Dark Matter
Category archives for Dark Matter
Dark Matter Candidates: Running for 23% of your Universe!
Posted by Ethan on June 22, 2011 “[I]f there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” -C.S. Lewis (For readers Mu and Bjoern.) I’ve told you the entire history of the Universe, from before the Big Bang into the far distant future, and yet many…
Do more planets, gas and stars mean less dark matter?
Posted by Ethan on May 25, 2011 “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” -Stephen Hawking You’re probably familiar with the standard picture of our Universe. You’ve heard it all before: that the Universe we know of — stars, planets,…
Dark Energy Confirmed Again!
Posted by Ethan on May 20, 2011 “We all need to look into the dark side of our nature – that’s where the energy is, the passion. People are afraid of that because it holds pieces of us we’re busy denying.” -Sue Grafton No, not the dark side of our nature, just the dark side of nature! Because if all our Universe…
Dark Matter: what it does, what it doesn’t do
Posted by Ethan on May 4, 2011 “You still don’t get it, do you? He’ll find her! That’s what he does! That’s ALL he does! You can’t stop him!” -Kyle Reese, the Terminator Now that we’ve all survived Judgment Day, we can stop looking for ways to stop the Terminators, and go back to the search for dark matter. Let’s back up…
How Gravitational Lensing Shows Us Dark Matter!
Posted by Ethan on April 20, 2011 “You may hate gravity, but gravity doesn’t care.” -Clayton Christensen What’s the deal with gravity, dark matter, and this whole “lensing” business anyway? You’ve probably heard that energy — most commonly mass — bends light. And perhaps you’ve seen an image or two like this one to illustrate that. Above is the great galaxy cluster…
The Secrets of the Universe!
Posted by Ethan on April 14, 2011 “All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sounds. Sounds that were previously incomprehensible to our soul now become the meaningful language of nature.” -Rudolf Steiner For millenia, humans have looked to the heavens for answers about the cosmos. And one of the main reasons I write what I do for…
How Hydrogen Teaches Us the Temperature of Dark Matter!
Posted by Ethan on March 25, 2011 “Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” -Frank Zappa Oh yeah, Zappa? Well, let me show you what hydrogen can do! With just…
Dark Matter requires you to THINK BIG!
Posted by Ethan on March 7, 2011 “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” -Marie Curie Were you here last week, when I wrote about MOND and dark matter, and in particular what the supreme failings of MOND are? Apparently, right here on…
Good ideas, Bad ideas, MOND, and Dark Matter
Posted by Ethan on March 1, 2011 “There’s an old saying about those who forget history. I don’t remember it, but it’s good.” -Stephen Colbert Let me start by telling you a story about an old problem. Take a look at the planet Mercury, one of the five planets (not counting Earth) visible in our night sky to the naked eye. And…
Weekend Diversion: Dark Matter Outreach for the Pros?
Posted by Ethan on February 13, 2011 “Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum.” (I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am) -Rene Descartes I always try to give you something beautiful completely unrelated to astronomy, physics, or cosmology for the weekend. So if I’m going to talk to you about dark matter, I figured I’d better go for a particularly…
