A To Z Challenge: Physics And Possible New Evidence Of Dark Matter

Physics is an enormous field concerned with the study of how things interact. It encompasses sound, light, heat, electricity, and just about any other physical phenomena you can think of. Physics also studies atoms and subatomic particles, as well as having some overlap with cosmology.

One recent development in physics is a couple of separate reports that scientists may be closer to figuring out  so-called "dark matter", that elusive component of the universe we haven't yet been able to detect for sure. But progress is being made: The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer attached to the International Space Station has detected positrons (the antimatter version of an atom's electrons) that might have been produced by dark matter interactions. Also, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search in a mine in Minnesota has recorded three events involving supercool silicon wafers that could have been caused by dark matter particles, possibly supporting a supersymmetry theory involving "weakly interacting massive particles", known by the abbreviation WIMPs (got to hand it to physics sometimes when it comes to nicknaming things).

Obviously, three events is not enough to declare a discovery. Nor is detection of greater numbers of positrons than expected--but they're interesting glimpses of what could perhaps be one of the larger mysteries of the universe.

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Sources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/physics
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Possible-Dark-Matter-Signal-201307331.html
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Dark-Matter--203199671.html
http://www.space.com/20674-dark-matter-detection-wimps.html
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/shedding-light-on-the-search-for-dark-matter-0410.html
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/ams-dark-matter/

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Do you think scientists will discover dark matter for certain in the coming decades?


-----The Golden Eagle

A-Z Blogging Challenge: D Stands For: Dark Matter

Scientists know little about dark matter.

Even though they think it makes up 23% of the universe, and 80% of all matter, dark matter is not detectable along the electromagnetic spectrum (i.e. radio, microwave, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet, x-ray). A few of the only signs of dark matter are temperature distribution in hot gas, the rotational speeds of galaxies (stars revolve around the center of their galaxies), and gravitation lensing (which is when light curves around an object to reach whatever's observing it).

(SOURCE)

These effects are attributed to dark matter because there is no clear way of explaining them without it. If dark matter really is playing a part in the universe, then it would explain the so-called "missing mass" and the current laws of physics would still work.

A video on dark matter:

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.

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Although, dark matter is only one theory. It's obvious something is interfering with the way the universe should (according to our laws and calculations) work, but dark matter might not be the final theory. There could be something else that's affecting the way we arrive at our current answers; modified gravity laws and quantum gravity laws are two theories that do not involve dark matter.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

Do you think we'll figure out what's acting on the universe and find a way of observing it directly, instead of being able to only note its effects?


-----The Golden Eagle