[Kamikaze]

Maybe it is naive of me, but my gut feeling is that the rules that govern the universe are actually quite simple.  It is just the implications of those rules that are complicated.

Ah yes, the wonders of truthiness.

I agree with you about String Theory. Evidence makes or breaks a theory. If you can't find evidence for it, it's just as useless as intelligent design. On the other hand, the Standard Model of particle physics is great. Hell, Quantum Electrodynamics is one of the most accurate models in all of physics. It'll be even better if the Higgs Boson is found by the Large Hadron Collider that's due real soon.

[DeepSpace9er]

Does this mean now that we know it exists, we can start working on subspace drives and all that yet? 

[Herra Tohtori]

Subspcae... bahh...

What we need is a quantum computer. Cubits already work (and it's now quite certain that the multiverse interpretation of quantum theory is at least more accurate than the Copenhagen interpretation).

Have any of you ever heard of beam splitters and photon interferences? The produce some really really weird phenomena. They are very interesting, even moreso than dark matter and all...

[Bobboau]

no, we need to make an Anti-Higgs-Boson for that.

[achtung]

I see darkmatter as the unseen filler.  There has to be "something" in between atoms, if there was nothing.... well I really don't know what would happen, but I doubt the atom would win the fight.

[Nuke]

i myself think string theory has potential. however i also think that as we start understanding dark matter better it will eventually give us a means to test string theory once and for all. i dont think string theory should be cast aside just yet.

[Charismatic]

in truth, Dark matter is just like any other matter, only emo. 

Lol. Nice.

What's next? Shivans?

[Mars]

I see darkmatter as the unseen filler.  There has to be "something" in between atoms, if there was nothing.... well I really don't know what would happen, but I doubt the atom would win the fight.

There are electrical feilds between atoms.

[Descenterace]

I see darkmatter as the unseen filler.  There has to be "something" in between atoms, if there was nothing.... well I really don't know what would happen, but I doubt the atom would win the fight.

False reasoning. There does not 'have' to be anything. By what we know about the Universe at that scale, there is no reason why there should be anything between atoms except the forces keeping them seperate. Same goes for the internal structure of the atom; between the nucleus and the electron shells, there is (AFAWK) nothing except the carrier particles of the various forces that enforce that gap.

Dark matter is likely just another type of fermion with properties (spin, etc) that prohibit it from interacting with any particle other than the gravity carrier particle (assuming it exists). If gravity is not a carrier-mediated force, the definition of dark matter is simpler: it does not interact with any particle, but possesses mass.

As for Superstring being useless: not so. At present the predictions are untestable, but the model fits our current data (IIRC) making it at least as good as the standard model. Furthermore, the theory has shattered some preconceived ideas about the workings of the Universe; preconceived ideas when trying to find a Theory of Everything are not a good thing.

[karajorma]

Anyway, one thing that does puzzle me for any of the astrophysicists out there: If there is so much dark matter out there, what keeps it from gathering up like stars?  Why is it so diffuse?

I do remember reading a theory somewhere that it's basically all neutrinos. Just lots and lots of neutrinos.

No idea how plausible that is though

[NGTM-1R]

Since neutrinos may not even have mass, you're going to need a hell of a lot of them...

[Nuke]

it just occured to me if gravity trancends multile dimentions it may be possible the other 3 forces have diminished or no influence over the dark mater spatial plane. there may be other forces in the universe we dont even see. like if the dark mater doesnt posess a strong atomic force, it cant fuse as atoms and thus would only exist as loose particles.

[Colonol Dekker]

Like the land of wind and ghosts?

[Herra Tohtori]

Since neutrinos may not even have mass, you're going to need a hell of a lot of them...

It is confirmed that they do have mass. Neutrino oscillations prove this.

Neutrino oscillations are when one kind of neutrino changes into other kind of neutrino - for example, electron's neutrino changes into myon's or tau's neutrino...

[Mefustae]

Neutrino-oscillations-are-when-one-kind-of-neutrino-changes-into-other-kind-of-neutrino-for-example, electron's-neutrino-changes-into-myon's-or-tau's-neutrino...

[O'Neill]I dare you to say that again.[/O'Neill]

[Colonol Dekker]

That agin,


Do i get a prize?    DArk matter guns may yet become a tangible thing

[achtung]

I see darkmatter as the unseen filler.  There has to be "something" in between atoms, if there was nothing.... well I really don't know what would happen, but I doubt the atom would win the fight.

False reasoning. There does not 'have' to be anything. By what we know about the Universe at that scale, there is no reason why there should be anything between atoms except the forces keeping them seperate. Same goes for the internal structure of the atom; between the nucleus and the electron shells, there is (AFAWK) nothing except the carrier particles of the various forces that enforce that gap.

Dark matter is likely just another type of fermion with properties (spin, etc) that prohibit it from interacting with any particle other than the gravity carrier particle (assuming it exists). If gravity is not a carrier-mediated force, the definition of dark matter is simpler: it does not interact with any particle, but possesses mass.

As for Superstring being useless: not so. At present the predictions are untestable, but the model fits our current data (IIRC) making it at least as good as the standard model. Furthermore, the theory has shattered some preconceived ideas about the workings of the Universe; preconceived ideas when trying to find a Theory of Everything are not a good thing.

[Mefustae]

*Snip*

Swantz officially wins the thread!

[Descenterace]

it just occured to me if gravity trancends multile dimentions it may be possible the other 3 forces have diminished or no influence over the dark mater spatial plane. there may be other forces in the universe we dont even see. like if the dark mater doesnt posess a strong atomic force, it cant fuse as atoms and thus would only exist as loose particles.

Quite. If dark matter is not affected by nuclear or electromagnetic forces, it's not going to fuse into atoms.

[Nuke]

indeed.

then again there could potentially be other forces at work upon dark mater that are unknown to us. the particles may form structures unique only to dark mater. indeed its possible that dark obays a completely different set of physical laws.