Sunday, March 2, 2008

Universe Today » Dark Matter and Dark Energy… the Same Thing?

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Dark Matter and Dark Energy… the Same Thing?

I've said it many times, but it bears repeating: regular matter only accounts for 4% of the Universe. The other 96% - dark matter and dark energy - is a total mystery.
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BigHugeThing finds amusing the blind trust people place in "science." I often read comments from those who know a little "science" then disparage Christian's "illiterate" positions. Does it strike you as significant that 96% of what makes up the physical universe is unknown ... scientifically? Science knows dark matter/energy exists (that's impressive) but science does not know what dark matter/energy is (that's typical). What is this dark mysterious matter and energy? By golly, they don't have a clue. And physical cosmological processes were thought to be quite simple and well known (sans quantum).

Even worse is biological processes which are vastly more complicated and less understood than physical cosmological because of the increased possibilities and combinations. (Maybe quantum elevates physical into more complex, who knows) Yet Christians are criticized for questioning the Theory of Evolution or at least considering it a theory (and in some ways not a very good one). And science doesn't yet know what comprises 96% of our physical Universe?

Key word possibilities: arrogance, stupidity, spiritual darkness

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Continuing your own theme: Funny how some people will openly embrace science when it tells them something they like (the universe is full of mystery!) and then immediately doubt it when it tells them something they don't (all life is related through descent from common ancestors, via change that has occurred incrementally over billions of years).

The difficult thing about reason is that it doesn't let you pick and choose. If you follow evidence wherever it leads, then you have to accept that path. If you only want to go places that fit with your faith, then at least have the honesty to admit that you prefer faith to reason, and that when you doubt evolution you are really saying that there are certain aspects of science/reason that you simply do not choose to accept.

BigHugeThing said...

Spoken like a true believer.

Actually it has nothing to do with my religious belief system. Many Christian's have no problem incorporating macro evolution into their belief. I dare say I would have no problem with it, if macro evolution is true.

It is true, however that evolution is a shaky theory. One can not just utter the word "reason" and make it so. Each age had it's scientific reasonings, final and irrefutable, proved wrong by the next age. What all do we "know" now that will be proven wrong tomorrow? Most of these fallen heroes were much more sound than macro evolution.

So is my "faith" threatened by finding life is space. Not at all. But what is the probability? Some find many scientific reasons for small probability, which was the point of the referenced article. I find that interesting when so many just follow the popular trends of thinking and worship at Carl Sagan's alter. They somehow want to believe ... a religion perhaps.

Light a Sagan candle for me while you're at it, just for fun.

ledzephyr said...

The "shaky" theory is one of the grandest intellectual achievemnts in human history. It simply describes how living things change over time. Are we also to deny that non-living systems evolve over time?
What is it you disagree with-the descirpiton of how this change takes place-or that change occurs at all? Every major discovrey in biology since Darwin has confirmed the validity of this "shaky' theory. Many discoveries outside of biology (plate techtonics to name one) have further illuminated the predictive and all-encompassing strength of Darwin's simple and elegant theory. Lifesaving medical treatmnets can be traced directly back to evolutionary biology. Without the predictive aspect of this "shaky" theory these would not be possible.
"Shaky". How? Why? Evolution can be explained to any smart twelve year old. What is it you disagree with? The age of the earth? Mutability of DNA? The fossil record? Bacterial resistance to antibiotics?

Charley Socci said...

Why yes, by golly - I'm an educated self-respecting Christian individual.

Surely the fact that we don't understand "dark matter" must mean that:

Noah saved creation in an ark.

Females grew out of a rib from Adam.

The Earth is 6000 years old.

God created me so I could sin and be cast into fire by a satan he also created, but I can redeem myself becuase he sent his son to earth my impregnating Mary without a penis, killed him on a cross, and then brought him back to life.

Thanks for clearing all that up for me.

BigHugeThing said...

Charley, it seems you have the lingo down. Obviously you see yourself as ruggedly independent and well informed therefore you reject the Gospel of Christ as foolishness. This is perfectly in line with how the Bible characterizes a typical man's responce thereby verifying the truth and accuracy of Scripture.

Yes, bring marshmallows with you if possible. It is going to get toasty where you are heading.

BigHugeThing said...

ampereus, Shaky as to species hopping, species creating and the origin of life. The fossil record shows explosions of life, "punctuated equilibrium" not gradual evolutionism. No one denies micro-evolutionary changes. DNA is a remarkable error correcting code. So complex that Francis Crick, no friend to Christian creationism, upon discovering DNA's complexity sought origin explanations outside of evolution ie panspermia. I assume he decided such complexity could not evolve randomly but required an information source.

"One of the grandest intellectual achievements in human history." I think your bar may be set a little low.

What on earth does plate tectonics have to do with Darwin?

http://www.reasons.org/evolution/cambrian-explosion

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/292/5521/1481

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1666/0094-8373(2001)027%3C0583%3ABITPAR%3E2.0.CO%3B2

http://www.reasons.org/evolution/evolutionary-trees/virus-argument-no-longer-immune-challenge

UK,15yo said...

I just stumbled across this today and am thinking how mad all this is.

I am 15 years old, but don't judge me before hearing me out...

Firstly, everything we have proved, or is widely accepted to be true agrees with the theory of evolution.

Evolution is not a theory, whereby there is some strange force acting that causes it. No, it is an event, or a mechanism by which things change to keep their race alive.

Let me pose a question,
If you stick your finger in a plug socket you will get an electric shock. After you have done this a few times you might realise not to do it. You will then tell your children not to do it.
Is this so dis-similar to evolution?

Finally DNA, has been proven to be an alterable thing. Many will argue over the ethnics of GM food but the fact remains that it is possible to alter somethings DNA.
If man can do it, why can't it happen in nature?

BigHugeThing said...

I love the "electrical" part. Let's say the socket is located near an old wood floor that stains your feet each time you stand on it. Then you would conclude that poking your finger into electrical sockets gives you a shock and stains your feet.

There are many parts of evolution that appear correct and probably are. The big jump from one major species to another has no evidence. This is why the huge excitement each time some new link possibility is "found". No luck yet. Better luck next time.

My point is there is much that "science" knows but much it does not know however is believed to be true because the conjecture is labeled science. Somehow by labeling something "scientific" it gains Holy Grail status to many people.

Anyone saying there exists no credible scientists questioning the possibility of macro evolution is either not being honest or is uninformed.

Anonymous said...

You Fags... evolution isnt real!!! im a christian, so yea i believe in God and the whole jesus dying thing, but how bout u ask urselves this:
1) if we evolved from monkeys, then why are they still here? and why can we survive in almost ANY environment, meaning we do not need to evolve, because we already have the skills needed for ultimate survival, even in the event of major catastrophe?
2)if religion is wrong, then why are all the predictions that christianity predicted are coming true as we speak?
3) why do the myans all of the sudden get everything right, and no man knows the future, even scientists know that were not smart enough to know things before they happen unless its obvious?

Anonymous said...

> Charley, it seems you have the
> lingo down. Obviously you see
> yourself as ruggedly independent
> and well informed therefore you
> reject the Gospel of Christ as
> foolishness. This is perfectly in
> line with how the Bible
> characterizes a typical man's
> responce thereby verifying the
> truth and accuracy of Scripture.

I know someone who writes really awful music. His response to criticism is that "musical genius was always rejected when first heard" and so non-acceptance is used by him as evidence of his music genius.

But, honestly, his music is really just bad.

> I love the "electrical" part.
> Let's say the socket is located
> near an old wood floor that
> stains your feet each time you
> stand on it. Then you would
> conclude that poking your finger
> into electrical sockets gives
> you a shock and stains your feet.

Maybe, if you weren't very smart.

But later, when you brought your friend over to show him the wall socket, and both of you got stained feet, you'd figure out that the socket didn't have anything to do with feet-staining.

BigHugeThing said...

"Maybe, if you weren't very smart."
Now you are getting the hang of it.

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