Dark matter disappointment

[LadyStanley]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...r-dark-matter-leaves-scientists-empty-handed/

A team of scientists that included a UC Berkeley phycisist have come up empty-handed in their latest effort to find elusive dark matter, the plentiful stuff that helps galaxies like ours form.

For three years scientists have been looking for dark matter nearly a mile underground in a former gold mine in South Dakota.

The group announced Thursday that despite sensitive equipment working better than expected, they couldn’t find the invisible particles that make up four-fifths of the universe’s matter.

Win some, lose some.

Click to read more...

 

[FLYLine27*]

Someone's getting fired.

 

[LadyStanley]

Someone's getting fired.

More like someone's not getting published or another grant.

 

[Xelebes]

And yet, perhaps Dark Matter doesn't exist.

 

[Hippasus]

Dark matter is a hypothesis, perhaps compensating for gaps in our understanding of gravity. We have not been able to see direct evidence of it in experiments, such as through CERN's laboratory, even after trying for decades, but it has nevertheless continued to be seen as constituting a significant portion of physical reality (~27%). Recent studies have begun to call into question some of our fundamental assumptions. There could be gaps in our understanding of the standard model of particle physics and distortions in our larger-scale observations of the cosmos, such as in galaxy clusters. As Sagan said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Perhaps using Ockham's razor would be beneficial for astrophysics and cosmology.

In astronomy, dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that appears not to interact with light or the electromagnetic field. Dark matter is implied by gravitational effects which cannot be explained by general relativity unless more matter is present than can be seen. Such effects occur in the context of formation and evolution of galaxies, gravitational lensing, the observable universe's current structure, mass position in galactic collisions, the motion of galaxies within galaxy clusters, and cosmic microwave background anisotropies.

Study: Dark matter does not exist and the universe is 27 billion years old

The fabric of the cosmos, as we understand it, comprises three primary components: 'normal matter,' 'dark energy,' and 'dark matter.'

www.earth.com

New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter

The current theoretical model for the composition of the universe is that it's made of normal matter, dark energy and dark matter. A new University of Ottawa study challenges this.

phys.org

 

[TheGreenTBer]

I have never, ever been comfortable with the notion of dark matter. It always seemed like an ad-hoc hack to explain gravitational observations and I think at least some of the effects can be explained by primordial black holes.

I am actually much more comfortable with the notion of dark energy; vacuum energy is a very approachable concept for anyone with a background in quantum field theory (though obviously different here) and if the vacuum doesn't have energy we have a TON of observations we can't explain right now.

 

[Hippasus]

I have never, ever been comfortable with the notion of dark matter. It always seemed like an ad-hoc hack to explain gravitational observations and I think at least some of the effects can be explained by primordial black holes.

I am actually much more comfortable with the notion of dark energy; vacuum energy is a very approachable concept for anyone with a background in quantum field theory (though obviously different here) and if the vacuum doesn't have energy we have a TON of observations we can't explain right now.

I'm a novice when it comes to physics, like most of us, but I suspect similar criticisms could apply to the prospect of dark energy. I wish I knew more to seriously weigh-in on this "stuff", but it's possible that we're taking old theories for granted, such as general relativity. If there are significant enough discrepancies amidst our assumptions, theories, and observations, a paradigm shift could re-emerge, like alchemy transforming into chemistry.