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Dark Matter is Invisible, does not emit Energy or Light and it's about 80% of the Universe's mass.

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joG said:
It certainly doesn't sound like the kind of matter that will clog the plumbing.
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Breaking news: Scientists have discovered that 80% of the matter in the universe is...poo.
 
code1211 said:
Dark Matter is an interesting thing. It can't be seen and can't be quantified except that it must be there. It acts on things we can see. If it's not there, everything would be different.

Stars orbiting the centers of Galaxies are moving fast enough that they'd be thrown free if there was not a great deal more mass "holding them in" than can be measured in our "physical" universe.

There has to be more mass present, but it is undetectable to us. We cannot see it, cannot feel it, cannot taste it, smell it or hear it. We can only measure its effect on things we can see.

Without jumping to unjustified conclusions, this seems to conform to descriptions of spiritual or mystical events/objects/beings.

Our Physical Universe is just a small fraction of the whole. Dark matter seems to flow through the universe invisibly, but, well, universally. If you are reading this, Dark Matter is currently between you and the screen on which the words appear.

Especially at this time of year when the spiritual and mystical is contemplated, it seems appropriate to understand that most of our reality has been revealed scientifically to be beyond our rational comprehension. Whether you're a devotee of religion or Star Wars, it seems Hamlet was right: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

It seems reasonable to assume that if Dark Matter can redirect the course of Stars, it's pretty powerful stuff.

Is massively augmented gravity Dark Matter's only purpose? Seems like there are lots of questions just now being considered.

What Is Dark Matter? | Research
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Eighty percent you say? Probably good we cannot see it or we couldn’t see anything.
 
code1211 said:
Dark Matter is an interesting thing. It can't be seen and can't be quantified except that it must be there. It acts on things we can see. If it's not there, everything would be different.

Stars orbiting the centers of Galaxies are moving fast enough that they'd be thrown free if there was not a great deal more mass "holding them in" than can be measured in our "physical" universe.

There has to be more mass present, but it is undetectable to us. We cannot see it, cannot feel it, cannot taste it, smell it or hear it. We can only measure its effect on things we can see.

Without jumping to unjustified conclusions, this seems to conform to descriptions of spiritual or mystical events/objects/beings.

Our Physical Universe is just a small fraction of the whole. Dark matter seems to flow through the universe invisibly, but, well, universally. If you are reading this, Dark Matter is currently between you and the screen on which the words appear.

Especially at this time of year when the spiritual and mystical is contemplated, it seems appropriate to understand that most of our reality has been revealed scientifically to be beyond our rational comprehension. Whether you're a devotee of religion or Star Wars, it seems Hamlet was right: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

It seems reasonable to assume that if Dark Matter can redirect the course of Stars, it's pretty powerful stuff.

Is massively augmented gravity Dark Matter's only purpose? Seems like there are lots of questions just now being considered.

What Is Dark Matter? | Research
Click to expand...

I mean this is all sort of literally true, at least in the sense of what Dark Matter does. It interacts very weakly, actually, and it's not very strong in a traditional physics sense. But gravity is the only force that actually acts on the universe at those scales, so weak or not, if they have mass they affect the universe at those distance scales.

At the moment dark matter isn't understood, it's only inferred. If a particle can be detected (which is far from a requirement for it to exist), physicists could say a lot more. But since it hasn't been seen yet, there's very little that can be said.
 
Tim the plumber said:

I can show you evidence of it's existence.
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I think you can show me evidence that things in our physical Universe are being acted upon by something, but I doubt you can show me evidence of exactly what that "something" might be.

A good place to start: Where does this fit on the Periodic Table? What is the atomic weight?

Can you produce a picture of it? According to our physicists, it's everywhere.

Shouldn't be too hard to make a presentation if you really feel you can define its existence.
 
code1211 said:
I think you can show me evidence that things in our physical Universe are being acted upon by something, but I doubt you can show me evidence of exactly what that "something" might be.

A good place to start: Where does this fit on the Periodic Table? What is the atomic weight?

Can you produce a picture of it? According to our physicists, it's everywhere.

Shouldn't be too hard to make a presentation if you really feel you can define its existence.
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This should be in the science forum. It has nothing to do with religion.
 
jet57 said:
I'm having a little trouble finding a connection to religion here...
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There is a connection, but not a scientific or philosophical proving.

It's more of a question than a conclusion.
 
LowDown said:
According to one theory. Use a different theory and the dark matter disappears. Poof!
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What explains the stars not shooting off into space instead of remaining in orbit around the not-strong-enough-gravity of the galaxies?

Is there a different mass providing "something" absent Dark Matter?
 
code1211 said:
What explains the stars not shooting off into space instead of remaining in orbit around the not-strong-enough-gravity of the galaxies?

Is there a different mass providing "something" absent Dark Matter?
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A god?
 
RAMOSS said:
How do you get from 'point a' to 'point b' with that reasoning? What is the model for that?
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No model whatsoever except that our experts say that something they cannot see or touch exists and that it acts on things that they can see and touch.

I'm only listening to what the really brainy folks are telling us.
 
code1211 said:
No model whatsoever except that our experts say that something they cannot see or touch exists and that it acts on things that they can see and touch.
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Like gravity.
 
Would it be possible to move this thread to the science forum?
 
joG said:
Eighty percent you say? Probably good we cannot see it or we couldn’t see anything.
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That might have been the problem I was having in my schooling when my choice of classes brushed up against the STEM disciplines.

I always seemed to have Charlie Brown's teacher in the Science/Math classes. :)
 
zyzygy said:
When X-rays were discovered there was a lot of spiritual hoo ha from the likes of spiritualists and Theosophists. There is nothing spiritual about radiation and if dark matter exists it will be merely another form of matter.
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At the time of the Spiritual hoo ha over x-rays, were people able to create x-rays? Measure them directly?

I find it interesting that Dark Matter is inferred to be there, but is not scientifically provable except in that it acts on other things.
 
zyzygy said:
A discussion about dark matter belongs in the science forum.
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Things in the science forum should be of a scientific nature.

In the case of Dark Matter, the existence of the stuff is more mystical than it is scientific. Here is the case for Dark Matter:

It's there, but you can't see it and I can't show it to you. I have no idea what it is, what it's made of or where it comes from. It might not even exist in our Universe. It's all around you, though, and it affects everything you do all the time. Trust me.

Is that science?
 
ataraxia said:
Same old “God of the gaps” argument. There is a gap in our knowledge, therefore...god.

It’s getting old.
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From what I understand, Dark Matter is very old.
 
Tim the plumber said:
No.

There is obvious evidence for the existance of dark matter. Or at least some sort of mass associated with the galaxies but not exaclty distributed in the same way which has no other, at lest so far found, interatcion with normal matter as we know it.
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I attend church on a somewhat regular weekly basis.

Many other people do as well.

I even pay money when I go there as do they.

Something is causing this to occur.

Is this also obvious evidence of existence?
 
code1211 said:
Things in the science forum should be of a scientific nature.

In the case of Dark Matter, the existence of the stuff is more mystical than it is scientific. Here is the case for Dark Matter:

It's there, but you can't see it and I can't show it to you. I have no idea what it is, what it's made of or where it comes from. It might not even exist in our Universe. It's all around you, though, and it affects everything you do all the time. Trust me.

Is that science?
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Yes, something is affecting the dynamics of galaxies and dark matter has been suggested as the cause. Are you suggesting spirituality as the cause?
 
code1211 said:
I attend church on a somewhat regular weekly basis.

Many other people do as well.

I even pay money when I go there as do they.

Something is causing this to occur.

Is this also obvious evidence of existence?
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Belief in an imaginary being is causing that to occur.
 
Tim the plumber said:
Obvious due to gravitational lensing. Not just the orbital velocity of the stars.
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"It" obviously exists, it acts on other stuff and is everywhere.

Our scientists are satisfied that it's there, but cannot define it and cannot describe it for us.

I'm always a little pleased by the prospect of things greater than our collective understanding.
 
code1211 said:
Things in the science forum should be of a scientific nature.

In the case of Dark Matter, the existence of the stuff is more mystical than it is scientific. Here is the case for Dark Matter:

It's there, but you can't see it and I can't show it to you. I have no idea what it is, what it's made of or where it comes from. It might not even exist in our Universe. It's all around you, though, and it affects everything you do all the time. Trust me.

Is that science?
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Yes, it is.
 
code1211 said:
"It" obviously exists, it acts on other stuff and is everywhere.

Our scientists are satisfied that it's there, but cannot define it and cannot describe it for us.

I'm always a little pleased by the prospect of things greater than our collective understanding.
Click to expand...

We make progress and gods are driven into smaller and smaller gaps.
 
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