I remember years ago an astrophysicist saying that the most important discoveries had already been made, and that now the job science was to simply improve and "fine tune" on all the knowledge that had already been acquired... oh he was so wrong...
 
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