The Problem with Dark Matter

Dark matter has been a tricky subject to broach over the past few decades, and according to the video above, some have taken to calling it "bunk science", but Sabine Hossenfelder does clarify that the original idea for dark matter was decent in order to explain the huge amount of data being detected that couldn't be explained by anything else at the time.

However, as technology improved and telescopes became more precise, the data that they gathered also increased in precision, and when juxtaposed with the theory of dark matter, it just didn't fit. So proponents of dark matter tried to make the theory fit the data but that reduced its explanatory power.

Now, there are two competing models of cosmology, dark matter and modified gravity. And although there are cases in which one model is preferred over the other, modified gravity seems to fit the data better and dark matter has become too complicated that it makes it difficult to get at a good conclusion with it.

In any case, the video above is a fun watch. It gives an overview of the theory of dark matter, and explores the progress of the theory over the years, and why it has received more criticism in recent times.

(Video credit: Sabine Hossenfelder/Youtube)


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Can't the mystery mass be the "mass" of all the light going between everything that ever generated light and everywhere the light is all still on its way to? If all those photons since the beginning, that are still out there, or are freshly out there, having not collided with anything yet, were condensed into matter, would its mass equal the amount they're saying the dark matter must be? And it would make sense that it seems associated with galaxies, which are fresh sources of light.
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Hello,

Magnesium (to make magnesium chloride) comes from dolomite, the principle ore of magnesium. It's chemical formula is CaMg(CO3)2. That's calcium magnesium carbonate. This is then treated with an acid solution to separate out the metals. In the process the carbonate rock releases carbon dioxide. So any carbon dioxide that could possibly be absorbed by the magnesium was already released by the production of the magnesium.

Someone also made the claim that they could use lime (calcium oxide) to absorb massive amounts of CO2 to form limestone (calcium carbonate). Then someone pointed out the obvious. To produce lime, you heat limestone.
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@zavatone God I disagree with you. I've been to Shanghai in 2004 and, allthough it has changed a lot since then, I have fond memories of it's skyline and energy.

Pudong is the perfect sci-fi city. It doesn't mean it should be replicated everywhere, but Montreal could use some of that...
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yafortier - curiously, why do you like it? The item I am referring to is the molecule like tower that has a ball and stick structure. It's obviously cast concrete and its structure doesn't really serve a purpose except to look different. It takes up space and visually affronts the form follows function approach.

In the Shanghai of last year, I'm sure the skyline is more developed then when you were there in 2004. Building is going on at an insane rate. But what really confused me is that many of the new buildings have hats or structures on the top that look like headgear. It's completely weird.
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