Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
2 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,819 Year: 3,076/9,624 Month: 921/1,588 Week: 104/223 Day: 2/13 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Dark matter a dying theory?
Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 85 of 113 (619552)
06-10-2011 11:18 AM
Reply to: Message 74 by slevesque
06-09-2011 10:27 PM


Re: Not so fast....
I guess you could call it a verified educated guess.
Who is playing word games now?
But if, by putting a kettel of water on the stove, I hypothesise that it will boil eventually, then whether it turns out to be true or false the fact remains that it was an educated guess.
I am 37 years old. Once I was just 6 months old. At one time I was a baby. Does that mean I am still a baby?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 74 by slevesque, posted 06-09-2011 10:27 PM slevesque has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 90 by slevesque, posted 06-14-2011 1:42 AM Taq has not replied

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 104 of 113 (621751)
06-28-2011 3:54 PM
Reply to: Message 97 by slevesque
06-14-2011 2:02 PM


Re: Not so fast....
I did read your message, but it does not contain the answer to this specific quesiton, simply because it contains an example of an educated guess (predicting where your wife will be) and a fact (looking on the gps), but it failed to highlight the supposed substantial distinction between eduacted guess and hypothesis.
The difference is right there in your description. The difference is the testable nature of the proposal, and then the test itself. A hypothesis is a TESTABLE PROPOSAL, not an educated guess.
I repeated many times that saying a hypothesis is an educated guess isn't a negative thing, so I am not tryign to denigrate anything.
It isn't accurate, either. If they are one in the same in your eyes then why not use the term that all scientists use: hypothesis.
As to dark matter, scientists are proposing testable explanations, and then testing those explanations. That makes it a scientific hypothesis.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 97 by slevesque, posted 06-14-2011 2:02 PM slevesque has not replied

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 105 of 113 (621752)
06-28-2011 3:58 PM


It would seem to me that supermassive blackholes at the center of galaxies suffer the same "problems" that dark matter suffers from. You can't directly observe a black hole because they do not radiate light. However, they do have a strong gravitational field. When you map the movements of stars in the center of the Milky Way they are all orbiting around a single point, but no luminous matter can be observed at this single point. When you calculate the mass needed to produce these orbits you find that only an object with several million solar masses can produce the observed orbits.
So would those who argue against dark matter being actual matter also argue against supermassive blackholes (also the result of matter) for the same reasons?

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 112 of 113 (621953)
06-29-2011 5:20 PM
Reply to: Message 110 by SecondPeterThreeFive
06-29-2011 5:08 PM


Not at all. I do not denegrate faith in God one bit.
You denigrate faith by using it as an insult.
Actually, the ancient age of the universe is the dogma being clutched to.
The age of the universe is a conclusion drawn from evidence, not a dogma. If you want to dispute the age of the universe then please put forth data that contradicts the current calculated age.
There is little differential speed observed in the arms of spiral galaxies, a fact that would be impossible if the universe was 20-30 billions of years old.
Evidence please.
The "answer" is that there must be a "sphere" of matter around the plane of the visible arms to account for the observed rotation. This matter must be "dark matter" to explain why we cannot see it.
Actually, we can see it. We can see it through gravitational lensing as discussed in this article:
SLAC | Bold People. Visionary Science. Real Impact.
Scientists are actively mapping the distribution of dark matter using gravitational lensing.
If you can entertain for one second the possibility of a young universe, then the rotational speed of spiral arms offers no puzzle at all, and is even consistent with the hypothesis.
In a young universe we should not even be able to see these galaxies due to the fact that they are millions of light years away.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 110 by SecondPeterThreeFive, posted 06-29-2011 5:08 PM SecondPeterThreeFive has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024