Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Search for Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the someone-needs-to-turn-on-a-light dept.

mlimber writes "The New York Times Magazine has a lengthy article on dark matter and dark energy, discussing the past, present, and future. 'Astronomers now realize that dark matter probably involves matter that is nonbaryonic ["meaning that it doesn't consist of the protons and neutrons of 'normal' matter"]. And whatever it is that dark energy involves, we know it's not 'normal,' either. In that case, maybe this next round of evidence will have to be not only beyond anything we know but also beyond anything we know how to know.'"

2 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Very large bodies don't behave according to Newton. Very small bodies behave according to the rules of quantum physics, so it's clear that one law doesn't regulate every case. Dark matter/energy are just a fudge factor because we can't explain what happens without them, but that doesn't prove that they exist. All that is proven is that we don't understand what is happening.

  2. "Normal?" by Flwyd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If dark matter makes up most of the mass in the universe, wouldn't the kind of matter we're familiar with be the abnormal kind?

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.