February 9, 2002

11:53 PM

It ain't so dark anymore.Dark matter seems poised to assume its place among those astronomical phenomena that were predicted to exist before being observed. The planet Neptune and black holes to mention two of them. The last 100 years have really been a boom time for astronomy, and they're not slowing down.
posted by holycola (5 comments total)

Granted that the article is bigger on hype than certainty, more reputable sources have been talking about getting close to seeing dark matter in different ways. I always get excited about this sort of thing, but sometimes it feels like we're almost finding too much of what we're looking for. And when it comes to science, that can be problematic.
posted by holycola at 12:16 AM on February 10, 2002

Since dark matter gives off no radiation, yet exerts gravitational pull, I wonder if being able to observe some directly will shed any light (ugh) on the nature of gravity itself, still one of least understood forces in physics.
posted by dong_resin at 2:44 PM on February 10, 2002

Interesting links, by the way.
posted by dong_resin at 2:45 PM on February 10, 2002

Actually, it may turn out that black holes don't exist at all.
posted by Mwongozi at 1:13 PM on February 11, 2002

i recently read a good book that i would like to recommend on the history of astronomy/cosmology... amazon link
posted by goneill at 2:01 PM on February 11, 2002