[Eddie01]

Dark matter is matter traveling faster than the speed of light.

you’re welcome.

[Jim Noble]

perhaps there is more matter than meets the eye, matter that we cannot see, dark matter

Perhaps there is. Perhaps there isn't.

The state of the evidence is such that using the term "denies" is very concerning - it's the job of investigators to relentlessly attack unproven hypotheticals. That's not denial - that's science.

[blueunicorn6]

So, if you can’t explain something, just say it’s because of Dark Matter.

“Sir, you were doing 50 in a 25 zone.”

“That may be so, Officer, but it’s because of Dark Matter!”

Or

“These aren’t my underwear! Where did they come from?”

“Those are from Dark Matter, honey.”

[BwanaNdege]

Thanks for posting!

Mentally (and emotionally) I’ve tended to lump Dark Matter/Dark Energy in with Multiverse Theory - ‘Fudge Factors’ like Einstein’s ‘Cosmological Constant’.

Too bad I didn’t know about the Cosmological Constant back in the 10th grade when I couldn’t get my Geometry Theorems to work out properly!

MOND looks interesting - have to do a bid of reading up on it.

Thanks again!

[expat2]

Nice article, well written, good post.

[DesertRhino]

Oh, dark matter. That’s the stuff that an equation says -must- exist and must be MOST of the universe. We look for it and cant find it. We cant see it, locate it, or describe it. It simply isn’t there. So instead of wondering if the science behind the equation is wrong... we conclude its invisible.

And that folks, is physics today.
It would be like having a educated guess that your friend is standing by third base in Yankee Stadium. You go there and cannot find him. Instead of going back over the clues that made you think he was there, you conclude he is invisible. You angrily berate anyone who tells you he isn’t there.

[xp38]

Dark Matter Matters!

[zeugma]

I've long thought that the theories surrounding 'dark' matter and energy were just handwaving by physicists and astronomers who were unwilling to utter the phrase "we don't know". I think what is much more likely than some mysterious 'dark' matter that can't be seen, is that there is something fundamental that our modern theories of cosmology are overlooking.

[SolidRedState]

Dark Matter / Dark Energy theory is akin to ...

1 + 2 + god particle + something else / another thing = 12

In other words, junk.

[zeugma]

What struck me was some regularity in the anomaly. The rotational velocities were not just larger than expected, they became constant with radius. Why? Sure, if there was dark matter, the speed of stars would be greater, but the rotation curves, meaning the rotational speed drawn as a function of the radius, could still go up and down depending on its distribution. But they didn’t. That really struck me as odd. So, in 1980, I went on my Sabbatical in the Institute for Advance Studies in Princeton with the following hunch: If the rotational speeds are constant, then perhaps we’re looking at a new law of nature. If Newtonian physics can’t predict the fixed curves, perhaps we should fix Newton, instead of making up a whole new class of matter just to fit our measurements.

---

The above is the key to this whole thing. I don't think the dark matter folks can really explain the regularity.

[bgill]

I tried denying the obamas for 8 years.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

In high school, if the math does not work until you add in something make believe, your answer is probably wrong.

Apparently if you apply that logic to the real universe you get called names.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Good post!

[mjp]

his theory that fixes Newtonian physics instead of postulating the existence of dark matter and dark energy

seems like changing the math would be preferable to multiplying the existence of non-observable entities beyond necessity

[mlo]

Bookmark for later. I would not be surprised if it ultimately turns out that dark matter was a mistake.

[Zeneta]

Science,

We don’t need no freaking Science to prove our reality today.

“Dark matter/energy”, is exactly that. Dark, unknown and undiscoverable.

The secularist like it this way.