Giant Voids & Dark Matter

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  1. #1

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    Thanks, Zen.

    I love this stuff.

    Regarding the dark matter piece, I'm not really convinced that dark matter exists (as many scientists aren't). It is a very convenient theory, though.

    Also, if dark matter doesn't interact with 'our' matter, how can we possibly detect it? There's a similar experiment that's been going on in the UK for over a decade (I think). It has yet to detect anything.

    If this stuff is so abundant, and can be detected, I think we would have detected it a long time ago.

    Interesting, nonetheless.


  2. #2

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    That's the great thing about science; the more we learn the greater our understanding. Old theories may fall but at least we can build new ones with the new information we gather.

    The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new
    discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...' Isaac Asimov

  3. #3

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    Some scientists are thinking that they got it wrong all along; there is no dark matter or energy, our understanding of gravity needs to be revised.

    The idea is that gravity works differently at different scales - at the human scale and the cosmic scale. It might be that we need to rejigger the equations instead of looking for more matter.

    Some extra bits here:
    Gravity theory dispenses with dark matter - space - 25 January 2006 - New Scientist Space

    But still no widely-accepted theory of everything! I wonder what such a theory would make possible...


  4. #4

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    Well, I read A brief history of time.

    I understood the three first pages and then...

    It was interesting, but it's mind-bending stuff.

    I think part of the problem with understanding string theory, black holes, gravity waves, multiple universes, infinity, 9 dimensions, etc. is that the physicists start from observations and postulate mathematical theories to explain them. We have no idea of the underpinnings and just get presented with 'the universe is composed of giant strings in multiple dimensions, and matter is actually the vibrations on the strings', or something.

    All these loony theories (all but one of them are, by definition) must have a reasonable basis, but we don't see it. Sadly, I don't think my mind is equipped to deal with the maths.