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In the Spirit of Sankofa,
Only Dark Matter (And Not Modified Gravity) Can Explain The Universe
There have been a lot of public advocates from the “no dark matter” camp, getting lots of popular attention. But the Universe still needs dark matter. Here’s why
Ethan Siegel
The Universe is: Expanding, cooling, and dark. It starts with a bang! #Cosmology Science writer, astrophysicist, science communicator & NASA columnist
... Two solutions spring to mind: either there’s some type of unseen mass out there making up the deficit, or we need to modify the laws of gravity, as we did when we leapt from Newton to Einstein. While both of these possibilities seem reasonable, the unseen mass explanation, known as dark matter, is far and away the superior option.
The evolution of large-scale structure in the Universe, from an early, uniform state to the clustered Universe we know today. The type and abundance of dark matter would deliver a vastly different Universe if we altered what our Universe possesses. (Angulo et al. 2008, via Durham University)
Individual galaxies could, in principle, be explained by either dark matter or a modification to gravity, but they are not the best evidence we have for what the Universe is made of, or how it got to be the way it is today.(Stefania.deluca of Wikimedia Commons)
In the Spirit of Sankofa,
Only Dark Matter (And Not Modified Gravity) Can Explain The Universe
There have been a lot of public advocates from the “no dark matter” camp, getting lots of popular attention. But the Universe still needs dark matter. Here’s why
Ethan Siegel
The Universe is: Expanding, cooling, and dark. It starts with a bang! #Cosmology Science writer, astrophysicist, science communicator & NASA columnist
... Two solutions spring to mind: either there’s some type of unseen mass out there making up the deficit, or we need to modify the laws of gravity, as we did when we leapt from Newton to Einstein. While both of these possibilities seem reasonable, the unseen mass explanation, known as dark matter, is far and away the superior option.
The evolution of large-scale structure in the Universe, from an early, uniform state to the clustered Universe we know today. The type and abundance of dark matter would deliver a vastly different Universe if we altered what our Universe possesses. (Angulo et al. 2008, via Durham University)
Individual galaxies could, in principle, be explained by either dark matter or a modification to gravity, but they are not the best evidence we have for what the Universe is made of, or how it got to be the way it is today.(Stefania.deluca of Wikimedia Commons)
