Dr. Hong Sheng Zhao, and other astronomers and astrophysicists from Great Britain’s University of St. Andrews, now suggests that dark matter and dark energy might be different manifestations of what may amount to the same thing. Dr. Zhao speaks of it as a sort of "dark fluid," which may take on characteristics of matter on the galactic scale and may behave more like energy on the even larger scale that seems to be involved in the expansion of the entire universe.

   As you might imagine, the search is on to find the greater, missing part of our universe, whatever it may be. The "CERN" Hadron Collider in Geneva is one of the tools enlisted in the search. This gigantic particle accelerator may be able to detect what is felt might be "dark matter particles."

   However, it should be noted that some scientists are less than optimistic. As Dr. Zhao was quoted in documents from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, "In this simpler picture of the universe, the dark matter would be at a surprisingly low energy scale; too low to be probed by the upcoming Large Hadron Collider." It has also been suggested that dark matter and dark energy may actually be some sort of variant or some other unknown manifestation of the way in which gravity functions.

   In other words, we really aren’t sure what is actually out there, creating so many of the effects that we have had difficulty accounting for. In other words, space itself actually seems to be taking on characteristics of some sort of form and/or substance and/or energy. At least, that’s what we gather from various reactions of what we can actually observe (in the motions of the stars, the galaxies, the super-clusters, etc.).

   It’s not unlike revisiting the old idea of space being filled with what was once called an "ether" (or "aether"), the hypothetical medium for the transmission of electromagnetic radiation waves through the vacuum of space. Not that there is actually such a "gas" out there, but rather that all of space, which seems to have a few anomalies fastened to its form (stars, galaxies, energy, etc.), might possibly be a very definite and dominant dimensional pattern and mass that has a solidity which has, thus far, eluded humankind.

   It may exist in a dimension or in a form that cannot be normally observed. It may only show its effect through the motion of the anomalies we can observe. They, along with us and all else that we are aware of, may only be "the zits on the fabric of space," as was once suggested by someone with an interesting sense of humor. And what is that "fabric" doing? By what we can observe, it seems to be showing us its ability to expand and to do so at an accelerating rate. It may also be warping, as an effect of mass. A great number of scientists suggest that this is what we call "gravity."

   How is this possible? How can it be that, whatever is the greater part of the universe, it is invisible to us? Maybe it’s like this. Nature is inclined to equip its species with the awareness factors and the environmental detectors that enable the creatures to function with reasonable success on the level of existence that such creatures inhabit. These capabilities do not really make it possible to see or otherwise detect the universe or even the more immediate environment as it actually is, but as it is practical for such creatures to know of it in order to be successful. This is the way it is for us as well.

   However, we have developed a rather interesting mental prowess that has allowed us to fashion observational tools that have managed, over the centuries, to allow us to see far beyond such limitations. We now know that the walls around us are not really solid. In fact, we have found that nothing is all that solid. In fact, everything seems to be almost nothing (as far as we can tell).

   With such limitations, in our natural abilities and in our technical extensions, it should not be surprising that we seem to be realizing that the real universe is quite beyond us at this time. We only see its effect. But that just teases us all the more. We’ve just got to know what’s really out there. What is this thing we sometimes call the "fabric of space?" What is this universe really all about?

   Possibly knowing our current limitations is going to be the first step toward the beginning of what may eventually prove to be the most amazing adventure of discovery that any sentient being can possibly aspire to. It may prove to be the beginning of a universal wisdom of everything.

Primary sources: Astrophysical Journal Letters – Dec., 2007

(2/3/08)

   We have been hearing of discoveries of this nature over the last few years, such as the Dec., ‘05 report from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Gaseous DNA and protein precursors were discovered in the "planetary zone" around the star "IRS 46" in the Ophiuchus constellation. The star is approx. 375 light-years from Earth.

   Now, on Jan. 11, 2008, it was announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas, that the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Puerto Rico has detected the "life associated" molecules hydrogen cyanide and methanimine. (Scientists have discovered that when you combine these molecules with water, they form a substance called glycene. Glycene is a simple amino acid which we recognize as an important building block of life.)

   In a search for radio emissions at specific frequencies, the unique radio frequencies associated with these molecules were discovered using the 800 megahertz wide-band mode of the telescope’s primary spectrometer. The area of the discovery is where new stars and planet formations can be expected to be found. As commented by astronomer Emmanuel Momjian, "It is indeed very intriguing to find that the ingredients of life appear in large quantities where new stars and planets are born."

   The discovery was made in the "ARP220" galaxy which is around 250 million light-years from Earth. (That means the light we are seeing now from that galaxy was originally emitted about 250 million years ago.)

   The team of astronomers involved in this discovery includes Christopher Salter, Tapasi Ghosh, Barbara Catinella, Mikael Lerner, Emmanuel Momjian, Robert Minchin and Mayra Lebron.

Details of this announcement were compiled and submitted to "Astrophysics Group - West" by Patrick Nigh.  (1/15/08)

   At one time it was thought that space was either filled with or composed of what was described as an "Ether." Now physicists from laboratories all over the world are beginning to understand that there may actually be a considerable amount of something out there that we can’t observe directly. We don’t call it "Ether." We call it "Dark Matter."

   It starts with the calculation of mass by very detailed observations of the gravitational interactions of celestial bodies. This is done by observing the change in the spectrum "red shift" of stars. It gives us stellar velocities relative to our point of observation; the Earth.

   This method was used in 1933 to calculate the mass of the "Coma Cluster" of galaxies but the final figure accounted for only a fraction of the mass that should be indicated for the observed motion. Something was missing.

   In more recent times, rotation rates of galaxies, as measured in the middle of this last century, proved to be inadequate as well. It looked like there was some kind of invisible matter or energy or something that could not be accounted for. To put it in simple terms, if gravity functions as our observations indicate it should, the greatest part of the universe, most of its mass, is invisible. This is what we choose to call "Dark Matter."

   We are now hard at work trying to identify this "Dark Matter." Some scientists suggest that some of that missing material may be "Neutrinos;" subatomic particles that may actually have mass. Other scientists suggest that "MACHOs" (Massive Compact Halo Objects) may be responsible to some degree. (The observation of "gravitational lensing" has identified these halo objects.) Still other scientists opt for theoretical particles they call "Axions," "Photinos," or "Neutralinos." Some of these particles are also described as "Weekly Interacting Massive Particles" (WIMPs).

   This is the current position and understanding on these matters. Most of our universe is not observable and we don’t actually know what it’s made of. Could the "time" theory postulated on this web site be correct? Could the universe that we can’t see be best described as the changes in the amount of space in some sort of mystery fabric?

    Is our observable universe (and, therefore, us) just slight anomalies in that multi-dimensional fabric that we only notice the effect of in the motions of things? No one can say for sure at this time. We just don’t know.

Edward Burke  (12/7/07)

NOTATION: Names and descriptive terms used in this article can be entered into Internet searches for more details.

   His observations include, "You can miniaturize electronics, but not people. Sending a crew to Mars requires ships the size of an Airbus A380, in which people could live for months."

   He says that, "You don't propel something like that across the solar system on the chemical energy we used for the moon, one-thousandth of the way to Mars. Especially since you need to hurry --- there is only so much time your crew can spend in space before it accumulates a lethal dose of cosmic and solar radiation." As he put it, "Physics dictates that if you want power, you have to tap it from the place where nature put it, i.e., the atom."

   He also said, "By 2057, space astronomy will have cracked unsolved problems about our universe, such as gravitational waves. Predicted by Einstein, then Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse convinced us they exist. It was when they observed the effects on a system of two neutron stars. But no one has yet observed them directly."

   As our instrumentation in space gets more sophisticated, we should be able to solve that problem.

   Dr. Bignami also stated that, "Finding signatures of life on another planet will be the most important scientific discovery of all time and a philosophical turning point." He believes that, "We will know fifty years from now that we are not alone in our galaxy."

   This quoted report is from one of our leading astronomers in the world today.

Edward Burke  (11/6/07)