Dark energy and flat Universe exposed by simple method

BBC News ^ | 11/24/10 | BBC

[NormsRevenge]

Researchers have developed a simple technique that adds evidence to the theory that the Universe is flat.

Moreover, the method - developed by revisiting a 30-year-old idea - confirms that "dark energy" makes up nearly three-quarters of the Universe.

The research, published in Nature, uses existing data and relies on fewer assumptions than current approaches.

Author Christian Marinoni says the idea turns estimating the Universe's shape into "primary school" geometry.

While the idea of the Earth being flat preoccupied explorers centuries ago, the question of whether the Universe itself is flat remains a debatable topic.

The degree to which the Universe is curved has an effect on what astronomers see when they look into the cosmos.

A telescope on or near Earth may see an image of a celestial object differently from how the object actually looks, because the very fabric of space and time bends the light coming from it.

Christian Marinoni and Adeline Buzzi of the University of Provence have made use of this phenomenon in their technique.

...

Circular reasoning

The technique used in this study was first proposed in 1979 by researchers at the universities of Princeton and Berkeley in the US.

It relies on measuring the degree to which images of far-flung astronomical objects are a distortion of their real appearance. The authors originally suggested a spherical object would work.

[UCANSEE2]

If the universe is flat, does it sit on the back of a turtle?

Assuming turtles are flat, then yes.

[upchuck]

“dark energy” - powering nobama, reid and pelosi since at least 2008.

[UCANSEE2]

I LIKE SIMPLE!

[onedoug]

Though now we know that neutrinos are there. Quark or string level for dark matter?

[married21]

Wow. Disk World is real after all?

[The Comedian]

"Space Energy/Solar Weirdness" ping.

Ping list dealing with odd space phenomena and solar events.

FReepmail me if you want on or off

The Comedian's "Space Energy/Solar Weirdness" ping list...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[The_Reader_David]

Why? For the usual reason one posits an unobserved entity in science—to explain things one observes which the observed entities and laws do not explain.

Personally, I suspect once one gets the quantum theory of gravity right (no, string theory isn’t it) the “need” for ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ go away.

[zeugma]

What type of fabric is space and time made of? Is it washable, or should it be dry cleaned?

Absolutely dry-clean only. Just imagine how bad it could get with shrinkage!

[Cicero]

“It’s turtles all the way down.”

[UCANSEE2]

Watch out for the moths. They’re the ones that leave all the ‘black holes’.

[UCANSEE2]

They still don’t know, do they?

"Ya got that right, doc."

[UCANSEE2]

How many neutrinos do you see fly through your eyeballs each day?

Is one day like, just during the day? Or is it, like, uh, day and night together ?

[The Cajun]

You do realize that you’re missing a “Bristol Palin dancing with Mormons at a TSA check point while a Missile and or airplane flies overhead” thread by reading this science thread!!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks The Comedian.

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[B4Ranch]

I’ll never forget how deeply I recognized this statement to be the truth.

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.” Mark Twain

Consequently, I simultaneously became a doubter and a believer in almost everything until I had time to prove it to myself.

[Southack]

“Dark Matter” is a mathematical construct...it doesn’t actually exist. All that DM “explains” is why the universe expands at a faster rate each year.

Of course, the reality is that DM isn’t why the universe is expanding faster at all. It can’t explain it. Dark Matter doesn’t exist.

[reagan_fanatic]

What type of fabric is space and time made of? Is it washable, or should it be dry cleaned?

All I know is, if I get ketchup on it I'll catch hell from the Wife.

[Rum Tum Tugger]

It’s my understanding that the latest theory is that the universe is a bubble shaped like a mattress, and that it’s one of an infinite number of universes.

[LomanBill]

[Why can´t we sample this ¨dark energy¨ directly as it´s supposed to be everywhere?]

 

Maybe because it's not uniformly distributed.   Think of the way salt crystals form within a solution, for example.   The energy constituting the universe is similarly lumpy -   both visible and not-so-visible.

 

That hypothesized invisible lumpiness is consistent with observable evidence for dark matter/energy ala gravitational lensing.

 

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=gravitational+lensing+dark+matter

 

 

Consider also the issue of a conception of "dark matter" as being in a form equivalent to the matter we're used to interacting with. It's not.

 

Dark Mass would be more accurate than dark matter.

 

Presuming that matter is merely energy in a locally organized state, we can explain "dark" matter as localized energy where E is insufficient to manifest the strong forces required to form "normal" visible matter - but where the Mass associated with E is still present nonetheless.

 

Thus the effect of gravitational lensing produced by Mass that is essentially invisible.

 

 

[Right_Wing_Madman]

Moreover, the method - developed by revisiting a 30-year-old idea - confirms that "dark energy" makes up nearly three-quarters of the Universe.

So that's where my car keys went...