Ask Lemmy

Dark matter might not even exist, all we know is that gravity-based predictions break down after a certain point. Dark matter is the just the most popular proposed solution where you essentially just add extra undetectable mass until it works. The distant second is Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) or some variation of it, which is where you try to tweak the theories to fit observations instead. It has the same problem as dark matter where we keep coming up with better experiments which always fail to find anything.

There's a similar problem at the opposite end of the scale spectrum too; quantum mechanics doesn't play nice with our current understanding of gravity leading to the search for the "theory of everything". This is why I personally lean towards the idea that it's our theories that are wrong and not an undetectable mass, but this isn't my field so my opinion isn't worth much (especially since a majority actually working in the field lean towards dark matter as far as I can tell).

And dark energy for that [dark] matter ;)

We know something is out there; galaxies are rotating far too quickly for our understanding of gravity to be correct. This is based on the observable matter.

For the galaxies to be rotating at the speeds we observe, we need approx 5 times the matter we see. So it is not like we have missed 10 - 20% of the matter that interacts with electromagnetic radiation, we would have had to have missed an extra 500%

As someone else pointed out, MOND is the next most promising candidate, but it has major issues even explaining what we see. Which is why it hasn't received widespread acceptance.

I don't have an answer; I have a few ideas. It maybe that something MOND adjacent is the answer; i.e. on the largest scales spacetime "relaxes" more when there is nothing pulling on it. So near galaxies and clusters spacetime is under more stress, this stress could equate to spacetime curving more on galaxy sized scales. But on the small scales we work on the extra stress will be almost invisible.

But as for us figuring out what "dark" matter is in your lifetime, unless you are already in your 80's; I think there is a very good chance. The only thing we know for sure about dark matter, is that it interacts with gravity (spacetime). We are building some pretty epic gravitational wave detectors, bringing the detection threshold lower.

Carbon monoxide? really that seems concerning

Was there any water actually in it or did you not check?

Maybe tinnitus or tv?

And then where did they matter and energy come from for that universe. It's turtles all the way down...

This question actually doesn't make sense, it's kind of a paradox in the same way the question of what happened before the Big bang is also strange in the sense that the universe and reality didn't exist in a form with causality in effect.

So asking a "before" question in reference to "before" time even started is paradoxical in and of itself. Since "before" wasn't even a concept in existence.

Which is why scientists don't really worry about anything "before" the Big bang.

Outside: there is a theory of other universes outside . Which would explain the increasing rate of expansion in place of dark energy

Likewise, the Khamar-Daban incident

Apparently, there was the Kyshtym disaster in the area 2 years beforehand, so that may explain the radiation.

You're Wrong About podcast has an episode about this with Blair Braverman guesting, that I think posits a decent theory. Blair also appears on episodes about the Andes plane crash and the diphtheria serum run, both of which are well worth a listen.

I’m still pissed they haven’t done a season of “The Terror” about this.

Its all fun and games until the sea peoples arrive. Ruining all our parties with their looting, hogging all the tin so we can't make bronze. This is why we can't have nice things.

What's the mystery with this one? It's a very interesting event, but isn't it generally pretty well understood?

I've read interesting conspiracy, that Tunguska incident overlaps exactly with Nicola Tesla's attempts to wireless transfer of energy. Was an interesting idea and read, even though very unlikely to be based on real event.

It seems to me that the concept the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the radius is a finite value. It's cool that it turns out to be an irrational number for us but I think that's more a statement of how we handle math than some mystical thing.

Isn't nature lazy? Like everything is in search of equilibrium and once its optimized, saul goodman

There a infinitely more irrational numbers than rational numbers, so if one were to search for a special number like π or e, they are more likely to find them to be irrational than rational. It would be instance coincidence if those numbers would be something nice and even. And since almost everything in math is derived from either π or e and you can't simply divide or multiply away irrationality (except with another irrational number) this irrationality tends to stick around. We essentialy have a π centric number system inside the decimal system, that's why π gets its own symbol. No mathematician ever writes out π as a 3.1415...., so for all that matters the symbol π is nice and even.

Caught up one of the rotating convex thingies or someone takes it with the rest of theirs when you leave them behind in mentioned

If you take the dryer apart you would likely find all the socks inside it.

I have a friend like you whom I love to send into the chasm that is his own mind. The physicist has the attitude needed to deal with these thoughts - does it even matter? Ultimately, until we know our existence is false, we might as well keep on appreciating what we experience, right?