Dark Matter & Dark Energy: New Theories & Research

Revolutionary Theory of Dark Matter

Jan. 24, 2013 — The universe abounds with dark matter. Nobody knows what it consists of. University of Oslo physicists have now come up with a mathematical explanation that could solve the mystery once and for all.

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Looking for dark matter. Professor Are Raklev has launched a mathematical model that explains what dark matter may consist of. (Credit: Yngve Vogt)

Astrophysicists have known for the last 80 years that most of the universe consists of an unknown, dark matter. The solution to the mystery may now be just around the corner.

"We are looking for a new member of our particle zoo in order to explain dark matter. We know that it is a very exotic beast. And we have found a plausible explanation," reports Are Raklev, an associate professor in particle physics in the University of Oslo's Department of Physics to the research magazine Apollon.  He is the university's leading theorist in astroparticle physics and has launched a model that explains what dark matter may consist of and how one can discover the invisible particles experimentally.

More - Link >>> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130124091545.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Space+%26+Time+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Sources: University of Oslo, ScienceDaily.com .

Dwarf planet Eris may reveal quantum gravity 

Eris eyes up its next victim (Image: Nasa/SPL)

• 24 January 2013 by Ker Than

KILLING Pluto was only the beginning. The dwarf planet Eris, named for the Greek goddess of strife, could also bring down the most popular explanations for dark matter and dark energy.

Many galaxies appear to have stronger gravity - and thus more mass - than can be explained by their visible matter alone. Overly massive galaxies are most often attributed to dark matter, an invisible substance that interacts with matter through gravity. To date, though, no one has directly detected dark matter particles.

But a well-established notion in physics could hold another explanation for their size. This says that empty space is really a frothy, turbulent sea full of virtual particles - matter and antimatter that spring in and out of existence so fast that we can't see them.

More - Link >>> http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729014.500-dwarf-planet-eris-may-reveal-quantum-gravity.html

Source: New Scientist Magazine.


NASA Joins ESA's 'Dark Universe' Mission

WASHINGTON -- NASA has joined the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Euclid mission, a space telescope designed to investigate the cosmological mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Euclid will launch in 2020 and spend six years mapping the locations and measuring the shapes of as many as 2 billion galaxies spread over more than one-third of the sky. It will study the evolution of our universe, and the dark matter and dark energy that influence its evolution in ways that still are poorly understood.

More - Link >>> http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/jan/HQ_13-029_NASA_Joins_Euclid.html

Source: NASA.

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