WIMPS in Minnesota :)

[digibucc]

Signs of dark matter from Minnesota mine​

An experiment in Minnesota is the first to bolster a long-contested claim that detectors a continent away have found evidence of particles called WIMPs.

WIMPs are theorized particles considered to be leading candidates for dark matter, invisible material believed to make up more than 80 percent of the matter in the universe. In the Minnesota experiment, called COGENT, a hockey puck–sized chunk of germanium deep in a former iron mine attempts to record rare collisions with WIMPS.

linky

 

[twilyth]

I wonder if anyone has considered virtual particles as the source of the additional gravity that helps hold galaxies together. If empty space is seething with virtual particle pairs (one matter one antimatter) that appear out of nowhere and then annihilate one another, then during that brief period, they should exert a tiny gravitational force.

If that sounds bizarre, remember that Hawking radiation is also derived from these virtual particle pairs. If you're interested in this process, google the Casimir effect.

 

[digibucc]

Ivirtual particle pairs (one matter one antimatter) that appear out of nowhere and then annihilate one another, then during that brief period, they should exert a tiny gravitational force.

no that actually makes a lot of sense, i think
i definitely had not put that together ...

 

[D4S4]

I wonder if anyone has considered virtual particles as the source of the additional gravity that helps hold galaxies together. If empty space is seething with virtual particle pairs (one matter one antimatter) that appear out of nowhere and then annihilate one another, then during that brief period, they should exert a tiny gravitational force.

If that sounds bizarre, remember that Hawking radiation is also derived from these virtual particle pairs. If you're interested in this process, google the Casimir effect.

that might account for the invisible mass, but it would be too evenly distributed to affect rotation of a galaxy imo.

EDIT: this science forum is fun!