NationStates Jolt Archive

I've just seen an amazing news report on "Newsnight", BBC1. It was claimed that they had built a simulation of the Universe. Already, one of the questions is, why is the Universe expanding, when according to Einstiens Theory, it should be slowing.

The answer is, because of Dark matter/Energy, which can't be seen, measured or identified, yet which comprises at least 70% of the existing matter within the universe.

Scientists can find no real way to examine and understand what dark matter may be, how it affects the laws of physics and whether it implies that the area outside the universe is limitless, thereby suggesting the omniverse without any end.

Does anyone have their own ideas?

Dark matter = EVIL GIVEN CORPOREALITY.

Does anyone have their own ideas?

If I had any good ones I wouldn't be bothering with college right now...lol

In cosmology, dark matter consists of elementary particles that cannot be detected by their emitted radiation but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter such as stars and galaxies. Estimates of the amount of matter in the universe, based on gravitational effects, consistently suggest that there is far more matter than is directly observable. In addition, the existence of dark matter resolves a number of inconsistencies in the Big Bang theory, and is crucial for structure formation.
Much of the mass of the universe is believed to exist in the "dark sector". Determining the nature of this missing mass is one of the most important problems in modern cosmology. About 25% of the universe is thought to be composed of dark matter, and 70% is thought to consist of dark energy, an even stranger component distributed diffusely in space that likely cannot be thought of as ordinary particles.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matter)

In cosmology, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy which permeates all of space and has strong negative pressure. According to the theory of relativity, the effect of such a negative pressure is qualitatively similar to a force acting in opposition to gravity at large scales. Invoking such an effect is currently the most popular method for explaining the observations of an accelerating universe as well as accounting for a significant portion of the missing mass in the universe.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy)

Hope that helps. :)

Edit: Eheheh. I misread the question at the bottom. :p; But I'll stick with what the dictionary says for now until I know more about it to gather my own conclusions.

In short, Dark Matter has mass (and therefore gravity) but does not interact with the electromagnetic force (i.e. it can't be seen).

Dark Energy is something different. I don't know as much about this, but I know it's supposed to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Dark Matter is a bunch of Neutrinos. We have difficulty detecting them because they have virtually no mass and travell pretty damn fast.

I think this is one of those things that scientists 500 years from now are going to just laugh their asses off at. I think dark matter might not even exist--in the sense we think it exists, anyhow--and it will turn out to be something completely different making the universe act the way it does. I don't know. Probably not. But that would be funny--in a classroom hundreds of years from now, it might be taught right along with "people used to think the earth was flat, the sun revolved around the earth, and that there was INVISIBLE MATTER. HAHAHA :D "

I'm pretty sure what scientists know as "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy" are actually two quite different things. Dark is just a word meaning "we can't see it, so we only know it's there by it's effect on things we can see". Dark Matter is understood moderately well. Dark Energy is something a bit more mysterious. That's my understanding of what the terms mean, anyway :confused:

Damn, I read a National Geographic article about Dark Matter at my doctors office last week. But the medication she gave me kinda affects my memory AH DAMMIT!

According to Douglas Adams is the stuff with which scientific instruments are packaged to keep them from being damaged during shipping.

What is dark matter?
Well, dark matter is clearly inferior to white matter.

It is matter that does not emit electromagnetic radiation. Most of the Universe that is.

Detailed, but laymans explanation from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/deepspace/darkmatter/index.shtml)

It's the grainy stuff you rub out of the corners of your eyes when you wake up in the morning. No, wait - that's mucus.

Uhh...

What is dark matter?
Well, dark matter is clearly inferior to white matter.

Well that's racist
(kidding) :)

I've just seen an amazing news report on "Newsnight", BBC1. It was claimed that they had built a simulation of the Universe. Already, one of the questions is, why is the Universe expanding, when according to Einstiens Theory, it should be slowing.

The answer is, because of Dark matter/Energy, which can't be seen, measured or identified, yet which comprises at least 70% of the existing matter within the universe.

Scientists can find no real way to examine and understand what dark matter may be, how it affects the laws of physics and whether it implies that the area outside the universe is limitless, thereby suggesting the omniverse without any end.

Does anyone have their own ideas?
While dark energy has been postulated, we have very little information to either prove or disprove its existence. It's apparently necessary to account for the continuing acceleration of the expansion of the universe, but at this point we have no way of discovering much more about it.

Dark matter is a bit more easily conceived, since it would be ( almost by definition ) anything not luminous, and small enough to be unobservable by current means. This could be anything from non-luminous gases to massive rogue planets to black holes.

Dark matter is just neutrinos and antineutrinos brought into existence during nuclear interactions.. I have no idea what dark energy is, but I hope it replaces oil some time in the future :D

It was claimed that they had built a simulation of the Universe
How the hell do you make a simulation of the universe? it'd have to be bigger than the Universe itself. lol even Deep thought wouldn't be able to do that!

Dark matter is just neutrinos and antineutrinos brought into existence during nuclear interactions.. I have no idea what dark energy is, but I hope it replaces oil some time in the future :D


Wrong, neutrinos and antineutrinos have been taken into account in the models. (and boy there are a lot of em...)

The point of dark matter/energy, and the reason of the name, is that we dont have the slightest clue what it is but it would make sense in the way that with it universe actually works like it should. Think Newton and gravity...

Dark matter is just neutrinos and antineutrinos brought into existence during nuclear interactions.. I have no idea what dark energy is, but I hope it replaces oil some time in the future :D


How the hell do you make a simulation of the universe? it'd have to be bigger than the Universe itself. lol even Deep thought wouldn't be able to do that!
They made a simulation using a combinataion of computers. It shows the universe to be spherical, but surrounded by this "dark matter or energy".