L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Aug 13, 2007 12:26:29 GMT -5
This Yahoo! News article might be of interest to Cavers -- Dark Matter . Race is on to detect dark matter By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer LOS ANGELES - In deep underground laboratories around the globe, a high-tech race is on to spot dark matter, the invisible cosmic glue that's believed to keep galaxies from spinning apart. Whoever discovers the nature of dark matter would solve one of modern science's greatest mysteries and be a shoo-in for the Nobel Prize. Yet it's more than just a brainy exercise. Deciphering dark matter — along with a better understanding of another mysterious force called dark energy — could help reveal the fate of the universe. Previous hunts for the hypothetical matter have turned up nothing, but that has not deterred some two dozen research teams from plumbing the darkness of idled mines and tunnel shafts for a fleeting glimpse. Dark-matter detecting machines today are more powerful than previous generations, but even the best has failed so far to catch a whiff of the stuff. Many teams are now building bigger detectors or toying with novel technologies to aid in the hunt. Full Article
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Bretton
Newby
Life Is Good
Posts: 8
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Post by Bretton on Nov 17, 2007 15:21:31 GMT -5
This article peaked my interest, but unfortunately, the link brings you to a message from Yahoo stating that the article has expired. Do you know what the original source for this article was (like a scientific journal) or another media outlet with this story? Ok...here's where I wanna open this up for anyone else to set me straight...It was my understanding that GRAVITY was the force holding the universe together, while the size of the universe is still expanding which, between the inverse relationships of these two forces, keeps the distance between celestial bodies the same (my basic understanding of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity). I know very little about dark matter. I have heard suggestions that it may be useful as a fuel source, or it could be a super-dense counterpoint to the vacuum of space...I still know very little about it...and what I do know is probably wrong, or the logic is flawed. Any expertise to set this straight would be cool to read, thanks.
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L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Nov 18, 2007 8:17:06 GMT -5
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Brian Roebuck
Site Admin
Caver
Caving - the one activity that really brings you to your knees!
Posts: 2,732
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Post by Brian Roebuck on Nov 18, 2007 8:58:11 GMT -5
I've read that Dark Matter might make up the majority of matter in the universe since calculations cannot explain the absence of the correct amount of visible matter out there. My understanding of gravity is that it is the attraction force between two objects of mass ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity ). The largest mass object will attract proportionally stronger. Density of the object allows the gravitation force to be stronger near the center of mass of that object. Thus a super dense black hole has a huge gravity well near it. It also has a huge mass. The universe is indeed expanding and the major components are getting further away from each other in general. Local gravitational forces keep solar systems etc rather stable however. Galaxies tend to expand but even they have local gravity that keeps them in certain (generally spiral) shapes. I read that certain sub atomic particles (gluons, bosons, etc) have different spins that may or may not influence gravity as well as other amazing properties. Check wikipedia to get really confused on al this stuff! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GravitonsEnjoy!
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Post by kenredux on Nov 18, 2007 9:47:08 GMT -5
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