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We’re not even sure what dark matter IS

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3-D impression of dark matter via Hubble

A helpful list of the 11 biggest questions about dark matter starts with this:

Originally, some scientists conjectured that the missing mass in the universe was made up of small faint stars and black holes, though detailed observations have not turned up nearly enough such objects to account for dark matter’s influence, as physicist Don Lincoln of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermilab previously wrote for Live Science. The current leading contender for dark matter’s mantle is a hypothetical particle called a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle, or WIMP, which would behave sort of like a neutron except would be between 10 and 100 times heavier than a proton, as Lincoln wrote. Yet, this conjecture has only led to more questions… Adam Mann, “The 11 Biggest Unanswered Questions About Dark Matter” at LiveScience

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See also: Discover: Even the best dark matter theories are crumbling

Researcher: The search for dark matter has become a “quagmire of confirmation bias” So many research areas in science today are hitting hard barriers that it is reasonable to think that we are missing something.

Physicists devise test to find out if dark matter really exists

Largest particle detector draws a blank on dark matter

What if dark matter just doesn’t stick to the rules?

A proposed dark matter solution makes gravity an illusion

and

Proposed dark matter solution: “Gravity is not a fundamental governance of our universe, but a reaction to the makeup of a given environment.”

Comments
Thanks for that, ScuzzaMan.daveS
November 29, 2018
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daveS: The evidence presented by the electric universe theorists is quite compelling in its claims that gravity is not the be-all and end-all of cosmic structure. Whether their theory is any better at explaining other things I could not say, but my view is they've done more than enough to demonstrate that electromagnetism cannot be discounted in the matter of galactic formation and behaviour. Thus, the inventing of unobservables in order to maintain current orthodoxy does not appear at all necessary nor desirable.ScuzzaMan
November 29, 2018
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SuzzaMan, Do you have any suggestions which might yield a better theory?daveS
November 29, 2018
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Dark matter is a desperate attempt to rescue a failing theory. And, in my estimation, that is all it is. Possibly (time will tell) it is also a failure.ScuzzaMan
November 29, 2018
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Mike1962 - Bad news. Death and taxes are real. And possibly rice pudding. But the rest, yeah.Bob O'H
November 29, 2018
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Dark matter is a supersolid that fills 'empty' space, strongly interacts with ordinary matter and is displaced by ordinary matter. What is referred to geometrically as curved spacetime physically exists in nature as the state of displacement of the supersolid dark matter. The state of displacement of the supersolid dark matter is gravity. The supersolid dark matter displaced by a galaxy pushes back, causing the stars in the outer arms of the galaxy to orbit the galactic center at the rate in which they do. Displaced supersolid dark matter is curved spacetime.mpc755
November 28, 2018
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Nothing is real. Nothing to get hung about.mike1962
November 28, 2018
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We don’t know what matter is but neither do we know what mind is (and supposedly that’s what we use to come up with questions like this.) But I say, why should this be of any concern to us? In other words, never mind it doesn’t matter.john_a_designer
November 28, 2018
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We don't know what matter is. We don't know what energy is. And we sure as heck don't know what entropy is.Mung
November 28, 2018
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