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None of this reflects on the actual facts of dark matter. Dreaded Anomaly Send a noteboard - 29/04/2011 01:32:52 AM
Most of the Holy Grails in particle physics do at least allow proof of their existence, however; most definitions I've seen for dark matter and dark energy (which mainly seems an explanation for dark matter not covering all the bases either) seem to make them unverifiable by definition (if not as badly as my favorite such example: Branes).


Most definitions for dark matter and dark energy do not make them unverifiable by definition. If that were the case, there wouldn't be over a dozen experiments trying to detect dark matter. I'm not sure why you think otherwise, but a statement like the one you made, offered with no support, lacks credibility.

Also, dark matter and dark energy deal with completely different phenomena and evidence. Dark energy has to do with the accelerating expansion of the universe, and as the video describes, we know less about it than we do about dark matter. This is because the observations that indicate its presence are much newer.

A modification of an existing theory. Maybe I'm being a little semantic here, but it doesn't seem like a revision on the order of what Relativity did to Classical Mechanics. Most of my objection really boils down to giving it that kind of gravitas; there's no reason all or even most normal matter must reflect or emit energy visible from Earth, and good reason to think most of it doesn't. If by dark matter and dark energy we simply mean normal matter and energy we can't observe or haven't, sure, I'm on board with that, but if we're talking about some exotic and unprecedented form of matter or energy I'm not convinced of the need or evidence.


Have you done extensive research into the actual state of the field and the various forms that the evidence takes? If not, that sounds like a problem with you, not a problem with the evidence.

It probably wouldn't be, and given a choice I'd prefer dark matter, but positing it as matter we can't see because it's too far away from us and/or any energy source makes a lot more sense to me than positing it as matter that literally cannot be seen, by us or anyone.


Some particles do not interact electromagnetically, which means those particles can't be "seen." We already have examples of such particles: neutrinos. Positing more such particles, given the actual state of the evidence (not just your (lack of) understanding of it), seems well-justified. No one has concluded yet that any specific such particle actually exists, because we haven't had direct detections. I'm not sure why you're so against physicists doing research in the most likely avenues. Do you think that you understand the field better than people who have spent decades studying it?
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Exciting video about the universe - 28/04/2011 10:14:55 AM 1046 Views
Cool, and true *NM* - 28/04/2011 11:46:29 AM 311 Views
I still think dark matter's just non-luminous matter without a convenient light source to reflect. - 28/04/2011 10:34:21 PM 781 Views
We've just about ruled out the idea that dark matter is just non-luminous "ordinary" matter. - 28/04/2011 11:44:34 PM 709 Views
I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 29/04/2011 01:52:49 AM 646 Views
Re: I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 29/04/2011 02:56:32 AM 752 Views
Re: I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 30/04/2011 05:02:49 PM 712 Views
Re: I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 30/04/2011 08:56:35 PM 583 Views
Re: I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 02/05/2011 01:28:30 AM 617 Views
Re: I'm aware of the Bullet Cluster, though admittedly not much more than that. - 04/05/2011 04:18:18 AM 719 Views
There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 07/05/2011 02:04:53 AM 794 Views
Re: There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 09/05/2011 11:28:48 PM 628 Views
Re: There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 14/05/2011 05:36:45 AM 574 Views
Re: There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 17/05/2011 02:09:40 AM 670 Views
Re: There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 19/05/2011 04:55:21 AM 589 Views
Re: There's such a thing as knowing when you're licked, and I believe I am. - 24/05/2011 09:32:27 PM 665 Views
The Pati-Salam model was the one I had in mind. - 24/05/2011 10:34:04 PM 609 Views
Re: The Pati-Salam model was the one I had in mind. - 24/05/2011 11:08:01 PM 817 Views
Re: The Pati-Salam model was the one I had in mind. - 25/05/2011 01:27:10 AM 627 Views
Re: The Pati-Salam model was the one I had in mind. - 31/05/2011 09:16:18 AM 696 Views
Also, re: lensing from ordinary matter: - 29/04/2011 05:18:47 AM 637 Views
This seems like another example of what confuses the issue. - 30/04/2011 05:25:04 PM 726 Views
Re: This seems like another example of what confuses the issue. - 30/04/2011 08:56:40 PM 735 Views
That discussion seems to reduce to "as little new and exotic physics as possible". - 02/05/2011 01:29:03 AM 733 Views
Re: I still think... (apparently, there is a 100 character limit on subjects, and yours was 99) - 28/04/2011 11:57:15 PM 949 Views
Seems to happen to me a lot; sorry. - 29/04/2011 12:56:14 AM 654 Views
None of this reflects on the actual facts of dark matter. - 29/04/2011 01:32:52 AM 623 Views
I concede my grasp (or grope) is a somewhat superficial laymans, yes. - 30/04/2011 04:30:28 PM 748 Views
Re: I concede my grasp (or grope) is a somewhat superficial laymans, yes. - 30/04/2011 08:56:44 PM 579 Views
Re: I concede my grasp (or grope) is a somewhat superficial laymans, yes. - 02/05/2011 01:28:58 AM 1092 Views
Re: I concede my grasp (or grope) is a somewhat superficial laymans, yes. - 04/05/2011 04:18:27 AM 622 Views
I don't object to changing my mind, but can take more convincing than I really should. - 07/05/2011 02:05:09 AM 814 Views
Re: I don't object to changing my mind, but can take more convincing than I really should. - 09/05/2011 11:32:17 PM 734 Views

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