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Plingsby

The gravity conundrum

Do you believe in the existence of "dark matter" or "dark energy" (Please don't flame me, I know how interconnected they are)? Are they just a convenient cop out to explain a REALLY difficult problem?

Posted - January 16, 2017
Tags : Universe Gravity Dark Matter

Responses


  • Well dark matter dark energy hasn't been seen but observations and measurements point to it's existence. We can observe gravitational forces  and energy is greater than the observable mass.
    It's hypothetical but so far no other hypothesis has been able to explain that.  Not without drastically changing the accepted physical laws with theories that have problems and holes in known interactions.
    I believe in it as a very likely thing, researchers are coming very close to be able to run experiments that will lead us to except or deny it.
    The math and calculations so far are strongly in it's favor.
      January 16, 2017 2:26 PM MST
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  • 170
    But surely, observations do not point to its existence. Measurement is questionable. All we can understand is that the measurements "don't add up" unless we invent dark "stuff". Is it not still just a scientific "cop out" in the face of a lack of understanding/explanation?

      January 16, 2017 2:30 PM MST
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  • Not quite.  Everything starts as a hypothesis that works in a current model of understanding.  Those aren't cop-outs, it's just the path.
    Everything we do know and understand is in the shadow of a monument of false theories that worked for awhile but later on proved false because they didn't work on new models of understanding.  
    It's not a cop-out, it's just part of the  scientific method.
      January 17, 2017 7:19 AM MST
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  • My understanding is dark mayer was invented to explain some observation they couldn't explain ... since then it had taken on more and more word aspects but still no proof of its existence ... i believe some ate now going back and looking for another explanation that does not involve dark matter
      January 16, 2017 4:28 PM MST
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  • 44231
    Scientist like doing that...if the equations have some blanks, make something up. Fermi did it with the neutrino. But what he postulated could not exist: a particle with no mass which travels at the speed of light. That violates the relativistic mass equation. A particle was found but it had some mass, albeit extremely small. They still call it a neutrino. 
      January 16, 2017 4:57 PM MST
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  • Yep, that's how we move forward ... Postulate and test the bejesus out it ... And say goodbye when a better idea comes along ... At least we stopped looking for the ether lol
      January 16, 2017 5:07 PM MST
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  • 44231
    I love you.
      January 17, 2017 7:08 AM MST
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  • 44231
    I asked a similar question last month and got all kinds of flak. There now appears to be some thinkers here. I am still working on a logical proof that neither exist...but based on Newtonian Physics Laws. If I am am wrong then Newton got it wrong.
      January 16, 2017 4:39 PM MST
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  • 316
    We can not just use a constant "C" and slip it into the equations and make everything work?
      January 16, 2017 6:47 PM MST
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  • 170
    Or Einsteins cosmological constant - you can do a lot of damage with that. He certainly did.
      January 17, 2017 12:46 AM MST
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  • 2515
    Although you cannot see dark matter, you can see its effects on visible matter. You can see it when you observe clusters of stars. This photo I'm posting shows how it works. 
      January 17, 2017 10:54 AM MST
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