Explaining dark matter in about 60 seconds -- a sneak preview of our new video podcast

Coco Ballantyne says:

Is there dark matter on Earth?

Jacob Farkas says:

The 60-second "dark matter" video is excellent. Please do more of these.

Don Billgren says:

Second minute - The lock step stuff is actually gravitation? No other properties besides this?

Christopher Mims says:

Excellent questions... if I can get ahold of him, I'll make sure the host of this video answers them...

Joe Webb says:

Whatever it is, dark matter MUST be related to gravity, and therefore that elusive "gravity wave detection" that we are yet to obtain. We must learn more about gravity waves, and perhaps be able to generate gravity waves ourselves.

Joe Webb

Charles L Mims says:

I remember several other ideas including the concept of gravitational forces falling off at great amounts of seperation. The equations I saw could explain some of he effects of dark matter by slightly changing the graviational constant for distance. Just as string theory has fallen on hard times I wonder if dark matter is a "cause celeb" for the moment that will not hold up to close study. I know I am just a car dog that likes to read. Charles L. Mims

anonymous says:

If these videocasts are brought to the attention of readers in India and similar places thro a Journal like Current Science, it will serve a very useful purpose.

I have enjoyed going thro the some 15 short videos connected with dark matter

Thanks for the new venture

George Musser says:

I'm caught in a black hole (figuratively, though, with me, you never know) right now, so sorry for the delay.

Coco: Yup, the stuff is probably all around us, passing through our bodies all the time. It amounts to just a handful of particles in a room-sized volume. The mystery isn't why it's so sparse, but why *we're* so dense -- our bodies are, cosmically speaking, exceptionally dense. Speaking for myself, of course.

Don: Yup, the lockstep motion ("flat rotation curve", technically) is gravitational. It couldn't be anything else, because other forces fade out on cosmic scales.

Joe: Gravitational wave detection would definitely be a giant leap for mankind and womankind, but strictly speaking, you don't need gravitational influences to propagate like a wave to explain dark matter.

Charles: Yup, there are alternative possibilities such as so-called Modified Newtonian Dynamics. But dark matter has held up to close study for decades, and if anything the evidence has grown stronger and the various alternatives have fallen by the wayside.

George

alberto says:

can someone tell me how was the transformation from chemestry mater to biological mater in the experimet of miller

Jon Graff says:

Nicely done! More please.

david fender says:

Dark matter is nothing more than a figment of the imagination based on erroneous theories of gravity and matter. Almost all present cosmological theory--as well as quantum physics--is really nothing more than sophisticated science fiction built on concepts as fallacious as--and similar to--the Ptolemaic solar system. In other words THEY have not the first clue. Everything needs to be turned inside out or upside down! david fender