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27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 8. Dark Matter

[unknown matter that restrains cosmic expansion]

3 ideas
84.5 percent of the universe is made of dark matter [New Sci.]
     Full Idea: Dark matter makes up 84.5 percent of the universe's matter.
     From: New Scientist writers (New Scientist articles [2013], 2013.10.29)
Dark matter must have mass, to produce gravity, and no electric charge, to not reflect light [New Sci.]
     Full Idea: Whatever dark matter is made of, it must have mass to feel and generate gravity; but no electric charge, so it does not interact with light. The leading candidate has been the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP), much heavier than a proton.
     From: New Scientist writers (Why the Universe Exists [2017], 08)
     A reaction: Note that it must 'generate' gravity. The idea of a law of gravity which is externally imposed on matter is long dead. Heavy WIMPs have not yet been detected.
The universe is 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, 5% regular matter [Hesketh]
     Full Idea: The most precise surveys of the stars and galaxies tell us that the universe is made up of 68% dark energy, 27% dark matter, and just 5% regular matter (the stuff of the Standard Model of particle physics).
     From: Gavin Hesketh (The Particle Zoo [2016], 09)
     A reaction: Regular matter - that's me, that is.