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Does dark energy or dark matter box-in our way of thinking? Have we actually proved scientifically there's a force or physical matter acting on something and i
by tony 7y ago
Does dark energy or dark matter box-in our way of thinking?
Have we actually proved scientifically there's a force or physical matter acting on something and it's not just being obscured from our vantage point?
Isn't dark energy/matter only visible at huge scales? Is there any pictures of dark energy or matter in any localized system? We didn't even know the correct color of Pluto until we got close, how could we know if something isn't actually there, or spacetime just twists and contorts for the sake of it without outside interaction/gravity acting on it?
Isn't there also a chance we're in a literal simulation of Plato's cave allegory until we see stuff up close? Not in the sense he meant it, but in the sense we're using assumptions/tools that involve inference. Wouldn't this risk assigning character/classifications to things that don't turn out to be true in the end?
- joe_the_user 7y agoHave we actually proved scientifically there's a force or physical matter acting on something and it's not just being obscured from our vantage point? -- In the case of dark matter, the answer is yes. Dark matter has been indirectly observed from the gravitational lensing of the dark matter shrouds surrounding galaxies - notably in situations where the shrouds of two colliding galaxies separate from the galaxies themselves. It's a "picture" as exact as many things astronomers have observed.
- alfiedotwtf 7y ago> in situations where the shrouds of two colliding galaxies separate from the galaxies themselves TIL... That’s the first time I’ve read that. Sounds interesting, have you got any links?
- gepoch 7y agoSounds like he's talking about the bullet cluster... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Cluster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Cluster Although that's a colliding pair of galaxy clusters. I'm not currently aware of any examples of this effect being observed for just two galaxies.
- alfiedotwtf 7y agoAwesome, thanks for the link!