

Scientific method: defending the integrity of physics - ivan_ah
http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-defend-the-integrity-of-physics-1.16535

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ivan_ah
This article is a very tact-full way of calling bullshit on dark matter and
dark energy.

For a bit of context, dark matter is simply a placeholder name physicists give
to explain an anomaly in the observed rotation of far-from-centre stars in
galaxies---using our best estimates of the total mass in in the galaxy, we
would expect the rotational speed of galaxies to fall off, the further they
are from the centre of rotation. The observation does not match the expected
behaviour, so somebody just said "there must some sort of mass in the galaxy
that we don't see" and picked a peppy name for it: dark matter.

Similarly, dark energy is an invention to explain the observed rate of
expansion of the universe. Current observations about the expansion of the
universe don't follow from what we know about the balance of mass (collapse-
tending) and energy (expansion-tending) in the universe, so physicists
postulate "there must be something energy-like which we don't know about" and
call that thing 'dark energy.'

A more intellectually honest terms for dark matter and dark energy would be:
invented concept to harmonize observations with other things we believe to be
true.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_rotation_curve](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_rotation_curve)

